Mitigating information overload in social media during conflicts and crises: design and evaluation of a cross-platform alerting system

ABSTRACT

The research field of crisis informatics examines, amongst others, the potentials and barriers of social media use during conflicts and crises. Social media allow emergency services to reach the public easily in the context of crisis communication and receive valuable information (e.g. pictures) from social media data. However, the vast amount of data generated during large-scale incidents can lead to issues of information overload and quality. To mitigate these issues, this paper proposes the semi-automatic creation of alerts including keyword, relevance and information quality filters based on cross-platform social media data. We conducted empirical studies and workshops with emergency services across Europe to raise requirements, then iteratively designed and implemented an approach to support emergency services, and performed multiple evaluations, including live demonstrations and field trials, to research the potentials of social media-based alerts. Finally, we present the findings and implications based on semi-structured interviews with emergency services, highlighting the need for usable configurability and white-box algorithm representation.     

A Nanoparticle Ink Allowing the High Precision Visualization of Tissue Engineered Scaffolds by MRI (Small 30/2023)

Hydrogels are widely used as cell scaffolds in several biomedical applications. Once implanted in vivo, cell scaffolds must often be visualized, and monitored overtime. However, cell scaffolds appear poorly contrasted in most biomedical imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is the imaging technique of choice for high-resolution visualization of low-density, water-rich tissues. Attempts to enhance hydrogel contrast in MRI are performed with “negative” contrast agents that produce several image artifacts impeding the delineation of the implant's contours. In this study, a magnetic ink based on ultra-small iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIONs; <5 nm diameter cores) is developed and integrated into biocompatible alginate hydrogel used in cell scaffolding applications. Relaxometric properties of the magnetic hydrogel are measured, as well as biocompatibility and MR-visibility (T₁-weighted mode; in vitro and in vivo). A 2-week MR follow-up study is performed in the mouse model, demonstrating no image artifacts, and the retention of “positive” contrast overtime, which allows very precise delineation of tissue grafts with MRI. Finally, a 3D-contouring procedure developed to facilitate graft delineation and geometrical conformity assessment is applied on an inverted template alginate pore network. This proof-of-concept establishes the possibility to reveal precisely engineered hydrogel structures using this USPIONs ink high-visibility approach.     

Influence of Hatch Strategy on Crystallographic Texture Evolution,Mechanical Anisotropy of Laser Beam Powder Bed Fused S316L Steel

The correlations between process conditions, microstructure, and mechanical properties of additively manufactured components are not fully understood yet. In this contribution, three different hatch strategies are used to fabricate rod-like samples from S316L stainless steel, which are further investigated using synchrotron diffraction, optical microscopy, and tensile tests. The results indicate the presence of ⟨110⟩ biaxial and fiber textures, whose sharpness depends on the applied hatch strategy. Mechanical tests reveal a strong correlation of the samples’ response to the observed anisotropy in the plane perpendicular to the build direction. Even though the average yield and ultimate tensile strengths of around 475 and 500 MPa, respectively, do not differ significantly, the stress–strain behavior can be correlated with the observed in-plane anisotropy. Particularly, twinning-induced plasticity, a distinct increase of the work hardening rate at larger strains and elliptical necking are observed in some samples with biaxial (Goss) texture. These findings indicate that texture design by means of applying dedicated hatch strategies can be used to effectively tune the multiaxial deformation behavior of components produced by laser powder bed fusion.     

Les visions du réel et la psychothérapie.

Inspired by Nietzsche, Schafer has redefined and applied to psychotherapy the idea of the visions of reality, a construct by which we describe a subjective experience, life history, and the concept of time. Schafer proposes four of these visions: comic, romantic, tragic, and ironic. Inside the comic vision, one cannot find a big enough problem that cannot be solved. Under the romantic vision, life is seen as a succession of quests taking the form of perilous, heroic, and individualistic journeys. These first two constructs of reality have a nontemporal and nonhistorical characteristic; here, time is cyclic. In contrast, the "love of truth" brings sensitiveness towards paradox and the incertitudes of life. There are no new beginnings and time is linear; it is the tragic vision. At last, the ironic vision extracts of these inconsistencies a detachment and puts everything in perspective. The Schafer thesis is critically evaluated to show the necessity for a fifth vision, the creative vision, arising from the work done by Rank and Goodman. The clinical implications of this creative vision are discussed in relation with the dilemma of resigning oneself to the unavoidable or creating one's own life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Method for determining the olefinic content of the saturated and aromatic fraction of petroleum distillates by hydroboration

This study was prompted by a perceived need for a reliable method for determining olefin content in petroleum distillate fractions. An improved analytical method for the determination of olefin content in naphtha and higher boiling distillate fractions is described. The procedure comprises quantitative addition of diborane that specifically converts the olefins in the saturated and aromatic portion of the petroleum to alcohols. The reaction mixture is chromatographed on alumina, and alcohols are eluted with dichloromethane. The procedure was applied to two hydrocarbon mixtures of 20 saturated, olefinic and aromatic hydrocarbons in the investigated boiling range. Naphtha (ibp–200 °C) and light gas oil (200–350 °C) fractions from the Lloydminster oil were also analysed. Results are compared with the standard FIA method, and a method utilizing both the FIA and proton magnetic resonance spectrometry.     

Characterization of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in bitumen,heavy oil fractions boiling above 350 °C by g.c.-m.s.

The separation and characterization of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons of five fractions of bitumen, heavy oils and synthetic fuels boiling > 350 °C were performed using a combination of Chromatographic techniques. The polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon fractions were obtained by liquid-solid chromatography and prior to the high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques, the fractions were subjected to an acid/base extraction procedure to remove polar material. In total, 97 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons were tentatively identified by a correlation of their mass spectra and retention indices with those of 25 model polynuclear aromatic compounds.     

Ad Hoc File Systems for High-Performance Computing

Storage backends of parallel compute clusters are still based mostly on magnetic disks,while newer and faster storage technologies such as flash-based SSDs or non-volatile random access memory(NVRAM)are deployed within compute nodes.Including these new storage technologies into scientific workflows is unfortunately today a mostly manual task,and most scientists therefore do not take advantage of the faster storage media.One approach to systematically include nodelocal SSDs or NVRAMs into scientific workflows is to deploy ad hoc file systems over a set of compute nodes,which serve as temporary storage systems for single applications or longer-running campaigns.This paper presents results from the Dagstuhl Seminar 17202"Challenges and Opportunities of User-Level File Systems for HPC"and discusses application scenarios as well as design strategies for ad hoc file systems using node-local storage media.The discussion includes open research questions,such as how to couple ad hoc file systems with the batch scheduling environment and how to schedule stage-in and stage-out processes of data between the storage backend and the ad hoc file systems.Also presented are strategies to build ad hoc file systems by using reusable components for networking and how to improve storage device compatibility.Various interfaces and semantics are presented,for example those used by the three ad hoc file systems BeeOND,GekkoFS,and BurstFS.Their presentation covers a range from file systems running in production to cutting-edge research focusing on reaching the performance limits of the underlying devices.     

Outsourcing, ASP und Managed Services

In this paper we provide an overview about information which can be retrieved about “outsourcing” from the Web. We show that some terms related to outsourcing should also be considered. The supply of information is dominated by service providers and consultancies and by media companies providing portals and specialized online journals.