Natural Language Processing Research Articles

Why do some retracted articles continue to get cited?

AbstractRetracted publications can still receive a substantial number of citations after the retraction. Little is known about the causes for this phenomenon and the nature of epistemic risk or harm in these retraction cases. Using this phenomenon also as an example for the broader question of how scholarly communities deal with uncertainty in the reception of publications, this case study aims to assess the epistemic contributions of retracted publications with continuous and decreasing citation impact and to relate these to the epistemic environments of the retracted papers and to reception patterns. Several parsing and natural language processing approaches are used, complemented, and validated by qualitative close reading. Specifically, (i) dissent and support are identified in citing and in co-cited publications; (ii) the concept terms of retracted publications are expanded by word embeddings and MeSH terms and traced in citation contexts; and finally (iii) rhetorical functions in citation contexts are identified based on keyword extraction. Empirical support and unresolved disputes are found almost exclusively in cases with continuous citations. Authors emphasize specific informational values in some cases with citations continuing after the retraction, while methodological and more general levels of claims prevail in others. Citations can be meaningfully examined by considering the weighing process between epistemic risks and informational value; persistent citation impact thus doesn’t necessarily indicate the perpetuation of epistemic harm.

Uncovering suggestions in MOOC discussion forums: a transformer-based approach

The field of natural language processing has experienced significant advances in recent years, but these advances have not yet resulted in improved analytics for instructors on MOOC platforms. Valuable information, such as suggestions, is generated in the comment forums of these courses, but due to their volume, manual processing is often impractical. This study examines the feasibility of fine-tuning and effectively utilizing state-of-the-art deep learning models to identify comments that contain suggestions in MOOC forums. The main challenges encountered are the lack of labeled datasets from the MOOC context for fine-tuning classification models and the soaring computational cost of this training. For this study, we manually collected and labeled 2228 comments in Spanish and English from 5 MOOCs and scraped 1.4 million MOOC reviews from 3 platforms. We fine-tuned and evaluated 4 pretrained models based on the transformer architecture and 3 traditional machine learning models to compare their effectiveness in the suggestion mining task in this domain. Transformer-based models proved to be highly effective in this task/domain combination, achieving performance levels that matched or exceeded those deemed appropriate in other contexts and were significantly greater than those achieved by traditional models. Domain adaptation led to improved linguistic understanding of the target domain; however, in this project, this approach did not translate into an observable improvement in suggestion mining. The automated identification of comments that can be labeled as suggestions can result in considerable time savings for instructors, especially considering that less than a quarter of the analyzed comments contain suggestions.

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI): From large language models (LLMs) to multimodal applications towards fine tuning of models, implications, investigations

This research explores the transformative integration of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and language models, with a particular emphasis on the PaLM-E model. The exploration aims to assess PaLM-E’s decision-making processes and adaptability across various robotic environments, demonstrating its capacity to convert textual prompts into very precise robotic actions. In addition, the research investigates Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning (PEFT) techniques, such as Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) and Quantized Low-Rank Adaptation (QLoRA), providing a historical overview of PEFT and highlighting their significance in enhancing task performance while reducing the number of trainable parameters. The broader scope of Generative AI is examined through an analysis of influential models like GPT-3, GPT-4, Copilot, Bard, LLaMA, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DALL-E. These models’ abilities to process natural language prompts and generate a wide range of outputs are thoroughly investigated. The research traces the historical evolution of AI, from its roots in science fiction to its practical applications today, with a focus on the rise of Generative AI in the 21st century. Furthermore, the research delves into the various modalities of Generative AI, covering applications in text, code, images, and more, and assesses their real-world impact on robotics, planning, and business intelligence. The implications of synthetic data generation for business analytics are also explored. The research inspects within both software and hardware landscapes, comparing local deployment on consumer-grade hardware along with cloud-based services, and underscores the benefits of local model deployment in terms of privacy protection, intellectual property security, and censorship resistance. Ethical considerations are central to this research, addressing concerns related to privacy, security, societal impact, biases, and misinformation. The research proposes ethical guidelines for the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies. Ultimately, this work reveals the deep interconnections between vision, language, and robotics, pushing the boundaries of AI capabilities and providing crucial insights for future AI model development and technological innovation. These findings are intended to guide the field through the emerging challenges of the rapidly evolving Generative AI landscape.

Developing Linguistic Constructs of Text Readability Using Natural Language Processing

ABSTRACT Purpose Understanding what makes a text difficult to read is an important element of literacy instruction, materials development, and research into text readability. Readability formulas are often used to quantify text readability. However, readability formulas often focus on a relatively limited number of text features that inform the reading process and/or use single features to measure complex language constructs under the presumption that related features do not interact with one another. As a result, the formulas can be difficult to interpret by practitioners. Method A principal component analysis was used to combine text features from advanced natural language processing tools into theoretically-inspired language constructs related to text comprehension. Result Results indicate that text features aggregated into seven components related to informational text, syntactic constructions, noun phrase complexity, lexical ease, function word ease, narrativity, and lexical variety. These components predicted 44% of the variance in readability scores reported in a large readability corpus. Conclusion The results provide evidence that individual linguistic features related to text readability can be combined into reading components that are strong predictors of text comprehension. Practically, these components should be more easily interpretable allowing for more actionable feedback and use by practitioners.

Sustainable sentiment analysis on E-commerce platforms using a weighted parallel hybrid deep learning approach for smart cities applications

Sentiment analysis (SA) of several user evaluations on e-commerce platforms can be used to increase customer happiness. This method automatically extracts and identifies subjective data from product evaluations using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) methods. These statistics may eventually reveal information on the favourable, neutral, or negative attitudes of the consumer base. Due to its capacity to grasp the complex links between words and phrases in reviews as well as the emotions they imply, deep learning (DL) is very useful for SA tasks. A unique approach termed Weighted Parallel Hybrid Deep Learning-based Sentiment Analysis on E-Commerce Product Reviews (WPHDL-SAEPR) is introduced by the proposed system. Accurately distinguishing between distinct sentiments found in online store reviews is the aim of the WPHDL-SAEPR technique. Additional data pre-processing processes are implemented within the WPHDL-SAEPR architecture to guarantee compatibility. Words are embedded into the paper using the word2vec model, while sentiment is classified using the WPHDL model. The Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) models are combined in this model. The results of the WPHDL-SAEPR approach’s simulation were assessed using a consumer review database, with the results being emphasized at each stage.

Artificial intelligence in abdominal and pelvic ultrasound imaging: current applications.

In recent years, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques into medical imaging has shown great potential to transform the diagnostic process. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of current state-of-the-art applications for AI in abdominal and pelvic ultrasound imaging. We searched the PubMed, FDA, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases for applications of AI in abdominal and pelvic ultrasound imaging. A total of 128 titles were identified from the database search and were eligible for screening. After screening, 57 manuscripts were included in the final review. The main anatomical applications included multi-organ detection (n = 16, 28%), gynecology (n = 15, 26%), hepatobiliary system (n = 13, 23%), and musculoskeletal (n = 8, 14%). The main methodological applications included deep learning (n = 37, 65%), machine learning (n = 13, 23%), natural language processing (n = 5, 9%), and robots (n = 2, 4%). The majority of the studies were single-center (n = 43, 75%) and retrospective (n = 56, 98%). We identified 17 FDA approved AI ultrasound devices, with only a few being specifically used for abdominal/pelvic imaging (infertility monitoring and follicle development). The application of AI in abdominal/pelvic ultrasound shows promising early results for disease diagnosis, monitoring, and report refinement. However, the risk of bias remains high because very few of these applications have been prospectively validated (in multi-center studies) or have received FDA clearance.

Specialization trends in economics research: A large‐scale study using natural language processing and citation analysis

AbstractThis article conducts a comprehensive analysis of specialization trends within and across fields of economics research. We collect data on 24,273 articles published between 1970 and 2016 in general research economics outlets and employ machine learning techniques to enrich the collected data. Results indicate that theory and econometric methods papers are becoming increasingly specialized, with a narrowing scope and steady or declining citations from outside economics and from other fields of economics research. Conversely, applied papers are covering a broader range of topics, receiving more extramural citations from fields like medicine, and psychology. Trends in applied theory articles are unclear.

NLP-Powered Repository and Search Engine for Academic Papers: A Case Study on Cyber Risk Literature with CyLit

As the body of academic literature continues to grow, researchers face increasing difficulties in effectively searching for relevant resources. Existing databases and search engines often fall short of providing a comprehensive and contextually relevant collection of academic literature. To address this issue, we propose a novel framework that leverages natural language processing (NLP) techniques. This framework automates the retrieval, summarization, and clustering of academic literature within a specific research domain. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, we introduce CyLit, an NLP-powered repository specifically designed for the cyber risk literature. CyLit empowers researchers by providing access to context-specific resources and enabling the tracking of trends in the dynamic and rapidly evolving field of cyber risk. Through the automatic processing of large volumes of data, our NLP-powered solution significantly enhances the efficiency and specificity of academic literature searches. We compare the literature categorization results of CyLit with those presented in survey papers or generated by ChatGPT, highlighting the distinctive insights this tool provides in the cyber risk research literature. Using NLP techniques, we aim to revolutionize the way researchers discover, analyze, and utilize academic resources, ultimately fostering advancements in various domains of knowledge.

Semi-automated title-abstract screening using natural language processing and machine learning

BackgroundTitle-abstract screening in the preparation of a systematic review is a time-consuming task. Modern techniques of natural language processing and machine learning might allow partly automatization of title-abstract screening. In particular, clear guidance on how to proceed with these techniques in practice is of high relevance.MethodsThis paper presents an entire pipeline how to use natural language processing techniques to make the titles and abstracts usable for machine learning and how to apply machine learning algorithms to adequately predict whether or not a publication should be forwarded to full text screening. Guidance for the practical use of the methodology is given.ResultsThe appealing performance of the approach is demonstrated by means of two real-world systematic reviews with meta analysis.ConclusionsNatural language processing and machine learning can help to semi-automatize title-abstract screening. Different project-specific considerations have to be made for applying them in practice.

Automated text classification of opinion vs. news French press articles. A comparison of transformer and feature-based approaches

This study explores Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods for distinguishing between press articles belonging to the journalistic genres of ‘objective’ news and ‘subjective’ opinion. Two classification models are compared: CamemBERT, a French transformer model fine-tuned for the task, and a machine learning model using 32 linguistic features. Trained on 8000 Belgian French articles, both models are evaluated on 1000 Canadian French articles. Results show CamemBERT’s superiority but highlight potential for hybrid approaches and emphasizes the need for robust and transparent methods in NLP. The research contributes to understanding NLP’s role in journalism by addressing challenges of point of view detection in press discourse.

High throughput edit distance computation on FPGA-based accelerators using HLS

Edit distance is a computational grand challenge problem to quantify the minimum number of editing operations required to modify one string of characters to the other, finding many applications of natural language processing. In recent years, relevant and increasing interest has also emerged from deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) applications, like Next Generation Sequencing and DNA storage technologies. Both applications share two crucial features: i) the information is coded into the four bases of DNA and ii) the level of operational noise is still high causing errors in the data, requiring inclusion in the workflow of the computation of algorithms such as the edit distance for finding similarities between sequences. To boost this computation many solutions are available in the literature. Among them, the FPGAs are largely used since the data domain of those applications is strings of 4 characters represented as two-bit values, inconveniently fitting the basic data types of ordinary CPUs and GPUs, with additional benefits of providing a high level of parallelism and low processing latency. This contribution presents a computing- and energy-efficient design implementing the edit distance algorithm combining metaprogramming and High-Level Synthesis. We also assess the performance of our design targeting recent FPGA-based accelerators. Our solution uses nearly 90% of FPGA basic-block hardware resources achieving about 90% of computing efficiency delivering a maximum throughput of 16.8 TCUPS and an energy efficiency of 46 Mpair/Joule, enabling the use of FPGAs as a new class of accelerators for High Performance Computing in DNA applications.

Cyberbullying or Just Sarcasm? Unmasking Coordinated Networks on Reddit

the rapid growth of social media usage, a common trend has emerged where users often make sarcastic comments on posts. While sarcasm can sometimes be harmless, it can blur the line with cyberbullying, especially when used in negative or harmful contexts. This growing issue has been exacerbated by the anonymity and vast reach of the internet, making cyberbullying a significant concern on platforms like Reddit. Our research focuses on distinguishing cyberbullying from sarcasm, particularly where online language nuances make it difficult to discern harmful intent. This study proposes a framework using natural language processi ng (NLP) and machine learning to differentiate between the two, addressing the limitations of traditional sentiment analysis in detecting nuanced behaviors. By analyzing a custom dataset scraped from Reddit, we achieved a 95.15% accuracy in distinguishing harmful content from sarcasm. Our findings also reveal that teenagers and minority groups are particularly vulnerable to cyberbullying. Additional ly, our research uncovers coordinated graphs of groups involved in cyberbullying, identifying common patterns in their behavior. This research contributes to improving detection capabilities for safer online communities.

Improving health awareness with real-time monitoring through a three-dimensional visualized digital health avatar

IntroductionThe use of modern technologies has become crucial for enhancing people's awareness of health problems. By early health risk detection, there will be better treatment outcomes, the severity of illness will decrease, and costs for treatment will also reduce. Performing routine checkups could help patients feel less anxious about their health in the future. In this study, the innovation of "Digital Health Avatar" enables users to monitor physical changes, raise awareness of medical conditions, and encourage healthy behaviors by visualizing health status as a 3D figure. MethodsHealth data were collected using medical devices like blood test strips, body composition meters, and automatic blood pressure monitors. Advanced algorithms, such as computer vision and natural language processing (NLP), were used to process these collected data and produced a three-dimensional avatar that indicated the user's health status. User satisfaction survey on using the health avatar system was assessed through a survey of 61 participants. ResultsHealth avatar system successfully generate the data and display the measurement results on the health report page of the system. Users can easily check and record their physiological conditions through the avatar. Moreover, users showed satisfaction on the use of the health avatar system and its effectiveness in health check-ups in the survey. ConclusionsThe 'Digital Health Avatar' has the potential to significantly promote individual well-being and health awareness. Its development will be improved by user feedback and continued study, ensuring it becomes an efficient tool for promoting healthier lifestyles.

From One-dimensional to Multidimensional Map Neural Networks

In the contemporary landscape, artificial neural networks transcend their traditional role of function approximation and have found diverse applications in fields such as image classification, machine translation, speech recognition, and natural language processing. In some datasets, traditional architectures exhibit low test and training accuracy, coupled with high loss and prolonged training times. This study aims to introduce innovative neural network architectures that outperform conventional models. The research presents a novel framework integrating one-dimensional and multidimensional map neural networks, consisting of three distinct architectures: 1D-Map, 2D-Map, and 3D-Map. A systematic performance comparison with traditional models is conducted following the implementation of these architectures. The evaluation spans four datasets, encompassing the domains of heat treatment of electroless Ni-P nano coatings, letter recognition, combined cycle power plants, and Seoul bike sharing demand. In the heat treatment dataset, the proposed 3D-Map architecture reached 0.055 higher average test accuracy than traditional MLP architecture. In the letter recognition dataset, the test accuracy of 3D-Map architecture was 0.0523 higher than the test accuracy of the LSTM architecture. In the combined cycle power plant dataset, the test accuracy of the 3D-Map architecture was 0.0612 more than the test accuracy of the MLP architecture. In the Seoul bike-sharing demand dataset, the test accuracy of the 2D-Map architecture was 0.0696 higher than the test accuracy of the LSTM architecture. The study's findings underscore the consistently superior performance of the proposed architectures compared to their traditional counterparts.

Blending is all you need: Data-centric ensemble synthetic data

Deep generative models have gained increasing popularity, particularly in fields such as natural language processing and computer vision. Recently, efforts have been made to extend these advanced algorithms to tabular data. While generative models have shown promising results in creating synthetic data, their high computational demands and the need for careful parameter tuning present significant challenges. This study investigates whether a collective integration of refined synthetic datasets from multiple models can achieve comparable or superior performance to that of a single, large generative model. To this end, we developed a Data-Centric Ensemble Synthetic Data model, leveraging principles of ensemble learning. Our approach involved a data refinement process applied to various synthetic datasets, systematically eliminating noise and ranking, selecting, and combining them to create an augmented, high-quality synthetic dataset. This approach improved both the quantity and quality of the data. Central to this process, we introduced the Ensemble k-Nearest Neighbors with Centroid Displacement (EKCD) algorithm for noise filtering, alongside a density score for ranking and selecting data. Our experiments confirmed the effectiveness of EKCD in removing noisy synthetic samples. Additionally, the ensemble model based on the refined synthetic data substantially enhanced the performance of machine learning models, sometimes even outperforming that of real data.

Sentiments Unleashed : Pioneering the Frontier of Sentiment Analysis through Cutting-Edge Applications and Methodologies

Sentiment analysis is a powerful tool within Natural Language Processing (NLP), assists businesses and researchers in discerning the emotions, attitudes, and beliefs conveyed in written language. The increasing availability of textual data, including social media posts, product reviews, and customer feedback, has driven a significant increase in the demand for sentiment analysis. The primary goal is to uncover underlying emotions expressed through diverse word combinations, sentences, or paragraphs. By scrutinizing language nuances, it identifies a wide range of emotions, from joy and sadness to criticism and admiration. This profound understanding, facilitated by sentiment analysis, provides valuable insights into public perception, market trends, and consumer behaviours, empowering businesses to refine strategies, improve products, and enhance customer experiences. As sentiment analysis tools and techniques continue to advance, they present opportunities for progress, assisting businesses in navigating shifts in public opinion and enabling researchers to delve into the intricacies of human expression through text. With the continuous surge in textual data, sentiment analysis retains its significance in guiding stakeholders from diverse industries toward informed decisions and a comprehensive understanding of human sentiment. This research explores advanced approaches in sentiment analysis, including machine learning, lexicon-based methods, hybrid and ontology-based models, and multi-modal techniques, examining various levels, classifications, and methodologies.

Widespread Adoption of Precision Anticancer Therapies After Implementation of Pathologist-Directed Comprehensive Genomic Profiling Across a Large US Health System

PURPOSE Precision therapies and immunotherapies have revolutionized cancer care, with novel genomic biomarker-associated therapies being introduced into clinical practice rapidly, resulting in notable gains in patient survival. Despite this, there is significant variability in the utilization of tumor molecular profiling that spans the timing of test ordering, comprehensiveness of gene panels, and clinical decision support through therapy and trial recommendations. METHODS To standardize testing, we designed a pathologist-directed test ordering system at the time of diagnosis using a 523-gene DNA/RNA hybrid comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) panel and extensive clinical decision support tools. To comprehensively characterize the clinical impact of this protocol, we developed a novel natural language processing (NLP)–based approach to extract clinical features from physician chart notes. We assessed test actionability rates, therapy choice, and outcomes across a set of 3,216 patients with advanced cancer. RESULTS We observed 49% of patients had at least one actionable genomic biomarker-driven–approved and/or guideline-recommended targeted or immunotherapy (IO) and 53% of patients would have been eligible for a precision therapy clinical trial from three large basket trials. When assessing CGP versus an in silico 50-gene panel, 67% of tumors compared with 33% harbored actionable alterations including clinical trials. Among patients with 6 months or more of follow-up, over 52% received a targeted therapy (TT) or IO, versus 32% who received conventional chemotherapy alone. Furthermore, patients receiving TT had significantly improved overall survival compared with patients receiving chemotherapy alone ( P < .001). CONCLUSION Overall, these data represent a major shift in standard clinical practice toward molecularly guided treatments (targeted and immunotherapies) over conventional systemic chemotherapy. As guidelines continue to evolve and more precision therapeutics gain approval, we expect this gap to continue to widen.

Evaluating Large Language Models for Software Testing

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated significant prowess in code analysis and natural language processing, making them highly valuable for software testing. This paper conducts a comprehensive evaluation of LLMs applied to software testing, with a particular emphasis on test case generation, error tracing, and bug localization across twelve open-source projects. The advantages and limitations, as well as recommendations associated with utilizing LLMs for these tasks, are delineated. Furthermore, we delve into the phenomenon of hallucination in LLMs, examining its impact on software testing processes and presenting solutions to mitigate its effects. The findings of this work contribute to a deeper understanding of integrating LLMs into software testing, providing insights that pave the way for enhanced effectiveness in the field.

ChatEV: Predicting electric vehicle charging demand as natural language processing

The increasing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) in recent times has introduced considerable load conditions for urban power grids and transportation systems, which highlights the importance of accurately predicting charging demand to enhance charging efficiency. However, current forecasting methods still face challenges in effectively aligning diverse data and generating accurate predictions that can be applied to unseen scenarios. To overcome the challenges, this work introduces a novel perspective: employing large language models (LLMs) as EV charging demand predictors. First, we reformulate the prediction task into a text-to-text format, enabling seamless and effective alignment of various features within a unified language semantic space. Subsequently, we fine-tune a LLM using a meta-learning framework to adapt it specifically for EV charging prediction. Through comprehensive evaluations, it has been demonstrated that the proposed model, ChatEV, achieves outstanding performance in EV charging demand forecasting, particularly in scenarios with limited data.

Unveiling the multifaceted public interest in ChatGPT

The present study was aimed at identifying key topics in online discussions about the use of ChatGPT by examining a large dataset extracted from Reddit social media using natural language processing. A corpus of 159,971 posts about ChatGPT were extracted from a custom-made python-coded Reddit content scraper for posts in the r/ChatGPT subreddit discussions. After cleaning the data, the sample was reduced to 119,853 posts which was subjected to cluster analysis using the open-source IRaMuTeQ software to identify main topics based on the cooccurrence of texts. These clusters were named by a panel of social psychology experts (n=3) by reading typical text segments within each cluster. Four thematic clusters emerged, categorized into two main topics: “Society and AI Integration”, focusing on ethical concerns (32.1%), and “Operational Aspects and Applications”, which delves into technical and practical facets (67.9%). The latter includes clusters like “AI Technical Framework”, “Casual AI Interactions”, and “Human-AI Etiquette”. The Reddit discourse provides a comprehensive understanding of ChatGPT, revealing user priorities like system capabilities and ethical considerations. Notably, the “Human-AI Etiquette” cluster is a new topic less covered in existing literature. The findings underscore the importance of effective prompting for meaningful user engagement with ChatGPT.