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Presenting Studies on LLMs Reasoning Capabilities in Sentiment Analysis of Mass-Media texts at NLPSummit-2024

BU research, conferences, Events, Knowledge Exchange, research methods, Uncategorized

 

As a part of reseach studies in Natural Langauge Processing (NLP) field, this year I am delighted to present the most recent advances of Generative AI in it at NLPSummit-2024. The 5’th summit represents a free online conference September 24-26, hosted by JohnSnowLabs. The conference is dedicated to showcase the best practices, real-world case studies and challanges in Generative AI for Natural Language Processing.

By joining to my talk you become aware of how Large Language Models (LLMs) could be applied for retrieving implicit information from non-structured texts. Sentiment Analysis represent one of such problems, and as a task aimed at extraction of the hidden opinion of the author towards objects mentioned in text. We start by discovering reasoning capabilities of the most popular Large Language Models (ChatGPT, Mistral, Gemma, Microsoft-Phi, and more) out-of-the-box to show their limitations in retrieving authors opinion from Mass-media texts. To address the existed limitations in models reasoning capabilities 🧠 , we cover Chain-of-Thought technique and explore the way of its proper adaptiation in Sentiment Analysis. It is worth to note that the techniques, to be covered, could be distributed and adapted in the other domains that go beyond Mass-media. Such domains include but are not limited to: medical (adverse drug reaction), literature (fictional chatbot development), conversational (emotion extaction / empathy mapping).

These advances were achieved while at Centre for Applied Creative Technologies CfACTs+ by working on “Marking Medical Image Reports Automatically with Natural Language Processing (NLP-MMI)” project.

The keylinks realted to the event and presentation in particular, are as follows:

📍 Event page: https://www.nlpsummit.org/nlp-summit-2024/
⏰ When: 24-26 September 2024 (Online)
⭐ Project: https://github.com/nicolay-r/Reasoning-for-Sentiment-Analysis-Framework

Dr. Nicolay Rusnachenko
Research Fellow at Centre For Applied Creative Technologies PLUS (CFACT+)
Bournemouth University

MaGMap: Mass Grave Mapping

BU research, conferences, EU, international, Research communication, Research news

Mapping projects related to mass atrocities and human rights violations are prevalent across the globe. Despite their often well-intentioned origins, there has been minimal practical research and subsequent output focused on what constitutes effective mapping. Furthermore, there is a lack of guidance on how to balance the pursuit of justice with the need to protect victims and affected communities. This raised an essential question: where, when and under what circumstances should mapping of mass graves be avoided or kept secret so that protection is not jeopardised?

 

In 2022, Professor Melanie Klinkner and Dr Ellie Smith secured Leverhulme funding to address this critical question. As of August 30th, 2024, the project’s output has been completed and is now available as an open-access resource for global use. The output is accessible both online and in a physical format, consisting of a comprehensive workbook accompanied by a set of removable tools designed to guide practitioners through the mapping process. These tools include:

 

  • Mapping Process Flowchart: The flowchart illustrates the life cycle of a mass grave, highlighting the key stages and considerations at each step, all guided by the protection of rights.

 

  • Mapping Decision Tree: Accompanying the flowchart, the decision tree highlights concerns and necessary actions that must be addressed before progressing with mapping at each stage.

 

  • Risk Register: This element assists in decision-making processes by enabling logging and evaluations of risks and subsequent mitigation strategies.

 

Upon completion of the research Dr Ellie Smith outlines that:

“Mapping mass graves in an open-source format has the potential to provide longer-term protection of the site, as well as a means of countering revisionism, but is not without risks. The aim of our MaGMap tools is to enable anyone involved in mass grave mapping to do so in a way that is safe for survivors, witnesses and the families of victims, and preserves the integrity of the site as a crime scene”.

 

For Professor Melanie Klinkner the finalisation of these resources means that:

“Theoretical, transferable foundations have been laid to inform continued research and current mapping of atrocity practices. In fact, much of what we have learned during the course of the project now guides our own approach to building a regularised global mass grave map. This is significant: it will enable us to fully appraise the scale and magnitude of mass graves across the world in a rights-compliant and safe manner”.

 

Dr Ellie Smith will be presenting the findings of MaGMap this week at the European Society of International Law Conference in Lithuania.

 

Iridescent Spider Webs: BU NCCA Undergraduate Student Success at SIGGRAPH’24

BU research, conferences, Featured academics, Publishing, REF Subjects, Research news, staff profile pages, Student Engagement, student research

The 51st International Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH’24), the international annual conference for the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, the world’s foremost computing society) was held in Denver, Colorado in August.

Among the work showcased at the conference was the poster “O, What an Iridescent Web We Weave: Rendering Physically Inspired Spider Webs for Visual Effects” by Vaya Simeonova (Grigorova) from this year’s graduating cohort (Computer Animation Technical Arts – CATA, Level 6) of the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA, Faculty of Media and Communication) and co-authored by Dr Eike Falk Anderson.

Poster presented at SIGGRAPH’24

The poster paper is based on Vaya’s final year Research & Development Project unit project “An Exploration of the Optical Properties of Spider Web Fibres”, which resulted in the development of a physically inspired method for rendering CG spider webs that display the iridescent properties, observable in real-world spider webs.

The method achieves this in a manner that does not require a computationally expensive and bespoke/proprietary software solution, but instead works with industry standard, off-the-shelf, visual effects (VFX) software, meaning it can effortlessly be integrated into existing VFX production pipelines. The project was also one of five submissions featured in the SIGGRAPH’24 “Posters Highlights” video.

After being accepted as one of the 70 posters presented at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, the world’s Premier Conference & Exhibition on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques, Vaya’s contribution (poster 32), was invited to the first round of the prestigious ACM Student Research Competition (SRC) sponsored by Microsoft, shortlisted as a semi-finalists, and presented to a panel of experts in the SRC Final Presentation. The jury, who enjoyed Vaya’s presentation and appreciated her demonstrated knowledge of prior research, were impressed by her execution of the work and its practicality, for which they awarded Vaya the Second Place in the ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Student Research Competition in the undergraduate category.

Vaya Simeonova, presenting her poster (2nd place SRC, undergraduate category) at SIGGRAPH'24

After Ben Knowles (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who was awarded second place at SIGGRAPH’15 for “Increasing realism of animated grass in real-time game environments“, Teemu Lindborg and Philip Gifford (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who were semi-finalists at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Interactive parameterised heterogeneous 3D modelling with signed distance fields”, Quentin Corker-Marin (with Dr Valery Adzhiev and the late Professor Alexander Pasko) who achieved second place at SIGGRAPH’17 for “Space-time cubification of artistic shapes“, Bianca Cirdei (with Dr Eike Falk Anderson) who was awarded 1st place at SIGGRAPH’18 for her exceptional project “Withering fruits: vegetable matter decay and fungus growth” and Laura Mann (with Dr Oleg Fryazinov) who won second place at SIGGRAPH’19 for “3D printing for mixed reality hands-on museum exhibit interaction“, this is the first time since the start of the COVID’19 pandemic that an NCCA undergraduate student has progressed to the final round in this prestigious competition.

Nutrition team head to Belfast for the International Nutrition Society Congress

BU research, conferences, research staff

Between the 2nd- 4th July, staff from the Nutrition team in the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences travelled to Belfast to present their research and attend the international Nutrition Society Congress.

Staff showcased and presented a wide range of nutrition and health sciences research which was exceptionally well received by the audience members across the three days in Belfast.

  • Dr Joanne Holmes, Deputy Head of Department presented work entitled Sensory appeal and acceptance of a novel food intervention programme for older adults living with dysphagia.
  • Dr Fotini Tsofliou, Principal Academic and Programme Lead MSc Nutrition and Behaviour alongside two postgraduate researchers (PGRs) James Brooks (PhD) and Lee Chester (MRes) presented three research projects (1x randomised cross-over study and 2x systematic reviews) on healthy diet patterns towards a mediterranean style diet and effects on mood and mental wellbeing in middle aged adults.
  • Dr Reena Vijayakumaran, Senior Lecturer presented work entitled Exploring Food Insecurity & Sustainable Food in Rural India: Collaborative Learning through Student Mobility Programme
  • Dr Sarah Hillier, Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead BSc Nutrition presented work entitled Women’s dietary changes before and during pregnancy: a systematic review update. A project working in collaboration with her colleague Dr Ellinor Olander from City University.
  • Prof Jane Murphy, Deputy Dean presented work entitled A co-designed food intervention to promote healthy ageing in ethnic minorities  (TANGERINE | Bournemouth University)

The Nutrition Society Congress gave the team an opportunity to collaborate and network with individuals across higher education, industry, and policy makers in the field of nutrition sciences.

The Congress was also an opportunity for staff members to engage in some team bonding, and they took the opportunity to learn about the history of Belfast, as well as sampling some of the local cuisine and beverages!

 

Bursaries available to attend the 2024 Vitae Researcher Development Conference

BU research, conferences, Doctoral College, research opportunities, Research Training, RKE development framework, Vitae

A number of bursaries are available to enable researchers to attend the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2024.

The conference takes place online from 3rd-5th September and in-person in Birmingham on 23rd and 24th September.

It is the flagship annual event of Vitae, a non-profit programme to support the professional development of researchers, and will cover topics around policy and practice in researcher development.

29 bursaries are available in total – covering attendance at both the online and in-person events or the online-only elements.

The bursaries have been sponsored by UKRI, British Academy’s Early Career Researcher Network, and Wellcome – with different criteria for each.

They are available to researchers in the following categories:

  • who are, have been, or are looking to be involved in researcher networks and staff associations or committees (UKRI bursaries)
  • part of the BA Early Career Researcher Network (British Academy bursaries)
  • with an interest in equity, diversity and inclusion within the research environment (Wellcome bursaries)

The closing date for applications is Tuesday 20th August.

For more information and to apply, please visit the Vitae Researcher Development Conference website

BU Hosted the National KTP Practitioner Conference 2024! Matt Desmier

Business Engagement, conferences, Events, Impact, innovation, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Uncategorized

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are an extremely useful tool for any forward-thinking institution or team of academics wanting to apply their research in real world settings.

The UK Government’s longest established business support and research funding allocation, they’re a tried and tested vehicle that consistently demonstrate how Universities can have a measurable impact on the world around them.

Earlier this summer, Bournemouth University was selected as the honourable host of the 2024 KTP Practitioners Conference, the annual gathering of knowledge exchange professionals from across the country. This was a coup for BU and an excellent opportunity to cement our place in the canon of proactive institutions embracing the potential of KTPs.

Over the course of one and a half days, Fusion Building welcomed 200 delegates, representing 79 universities alongside guests from Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect, some interested businesses and a smattering of academics too.

The convened audience enjoyed three high profile keynote talks, updates from both the KTP funders and the National Forum, as well as twelve workshops designed to equip those present with the skills they need to grow and manage their KTP portfolio.

Assisted by Bournemouth’s wonderful micro climate, the whole event was a resounding success. Much was learnt, many connections were made and the bar was set extremely high for Manchester Metropolitan University, who’re hosting the event next year.

Congratulations to Malika Felton for winning best oral presentation at the WiSEAN conference

BU research, conferences, Research Centres, Research news, research staff

BU Programme Lead for BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy, Dr Malika Felon was awarded the prize for Best Oral Presentation at the WiSEAN conference (Women in Sport and Exercise Science Academic Network) at University of Portsmouth in June 2024. This comes after her award of the Early Career Researcher Award at the same conference last year in Liverpool.

Malika presented on behalf of the Reproductive Health and Outdoor Swimming Group, which includes experts from across cold water physiology, exercise physiology, reproductive science, maternal health, obstetrics, neonatology, water epidemiology and representatives from the Open Water Swimming Society and an open-water swimming social enterprise (University of Plymouth, University of Portsmouth, UCL, NHS Trusts, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Bluetits Chill Swimmers).

The presentation was on the group’s work ‘Cold Water Swimming and Pregnancy: A Scoping Review and Consensus Recommendations’. The work recognises the lack of evidence-based information to answer the many questions women have about cold water swimming during pregnancy. The presentation gained a lot of interest, and the group encourage future research to provide the evidence on which accurate advice can be based, allowing women to make evidence based decisions on whether to continue cold water swimming during pregnancy.

Bournemouth University had a group of eight members of staff travel up the coast to attend the WiSEAN conference, including supporting Megan Chesters, a final year undergraduate student from BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy, present her final year Research Project as a poster presentation.

Dr Malika Felton writes “The WiSEAN conference is a fantastic supportive environment, and I am honoured to be recognised for my work at two conferences in a row.”

“As part of the award I received a signed copy of The Female Body Bible (The Well HQ), which I am very much looking forward to read and has been on my to read list since before it came out. The foreword at the start of the book is ‘For those who want to forge a better future for girls and women everywhere – in sport, in health, in life’. I’m looking forward to being a part of this future, working alongside other amazing researchers in the area of women’s health.”

 

BU Research Conference: Powerful Partnerships – Wednesday 26 June

BU research, conferences, Events, Featured, Knowledge Exchange, Research communication, research opportunities, Research Training, RKE development framework, Training

A lightbulb created by interlocking pieces of stringThere’s still time to book your place for the BU Research Conference, which takes place on Wednesday (26 June) in the Fusion Building.

The theme for this year’s conference is powerful partnerships, exploring how working with others can enhance your research.

Speakers include Isabella Pereira, Head of the Institute for Community Studies, and a panel of BU academics sharing their experiences of working with partners regionally, nationally and internationally.

You’ll also have chance to take part in practical workshops covering topics including building international partnerships, co-creating research, and working with business.

The conference runs from 9.30am – 1pm and will be followed by a networking lunch to spark further conversations and collaborations.

We’re hoping it will be an inspiring and informative day, and we’d love to see you there.

Find out more and book your place via Eventbrite

BU MSc Student, Sarah Clark, presents MSc dissertation research at BPS Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2024

conferences, Events, student research, Uncategorized

Sarah, who is a BU MSc Student studying Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, presented research from her MSc dissertation on Friday 7th June at The BPS Division of Health Psychology Annual Conference 2024.

Supervised by Dr Emily Arden-Close, Sarah’s dissertation delved into the daily experiences of autistic individuals with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS). This was lived-experience research as Sarah has both conditions herself, and therefore engaging with her study participants carried huge emotional relevance and importance to her personally.

The research found that traits commonly associated with autism, such as the need for routine and structure, significantly aid in planning daily activities and managing EDS symptoms. However, participants also highlighted the psychological challenges of having to adjust meticulously planned routines due to acute pain and fatigue flare-ups. This qualitative research underscores the complexity and challenges faced by those living with both hEDS and autism.

Sarah was diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a rarely diagnosed genetic connective tissue disorder) in February 2020. This diagnosis came after fifteen years of physical symptoms which were misdiagnosed as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. Sarah has an extremely rare co-condition called Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) and has studied for her Masters degree on a prescription liquid-only diet, unable to eat food.

Sarah was diagnosed with autism in May 2022, after realising she is autistic thanks to the lectures on autism on her MSc course at BU!

Acknowledging the transformative impact of formal diagnosis on her life, Sarah has embraced lifestyle changes and effective self-management strategies for her hEDS and various co-morbidities.

Sarah sits as a patient expert in the EDS International Consortium, Psychiatric and Psychological Aspects Working Group, and Sarah presented her BMJ paper, “Help me trust you after my misdiagnosis,” at The EDS Global Learning Conference in Dublin last August.

Alongside being a student here, Sarah also works at BU as a Student Ambassador, Digitial Marketing Ambassador and a member of BU PIER (as a member of the public). Passionate about medical education and raising awareness of rare health conditions, Sarah regularly engages in public awareness, volunteering, and charity fundraising.

Influenced by her own health journey and navigating the complexities of the healthcare system, coupled with Complex PTSD from childhood trauma, Sarah has developed a keen interest in various aspects of the diagnostic journey.

In March 2024, Sarah’s art exhibition “Seeking Meaning in Diagnosis” was held in the Atrium Gallery at BU. Sarah recently won the SUBU Award in the “Outstanding Contribution to Equality” category.

As well as being a patient expert, photographer and blogger Sarah is also a keen yogi and she was featured in Hotpod Yoga’s Move with Purpose Campaign, discussing her late-autism diagnosis.

To learn more about Sarah’s inspirational diagnostic journey – visit her website.

Dr. Catalin Brylla raises awareness of Research and Social Justice at the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image

conferences, Featured academics, Impact, Research Ethics

Dr. Catalin Brylla, Principal Lecturer in Film and TV and Deputy Head of CESJ, has chaired the DEI Committee for the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image since 2022, launching several initiatives.  At this year’s conference in Budapest, the DEI focus was on “Research and Social Justice”, featuring a roundtable discussion with Prof. Srivi Ramasubramanian (Newhouse School at Syracuse University), Prof. Beth Haller (Towson University) and Dr. Wyatt Moss-Wellington (University of New England). The roundtable, moderated by Dr. Ari Purnama, addressed the following questions:

  • How should media research relate to social justice issues in practice?
  • How do media representations of marginalised identities affect production, criticism, and perception of media?
  • How can media research be decolonised through marginalised perspectives, such as the Global South?
  • How can media research symbiotically involve the communities it studies, such as applying participatory research methods and knowledge exchange?

 

Another initiative has been a mentor-mentee programme that has provided support for early-career research on teaching, bidding and wellbeing, organised by committee member Dr. Kata Szita.

Brylla is currently developing with Prof. Jens Eder (Babelsberg University) a model to implement and study the social impact of documentaries, which they presented at the conference in Budapest:

The model is partly based on Brylla’s latest monograph ‘Documentary and Stereotypes: Reducing Stigma through Factual Media‘ (Palgrave 2023) and will be further developed in a research project that compares impact strategies in the UK and Germany.

🌟Exciting News in Complex Networks Research🌟

BU research, conferences, Doctoral College, international, Postgraduate Research, Women's Academic Network

I am thrilled to share that I have been honoured to receive the Scholarship for Events on Complex Systems (SECS) from the Young Researchers of the Complex Systems Society (yrCSS). This prestigious award will allow me to attend the upcoming Complex Networks 2024 conference in Istanbul, Turkey from December 10-12, 2024.

          

My PhD research focuses on “Complex Urban Road Networks: Static Structures and Dynamic Processes”, exploring the intricate dynamics of urban transportation systems. This field has always sparked my curiosity, and I am eager to delve deeper into this complex interplay of structures and dynamics.

In addition to this incredible opportunity, I am also a finalist in the multi-modal category of the TRA Vision Young Researchers 2024 Competition with my research project “Transport Capacity Planning for Mega-events”. It is truly humbling to be recognised for my work in this competitive arena.

I am grateful for the guidance and support of my PhD supervisor, Dr. Wei Koong Chai, whose expertise and mentorship have been invaluable throughout my research journey. I am excited about the upcoming conference, where I hope to further contribute to the field of complex networks research. Thank you for joining me on this incredible academic adventure!

Best wishes,

Assemgul Kozhabek

🌐🔬 #ComplexSystems #ComplexNetworks

See yrCSS: https://yrcss.cssociety.org/

Complex Networks 2024 conference: https://complexnetworks.org/

Resilience, Advocacy and Wellbeing: Voices from the Frontline

conferences, Postgraduate Research, Uncategorized





On the 17.05.24 Tilia Lenz, Senior Lecturer presented her research project ‘Reclaiming Resilience- voices from the frontline’ to the UCU Equality Research conference in Manchester. The hybrid conference was open to all and free to attend, attracting 250 delegates.

Resilience, Advocacy and Wellbeing- RAW is a CPD (Continues Professional Development) unit at Bournemouth University. In 2022 Tilia and Dr Rejoice Chipuriro facilitated an action research session (Susman and Evered 1978; Watkins et al. 2019) with 18 students to conceptualize and subsequently Reclaim Resilience! All participants were female and in leadership roles in Health and Social Care, seeking to learn more about RAW. The topic was important to them in practice, despite or because of the inequalities they were exposed to. This word cloud represents their physical and psychological symptoms of stress.



They reflected on their personal circumstances as woman with caring responsibilities and ‘of a certain age’- meaning 30s and 50s. Whilst the women were employed in England, half were of black or ethnic global majority and/or had an international background.

We concluded that those who are less likely to be discriminated against, due to gender, age, health, race and so on, do not find the topic of RAW relevant to them. In fact, it is those in positions of power who create the narrative that individuals are not ‘resilient enough’ and question performance as Galpin (2019) considers.

The themes we identified through the action research were clearly gendered, pointing out women’s health issues during the stages of menopause and the complexities for women with a migration or ethnic global majority background. It signified the inequality of gender and background of our participants within their perceived positions of power in their leadership roles. Tilia collaborated with the cartoonist Harry Venning to create a version of his well-known character Clare in the community, visualising the research findings.



The group challenged the politicisation of the term resilience through their reflective contributions, stories and shared experiences (Phillips and Bunda 2018) of prejudice due to gender, health and race.

Through Appreciative Inquiry (McArthur-Blair and Cockell 2018; Watkins et al. 2019; Arnold et al. 2022) and positive questioning about what could be, rather than focusing on the problem, the group was then empowered to consider actions as individuals and as leaders. They defined what RAW meant to them in their personal and professional lives, defining who practice in health and social care could be made safer through compassionate leadership and organisational cultures of kindness.

2nd HSS PGR Conference – submission deadline 19th April

BU research, conferences, Doctoral College, ECR Network, Events, NHS, PG research, Postgraduate Research, student research

HSS conference poster

Last chance to submit…

The Conference Committee welcome all PGRs in HSS to submit an abstract to present at the 2nd annual department conference, which will be held on Tuesday 4th June.

Last year’s inaugural conference was very successful, with evaluations celebrating the welcoming and supportive atmosphere for sharing aspects of our PGR work. It was fantastic to hear from students across the faculty and to see the breadth of research being carried out. You can see some highlights on X, by searching for the tagline #FHSSPGRConference2023
We welcome applications from all HSS PGRS, at any stage of the research.  Please submit your abstract, for either an oral presentation (20mins/3mins) or a poster presentation at https://forms.office.com/e/uwMMNxstEY. NB the deadline for submissions has been extended by 1 week. Closing date Friday 19th April.
 
We have 2 keynote speakers organised to present on the day.
Dr. Mona Seyed Esfahani will deliver a keynote on new technologies in healthcare in the morning.
Dr. Holly Henderson will deliver a keynote on AI in research in the afternoon.
We look forward to receiving your abstracts.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on wardl@bournemouth.ac.uk or Tanya Andrewes on tandrewes@bournemouth.ac.uk.
Best wishes
Louise Ward, on behalf of the Conference Committee