2024
Authors
Andrade, T; Gama, J;
Publication
Progress in Artificial Intelligence - 23rd EPIA Conference on Artificial Intelligence, EPIA 2024, Viana do Castelo, Portugal, September 3-6, 2024, Proceedings, Part III
Abstract
Various relevant aspects of our lives relate to the places we visit and our daily activities. The movement of individuals between regular places, such as work, school, or other important personal locations is getting increasing attention due to the pervasiveness of geolocation devices and the amount of data they generate. This paper presents an approach for personal location prediction using a probabilistic model and data mining techniques over mobility data streams. We extract the individuals’ locations from relevant events in a data stream to build and maintain a Markov Chain over the important places. We evaluate the method over 3 real-world datasets. The results show the usefulness of the proposal in comparison with other well-known approaches. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
2024
Authors
Veloso, B; Martins, C; Espanha, R; Silva, PR; Azevedo, R; Gama, J;
Publication
Abstract
2024
Authors
Santos, J; Silva, N; Ferreira, C; Gama, J;
Publication
Joint Proceedings of Posters, Demos, Workshops, and Tutorials of the 24th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management (EKAW-PDWT 2024) co-located with 24th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management (EKAW 2024), Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 26-28, 2024.
Abstract
This paper addresses a critical gap in applying semantic enrichment for online news text classification using large language models (LLMs) in fast-paced newsroom environments. While LLMs excel in static text classification tasks, they struggle in real-time scenarios where news topics and narratives evolve rapidly. The dynamic nature of news, with frequent introductions of new concepts and events, challenges pre-trained models, which often fail to adapt quickly to changes. Additionally, the potential of ontology-based semantic enrichment to enhance model adaptability in these contexts has been underexplored. To address these challenges, we propose a novel supervised news classification system that incorporates semantic enrichment to enhance real-time adaptability. This approach bridges the gap between static language models and the dynamic nature of modern newsrooms. The system operates on an adaptive prequential learning framework, continuously assessing model performance on incoming data streams to simulate real-time newsroom decision-making. It supports diverse content formats - text, images, audio, and video - and multiple languages, aligning with the demands of digital journalism. We explore three strategies for deploying LLMs in this dynamic environment: using pre-trained models directly, fine-tuning classifier layers while freezing the initial layers to accommodate new data, and continuously fine-tuning the entire model using real-time feedback combined with data selected based on specified criteria to enhance adaptability and learning over time. These approaches are evaluated incrementally as new data is introduced, reflecting real-time news cycles. Our findings demonstrate that ontology-based semantic enrichment consistently improves classification performance, enabling models to adapt effectively to emerging topics and evolving contexts. This study highlights the critical role of semantic enrichment, prequential evaluation, and continuous learning in building robust and adaptive news classification systems capable of thriving in the rapidly evolving digital news landscape. By augmenting news content with third-party ontology-based knowledge, our system provides deeper contextual understanding, enabling LLMs to navigate emerging topics and shifting narratives more effectively. Copyright © 2024 for this paper by its authors.
2024
Authors
Guedes, JG; Ribeiro, R; Carqueijeiro, I; Guimaraes, AL; Bispo, C; Archer, J; Azevedo, H; Fonseca, NA; Sottomayor, M;
Publication
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
Abstract
Catharanthus roseus leaves produce a range of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) that include low levels of the anticancer drugs vinblastine and vincristine. The MIA pathway displays a complex architecture spanning different subcellular and cell type localizations, and is under complex regulation. As a result, the development of strategies to increase the levels of the anticancer MIAs has remained elusive. The pathway involves mesophyll specialized idioblasts where the late unsolved biosynthetic steps are thought to occur. Here, protoplasts of C. roseus leaf idioblasts were isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and their differential alkaloid and transcriptomic profiles were characterized. This involved the assembly of an improved C. roseus transcriptome from short- and long-read data, IDIO+. It was observed that C. roseus mesophyll idioblasts possess a distinctive transcriptomic profile associated with protection against biotic and abiotic stresses, and indicative that this cell type is a carbon sink, in contrast to surrounding mesophyll cells. Moreover, it is shown that idioblasts are a hotspot of alkaloid accumulation, suggesting that their transcriptome may hold the key to the in-depth understanding of the MIA pathway and the success of strategies leading to higher levels of the anticancer drugs. Catharanthus mesophyll idioblasts are a hotspot of alkaloid accumulation. The idioblast transcriptome is associated with stress responses and provides a roadmap towards the increase of anticancer alkaloid levels.
2024
Authors
Cabezas, MP; Fonseca, NA; Muñoz-Mérida, A;
Publication
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME
Abstract
MotivationAccurate determination and quantification of the taxonomic composition of microbial communities, especially at the species level, is one of the major issues in metagenomics. This is primarily due to the limitations of commonly used 16S rRNA reference databases, which either contain a lot of redundancy or a high percentage of sequences with missing taxonomic information. This may lead to erroneous identifications and, thus, to inaccurate conclusions regarding the ecological role and importance of those microorganisms in the ecosystem.ResultsThe current study presents MIMt, a new 16S rRNA database for archaea and bacteria's identification, encompassing 47 001 sequences, all precisely identified at species level. In addition, a MIMt2.0 version was created with only curated sequences from RefSeq Targeted loci with 32 086 sequences. MIMt aims to be updated twice a year to include all newly sequenced species. We evaluated MIMt against Greengenes, RDP, GTDB and SILVA in terms of sequence distribution and taxonomic assignments accuracy. Our results showed that MIMt contains less redundancy, and despite being 20 to 500 times smaller than existing databases, outperforms them in completeness and taxonomic accuracy, enabling more precise assignments at lower taxonomic ranks and thus, significantly improving species-level identification.
2024
Authors
Bacelar Silva, GM; Cox, JF III; Rodrigues, P;
Publication
HEALTH SYSTEMS
Abstract
Lack of timeliness and capacity are seen as fundamental problems that jeopardise healthcare delivery systems everywhere. Many believe the shortage of medical providers is causing this timeliness problem. This action research presents how one doctor implemented the theory of constraints (TOC) to improve the throughput (quantity of patients treated) of his ophthalmology imaging practice by 64% in a few weeks with little to no expense. The five focusing steps (5FS) guided the TOC implementation - which included the drum-buffer-rope scheduling and buffer management - and occurred in a matter of days. The implementation provided significant bottom-line results almost immediately. This article explains each step of the 5FS in general terms followed by specific applications to healthcare services, as well as the detailed use in this action research. Although TOC successfully addressed the practice problems, this implementation was not sustained after the TOC champion left the organisation. However, this drawback provided valuable knowledge. The article provides insightful knowledge to help readers implement TOC in their environments to provide immediate and significant results at little to no expense.
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