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Fulltext A normalization model for repeated letters in social media hate speech text based on rules and spelling correction

Mansur Z, Omar N, Tiun S, Alshari EM

PLoS One, 2024;19(3):e0299652.
PMID: 38512966 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299652

As social media booms, abusive online practices such as hate speech have unfortunately increased as well. As letters are often repeated in words used to construct social media messages, these types of words should be eliminated or reduced in number to enhance the efficacy of hate speech detection. Although multiple models have attempted to normalize out-of-vocabulary (OOV) words with repeated letters, they often fail to determine whether the in-vocabulary (IV) replacement words are correct or incorrect. Therefore, this study developed an improved model for normalizing OOV words with repeated letters by replacing them with correct in-vocabulary (IV) replacement words. The improved normalization model is an unsupervised method that does not require the use of a special dictionary or annotated data. It combines rule-based patterns of words with repeated letters and the SymSpell spelling correction algorithm to remove repeated letters within the words by multiple rules regarding the position of repeated letters in a word, be it at the beginning, middle, or end of the word and the repetition pattern. Two hate speech datasets were then used to assess performance. The proposed normalization model was able to decrease the percentage of OOV words to 8%. Its F1 score was also 9% and 13% higher than the models proposed by two extant studies. Therefore, the proposed normalization model performed better than the benchmark studies in replacing OOV words with the correct IV replacement and improved the performance of the detection model. As such, suitable rule-based patterns can be combined with spelling correction to develop a text normalization model to correctly replace words with repeated letters, which would, in turn, improve hate speech detection in texts.
Multidimensional model to assess the readiness of Kuwait to implement evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs at a national level

Alkhawari M, Ali K, Al-Abdul Razzaq F, Saleheen HN, Almuneef M, Al-Eissa MA

Public Health, 2020 Apr;181:182-188.
PMID: 32088599 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.01.005

OBJECTIVE: To assess the readiness to implement child maltreatment (CM) prevention programs at a national level.
STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study.
METHODS: This study was completed alongside similar studies undertaken by the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and led by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study will allow further understanding of possible obstacles that may be encountered while implementing a nationwide prevention program. The 10-dimensional model of readiness had been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with five countries (Brazil, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa) through a five-stage process. Stakeholders and decision makers were invited to participate. Scores for each dimension were compared with those for the rest of the GCC countries.
RESULTS: The overall score of Kuwait was 39.17 out of 100. This was below the mean average score for the GCC countries (47.83). Out of the 10 dimensions, key informants scored the highest on legislation, mandates and policies (6.61). The lowest score was reported on attitudes towards CM prevention (1.94). Informal social resources (5.72) ranked the highest as compared to the rest of the GCC countries.
CONCLUSIONS: The readiness of Kuwait is weak on several dimensions and needs to be strengthened. Despite that, the country is moderately ready to implement large-scale evidence-based CM prevention programs because it is strong in the infrastructure of knowledge, legislation, mandates, and policies and informal social resources.
The assessment of the readiness of five countries to implement child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale

Mikton C, Power M, Raleva M, Makoae M, Al Eissa M, Cheah I, et al.

Child Abuse Negl, 2013 Dec;37(12):1237-51.
PMID: 23962585 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.07.009

This study aimed to systematically assess the readiness of five countries - Brazil, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa - to implement evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale. To this end, it applied a recently developed method called Readiness Assessment for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment based on two parallel 100-item instruments. The first measures the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs concerning child maltreatment prevention of key informants; the second, completed by child maltreatment prevention experts using all available data in the country, produces a more objective assessment readiness. The instruments cover all of the main aspects of readiness including, for instance, availability of scientific data on the problem, legislation and policies, will to address the problem, and material resources. Key informant scores ranged from 31.2 (Brazil) to 45.8/100 (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and expert scores, from 35.2 (Brazil) to 56/100 (Malaysia). Major gaps identified in almost all countries included a lack of professionals with the skills, knowledge, and expertise to implement evidence-based child maltreatment programs and of institutions to train them; inadequate funding, infrastructure, and equipment; extreme rarity of outcome evaluations of prevention programs; and lack of national prevalence surveys of child maltreatment. In sum, the five countries are in a low to moderate state of readiness to implement evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs on a large scale. Such an assessment of readiness - the first of its kind - allows gaps to be identified and then addressed to increase the likelihood of program success.
Fulltext The contribution of Islam to planetary health

Omrani OE, Essar MY, Alqodmani L, Uakkas S, Eissa M, Mahmood J, et al.

Lancet Planet Health, 2021 06;5(6):e333-e334.
PMID: 34119005 DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00134-0
Seeding a planetary health education revolution: institutional sign-on challenge

Howard C, Moineau G, Poitras J, Redvers N, Mahmood J, Eissa M, et al.

Lancet, 2023 Dec 09;402(10418):2173-2176.
PMID: 38000382 DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02526-6