Confidence in beliefs about pain predicts expectancy effects on pain perception and anticipatory processing in right anterior insula.

Psychological factors play a major role in exacerbating chronic pain. Effective self-management of pain is often hindered by inaccurate beliefs about the nature of pain which lead to a high degree of emotional reactivity. Probabilistic models of perception state that greater confidence (certainty) in beliefs increases their influence on perception and behavior. In this study, we treat confidence as a metacognitive process dissociable from the content of belief. We hypothesized that confidence is associated with anticipatory activation of areas of the pain matrix involved with top-down modulation of pain. Healthy volunteers rated their beliefs about the emotional distress that experimental pain would cause, and separately rated their level of confidence in this belief. Confidence predicted the influence of anticipation cues on experienced pain. We measured brain activity during anticipation of pain using high-density EEG and used electromagnetic tomography to determine neural substrates of this effect. Confidence correlated with activity in right anterior insula, posterior midcingulate and inferior parietal cortices during the anticipation of pain. Activity in the right anterior insula predicted a greater influence of anticipation cues on pain perception, whereas activity in right inferior parietal cortex predicted a decreased influence of anticipatory cues. The results support probabilistic models of pain perception and suggest that confidence in beliefs is an important determinant of expectancy effects on pain perception.

UEGO based measurement of EGR rate and residual gas fraction

A technique is presented for measuring the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and residual gas fraction (RGF) using a fast UEGO based O2 measurement of the manifold or in-cylinder gases, and of the exhaust gases. The technique has some advantages over the more common CO2-based method. In the case of an RGF measurement, fuel interference must be eliminated and special fuelling arrangements are is required. It is shown how a UEGO-based measurement, though sensitive to reactive species in the exhaust (such as H 2), as a system reports EGR/ RGF rates faithfully. Preliminary tests showed that EGR and RGF measurements using the O2 approach agreed well with CO2-based measurements. Copyright © 2011 SAE International.

N-gram posterior probability confidence measures for statistical machine translation: An empirical study

We report an empirical study of n-gram posterior probability confidence measures for statistical machine translation (SMT). We first describe an efficient and practical algorithm for rapidly computing n-gram posterior probabilities from large translation word lattices. These probabilities are shown to be a good predictor of whether or not the n-gram is found in human reference translations, motivating their use as a confidence measure for SMT. Comprehensive n-gram precision and word coverage measurements are presented for a variety of different language pairs, domains and conditions. We analyze the effect on reference precision of using single or multiple references, and compare the precision of posteriors computed from k-best lists to those computed over the full evidence space of the lattice. We also demonstrate improved confidence by combining multiple lattices in a multi-source translation framework. © 2012 The Author(s).

Using sub-word-level information for confidence estimation with conditional random field models

The task of word-level confidence estimation (CE) for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems stands to benefit from the combination of suitably defined input features from multiple information sources. However, the information sources of interest may not necessarily operate at the same level of granularity as the underlying ASR system. The research described here builds on previous work on confidence estimation for ASR systems using features extracted from word-level recognition lattices, by incorporating information at the sub-word level. Furthermore, the use of Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) with hidden states is investigated as a technique to combine information for word-level CE. Performance improvements are shown using the sub-word-level information in linear-chain CRFs with appropriately engineered feature functions, as well as when applying the hidden-state CRF model at the word level.

Measurement of Residual Stresses in Ferroelectric Pb(Zr

The residual stresses in Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3thin films were measured by the \sin^{2}\Psi method using the normal X-ray incidence. The spacing of different planes (hkl) parallel to the film surface were converted to the spacing of a set of inclined planes (100). The angles between (100) and (hkl) were equivalent to the tilting angles of (100) from the normal of film surface. The residual stresses were extracted from the linear slope of the strain difference between the equivalent inclined direction and normal direction with respect to the \sin^{2}\Psi. The results were in consistency with that derived from the conventional \sin^{2}\Psi method.

A confidence-based approach for improving keyword hypothesis scores

The task in keyword spotting (KWS) is to hypothesise times at which any of a set of key terms occurs in audio. An important aspect of such systems are the scores assigned to these hypotheses, the accuracy of which have a significant impact on performance. Estimating these scores may be formulated as a confidence estimation problem, where a measure of confidence is assigned to each key term hypothesis. In this work, a set of discriminative features is defined, and combined using a conditional random field (CRF) model for improved confidence estimation. An extension to this model to directly address the problem of score normalisation across key terms is also introduced. The implicit score normalisation which results from applying this approach to separate systems in a hybrid configuration yields further benefits. Results are presented which show notable improvements in KWS performance using the techniques presented in this work. © 2013 IEEE.

Measurement of residual stresses in ferroelectric Pb(Zr 0.3Ti0.7)O3 thin films by X-ray diffraction

The residual stresses in Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 thin films were measured by the sin2 Ψ method using the normal X-ray incidence. The spacing of different planes (hkl) parallel to the film surface were converted to the spacing of a set of inclined planes (100). The angles between (100) and (hkl) were equivalent to the tilting angles of (100) from the normal of film surface. The residual stresses were extracted from the linear slope of the strain difference between the equivalent inclined direction and normal direction with respect to the sin2 Ψ. The results were in consistency with that derived from the conventional sin2 Ψ method. © 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

Residual strength of GRP laminates with multiple randomly distributed fragment impacts

The residual tensile strength of glass fibre reinforced composites with randomly distributed holes and fragment impact damages have been investigated. Experiments have been performed on large scale panels and small scale specimens. A finite element model has been developed to predict the strength of multi-axial panels with randomly distributed holes. Further, an effective analytical model has been developed using percolation theory. The model gives an estimation of the residual strength as function of removed surface area caused by the holes. It is found that if 8% of the area is removed, the residual strength is approximately 50% of the un-damaged strength. © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Determinations of residual furazolidone and its metabolite, 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ), in fish feeds by HPLC-UV and LC-MS/MS, respectively

The antibacterial drug furazolidone belonging to the group of nitrofuran antibacterial agents has been widely used as an antibacterial and antiprotozoal feed additive for poultry, cattle, and farmed fish in China. During application a large proportion of the administered drug may reach the environment directly or via feces. Although the use of furazolidone is prohibited in numerous countries, there are indications of its illegal use. It is known that furazolidone can be rapidly metabolized to 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ) in the body of the target organism. In this study, a total of 21 fish feed samples, including 17 commercial fish feeds from local markets in China (representing 15 different formulations) and 4 fish feeds obtained from Germany and Turkey, respectively, are analyzed to determine whether the drug is still illegally used or commercially available feeds are contaminated by this drug. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) methods have been implemented to determine furazolidone and its metabolite AOZ in fish feeds containing animal protein, respectively. An efficient and convenient cleanup method for the determination of furazolidone in fish feeds is developed, and a simple cleanup method for the determination of AOZ is used. Method recoveries for samples used were determined as 87.7-98.3% for furazolidone at two spike levels of 2.0 and 5.0 ng g(-1) and as 95.6-102.8% for AOZ at spike levels of 0.4 and 0.8 ng g(-1). Limits of detections were 0.4 ng g(-1) for furazolidone and 0.05 ng g(-1) for AOZ. The established methods are therefore suitable for the determination of furazolidone and its metabolite AOZ in fish feeds at trace contamination levels. Using the established methods, all fish feed samples have been proved to be furazolidone negative; however, AOZ is tested in 16 of 17 fish feeds obtained from local markets in the Hubei province of China, with a positive rate as high as 94.1%.

Residual plastids of bleached mutants of Euglena gracilis and their effects on the expression of nucleus-encoded genes

Bleached mutants of Euglena gracilis were obtained by treatment with ofloxacin (Ofl) and streptomycin (Sm) respectively. As shown by electron microscopy, the residual plastids contain prothylakoids in an Ofl mutant, and the highly developed and tightly stacked membranous structure found in cells of two Sm, mutants. Nine genes of the plastid genome were examined with PCR, showing that ribosomal protein genes and most other plastid genes were lost in all but one Sm mutant. Using differential display and RT-PCR, it was shown that chloroplast degeneration could cause changes in transcription of certain nucleus-encoded genes during heterotrophic growth in darkness.

PCDD/F-s, PCBs, HCHs and HCB in sediments and soils of Ya-Er lake area in China: Results on residual levels and correlation to the organic carbon and particle size

Sediments and soils collected from the Ya-Er Lake area in China were analysed for the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The results indicated the main pollution problems in the Ya-Er Lake area, which was heavily polluted by HCHs and chlorobenzenes, now is dominantly polluted by PCDD/Fs, PCBs and HCB. The occurrence of PCDD/Fs and PCBs with relatively high levels of HpCDDs, OCDD and low chlorinated-substituted PCBs, is attributed to the discharge of waste water and biodegradation. The vertical distributions of HCH-residues are related with the content of organic carbon and particle size. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd

MOBILITY AND TRANSFER OF RESIDUAL HEXACHLOROCYCLOHEXANE (HCH) IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT

An investigation was carried out to study the mobility and transfer of HCH-residues in Yanjia lake, Hubei, China, from 1990-1993. By sampling at different locations, the horizontal distribution of HCH-residues was determined; by sampling at different depths in the same location, the vertical mobility of HCH-residues and its penetration were measured. The vertical profiles of HCH-residues in sediment showed a gradient distribution, which was reduced with the increase in depth. This was very similar in shape to the organic carbon and nitrogen content profiles. The penetration of HCH-residues was measured as 60cm approximately. Meanwhile, water, sediment (0-12cm), benthos and benthic fish collected from the lake were analyzed to determine the transfer of HCH-residues along aquatic food chain. The BCF values of HCH-residues indicated that the bioaccumulation of HCH-residues in freshwater food chain still exsisted in spite of the banning of HCH since 1983. The maxium BCF value of HCH-residues in the liver samples of 5-year-old common carp was up to 61966 (calculated by beta-HCH).

Gallium antisite defect and residual acceptors in undoped GaSb

Undoped Ga-Sb samples were investigated by positron lifetime spectroscopy (PAS) and the coincident Doppler broadening (CDB) technique. PAS measurement indicated that there were monovacancy-type defects in undoped Ga-Sb samples, which were identified to be predominantly Ca vacancy (V-Ga) related defects by combining the CDB measurements. After annealing of these samples at 520 C, positron shallow trapping have been observed and should be due to Ga-Sb defects. Undoped Ga-Sb is intrinsically p-type having a residual carrier density of 10(16)-10(17) cm(-3). And the Ga-Sb antisite defects are stable in the (0), (1-) and (2-) charge states and act as a double acceptor. Thus, we infer that Ga-Sb antisite defects are the acceptor contributing to the p-type conduction for undoped samples. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.