Architecture of a multi-modal dialogue system oriented to multilingual question-answering

In this paper, a proposal of a multi-modal dialogue system oriented to multilingual question-answering is presented. This system includes the following ways of access: voice, text, avatar, gestures and signs language. The proposal is oriented to the question-answering task as a user interaction mechanism. The proposal here presented is in the first stages of its development phase and the architecture is presented for the first time on the base of the experiences in question-answering and dialogues previously developed. The main objective of this research work is the development of a solid platform that will permit the modular integration of the proposed architecture.

Question answering and multi-search engines in geo-temporal information retrieval

In this paper we present a complete system for the treatment of both geographical and temporal dimensions in text and its application to information retrieval. This system has been evaluated in both the GeoTime task of the 8th and 9th NTCIR workshop in the years 2010 and 2011 respectively, making it possible to compare the system to contemporary approaches to the topic. In order to participate in this task we have added the temporal dimension to our GIR system. The system proposed here has a modular architecture in order to add or modify features. In the development of this system, we have followed a QA-based approach as well as multi-search engines to improve the system performance.

Enrichment of the Phenotypic and Genotypic Data Warehouse analysis using Question Answering systems to facilitate the decision making process in cereal breeding programs

Currently there are an overwhelming number of scientific publications in Life Sciences, especially in Genetics and Biotechnology. This huge amount of information is structured in corporate Data Warehouses (DW) or in Biological Databases (e.g. UniProt, RCSB Protein Data Bank, CEREALAB or GenBank), whose main drawback is its cost of updating that makes it obsolete easily. However, these Databases are the main tool for enterprises when they want to update their internal information, for example when a plant breeder enterprise needs to enrich its genetic information (internal structured Database) with recently discovered genes related to specific phenotypic traits (external unstructured data) in order to choose the desired parentals for breeding programs. In this paper, we propose to complement the internal information with external data from the Web using Question Answering (QA) techniques. We go a step further by providing a complete framework for integrating unstructured and structured information by combining traditional Databases and DW architectures with QA systems. The great advantage of our framework is that decision makers can compare instantaneously internal data with external data from competitors, thereby allowing taking quick strategic decisions based on richer data.

The question of living bacteria in stony meteorites / by Sharat Kumar Roy --. Preface by N. Paul Hudson --

v.6:no.14(1935)

Question suggested by President Joseph Willard, [1790]

One slip of paper containing a handwritten question in the hand of President Joseph Willard. The question is on the verso of a note dated March 2, 1790.