Estudi comparatiu per ala millora dels resultatsdels traductorsautomàtics de l’empresaAutomaticTrans

Aquest treball pretén millorar els resultats dels traductors automàtics de l’empresa AutomaticTrans i la traducció a l’agència de notícies EuropaPress mitjançant la comparació d’un corpus de notícies en castellà amb la corresponent traducció al català per dos traductors automàtics: l’ATS1, utilitzat per EuropaPress, i l’ATS4, l’última versió del traductor

Apertium Advanced Web Interface : A first step towards interactivity and language tools convergence

This documents sums up a projectaimed at building a new web interfaceto the Apertium machine translationplatform, including pre-editing andpost-editing environments. It containsa description of the accomplished workon this project, as well as an overviewof possible evolutions.

Toward Synchronous Extensible Dependency Grammar

Extensible Dependency Grammar (XDG; Debusmann, 2007) is a flexible, modular dependency grammarframework in which sentence analyses consist of multigraphs and processing takes the form of constraint satisfaction. This paper shows how XDGlends itself to grammar-driven machine translation and introduces the machinery necessary for synchronous XDG. Since the approach relies on a shared semantics, it resembles interlingua MT.It differs in that there are no separateanalysis and generation phases. Rather, translation consists of the simultaneousanalysis and generation of a single source-target sentence.

Maca - a configurable tool to integrate Polish morphological data

There are a number of morphological analysers for Polish. Most of these, however, are non-free resources. What is more, different analysers employ different tagsets and tokenisation strategies. This situation calls for a simpleand universal framework to join different sources of morphological information, including the existing resources as well as user-provided dictionaries. We present such a configurable framework that allows to write simple configuration files that define tokenisation strategies and the behaviour of morphologicalanalysers, including simple tagset conversion.

Taking on new challenges in multi-word unit processing for Machine Translation

This paper discusses the qualitativecomparative evaluation performed on theresults of two machine translation systemswith different approaches to the processing ofmulti-word units. It proposes a solution forovercoming the difficulties multi-word unitspresent to machine translation by adopting amethodology that combines the lexicongrammar approach with OpenLogos ontologyand semantico-syntactic rules. The paper alsodiscusses the importance of a qualitativeevaluation metrics to correctly evaluate theperformance of machine translation engineswith regards to multi-word units.

A Widely Used Machine Translation Service and its Migration to a Free/Open-Source Solution : the Case of Softcatalà

Softcatalà is a non-profit associationcreated more than 10 years ago to fightthe marginalisation of the Catalan languagein information and communicationtechnologies. It has led the localisationof many applications and thecreation of a website which allows itsusers to translate texts between Spanishand Catalan using an external closed-sourcetranslation engine. Recently,the closed-source translation back-endhas been replaced by a free/open-sourcesolution completely managed by Softcatalà: the Apertium machine translationplatform and the ScaleMT web serviceframework. Thanks to the opennessof the new solution, it is possibleto take advantage of the huge amount ofusers of the Softcatalà translation serviceto improve it, using a series ofmethods presented in this paper. In addition,a study of the translations requestedby the users has been carriedout, and it shows that the translationback-end change has not affected theusage patterns.

An Italian to Catalan RBMT system reusing data from existing language pairs

This paper presents an Italian to CatalanRBMT system automatically built bycombining the linguistic data of theexisting pairs Spanish-Catalan andSpanish-Italian. A lightweight manualpostprocessing is carried out in order tofix inconsistencies in the automaticallyderived dictionaries and to add very frequentwords that are missing accordingto a corpus analysis. The system isevaluated on the KDE4 corpus and outperformsGoogle Translate by approximatelyten absolute points in terms ofboth TER and GTM.

Heuristic procedures for solving the General Assembly Line Balancing Problem with Setups (GALBPS)

The General Assembly Line Balancing Problem with Setups (GALBPS) was recently defined in the literature. It adds sequence-dependent setup time considerations to the classical Simple Assembly Line Balancing Problem (SALBP) as follows: whenever a task is assigned next to another at the same workstation, a setup time must be added to compute the global workstation time, thereby providing the task sequence inside each workstation. This paper proposes over 50 priority-rule-based heuristic procedures to solve GALBPS, many of which are an improvement upon heuristic procedures published to date.

Using species richness and functional traits predictions to constrain assemblage predictions from stacked species distribution models

Aim: Modelling species at the assemblage level is required to make effective forecast of global change impacts on diversity and ecosystem functioning. Community predictions may be achieved using macroecological properties of communities (MEM), or by stacking of individual species distribution models (S-SDMs). To obtain more realistic predictions of species assemblages, the SESAM framework suggests applying successive filters to the initial species source pool, by combining different modelling approaches and rules. Here we provide a first test of this framework in mountain grassland communities. Location: The western Swiss Alps. Methods: Two implementations of the SESAM framework were tested: a "Probability ranking" rule based on species richness predictions and rough probabilities from SDMs, and a "Trait range" rule that uses the predicted upper and lower bound of community-level distribution of three different functional traits (vegetative height, specific leaf area and seed mass) to constraint a pool of environmentally filtered species from binary SDMs predictions. Results: We showed that all independent constraints expectedly contributed to reduce species richness overprediction. Only the "Probability ranking" rule allowed slightly but significantly improving predictions of community composition. Main conclusion: We tested various ways to implement the SESAM framework by integrating macroecological constraints into S-SDM predictions, and report one that is able to improve compositional predictions. We discuss possible improvements, such as further improving the causality and precision of environmental predictors, using other assembly rules and testing other types of ecological or functional constraints.

Assessment of Immature Platelet Fraction in the Diagnosis of Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome.

Children with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) are often first diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), potentially leading to both inappropriate treatment and the delay of life-saving definitive therapy. WAS is traditionally differentiated from ITP based on the small size of WAS platelets. In practice, microthrombocytopenia is often not present or not appreciated in children with WAS. To develop an alternative method of differentiating WAS from ITP, we retrospectively reviewed all complete blood counts and measurements of immature platelet fraction (IPF) in 18 subjects with WAS and 38 subjects with a diagnosis of ITP treated at our hospital. Examination of peripheral blood smears revealed a wide range of platelet sizes in subjects with WAS. Mean platelet volume (MPV) was not reported in 26% of subjects, and subjects in whom MPV was not reported had lower platelet counts than did subjects in whom MPV was reported. Subjects with WAS had a lower IPF than would be expected for their level of thrombocytopenia, and the IPF in subjects with WAS was significantly lower than in subjects with a diagnosis of ITP. Using logistic regression, we developed and validated a rule based on platelet count and IPF that was more sensitive for the diagnosis of WAS than was the MPV, and was applicable regardless of the level of platelets or the availability of the MPV. Our observations demonstrate that MPV is often not available in severely thrombocytopenic subjects, which may hinder the diagnosis of WAS. In addition, subjects with WAS have a low IPF, which is consistent with the notion that a platelet production defect contributes to the thrombocytopenia of WAS. Knowledge of this detail of WAS pathophysiology allows to differentiate WAS from ITP with increased sensitivity, thereby allowing a physician to spare children with WAS from inappropriate treatment, and make definitive therapy available in a timely manner.

Clinical Development Strategies and Outcomes in First-in-Human Trials of Monoclonal Antibodies.

PURPOSE: We conducted a comprehensive review of the design, implementation, and outcome of first-in-human (FIH) trials of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to clearly determine early clinical development strategies for this class of compounds. METHODS: We performed a PubMed search using appropriate terms to identify reports of FIH trials of mAbs published in peer-reviewed journals between January 2000 and April 2013. RESULTS: A total of 82 publications describing FIH trials were selected for analysis. Only 27 articles (33%) reported the criteria used for selecting the starting dose (SD). Dose escalation was performed using rule-based methods in 66 trials (80%). The median number of planned dose levels was five (range, two to 13). The median of the ratio between the highest planned dose and the SD was 27 (range, two to 3,333). Although in 56 studies (68%) at least one grade 3 or 4 toxicity event was reported, no dose-limiting toxicity was observed in 47 trials (57%). The highest planned dose was reached in all trials, but the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD) was defined in only 13 studies (16%). The median of the ratio between MTD and SD was eight (range, four to 1,000). The recommended phase II dose was indicated in 34 studies (41%), but in 25 (73%) of these trials, this dose was chosen without considering toxicity as the main selection criterion. CONCLUSION: This literature review highlights the broad design heterogeneity of FIH trials testing mAbs. Because of the limited observed toxicity, the MTD was infrequently reached, and therefore, the recommended phase II dose for subsequent clinical trials was only tentatively defined.

Modeling and manufacturability assessment of bistable quantum-dot cells

We have investigated the behavior of bistable cells made up of four quantum dots and occupied by two electrons, in the presence of realistic confinement potentials produced by depletion gates on top of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. Such a cell represents the basic building block for logic architectures based on the concept of quantum cellular automata (QCA) and of ground state computation, which have been proposed as an alternative to traditional transistor-based logic circuits. We have focused on the robustness of the operation of such cells with respect to asymmetries derived from fabrication tolerances. We have developed a two-dimensional model for the calculation of the electron density in a driven cell in response to the polarization state of a driver cell. Our method is based on the one-shot configuration-interaction technique, adapted from molecular chemistry. From the results of our simulations, we conclude that an implementation of QCA logic based on simple ¿hole arrays¿ is not feasible, because of the extreme sensitivity to fabrication tolerances. As an alternative, we propose cells defined by multiple gates, where geometrical asymmetries can be compensated for by adjusting the bias voltages. Even though not immediately applicable to the implementation of logic gates and not suitable for large scale integration, the proposed cell layout should allow an experimental demonstration of a chain of QCA cells.

Segmental Durations of Speech

This dissertation considers the segmental durations of speech from the viewpoint of speech technology, especially speech synthesis. The idea is that better models of segmental durations lead to higher naturalness and better intelligibility. These features are the key factors for better usability and generality of synthesized speech technology. Even though the studies are based on a Finnish corpus the approaches apply to all other languages as well. This is possibly due to the fact that most of the studies included in this dissertation are about universal effects taking place on utterance boundaries. Also the methods invented and used here are suitable for any other study of another language. This study is based on two corpora of news reading speech and sentences read aloud. The other corpus is read aloud by a 39-year-old male, whilst the other consists of several speakers in various situations. The use of two corpora is twofold: it involves a comparison of the corpora and a broader view on the matters of interest. The dissertation begins with an overview to the phonemes and the quantity system in the Finnish language. Especially, we are covering the intrinsic durations of phonemes and phoneme categories, as well as the difference of duration between short and long phonemes. The phoneme categories are presented to facilitate the problem of variability of speech segments. In this dissertation we cover the boundary-adjacent effects on segmental durations. In initial positions of utterances we find that there seems to be initial shortening in Finnish, but the result depends on the level of detail and on the individual phoneme. On the phoneme level we find that the shortening or lengthening only affects the very first ones at the beginning of an utterance. However, on average, the effect seems to shorten the whole first word on the word level. We establish the effect of final lengthening in Finnish. The effect in Finnish has been an open question for a long time, whilst Finnish has been the last missing piece for it to be a universal phenomenon. Final lengthening is studied from various angles and it is also shown that it is not a mere effect of prominence or an effect of speech corpus with high inter- and intra-speaker variation. The effect of final lengthening seems to extend from the final to the penultimate word. On a phoneme level it reaches a much wider area than the initial effect. We also present a normalization method suitable for corpus studies on segmental durations. The method uses an utterance-level normalization approach to capture the pattern of segmental durations within each utterance. This prevents the impact of various problematic variations within the corpora. The normalization is used in a study on final lengthening to show that the results on the effect are not caused by variation in the material. The dissertation shows an implementation and prowess of speech synthesis on a mobile platform. We find that the rule-based method of speech synthesis is a real-time software solution, but the signal generation process slows down the system beyond real time. Future aspects of speech synthesis on limited platforms are discussed. The dissertation considers ethical issues on the development of speech technology. The main focus is on the development of speech synthesis with high naturalness, but the problems and solutions are applicable to any other speech technology approaches.

TURKU TAKING STEPS TOWARDS FUTURE - technology supports physical activity

Physical activity (PA) is an important field of healthcare research internationally and within Finland. As technology devices and services penetrate deeper levels within society, the need for studying the usefulness for PA turns vital. We started this research work by reviewing literature consisting of two hundred research journals, all of which have found technology to significantly improve an individual’s ability to get motivation and achieve officially recommended levels of physical activity, like the 10000 steps a day, being tracked with the help of pedometers. Physical activity recommendations require sustained encouragement, consistent performance in order to achieve the long term benefits. We surveyed within the city of Turku, how the motivation levels and thirty three other criterions encompassing technology awareness, adoption and usage attitudes are impacted. Our aim was to know the factors responsible for achieving consistent growth in activity levels within the individuals and focus groups, as well as to determine the causes of failures and for collecting user experience feedback. The survey results were quite interesting and contain impeccable information for this field. While the focus groups confirmed the theory established by past studies within our literature review, it also establishes our research propositions that ict tools and services have provided and can further add higher benefits and value to individuals in tracking and maintain their activity levels consistently for longer time durations. This thesis includes two new models which dictate technology and physical activity adoption patterns based on four easy to evaluate criterions, thereby helping the healthcare providers to recommend improvements and address issues with an easy rule based approach. This research work provides vital clues on technology based healthcare objectives and achievement of standard PA recommendations by people within Turku and nearby regions.

Theorizing Formal and Informal Feedback Practices in Management Accounting Through Three Dimensions

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to widen and develop our theoretical frameworks for discussion and analyses of feedback practices in management accounting, particularly shedding light on its formal and informal aspects. The concept of feedback in management accounting has conventionally been analyzed within cybernetic control theory, in which feedback flows as a diagnostic or comparative loop between measurable outputs and pre-set goals (see e.g. Flamholtz et al. 1985; Flamholtz 1996, 1983), i.e. as a formal feedback loop. However, the everyday feedback practices in organizations are combinations of formal and informal elements. In addition to technique-driven feedback approaches (like budgets, measurement, and reward systems) we could also categorize social feedback practices that managers see relevant and effective in the pursuit of organizational control. While cybernetics or control theories successfully capture rational and measured aspects of organizational performance and offer a broad organizational context for the analysis, many individual and informal aspects remain vague and isolated. In order to discuss and make sense of the heterogeneous field of interpretations of formal and informal feedback, both in theory and practice, dichotomous approaches seem to be insufficient. Therefore, I suggest an analytical framework of formal and informal feedback with three dimensions (3D’s): source, time, and rule. Based on an abductive analysis of the theoretical and empirical findings from an interpretive case study around a business unit called Division Steelco, the 3Dframework and formal and informal feedback practices are further elaborated vis-á-vis the four thematic layers in the organizational control model by Flamholtz et al. (1985; Flamholtz 1996, 1983): core control system, organizational structure, organizational culture, and external environment. Various personal and cultural meanings given to the formal and informal feedback practices (“feedback as something”) create multidimensional interpretative contexts. Multidimensional frameworks aim to capture and better understand both the variety of interpretations and their implications to the functionality of feedback practices, important in interpretive research.