Machine Translation of Closed Captions

Traditional Machine Translation (MT) systems are designed to translate documents. In this paper we describe an MT system that translates the closed captions that accompany most North American television broadcasts. This domain has two identifying characteristics. First, the captions themselves have properties quite different from the type of textual input that many MT systems have been designed for. This is due to the fact that captions generally represent speech and hence contain many of the phenomena that characterize spoken language. Second, the operational characteristics of the closed-caption domain are also quite distinctive. Unlike most other translation domains, the translated captions are only one of several sources of information that are available to the user. In addition, the user has limited time to comprehend the translation since captions only appear on the screen for a few seconds. In this paper, we look at some of the theoretical and implementational challenges that these characteristics pose for MT. We present a fully automatic large-scale multilingual MT system, ALTo. Our approach is based on Whitelock's Shake and Bake MT paradigm, which relies heavily on lexical resources. The system currently provides wide-coverage translation from English to Spanish. In addition to discussing the design of the system, we also address the evaluation issues that are associated with this domain and report on our current performance.     

Change in emotion-regulation strategy for women with metastatic breast cancer following supportive-expressive group therapy.

Four relatively independent emotion-regulation constructs (suppression of negative affect, restraint, repression, and emotional self-efficacy) were tested as outcomes in a randomized trial of supportive-expressive group therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer. Results indicate that report of suppression of negative affect decreased and restraint of aggressive, inconsiderate, impulsive, and irresponsible behavior increased in the treatment group as compared with controls over 1 year in the group. Groups did not differ over time on repression or emotional self-efficacy. This study provides evidence that emotion-focused therapy can help women with advanced breast cancer to become more expressive without becoming more hostile. Even though these aspects of emotion-regulation appear trait-like within the control group, significant change was observed with treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression and High Anxiety Are Associated With Aberrant Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms in Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Previous research has provided evidence of autonomic, endocrine, and immunological dysregulation in repressers and a possible association with cancer incidence and progression. Recently published data from the authors' laboratory demonstrated that flatter diurnal cortisol slopes were a risk factor for early mortality in women with metastatic breast cancer. In the current analysis of this same sample (N=91), the authors tested differences at baseline between groups scored using the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory on diurnal cortisol slope and mean cortisol levels. When compared with self-assured and nonextreme groups, the represser and high-anxious groups had a significantly flatter diurnal slope. Diurnal slope was similar for repressers and high-anxious groups. Groups did not differ on mean cortisol levels, nor did they differ on intercept (morning) values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural basis of individual differences in impulsivity: Contributions of corticolimbic circuits for behavioral arousal and control.

The objective of the current study was to analyze the neural correlates of behavioral arousal and inhibitory control as they relate to individual differences in impulsivity via well-established functional MRI amygdala reactivity and prefrontal inhibitory control paradigms in healthy adult subjects. Impulsivity correlated positively with activity of the bilateral ventral amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus, dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 32), and bilateral caudate. Conversely, impulsivity correlated negatively with activity of the dorsal amygdala and ventral prefrontal cortex (BA 47). Together, these findings suggest that dispositional impulsivity is influenced by the functional interplay of corticolimbic behavioral arousal and control circuits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Catalytic oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene over ABO3-type perovskites

Several ABO₃-type perovskite oxides (A = La, Y, Nd or Gd; B = Fe, Mn, Cr or Co) have been investigated as catalysts for the oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene (o-DCB), a model compound for the highly toxic polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. Initial transient and steady state activity measurements were conducted with all catalysts in the absence and presence of water. Perovskites containing Cr in the B-site were more active than perovskites containing other transition metals, with YCrO₃ being the most active catalyst among the different systems studied. Furthermore, YCrO₃ did not show any loss of its initial activity after several hours on stream. Other perovskites lost 10–20% of their initial activity within the first 5–10 h on stream. This loss was associated with a corresponding loss in BET surface area. With the exception of LaCoO₃, all perovskites retained their crystalline structure upon exposure to o-DCB under reaction conditions. LaCoO₃ was converted to LaOCl and Co₃O₄. The presence of water appeared to enhance the catalytic activity of some perovskites. This effect can be attributed to a faster removal of Cl⁻ ions from the catalyst surface via their reaction with water.     

Development of student drivers' self-assessment accuracy during French driver training: Self-assessments compared to instructors' assessments in three risky driving situations

Promoting self-assessment accuracy among student drivers could help improve road safety for young novice drivers (Minimum Requirement for Driving Instructor Training, 2005). It is crucial to investigate the development of this ability in student drivers, although few studies have been conducted on this issue to our knowledge. The present study was aimed at examining the development of accuracy in student drivers’ self-assessments. Students’ self-ratings of their skills were compared to instructors’ ratings based on the students’ progression through the four steps of the French driver training course. The ratings were collected from two versions of an ad hoc questionnaire about students’ ability to turn right, overtake another vehicle, and turn left in driving situations. The questionnaire included a three-part assessment scale (six driving subtasks required to perform the maneuver, the number of driving subtasks managed simultaneously, and the student's autonomy), demographic data, and the students’ progress in the training program. The participants were 149 student drivers (58 men and 91 women) with a mean age of 22.2 years, and 38 professional driving instructors (36 men and 2 women) from 13 driving schools in Paris. The psychometric quality of the scale was satisfactory (α_s > .9) concerning the self-ratings as well as the instructors’ ratings in the three parts of the scale. As a whole and as expected, the self-ratings and the instructors’ ratings became increasingly positive as the training progressed, on each part of the assessment scale. The students’ and the instructors’ ratings did not differ significantly between the three driving situations tested, nor between male and female students in each training step. Furthermore, students’ overestimation of their driving skills was mainly observed on step 1, less on steps 2 and 3, but never on step 4. Thus, the students became rather aware of their current driving skills as the driver training course progressed. The results on the development of the self-assessment accuracy in driver training are discussed.     

Processing and characterization of durum wheat bread enriched with antioxidant from yellow pepper flour

The effect of the addition of yellow pepper flour on bread physico-chemical and sensorial properties was addressed in this study. In particular, vegetable flour concentration was set at 25%; in order to optimize the bread sensorial properties, yellow pepper flour was separately hydrated at three different water content levels. Texture analysis were carried out on both dough and bread samples to evaluate their firmness. Furthermore, tomographic analysis was performed on the same samples in order to provide a more detailed view of their texture. Estimation of the glycemic response, determination of the carotenoids content and sensory analysis of the fortified bread were also determined. Results highlighted that the highest glycemic index was achieved in bread sample having the highest water content and that showed the worst results in terms of texture. Among the studied samples, bread with medium hydration level showed good structural characteristic, double anti-oxidant content compared to the control bread (CTRL S) and the highest sensorial quality.