Inference of finite-state transducers from regular languages

Finite-state transducers are models that are being used in different areas of pattern recognition and computational linguistics. One of these areas is machine translation, where the approaches that are based on building models automatically from training examples are becoming more and more attractive. Finite-state transducers are very adequate to be used in constrained tasks where training samples of pairs of sentences are available. A technique to infer finite-state transducers is proposed in this work. This technique is based on formal relations between finite-state transducers and finite-state grammars. Given a training corpus of input-output pairs of sentences, the proposed approach uses statistical alignment methods to produce a set of conventional strings from which a stochastic finite-state grammar is inferred. This grammar is finally transformed into a resulting finite-state transducer. The proposed methods are assessed through series of machine translation experiments within the framework of the EUTRANS project.     

Intercomparison of ground-based microwave remote sensing measurements of stratospheric ozone over the Mendoza region, Argentina with HALOE data

The Tropospheric Water Vapour and Stratospheric Ozone (TROPWA) project has measured ground-based stratospheric ozone by means of millimetre wave radiometry tuned at 142 GHz from 1993 to 2000 in Mendoza, Argentina. Additionally, tropospheric water vapour was measured using a 92-GHz radiometer. This paper presents the theoretical error analysis used to characterize the ozone instrument, and a comparative study of the retrieved profiles with the coincident measurements taken with different instruments. To evaluate and validate the retrieved stratospheric ozone profiles, we have used a set of ozone profiles measured with the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE); while the water vapour data was calibrated against a set of 3-year-radiosounding-balloon data taken by the Argentine National Weather Service. This study also includes a comparison of individual ozone profiles measured using a second ground-based millimetre wave radiometer-spectrometer tuned at 276 GHz from the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie (MPAE), Germany. During this particular campaign carried out in November 1994, the ground-based measurements were contrasted with two space-born experiments: the Millimetre Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS), flown in the NASA-ATLAS 3 mission and the above-mentioned HALOE.From the error analysis and the comparison tests, it follows that between 20 to 40 km the TROPWA instrument is able to retrieve ozone profiles with absolute errors varying from 10% to 20%, relative errors less than 5%, and with a height resolution, calculated as full width at half maximum (FWHM), varying from 5 to 11 km depending on the altitude. The major discrepancies between the different set of profiles are about +8% to −10% (+0.4 to −0.8 ppmv), mainly due to the coarser height resolution of our instrument.     

Zur Kinetik der Cr23C6-Ausscheidung in rostfreiem Stahl mit 18% Cr und 8% Ni

Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt eine neue Hypothese zur Karbidausscheidung in rostfreien, austenitischen Stählen auf. Diese Karbidbildung verursacht die Anfälligkeit für interkristalline Korrosion. Im Gegensatz zu der verbreiteten Vorstellung, daß die Chromdiffusion der bestimmende Vorgang für die Kinetik ist, wird hier von der Annahme ausgegangen, daß es die Kohlenstoffdiffusion sei. Da die Chromatome substitutionell eingelagert sind, läuft die Chromdiffusion sehr langsam ab; die Diffusion der interstitiell eingelagerten Kohlenstoffatome erfolgt über die Gitterlücken und ist damit um 5 Größenordnungen schneller. Die Hypothese wird gestützt durch die Tatsachen, daß die Kohlenstoffkonzentration in der Legierung viel kleiner als die des Chroms ist, daß die Diffusionswege für Kohlenstoff viel größer sind, der Kohlenstoffübersättigungsgrad jedoch viel kleiner ist und schließlich, daß die Chromdiffusion entlang der Korngrenzen abläuft, wo sie 10⁶ mal schneller abläuft als im Korninneren. Ein Stahl mit 0,08% C wird unterschiedlich lang bei 3 Sensibilisierungstemperaturen angelassen. Der bei der Temperatur flüssiger Luft gemessene elektrische Widerstand der Proben ist – nach einer Oxalsäure-Behandlung – ein Maß für die ausgeschiedene Karbidmenge. Unter Voraussetzung des bekannten Mechanismus’ der Zementitbildung erhält man theoretische Vorstellungen, die auch bei der Chromkarbidbildung Voraussagen ermöglichen, die sich in guter Übereinstimmung mit den experimentell ermittelten Daten befinden.     

The structural plasticity of the C terminus of p21Cip1 is a determinant for target protein recognition

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitory protein p21(Cip1) might play multiple roles in cell-cycle regulation through interaction of its C-terminal domain with a defined set of cellular proteins such as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), calmodulin (CaM), and the oncoprotein SET. p21(Cip1) could be described as an intrinsically unstructured protein in solution although the C-terminal domain adopts a well-defined extended conformation when bound to PCNA. However, the molecular mechanism of the interaction with CaM and the oncoprotein SET is not well understood, partly because of the lack of structural information. In this work, a peptide derived from the C-terminal domain of p21(Cip1) that covers the binding domain of the three above-mentioned proteins was used to demonstrate that the C-terminal domain of p21 recognizes multiple ligands through its ability to adopt multiple conformations. The conformation is dictated by tertiary contacts rather than by the primary sequence of the protein. Our results suggest that the C-terminal domain of p21(Cip1) adopts an extended structure when bound to PCNA and probably when bound to the oncoprotein SET, but an alpha helix when bound to CaM.     

State-space truncation methods for parallel model reduction of large-scale systems

We discuss a parallel library of efficient algorithms for model reduction of large-scale systems with state-space dimension up to (10⁴). We survey the numerical algorithms underlying the implementation of the chosen model reduction methods. The approach considered here is based on state-space truncation of the system matrices and includes absolute and relative error methods for both stable and unstable systems. In contrast to serial implementations of these methods, we employ Newton-type iterative algorithms for the solution of the major computational tasks. Experimental results report the numerical accuracy and the parallel performance of our approach on a cluster of Intel Pentium II processors.     

Nanostructure in a Ti alloy processed using a cryomilling technique

A nanocrystalline Ti alloy with a uniform distribution of grains was synthesized using cryogenic mechanical milling. The effects of cryomilling parameters, such as milling time and ball to powder ratio (BPR), on the particle size, grain size, chemistry, and structure of cryomilled Ti powders were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The experimental results show that nanocrystalline Ti powders with a grain size of about 20 nm can be prepared using the cryomilling technique. Compared to SPEX milling at room temperature, cryomilling led to lower contamination levels of oxygen, nitrogen, and iron in the cryomilled Ti powder. The average particle size initially increased from the original 55 μm to a maximum value of 125 μm after 2 h of milling, and then decreased to 44 μm after 8 h of milling. Both the average particle size and the grain size decreased as the BPR increased.     

A novel fully differential biopotential amplifier with dc suppression

Fully differential amplifiers yield large differential gains and also high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR), provided they do not include any unmatched grounded component. In biopotential measurements, however, the admissible gain of amplification stages located before dc suppression is usually limited by electrode offset voltage, which can saturate amplifier outputs. The standard solution is to first convert the differential input voltage to a single-ended voltage and then implement any other required functions, such as dc suppression and dc level restoring. This approach, however, yields a limited CMRR and may result in a relatively large equivalent input noise. This paper describes a novel fully differential biopotential amplifier based on a fully differential dc-suppression circuit that does not rely on any matched passive components, yet provides large CMRR and fast recovery from dc level transients. The proposed solution is particularly convenient for low supply voltage systems. An example implementation, based on standard low-power op amps and a single 5-V power supply, accepts input offset voltages up to +/-500 mV, yields a CMRR of 102 dB at 50 Hz, and provides, in accordance with the AAMI EC38 standard, a reset behavior for recovering from overloads or artifacts.     

An analytical model for the oxide size in Al alloys synthesized by reactive atomization and deposition

This article presents the formulation of an analytical model to predict the size scale of oxide dispersoids in as-deposited Al alloys synthesized by reactive atomization and deposition (RAD). The proposed model formulation is primarily based on the assumption that all of the strain energy in the oxides is used to create interfaces between the oxide dispersoids and the matrix. It is also assumed that oxides are fragmented into plate-shaped dispersoids. Assuming three types of cross-sectional geometries for the oxide plates, i.e., circular (corresponding to disc-shaped oxide dispersoids), rectangular, and equilateral polygon, the following predictions are made on the basis of the analytical model. First, the curves for calculated effective cross-sectional diameters of plate-shaped oxide dispersoids vs droplet size and calculated effective volumetric diameter of plate-shaped oxide dispersoids vs droplet size can be divided into three distinct regions. These three regions are identified on the basis of two characteristic droplet sizes corresponding to the solid fraction equal to that on the deposited material’s surface ( ) and to solid fraction of 0.6 (D _0.6), respectively, at impact. Second, the velocity of individual droplets at impact has a limited effect on the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter. With an increase in solid fraction on the deposited material’s surface, the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter decrease significantly when droplet sizes are smaller than , whereas they remain almost unchanged when droplet sizes are higher than D _0.6. Third, when plate-shaped oxide dispersoids with rectangular or equilateral polygon cross-sectional geometries are chosen, the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter are larger than the corresponding calculated diameter and effective volumetric diameter of disc-shaped oxide dispersoids. The calculated effective cross-sectional diameters, based on different cross-sectional geometries (e.g., circular, rectangular with up to 10 of the length/width ratio, and equilateral polygon), are all in reasonable agreement with the experimentally observed effective cross-sectional diameter of oxides.     

Promoting physical activity in the Americas

Physical inactivity, obesity, and noncommunicable disease rates are rapidly climbing to epidemic proportions and are becoming the leading causes of death and disability in the Americas and globally. The causes are complex and will require a multifaceted, multisectoral approach. Recognizing this, the World Health Organization adopted a broad-ranging process to develop a Global Strategy for the Promotion of Diet, Physical Activity, and Health, as mandated by the World Health Assembly in May 2002. The results of the yearlong effort are to be presented at the World Health Assembly in May 2004.