Automatic name extraction from degraded document images

The problem addressed in this paper is the automatic extraction of names from a document image. Our approach relies on the combination of two complementary analyses. First, the image-based analysis exploits visual clues to select the regions of interest in the document. Second, the textual-based analysis searches for name patterns and low-level word textual features. Both analyses are then combined at the word level through a neural network fusion scheme. Reported results on degraded documents such as facsimile and photocopied technical journals demonstrate the interest of the combined approach.     

Factors affecting the action of α-amylase on wheat starch: Effects of water availability. An enzymic and structural study

In seeking an explanation for biochemical factors that influence the postprandial glycaemic response of starch-containing foods, a study was made of the action of pancreatic α-amylase on wheat starch. Samples containing different amounts of water were processed at 100 °C before use as substrates for amylase. Structural information on the starch samples was obtained by polarised light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), in parallel with the enzyme studies. The catalytic efficiency of α-amylase was relatively low until the water content reached 30%, whereupon it rose sharply. Surprisingly, the K_m value was higher for samples processed at 20–30% water than at 12% water, suggesting that access of the substrate to α-amylase was less favourable at 20–30% compared with 12% water. K_m values fell at higher water levels, indicating greater availability of starch to amylase, presumably as a consequence of increased disorder of starch structure. Using DSC, XRD and microscopy, the anomaly in kinetic behaviour of 20–30% water samples was shown to be due to annealing of starch during processing (heating at 100 °C). The enzyme kinetic data proved to be a sensitive probe of changes in starch structure.     

Spatial associations for musical stimuli: A piano in the head?

This study was aimed at examining whether pitch height and pitch change are mentally represented along spatial axes. A series of experiments explored, for isolated tones and 2-note intervals, the occurrence of effects analogous to the spatial numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect. Response device orientation (horizontal vs. vertical), task, and musical expertise of the participants were manipulated. The pitch of isolated tones triggered the automatic activation of a vertical axis independently of musical expertise, but the contour of melodic intervals did not. By contrast, automatic associations with the horizontal axis seemed linked to music training for pitch and, to a lower extent, for intervals. These results, discussed in the light of studies on number representation, provide a new example of the effects of musical expertise on music cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)