Slant estimation algorithm for OCR systems

A slant removal algorithm is presented based on the use of the vertical projection profile of word images and the Wigner–Ville distribution. The slant correction does not affect the connectivity of the word and the resulting words are natural. The evaluation of our algorithm was equally made by subjective and objective means. The algorithm has been tested in English and Modern Greek samples of more than 500 writers, taken from the databases IAM-DB and GRUHD. The extracted results are natural, and almost always improved with respect to the original image, even in the case of variant-slanted writing. The performance of an existed character recognition system showed an increase of up to 9% for the same data, while the training time cost was significantly reduced. Due to its simplicity, this algorithm can be easily incorporated into any optical character recognition system.     

An unconstrained handwriting recognition system

In this paper, an integrated offline recognition system for unconstrained handwriting is presented. The proposed system consists of seven main modules: skew angle estimation and correction, printed-handwritten text discrimination, line segmentation, slant removing, word segmentation, and character segmentation and recognition, stemming from the implementation of already existing algorithms as well as novel algorithms. This system has been tested on the NIST, IAM-DB, and GRUHD databases and has achieved accuracy that varies from 65.6% to 100% depending on the database and the experiment.     

Differential Effects of Human Tau Isoforms to Neuronal Dysfunction and Toxicity in the Drosophila CNS

Accumulation of highly post-translationally modified tau proteins is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders known as tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease. Although six tau isoforms are found in the human brain, the majority of animal and cellular tauopathy models utilize a representative single isoform. However, the six human tau isoforms present overlapping but distinct distributions in the brain and are differentially involved in particular tauopathies. These observations support the notion that tau isoforms possess distinct functional properties important for both physiology and pathology. To address this hypothesis, the six human brain tau isoforms were expressed singly in the Drosophila brain and their effects in an established battery of assays measuring neuronal dysfunction, vulnerability to oxidative stress and life span were systematically assessed comparatively. The results reveal isoform-specific effects clearly not attributed to differences in expression levels but correlated with the number of microtubule-binding repeats and the accumulation of a particular isoform in support of the functional differentiation of these tau isoforms. Delineation of isoform-specific effects is essential to understand the apparent differential involvement of each tau isoform in tauopathies and their contribution to neuronal dysfunction and toxicity.     

Abiotic and biotic factors affect efficacy of chlorfenapyr for control of stored-product insect pests

Laboratory bioassays were conducted to assess pyrole chlorfenapyr as a potential grain protectant against adults of Rhyzopertha dominica, Sitophilus oryzae, Prostephanus truncatus, Tribolium confusum, and Liposcelis bostrychophila. Factors such as dose (0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 ppm), exposure interval (7 and 14 days), temperature (20, 25, and 30°C), relative humidity (RH; 55 and 75%), and commodity (wheat, maize, barley, and paddy rice) were evaluated. Progeny production was assessed after 74 days of exposure. For L. bostrychophila and T. confusum the increase of dose increased mortality. After 7 or 14 days of exposure, mortality was low at doses of ≤ 1 ppm and did not exceed 23 or 36%, respectively, for L. bostrychophila or 13 or 58%, respectively, for T. confusum. After 14 days of exposure, mortality of S. oryzae at 30°C and 75% RH was 82.2%. Mortality of P. truncatus was considerably higher than that of the other species. At 0.5 ppm, mortality exceeded 81% after 7 days of exposure and 91% after 14 days of exposure. Progeny production of L. bostrychophila was extremely high. Very few progeny were found for T. confusum. For S. oryzae, offspring emergence was high, except at 20°C and 55% RH. For P. truncatus, progeny production in the treated maize was not avoided, even at 10 ppm. In the case of S. oryzae, at 0.1 ppm and after 14 days of exposure, mortality in wheat was higher than in the other three commodities. For R. dominica, mortality was low at 0.1 and 1 ppm for paddy rice but reached 74.4% in barley after 14 days of exposure. For T. confusum, mortality was low at 0.1 and 1 ppm in all commodities. For progeny production counts, for S. oryzae or R. dominica, adult emergence was higher in paddy rice than in the other three commodities. Finally, overall T. confusum progeny was low. Chlorfenapyr efficacy varied remarkably among the combinations tested, and it may be a viable grain protectant in combination with other insecticides.