A GF miniature resource grammar for Tswana: modelling the proper verb

The Grammatical Framework (GF) not only offers state of the art grammar-based machine translation support between an increasing number of languages through its so-called Resource Grammar Library, but is also fast becoming a de facto framework for developing multilingual controlled natural languages (CNLs). For a natural language to share maximally in the opportunities that GF-based multilingual CNL support presents, it has to have a GF resource grammar. Tswana, an agglutinating Bantu language, spoken in Southern Africa as one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, does not yet have such a grammar. This article reports on the development of a so-called miniature resource grammar, a first step towards a full resource grammar for Tswana. The focus is on the modelling of the Tswana proper verb as it occurs in simple sentences. The (proper) verb is the morphologically most complex word category in Tswana, and therefore constitutes a notable contribution towards the development of a GF resource grammar for Tswana. The computational model is discussed in some detail, implemented and tested on a systematically constructed treebank.     

Space-time segmentation using level set active contours applied to myocardial gated SPECT

This paper presents a new variational method for the segmentation of a moving object against a still background, over a sequence of [two-dimensional or three-dimensional (3-D)] image frames. The method is illustrated in application to myocardial gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) data, and incorporates a level set framework to handle topological changes while providing closed boundaries. The key innovation is the introduction of a geometrical constraint into the derivation of the Euler-Lagrange equations, such that the segmentation of each individual frame can be interpreted as a closed boundary of an object (an isolevel of a set of hyper-surfaces) while integrating information over the entire sequence. This results in the definition of an evolution velocity normal to the object boundary. Applying this method to 3-D myocardial gated SPECT sequences, the left ventricle endocardial and epicardial limits can be computed in each frame. This space-time segmentation method was tested on simulated and clinical 3-D myocardial gated SPECT sequences and the corresponding ejection fractions were computed.     

Les télécommunications par câbles sous-marins: l’avènement des fibres optiques

This paper explains why the new generation of the submarine transmission systems by optical fibres has come into existence, ensuing from the telegraphic cables and coaxial cable systems. The author expounds how the main characteristics of this new system have been selected and describes its different elements such as its optical fibre, repeaters, branching units and the equipment of the terminal stations. The French program of study and development of the system is indicated and some thoughts are given to what the future in this particular field could be.     

Role of peripheral vision in the directional control of rapid aiming movements.

This study addresses the question of whether peripheral vision is involved in the control of hand trajectory direction during an aiming task performed at high speed. Ten adult subjects were required to aim at targets in various positions by making a punching movement with their hand. The experimental conditions were varied so that different parts of hand trajectory could be seen in the peripheral field. Two movement times were applied:     

Acute autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss associated with Crohn's disease

We report the sudden onset of bilateral hearing loss in a patient with Crohn's disease while the intestinal disease was quiescent. Antibodies directed against collagen type II were detected in the serum. Dramatic improvement of his hearing was observed under corticosteroid therapy. Diagnosis of autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss was established. This condition could be considered as an extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn's disease. Early diagnosis is mandated, as prompt and intensive treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppressive drugs is effective and could prevent irreversible hearing loss.     

Pressure effects on acid-catalysed autoxidation of oxymyoglobin

 Two opposing factors have been found to affect the rate of autoxidation of the fresh meat pigment oxymyoglobin, MbFe(II)O₂, in air-saturated aqueous acetate buffer with increasing hydrostatic pressure to yield metmyoglobin, MbFe(III): (1) expansion in the transition state, corresponding to a volume of activation of ΔV# = +12.7±0.6 ml mol^–1 (25.0°C, 0.16 M NaCl), in effect decreasing the rate; and (2) an increased specific acid catalysis resulting from a decrease in solution pH and increasing the rate. In the pressure range investigated (up to 250 MPa) and at the pH relevant to traditionally deboned meat (pH = 5.65 at ambient pressure investigated, together with pH = 5.21 in order to obtain mechanistic information), the pressure/pH effect was found almost to negate the kinetic effect of expansion in the transition state. Red-to-brown discoloration during pressure treatment of meat is accordingly expected to be less significant for hot-deboned and other high-pH meats. Received: 7 April 1997 / Revised version: 2 June 1997     

文件中色彩、字形和字体变化的显著突出作用--在不同文化背景下的调查

文章模拟决策者在制定决策过程中的基本工作,如浏览、分类、理解、记忆等,测定色彩、字形和字体对提高工作质量和效率的作用.该研究是在东、西方两种文化中进行的,将对跨文化间制作文本文件及网页设计有较大帮助.结果表明,色彩能提高浏览和分类的速度和准确度;能提高理解的速度,比字形和字体更能提高理解的准确度.两组的实验结果是相同的.但没有得出色彩在提高记忆上胜过其他3项的证据.     

Pressure effects on acid-catalysed autoxidation of oxymyoglobin

 Two opposing factors have been found to affect the rate of autoxidation of the fresh meat pigment oxymyoglobin, MbFe(II)O₂, in air-saturated aqueous acetate buffer with increasing hydrostatic pressure to yield metmyoglobin, MbFe(III): (1) expansion in the transition state, corresponding to a volume of activation of ΔV# = +12.7±0.6 ml mol^–1 (25.0°C, 0.16 M NaCl), in effect decreasing the rate; and (2) an increased specific acid catalysis resulting from a decrease in solution pH and increasing the rate. In the pressure range investigated (up to 250 MPa) and at the pH relevant to traditionally deboned meat (pH = 5.65 at ambient pressure investigated, together with pH = 5.21 in order to obtain mechanistic information), the pressure/pH effect was found almost to negate the kinetic effect of expansion in the transition state. Red-to-brown discoloration during pressure treatment of meat is accordingly expected to be less significant for hot-deboned and other high-pH meats. Received: 7 April 1997 / Revised version: 2 June 1997     

Finite-State Computational Morphology: An Analyzer Prototype For Zulu

As one of the largest of the 11 official languages of South Africa, Zulu is spoken by approximately 9 million people. It forms part of a language family which is characterized by rich agglutinating morphological structures. This paper discusses a prototype of a computational morphological analyzer for Zulu, built by means of the Xerox finite state tools, in particular lexc and xfst. In addition to considering both the morphotactics and the morphophonological alternation rules that apply, the focus is on implementation and other issues that need to be resolved in order to produce a useful software artefact for automated morphological analysis. The current status of the prototype is alluded to by providing morphological scope, that is the various word categories (parts of speech) that may be handled, and the lexical coverage in terms of the number of different Zulu roots that are included in the embedded lexicon of the analyzer. Preliminary testing and validation procedures are briefly discussed.     

A Gaussian sampling heuristic estimation model for developing synthetic trip sets

In this paper, we develop a heuristic model based on Gaussian processes to determine synthetic sets of trips in urban networks, considering only supply-related information. This is an alternative to the benchmark method used in the literature, which consists of repeating several trials of Monte Carlo simulations and therefore requiring a complex calibration task and large computational resources. The developed heuristic model explicitly leverages the probabilistic nature of Gaussian processes and exploits their properties to iteratively select origin–destination (od) pairs of nodes in the city network. The model then determines the shortest trip in distance for the selected od pairs and appends it to the synthetic set. We discuss the implementation and performance of both the benchmark method and the developed heuristic model on two city networks. We show that the presented model is more robust and computationally efficient than the benchmark method. This is evidenced by its ability to determine synthetic sets with much smaller sizes, naturally reducing the computational burden, when compared to the benchmark method. We also discuss how the choice of the kernel function and calibration of the hyperparameters influence the performance of the presented heuristic model.