A Computational Theory of Contextual Knowledge in Machine Reading

Machine recognition of off–line handwriting can be achieved by either recognising words as individual symbols (word level recognition) or by segmenting a word into parts, usually letters, and classifying those parts (letter level recognition). Whichever method is used, current handwriting recognition systems cannot overcome the inherent ambiguity in writingwithout recourse to contextual information. This thesis presents a set of experiments that use Hidden Markov Models of language to resolve ambiguity in the classification process. It goes on to describe an algorithm designed to recognise a document written by a single–author and to improve recognition by adaptingto the writing style and learning new words. Learning and adaptation is achieved by reading the document over several iterations. The algorithm is designed to incorporate contextual processing, adaptation to modify the shape of known words and learning of new words within a constrained dictionary. Adaptation occurs when a word that has previously been trained in the classifier is recognised at either the word or letter level and the word image is used to modify the classifier. Learning occurs when a new word that has not been in the training set is recognised at the letter level and is subsequently added to the classifier. Words and letters are recognised using a nearest neighbour classifier and used features based on the two–dimensional Fourier transform. By incorporating a measure of confidence based on the distribution of training points around an exemplar, adaptation and learning is constrained to only occur when a word is confidently classified. The algorithm was implemented and tested with a dictionary of 1000 words. Results show that adaptation of the letter classifier improved recognition on average by 3.9% with only 1.6% at the whole word level. Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the learning in the system. It was found that learning accounted for little improvement in the classification results and also that learning new words was prone to misclassifications being propagated

Model-based fault diagnosis via structural analysis of a reverse osmosis plant

Water desalination is one approach to force water scarcity. One of the processes used for desalination is reverse osmosis. Like other systems, a reverse osmosis plant is susceptible to faults. A fault can lead to a loss of efficiency, or if the fault is severe to a total breakdown. Appropriate measures can minimize the impact of faults, but this requires in time fault detection. The following thesis shows a proposal for an online fault diagnosis system of a reverse osmosis plant. For the model-based approach, a mathematical model of a reverse osmosis plant has been developed. The model contains a new approach for modeling the interaction between the high-pressure pump, the brine valve, and the membrane module. Furthermore, six faults considered for fault diagnosis have been modeled. Two of the faults are plant faults: The leakage of the feed stream and membrane fouling. The other four faults are sensor or actuator malfunctions. The fault diagnosis system is developed via structural analysis, a graph-based approach to determine a mathematical model’s overdetermined systems of equations. With the structural analysis, 73 fault-driven minimal structurally overdetermined (FMSO) sets have been determined. The results show that all six faults are detectable. However, two faults are not isolable. Five of the FMSO sets have been chosen to deduce the residuals used for online fault detection and isolation. The simulations demonstrate that the calculated residuals are appropriate to detect and isolate the faults. If one assumes that only the considered faults occur, it is possible to determine some faults’ magnitude

The Ship of Fools - a society of selfish individuals

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High throughput sample preparation and analysis for DNA sequencing, PCR and combinatorial screening of catalysis based on capillary array technique

The purpose of this research was to develop new sample preparation and integration approach for DNA sequencing, PCR based DNA analysis and combinatorial screening of homogenous catalysis based on multiplexed capillary electrophoresis;We first introduced a method to integrate the front-end tasks to DNA capillary-array sequencers. Protocols for directly sequencing the plasmids from a single bacterial colony in fused-silica capillaries were developed. No deleterious effect upon the reaction efficiency, the on-line purification system, or the capillary electrophoresis separation was observed, even though the crude lysate was used as the template. Multiplexed on-line DNA sequencing data from 8 parallel channels allowed base calling up to 620 bp with an accuracy of 98%. The entire system can be automatically regenerated for repeated operation;For PCR based DNA analysis, we demonstrated that UV absorption capillary electrophoresis can be used for DNA analysis starting from clinical sample without purification. After PCR reaction using cheek cell, blood or HIV-1 gag DNA, the reaction mixture was injected into the capillary either on-line or off-line by base stacking. The protocol was also applied to capillary array electrophoresis based simply on multiplexed UV imaging absorption detection to increase the throughput;We further developed a new methodology-nonaqueous capillary array electrophoresis coupled with microreaction, to address the throughput needs of combinatorial approaches to homogeneous catalysis screening and reaction optimization. Samples were injected directly from reaction vial without dilution and reaction quenching. Buffer compatibility was also found important for reliable 96-capillary array injection. By choosing deferent Pd and base, a combination of 88 different reaction conditions was quickly tested. The analysis time was less than one minute for one sample

2012 Annual Research Symposium Abstract Book

2012 annual volume of abstracts for science research projects conducted by students at Trinity College

The Public Voice of the Defender,

For decades, police and prosecutors have controlled the public narrative about criminal law. The news landscape features salacious stories of violent crimes while ignoring the more mundane but far more prevalent minor cases that clog the court dockets. Defenders, faced with overwhelming caseloads and fear that speaking out may harm their clients, have largely ceded the opportunity to offer a counternarrative based on what they see every day. Defenders tell each other about the overuse of pretrial detention, intensive pressure to plead guilty, overzealous prosecutors, cycles of violence, and rampant constitutional violations-all of which inflict severe harm on defendants and their loved ones. But defenders rarely show the public the world they inhabit. That approach hasn\u27t stopped the carceral state from ballooning over the past fifty years; public defense budgets remain paltry, and clients suffer from too much law and too little justice in a system that disregards and dehumanizes them. This Article encourages defenders to go on the offensive, to seek transformative change toward a more just legal system. It builds on social media literature to and analyzes how defenders can strategically use social networking sites to add their expertise to ongoing public debates about crime and criminal justice policy. As the new existing efforts suggest, social media enables defenders to widely share the routine injustices they observe and to engage with local grassroots organizations to build coalitions. Defenders\u27 strategic use of social media won\u27t change policies overnight, but we are hopeful that it will augment public support for defenders and their clients and build power to transform the criminal legal landscape over decades

The Public Voice of the Defender

For decades police and prosecutors have controlled the public narrative about criminal law. The news landscape features salacious stories of violent crimes while ignoring the more mundane but far more prevalent minor cases that clog the court dockets. Defenders, faced with overwhelming caseloads and fear that speaking out may harm their clients, have largely ceded the opportunity to offer a counternarrative based on what they see every day. Defenders tell each other about overuse of pretrial detention, intensive pressure to plead guilty, overzealous prosecutors, cycles of violence, and rampant constitutional violations—all of which inflict severe harm on defendants and their loved ones. But defenders rarely show the public the world they inhabit. That approach hasn’t stopped the carceral state from ballooning over the past fifty years; public defense budgets remain paltry, and clients suffer from too much law and too little justice in a system that disregards and dehumanizes them. This Article encourages defenders to go on the offensive, to seek transformative change toward a more just legal system. It builds on social media literature to analyze how defenders can strategically use social networking sites to add their expertise to ongoing public debates about crime and criminal justice policy. As the few existing efforts suggest, social media enables defenders to widely share the routine injustices they observe and to engage with local grassroots organizations to build coalitions. Defenders’ strategic use of social media won’t change policies overnight, but we are hopeful that it will augment public support for defenders and their clients and build power to transform the criminal legal landscape over decades

The Public Voice of the Defender

For decades police and prosecutors have controlled the public narrative about criminal law. The news landscape features salacious stories of violent crimes while ignoring the more mundane but far more prevalent minor cases that clog the court dockets. Defenders, faced with overwhelming caseloads and fear that speaking out may harm their clients, have largely ceded the opportunity to offer a counternarrative based on what they see every day. Defenders tell each other about the overuse of pretrial detention, intensive pressure to plead guilty, overzealous prosecutors, cycles of violence, and rampant constitutional violations-all of which inflict severe harm on defendants and their loved ones. But defenders rarely show the public the world they inhabit. That approach hasn\u27t stopped the carceral state from ballooning over the past fifty years; public defense budgets remain paltry, and clients suffer from too much law and too little justice in a system that disregards and dehumanizes them. This Article encourages defenders to go on the offensive, to seek transformative change toward a more just legal system. It builds on social media literature to and analyzes how defenders can strategically use social networking sites to add their expertise to ongoing public debates about crime and criminal justice policy. As the new existing efforts suggest, social media enables defenders to widely share the routine injustices they observe and to engage with local grassroots organizations to build coalitions. Defenders\u27 strategic use of social media won\u27t change policies overnight, but we are hopeful that it will augment public support for defenders and their clients and build power to transform the criminal legal landscape over decades