Dutch parallel corpus: a balanced parallel corpus for Dutch-English and Dutch-French

status: publishe

Identifying Semantic Divergences in Parallel Text without Annotations

Recognizing that even correct translations are not always semantically equivalent, we automatically detect meaning divergences in parallel sentence pairs with a deep neural model of bilingual semantic similarity which can be trained for any parallel corpus without any manual annotation. We show that our semantic model detects divergences more accurately than models based on surface features derived from word alignments, and that these divergences matter for neural machine translation.Comment: Accepted as a full paper to NAACL 201

Development and flight test of a helicopter compact, portable, precision landing system concept

An airborne, radar-based, precision approach concept is being developed and flight tested as a part of NASA's Rotorcraft All-Weather Operations Research Program. A transponder-based beacon landing system (BLS) applying state-of-the-art X-band radar technology and digital processing techniques, was built and is being flight tested to demonstrate the concept feasibility. The BLS airborne hardware consists of an add-on microprocessor, installed in conjunction with the aircraft weather/mapping radar, which analyzes the radar beacon receiver returns and determines range, localizer deviation, and glide-slope deviation. The ground station is an inexpensive, portable unit which can be quickly deployed at a landing site. Results from the flight test program show that the BLS concept has a significant potential for providing rotorcraft with low-cost, precision instrument approach capability in remote areas

Simulation of a Hard-Spherocylinder Liquid Crystal with the pe

The pe physics engine is validated through the simulation of a liquid crystal model system consisting of hard spherocylinders. For this purpose we evaluate several characteristic parameters of this system, namely the nematic order parameter, the pressure, and the Frank elastic constants. We compare these to the values reported in literature and find a very good agreement, which demonstrates that the pe physics engine can accurately treat such densely packed particle systems. Simultaneously we are able to examine the influence of finite size effects, especially on the evaluation of the Frank elastic constants, as we are far less restricted in system size than earlier simulations

Low-Cost, Portable, Multi-Wall Virtual Reality

Virtual reality systems make compelling outreach displays, but some such systems, like the CAVE, have design features that make their use for that purpose inconvenient. In the case of the CAVE, the equipment is difficult to disassemble, transport, and reassemble, and typically CAVEs can only be afforded by large-budget research facilities. We implemented a system like the CAVE that costs less than $30,000, weighs about 500 pounds, and fits into a fifteen-passenger van. A team of six people have unpacked, assembled, and calibrated the system in less than two hours. This cost reduction versus similar virtual-reality systems stems from the unique approach we took to stereoscopic projection. We used an assembly of optical chopper wheels and commodity LCD projectors to create true active stereo at less than a fifth of the cost of comparable active-stereo technologies. The screen and frame design also optimized portability; the frame assembles in minutes with only two fasteners, and both it and the screen pack into small bundles for easy and secure shipment

METHODS FOR HIGH-THROUGHPUT COMPARATIVE GENOMICS AND DISTRIBUTED SEQUENCE ANALYSIS

High-throughput sequencing has accelerated applications of genomics throughout the world. The increased production and decentralization of sequencing has also created bottlenecks in computational analysis. In this dissertation, I provide novel computational methods to improve analysis throughput in three areas: whole genome multiple alignment, pan-genome annotation, and bioinformatics workflows. To aid in the study of populations, tools are needed that can quickly compare multiple genome sequences, millions of nucleotides in length. I present a new multiple alignment tool for whole genomes, named Mugsy, that implements a novel method for identifying syntenic regions. Mugsy is computationally efficient, does not require a reference genome, and is robust in identifying a rich complement of genetic variation including duplications, rearrangements, and large-scale gain and loss of sequence in mixtures of draft and completed genome data. Mugsy is evaluated on the alignment of several dozen bacterial chromosomes on a single computer and was the fastest program evaluated for the alignment of assembled human chromosome sequences from four individuals. A distributed version of the algorithm is also described and provides increased processing throughput using multiple CPUs. Numerous individual genomes are sequenced to study diversity, evolution and classify pan-genomes. Pan-genome annotations contain inconsistencies and errors that hinder comparative analysis, even within a single species. I introduce a new tool, Mugsy-Annotator, that identifies orthologs and anomalous gene structure across a pan-genome using whole genome multiple alignments. Identified anomalies include inconsistently located translation initiation sites and disrupted genes due to draft genome sequencing or pseudogenes. An evaluation of pan-genomes indicates that such anomalies are common and alternative annotations suggested by the tool can improve annotation consistency and quality. Finally, I describe the Cloud Virtual Resource, CloVR, a desktop application for automated sequence analysis that improves usability and accessibility of bioinformatics software and cloud computing resources. CloVR is installed on a personal computer as a virtual machine and requires minimal installation, addressing challenges in deploying bioinformatics workflows. CloVR also seamlessly accesses remote cloud computing resources for improved processing throughput. In a case study, I demonstrate the portability and scalability of CloVR and evaluate the costs and resources for microbial sequence analysis