2kenize: Tying Subword Sequences for Chinese Script Conversion

Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese character conversion is a common preprocessing step in Chinese NLP. Despite this, current approaches have poor performance because they do not take into account that a simplified Chinese character can correspond to multiple traditional characters. Here, we propose a model that can disambiguate between mappings and convert between the two scripts. The model is based on subword segmentation, two language models, as well as a method for mapping between subword sequences. We further construct benchmark datasets for topic classification and script conversion. Our proposed method outperforms previous Chinese Character conversion approaches by 6 points in accuracy. These results are further confirmed in a downstream application, where 2kenize is used to convert pretraining dataset for topic classification. An error analysis reveals that our method's particular strengths are in dealing with code-mixing and named entities.Comment: Accepted to ACL 202

Long-lived non-thermal states realized by atom losses in one-dimensional quasi-condensates

We investigate the cooling produced by a loss process non selective in energy on a one-dimensional (1D) Bose gas with repulsive contact interactions in the quasi-condensate regime. By performing nonlinear classical field calculations for a homogeneous system, we show that the gas reaches a non-thermal state where different modes have acquired different temperatures. After losses have been turned off, this state is robust with respect to the nonlinear dynamics, described by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We argue that the integrability of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is linked to the existence of such long-lived non-thermal states, and illustrate this by showing that such states are not supported within a non-integrable model of two coupled 1D gases of different masses. We go beyond a classical field analysis, taking into account the quantum noise introduced by the discreteness of losses, and show that the non-thermal state is still produced and its non-thermal character is even enhanced. Finally, we extend the discussion to gases trapped in a harmonic potential and present experimental observations of a long-lived non-thermal state within a trapped 1D quasi-condensate following an atom loss process

Spatial structure and composition of polysaccharide-protein complexes from Small Angle Neutron Scattering

We use Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), with an original analysis method, to obtain both the characteristic sizes and the inner composition of lysozyme-pectin complexes depending on the charge density. Lysozyme is a globular protein and pectin a natural anionic semiflexible polysaccharide with a degree of methylation (DM) 0, 43 and 74. For our experimental conditions (buffer ionic strength I = 2.5 10-2 mol/L and pH between 3 and 7), the electrostatic charge of lysozyme is always positive (from 8 to 17 depending on pH). The pectin charge per elementary chain segment is negative and can be varied from almost zero to one through the change of DM and pH. The weight molar ratio of lysozyme on pectin monomers is kept constant. The ratio of negative charge content per volume to positive charge content per volume, -/+, is varied between 10 and 0.007. On a local scale, for all charged pectins, a correlation peak appears at 0.2 {\AA}-1 due to proteins clustering inside the complexes. On a large scale, the complexes appear as formed of spherical globules with a well defined radius of 10 to 50 nm, containing a few thousands proteins. The volume fraction Phi of organic matter within the globules derived from SANS absolute cross-sections is around 0.1. The protein stacking, which occurs inside the globules, is enhanced when pectin is more charged, due to pH or DM. The linear charge density of the pectin determines the size of the globules for pectin chains of comparable molecular weights whether it is controlled by the pH or the DM. The radius of the globules varies between 10 nm and 50 nm. In conclusion the structure is driven by electrostatic interactions and not by hydrophobic interactions. The molecular weight also has a large influence on the structure of the complexes since long chains tend to form larger globules. This maybe one reason why DM and pH are not completely equivalent in our system since DM 0 has a short mass, but this may not be the only one. For very low pectin charge (-/+ = 0.07), globules do not appear and the scattering signals a gel-like structure. We did not observe any beads-on-a-string structure

Foaming properties of protein/pectin electrostatic complexes and foam structure at the nanoscale

The foaming properties, foaming capacity and foam stability, of soluble complexes of pectin and a globular protein, napin, have been investigated with a "Foamscan" apparatus. Complementary, we also used SANS with a recent method consisting in an analogy between the SANS by foams and the neutron reflectivity of films to measure in situ film thickness of foams. The effect of ionic strength, of protein concentration and of charge density of the pectin has been analysed. Whereas the foam stability is improved for samples containing soluble complexes, no effect has been noticed on the foam film thickness, which is almost around 315 {\AA} whatever the samples. These results let us specify the role of each specie in the mixture: free proteins contribute to the foaming capacity, provided the initial free protein content in the bulk is sufficient to allow the foam formation, and soluble complexes slow down the drainage by their presence in the Plateau borders, which finally results in the stabilisation of foams

Losing sight of atmospheric sounds in televised nature documentary

The production of soundtracks for televised nature documentaries involves complexities in balancing the audience's sonic perceptions and emotions with audio content and scientific rigour. In addition, soundtracks need to be congruent with audience expectations and commercial imperatives. Popular televised nature documentaries often appear to be narrative melodramas with environmental soundscapes submerged by narration and music. This paper examines the correlations between perceptual agency, educational practices and production constraints with regards to sound production in nature documentaries. The purpose is a clarification surrounding the causative factors and results of the curious neglect for the sound of our natural world within an industry dedicated to the sensory portrayal of nature

Population Synthesis of Radio and Gamma-ray Pulsars in the Fermi Era

We present results of our pulsar population synthesis of normal pulsars from the Galactic disk using our previously developed computer code. On the same footing, we use slot gap and outer gap models for gamma-ray emission from normal pulsars to obtain statistics of radio-loud and radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars. From recently improved understanding of HII and star forming regions in the Galaxy, we develop a new surface density model of the birth location of neutron stars. We explore models of neutron star evolution with magnetic field-decay, and with different initial period and magnetic field distributions. We present preliminary results including simulated population statistics that are compared with recent detections by Fermi of normal, isolated pulsars.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Pulsar 2010 Conference, Italy, 10 - 15 October 201

An Analytical Model of a Thermally Excited Microcantilever Vibrating Laterally in a Viscous Fluid

To achieve higher quality factors (Q) for microcantilevers used in liquid-phase sensing applications, recent studies have explored the use of the lateral (in-plane) flexural mode. In particular, we have recently shown that this mode may be excited electrothermally using integrated heating resistors near the micro cantilever support, and that the resulting increase in Q helps to make low-ppb limits of detection a possibility in liquids. However, because the use of electrothermally excited, liquid-phase, microcantilever-based sensors in lateral flexure is relatively new, theoretical models are lacking. Therefore, we present here a new analytical model for predicting the vibratory response of these devices. The model is also used to successfully confirm the validity of our previously derived Q formula, which was based on a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model and a harmonic tip force. Comparisons with experimental data show that the present model and, thus, the analytical formula provide excellent Q estimates for sufficiently thin beams vibrating laterally in water and reasonable upper-bound estimates for thicker beams