Investigation on N-gram Approximated RNNLMs for Recognition of Morphologically Rich Speech

Recognition of Hungarian conversational telephone speech is challenging due to the informal style and morphological richness of the language. Recurrent Neural Network Language Model (RNNLM) can provide remedy for the high perplexity of the task; however, two-pass decoding introduces a considerable processing delay. In order to eliminate this delay we investigate approaches aiming at the complexity reduction of RNNLM, while preserving its accuracy. We compare the performance of conventional back-off n-gram language models (BNLM), BNLM approximation of RNNLMs (RNN-BNLM) and RNN n-grams in terms of perplexity and word error rate (WER). Morphological richness is often addressed by using statistically derived subwords - morphs - in the language models, hence our investigations are extended to morph-based models, as well. We found that using RNN-BNLMs 40% of the RNNLM perplexity reduction can be recovered, which is roughly equal to the performance of a RNN 4-gram model. Combining morph-based modeling and approximation of RNNLM, we were able to achieve 8% relative WER reduction and preserve real-time operation of our conversational telephone speech recognition system.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication at SLSP 201

Analysis of MEFV exon methylation and expression patterns in familial Mediterranean fever

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MEFV mutations and decreased expression level of the gene are related to FMF pathology. DNA methylation at CpG islands is a well-known mechanism for transcriptional silencing. MEFV has a CpG island, spanning a part of the first intron and the whole of the second exon of the gene covering 998 bp region. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the MEFV transcript level in FMF patients correlates with its methylation level, and methylation, by allowing transcription silencing, has a role in FMF ethiopathogenesis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study group was composed of pediatric FMF patients (N = 51) and age-gender matched healthy controls (N = 21). The relative expression level of MEFV was assessed via quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and bisulfite sequencing (BS) was performed to analyse the methylation level quantitatively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MEFV expression in FMF patients were decreased compared to healthy controls (<it>P </it>= 0.031). Methylation level of exon 2 of MEFV was found to be slightly higher in FMF patients compared to healthy controls (76% versus 74%) (<it>P </it>= 0.049). The expression level of the MEFV was negatively correlated with the methylation level of the CpG island in both FMF and healthy controls groups (cor = -0.29, <it>P </it>= 0.041) but more so in the FMF only group (cor = -0.36, <it>P </it>= 0.035).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In this study, the relation between reduced MEFV expression level and FMF was confirmed. Observed slight increase in methylation in FMF patients, and correlation of methylation with expression might be indicative of its role in FMF, however a larger dataset is needed to confirm our preliminary findings.</p

Adult systemic cat scratch disease associated with therapy for hepatitis C

BACKGROUND: We describe the first case of systemic cat scratch disease in a patient receiving peginterferon α-2a and ribavirin for treatment of hepatitis C. Cases of adult systemic CSD are extremely infrequent and immunomodulatory treatment for hepatitis C has been associated with aberrant host responses to common pathogens. CASE PRESENTATION: A 52 year old man being treated for hepatitis C presented with diffuse lymphadenopathy, weight loss, fevers and splenic lesions. Symptoms were initially confused with adverse effects of his regimen, delaying recognition of his infection. Diagnostic investigation, including histopathology, microbiology and serologic parameters, confirmed that his illness was due to disseminated cat scratch disease with Bartonella henselae. CONCLUSION: Disseminated CSD is exceptionally rare in adults. We describe the first case of disseminated cat scratch disease associated with peginterferon α and ribavirin to alert clinicians of the need to be aware of unusual manifestations of common infections in this population

Granulomatous hepatitis due to Bartonella henselae infection in an immunocompetent patient

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Bartonella henselae </it>(<it>B. henselae</it>) is considered a rare cause of granulomatous hepatitis. Due to the fastidious growth characteristics of the bacteria, the limited sensitivity of histopathological stains, and the non-specific histological findings on liver biopsy, the diagnosis of hepatic bartonellosis can be difficult to establish. Furthermore, the optimal treatment of established hepatic bartonellosis remains controversial.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a case of hepatic bartonellosis in an immunocompetent woman who presented with right upper quadrant pain and a five cm right hepatic lobe mass on CT scan. The patient underwent a right hepatic lobectomy. Surgical pathology revealed florid necrotizing granulomatous hepatitis, favoring an infectious etiology. Despite extensive histological and serological evaluation a definitive diagnosis was not established initially. Thirteen months after initial presentation, hepatic bartonellosis was diagnosed by PCR studies from surgically excised liver tissue. Interestingly, the hepatic granulomas persisted and <it>Bartonella henselae </it>was isolated from the patient's enriched blood culture after several courses of antibiotic therapy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The diagnosis of hepatic bartonellosis is exceedingly difficult to establish and requires a high degree of clinical suspicion. Recently developed, PCR-based approaches may be required in select patients to make the diagnosis. The optimal antimicrobial therapy for hepatic bartonellosis has not been established, and close follow-up is needed to ensure successful eradication of the infection.</p

Growth and IGF-1 levels of children with familial Mediterranean fever on colchicine treatment

Objective To evaluate growth process and insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels in children with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF)