Generating multimedia presentations: from plain text to screenplay

In many Natural Language Generation (NLG) applications, the output is limited to plain text – i.e., a string of words with punctuation and paragraph breaks, but no indications for layout, or pictures, or dialogue. In several projects, we have begun to explore NLG applications in which these extra media are brought into play. This paper gives an informal account of what we have learned. For coherence, we focus on the domain of patient information leaflets, and follow an example in which the same content is expressed first in plain text, then in formatted text, then in text with pictures, and finally in a dialogue script that can be performed by two animated agents. We show how the same meaning can be mapped to realisation patterns in different media, and how the expanded options for expressing meaning are related to the perceived style and tone of the presentation. Throughout, we stress that the extra media are not simple added to plain text, but integrated with it: thus the use of formatting, or pictures, or dialogue, may require radical rewording of the text itself

The baryonic Y-shape confining potential energy and its approximants

We discuss the validity of replacing the complicated three-body confinement operator of the Y string junction type by three kinds of approximation which are numerically much simpler to handle: a one-body operator with the junction point at the centre of mass, a two-body operator corresponding to half the perimeter of the triangle formed by the three particles, and the average of both. Two different approaches for testing the quality of the approximations are proposed: a geometrical treatment based on the comparison of the potential energy strengths for the various inter quark distances, and a dynamical treatment based on the comparison of the corresponding effective string tensions using a hyperspherical approach. Both procedures give very similar results. It is shown how to simulate the genuine string junction operator by the approximations proposed above. Exact three-body calculations are presented in order to compare quantitatively the various approximations and to confirm our analysis.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figures, submitted to EPJ

Pentaquarks in string dynamics

The masses of $uudd\bar s$, $uudd\bar d$, and $uuss\bar d$ pentaquarks are evaluated in a framework of both the Effective Hamiltonian approach to QCD and spinless Salpeter using the Jaffe-Wilczek diquark approximation and the string interaction for the diquark-diquark-antiquark system. The masses of the light pentaquarks are found to be in the region above 2 GeV. The similar calculations yield the mass of $[ud]^2\bar c$ pentaquark $\sim$ 3250 MeV and $[ud]^2\bar b$ pentaquark $\sim$ 6509 MeV.Comment: 5 pages. Based on talk by I.M.Narodetskii at BEACH 2004, 6th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm and Beauty Hadrons, Illionois Institute of Technology, Chicago, June. 27 - July 3, 2004. Typos correcte

Pentaquarks in the Jaffe-Wilczek approximation

The masses of $uudd\bar s$, $uudd\bar d$ and $uuss\bar d$ pentaquarks are evaluated in a framework of both the Effective Hamiltonian approach to QCD and spinless Salpeter using the Jaffe--Wilczek diquark approximation and the string interaction for the diquark--diquark--antiquark system. The pentaquark masses are found to be in the region above 2 GeV. That indicates that the Goldstone boson exchange effects may play an important role in the light pentaquarks. The same calculations yield the mass of $[ud]^2\bar c$ pentaquark $\sim$ 3250 MeV and $[ud]^2\bar b$ pentaquark $\sim$ 6509 MeV.Comment: 14 pages, 2 tables, LaTeX2e. References correcte

Baryon spectra with instanton induced forces

Except the vibrational excitations of $K$ and $K^*$ mesons, the main features of spectra of mesons composed of quarks $u$, $d$, and $s$ can be quite well described by a semirelativistic potential model including instanton induced forces. The spectra of baryons composed of the same quarks is studied using the same model. The results and the limitations of this approach are described. Some possible improvements are suggested.Comment: 5 figure

Adjectival and Adverbial Modification:The View from Modern Type Theories

In this paper we present a study of adjectival/adverbial modification using modern type theories (MTTs), i.e. type theories within the tradition of Martin-Lof. We present an account of various issues concerning adjectival/adverbial modification and argue that MTTs can be used as an adequate language for interpreting NL semantics. MTTs are not only expressive enough to deal with a range of modification phenomena, but are furthermore well-suited to perform reasoning tasks that can be easily implemented (e.g. in proof-assistants) given their proof-theoretic nature. In MTT-semantics, common nouns are interpreted as types rather than predicates. Therefore, in order to capture the semantics of adjectives adequately, one needs to meet the challenge of modeling CNs modified by adjectives as types. To explicate that this can be done successfully, we first look at the mainstream classification of adjectives, i.e. intersective, subsective and non-subsective adjectives. There, we show that the rich type structure available in MTTs, along with a suitable subtyping framework, offers an adequate mechanism to model these cases. In particular, this modelling naturally takes care of the characterising inferences associated with each class of adjectives. Then, more advanced issues on adjectival modification are discussed: (a) degree adjectives, (b) comparatives and (c) multidimensional adjectives. There, it is shown that the use of indexed types can be usefully applied in order to deal with these cases. In the same vein, the issue of adverbial modification is discussed. We study two general typings for sentence and VP adverbs respectively. It is shown that the rich type structure in MTTs further provides useful organisational mechanisms in giving formal semantics for adverbs. In particular, we discuss the use of -types to capture the veridicality/non-veridicality distinction and further discuss cases of intensional adverbs using the type theoretic notion of context (i.e. without resorting to intensional typing). We also look at manner, subject and speech act adverbials and propose solutions using MTTs. Finally, we show that the current proof technology can help mechanically check the associated inferences. A number of our proposals concerning adjectival and adverbial modification have been formalised in the proof assistant Coq and many of the associated inference patterns are checked to be correctly captured

Fusogenic structural changes in arenavirus glycoproteins are associated with viroporin activity.

Many enveloped viruses enter host cells by fusing with acidic endosomes. The fusion activity of multiple viral envelope glycoproteins does not generally affect viral membrane permeability. However, fusion induced by the Lassa virus (LASV) glycoprotein complex (GPc) is always preceded by an increase in viral membrane permeability and the ensuing acidification of the virion interior. Here, systematic investigation of this LASV fusion phenotype using single pseudovirus tracking in live cells reveals that the change in membrane barrier function is associated with the fusogenic conformational reorganization of GPc. We show that a small-molecule fusion inhibitor or mutations that impair viral fusion by interfering with GPc refolding into the post-fusion structure prevent the increase in membrane permeability. We find that the increase in virion membrane permeability occurs early during endosomal maturation and is facilitated by virus-cell contact. This increase is observed using diverse arenavirus glycoproteins, whether presented on lentivirus-based pseudoviruses or arenavirus-like particles, and in multiple different cell types. Collectively, these results suggest that conformational changes in GPc triggered by low pH and cell factor binding are responsible for virion membrane permeabilization and acidification of the virion core prior to fusion. We propose that this viroporin-like activity may augment viral fusion and/or post-fusion steps of infection, including ribonucleoprotein release into the cytoplasm

A specific interaction of small molecule entry inhibitors with the envelope glycoprotein complex of the Junín hemorrhagic fever arenavirus

Arenaviruses are responsible for acute hemorrhagic fevers worldwide and are recognized to pose significant threats to public health and biodefense. Small molecule compounds have recently been discovered that inhibit arenavirus entry and protect against lethal infection in animal models. These chemically distinct inhibitors act on the tripartite envelope glycoprotein (GPC) through its unusual stable signal peptide subunit to stabilize the complex against pH-induced activation of membrane fusion in the endosome. Here, we report the production and characterization of the intact transmembrane GPC complex of Junín arenavirus and its interaction with these inhibitors. The solubilized GPC is antigenically indistinguishable from the native protein and forms a homogeneous trimer in solution. When reconstituted into a lipid bilayer, the purified complex interacts specifically with its cell-surface receptor transferrin receptor-1. We show that small molecule entry inhibitors specific to New World or Old World arenaviruses bind to the membrane-associated GPC complex in accordance with their respective species selectivities and with dissociation constants comparable with concentrations that inhibit GPC-mediated membrane fusion. Furthermore, competitive binding studies reveal that these chemically distinct inhibitors share a common binding pocket on GPC. In conjunction with previous genetic studies, these findings identify the pH-sensing interface of GPC as a highly vulnerable target for antiviral intervention. This work expands our mechanistic understanding of arenavirus entry and provides a foundation to guide the development of small molecule compounds for the treatment of arenavirus hemorrhagic fevers

Enhanced TH17 responses in patients with IL10 receptor deficiency and infantile-onset IBD

Background IL10 receptor (IL10R) deficiency causes severe infantile-onset IBD. Intact IL10R-dependent signals have been shown to be important for innate and adaptive immune cell function in mice. We have previously reported a key role of IL10 is the generation and function of human anti-inflammatory macrophages. Independent of innate immune cell defects, the aim of the current study was to determine the role of IL10R signaling in regulating human CD4+ T cell function. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells and intestinal biopsies cells were collected from IL10/IL10R-deficient patients and controls. Frequencies of CD4+ T cell subsets, naïve T cell proliferation, regulatory T cell (Treg)-mediated suppression and Treg and TH17 generation were determined by flow cytometry. Transcriptional profiling was performed by NanoString and quantitative real-time PCR. RNA in situ hybridization was used to determine the quantities of various transcripts in intestinal mucosa. Results Analysis of 16 IL10- and IL10R-deficient patients demonstrated similar frequencies of peripheral blood and intestinal Tregs, compared to control subjects. In addition, in vitro Treg suppression of CD4+ T cell proliferation and generation of Treg were not dependent on IL10R signaling. However, IL10R-deficient T naïve cells exhibited significantly higher proliferative capacity, a strong TH17 signature and an increase in polarization towards TH17 cells, compared to controls. Moreover, the frequency of TH17 cells was increased in the colon and ileum of IL10R-deficient patients. Finally, we show that stimulation of IL10R-deficient Tregs in the presence of IL1 leads to enhanced production of IL17A. Conclusions IL10R signaling regulates TH17 polarization and T cell proliferation in humans, but is not required for the generation and in vitro suppression of Tregs. Therapies targeting the TH17 axis might be beneficial for IL10- and IL10R-deficient patients as a bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Can minimalism about truth embrace polysemy?

Paul Horwich is aware of the fact that his theory as stated in his works is directly applicable only to a language in which a word, understood as a syntactic type, is connected with exactly one literal meaning. Yet he claims that the theory is expandable to include homonymy and indexicality and thus may be considered as applicable to natural language. My concern in this paper is with yet another kind of ambiguity - systematic polysemy - that assigns multiple meanings to one linguistic type. I want to combine the characteristics of systematic polysemy with the Kaplanian insight that meanings of expressions may be defined by semantic rules which assign content in context and to ask the question if minimalism about truth and meaning is compatible with such rule-based systematic polysemy. I will first explain why the expressions that exhibit rule-based systematic polysemy are difficult to combine with a truth theory that is based on a use theory of meaning before proceeding to argue that indexicals and proper names are such expressions