Distributed Speech Recognition

This article discusses possibilities of integrating speech technology into wireless technology, allowing voice input for wireless devices. Distributed speech recognition concept and activities related to its standardization are presented. First ETSI DSR MFCC based standard is described. Work on its extension to improve robustness resulting in new standard is also presented

Pairwise Discriminative Speaker Verification in the I-Vector Space

This work presents a new and efficient approach to discriminative speaker verification in the i-vector space. We illustrate the development of a linear discriminative classifier that is trained to discriminate between the hypothesis that a pair of feature vectors in a trial belong to the same speaker or to different speakers. This approach is alternative to the usual discriminative setup that discriminates between a speaker and all the other speakers. We use a discriminative classifier based on a Support Vector Machine (SVM) that is trained to estimate the parameters of a symmetric quadratic function approximating a log-likelihood ratio score without explicit modeling of the i-vector distributions as in the generative Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA) models. Training these models is feasible because it is not necessary to expand the i-vector pairs, which would be expensive or even impossible even for medium sized training sets. The results of experiments performed on the tel-tel extended core condition of the NIST 2010 Speaker Recognition Evaluation are competitive with the ones obtained by generative models, in terms of normalized Detection Cost Function and Equal Error Rate. Moreover, we show that it is possible to train a gender- independent discriminative model that achieves state-of-the-art accuracy, comparable to the one of a gender-dependent system, saving memory and execution time both in training and in testin

Optimization Methods in Emotion Recognition System

Emotions play big role in our everyday communication and contain important information. This work describes a novel method of automatic emotion recognition from textual data. The method is based on well-known data mining techniques, novel approach based on parallel run of SVM (Support Vector Machine) classifiers, text preprocessing and 3 optimization methods: sequential elimination of attributes, parameter optimization based on token groups, and method of extending train data sets during practical testing and production release final tuning. We outperformed current state of the art methods and the results were validated on bigger data sets (3346 manually labelled samples) which is less prone to overfitting when compared to related works. The accuracy achieved in this work is 86.89% for recognition of 5 emotional classes. The experiments were performed in the real world helpdesk environment, was processing Czech language but the proposed methodology is general and can be applied to many different languages

GO-PROMTO Illuminates Protein Membrane Topologies of Glycan Biosynthetic Enzymes in the Golgi Apparatus of Living Tissues

The Golgi apparatus is the main site of glycan biosynthesis in eukaryotes. Better understanding of the membrane topology of the proteins and enzymes involved can impart new mechanistic insights into these processes. Publically available bioinformatic tools provide highly variable predictions of membrane topologies for given proteins. Therefore we devised a non-invasive experimental method by which the membrane topologies of Golgi-resident proteins can be determined in the Golgi apparatus in living tissues. A Golgi marker was used to construct a series of reporters based on the principle of bimolecular fluorescence complementation. The reporters and proteins of interest were recombinantly fused to split halves of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) and transiently co-expressed with the reporters in the Nicotiana benthamiana leaf tissue. Output signals were binary, showing either the presence or absence of fluorescence with signal morphologies characteristic of the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The method allows prompt and robust determinations of membrane topologies of Golgi-resident proteins and is termed GO-PROMTO (for GOlgi PROtein Membrane TOpology). We applied GO-PROMTO to examine the topologies of proteins involved in the biosynthesis of plant cell wall polysaccharides including xyloglucan and arabinan. The results suggest the existence of novel biosynthetic mechanisms involving transports of intermediates across Golgi membranes

A Genome Wide Association Study of arabinoxylan content in 2-row spring barley grain

In barley endosperm arabinoxylan (AX) is the second most abundant cell wall polysaccharide and in wheat it is the most abundant polysaccharide in the starchy endosperm walls of the grain. AX is one of the main contributors to grain dietary fibre content providing several health benefits including cholesterol and glucose lowering effects, and antioxidant activities. Due to its complex structural features, AX might also affect the downstream applications of barley grain in malting and brewing. Using a high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) method we quantified AX amounts in mature grain in 128 spring 2-row barley accessions. Amounts ranged from ~ 5.2 μg/g to ~ 9 μg/g. We used this data for a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) that revealed three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with grain AX levels which passed a false discovery threshold (FDR) and are located on two of the seven barley chromosomes. Regions underlying the QTLs were scanned for genes likely to be involved in AX biosynthesis or turnover, and strong candidates, including glycosyltransferases from the GT43 and GT61 families and glycoside hydrolases from the GH10 family, were identified. Phylogenetic trees of selected gene families were built based on protein translations and were used to examine the relationship of the barley candidate genes to those in other species. Our data reaffirms the roles of existing genes thought to contribute to AX content, and identifies novel QTL (and candidate genes associated with them) potentially influencing the AX content of barley grain. One potential outcome of this work is the deployment of highly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms markers in breeding programs to guide the modification of AX abundance in barley grain

Bird comunities.

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51797/1/224.pdfDescription of 224.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station

Some observations on the tree swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor).

This study on the Tree Swallow colony in the Biological Station area and immediate vicinity was undertaken during the summer session of 1947 at the UMBS on Douglas Lake, Cheboygan County, Michigan. The study is a continuation of a similar study carried on by Robert O. Beatty during the summer of 1946. Records were kept of nesting box activity from June 23 to July 16, 1947. New nest boxes were first erected in 1944; in that year 15 boxes were erected. In 1945 20 more boxes were added making a total of 35 boxes.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51798/1/225.pdfDescription of 225.pdf : Access restricted to on-site users at the U-M Biological Station

Establishment of a Phase/Doppler Particle Analyzer for Two-Phase Flow Experiments

The accurate measurement of liquid spray drop size and velocity is important in a variety of applications. These applications include agricultural sprays, furnaces, spark ignition and compression ignition engines, gas turbines, and a variety of industrial processes. Because of the need to improve combustion efficiency and minimize soot and other harmful emissions, one of the most active areas of research is fuel spray combustion. Quantitative measurements of the vapor phase in fuel sprays is vital to the understanding of spray dynamics and the operation of combustion devices. There are various measurement techniques available to measure vapor phase characteristics in a fuel spray including schlieren photography, vapor fluorescence using exiplex emission, and mechanical isokinetic probes. Schlieren photography and vapor flux fluorescence using exiplex emission are nonintrusive techniques which provide only a qualitative picture of the vapor phase. Mechanical isokinetic probes have provided a quantitative picture of the vapor phase, but have the disadvantage of disrupting the flow field. The Aerometrics Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (P/DPA) is a laser based instrument that provides a quantitative, nonintrusive method to obtain simultaneous size and velocity measurements. This instrument incorporates the Laser Doppler Velodmeter for flow measurements with particle sizing methods. My role in this project consists of setup and validation of the P/DPA. This includes developing an appropriate spray set up and making measurements in a variety of spray environments for the validation of drop size, velocity, and liquid volume flux measurements. The instrument will ultimately be used in the investigation of two phase flows, including the measurement of particle size and velocity distributions in fuel sprays