Handwriting Recognition of Historical Documents with few labeled data

Historical documents present many challenges for offline handwriting recognition systems, among them, the segmentation and labeling steps. Carefully annotated textlines are needed to train an HTR system. In some scenarios, transcripts are only available at the paragraph level with no text-line information. In this work, we demonstrate how to train an HTR system with few labeled data. Specifically, we train a deep convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) system on only 10% of manually labeled text-line data from a dataset and propose an incremental training procedure that covers the rest of the data. Performance is further increased by augmenting the training set with specially crafted multiscale data. We also propose a model-based normalization scheme which considers the variability in the writing scale at the recognition phase. We apply this approach to the publicly available READ dataset. Our system achieved the second best result during the ICDAR2017 competition

The Insider-Researcher Status: A Challenge for Social Work Practice Research

For insider-researchers engaged in qualitative inquiry, positionality and researcher neutrality are major concerns. Based on a study of human rights in social work practice among asylum seekers in a public institutional setting, this article highlights the insider-researcher status where the researcher was also a practitioner in the setting. Specifically, the author discusses the insider-researcher’s positionality towards knowledge of the population served, knowledge of the setting and knowledge of the research process by examining both the advantages and limitations of being an insider-researcher, as well as highlights ways to address and overcome these limitations

Portosystemic shunt diagnosis using duplex Doppler ultrasonography in cats

Realizaram-se exames ultra-sonográficos dúplex-Doppler abdominal em dois gatos que apresentavam sinais clínicos de encefalopatia hepática. Os principais achados ultra-sonográficos foram: identificação de um vaso anômalo tortuoso desviando o fluxo portal, velocidade de pico sistólico portal aumentada, presença de fluxo turbulento na veia cava caudal e redução do tamanho do fígado e do calibre dos vasos portais. Os achados de necropsia confirmaram os resultados dos exames ultra-sonográficos e clínicos. Pode-se concluir que o diagnóstico de shunt portossistêmico deve ser uma hipótese a ser considerada em gatos com sinais clínicos de encefalopatia hepática.Abdominal duplex Doppler ultrasonography was used in two cats with hepatic encephalopathy clinical signs. The main ultrasonographic findings were: identification of a tortuous strange vessel shunting portal flow; elevated portal flow velocity; turbulence in the caudal vena cava, and reduced size of liver and hepatic portal branches. Necropsy findings were similar to that found at ultrasonographic and clinical exams. It is concluded that portosystemic shunt diagnosis may be a real hypothesis to be considered in cats with clinical signs of hepatic encephalopathy

Production of Laban

International audienceLaban is a fermented milk produced in Lebanon and some Arab countries. This book chapter presents the scientific ans technological issues concerning the production process of Laban. Chapter 11.1 Introduction Chapter 11.2 Laban Market in Lebanon and Other Countries Chapter 11.3 Lactic Acid Fermentation of Laban Chapter 11.4 Influence of Lactic Acid Fermentation on Laban Properties Chapter 11.5 General Process of Laban Manufacture Chapter 11.6 Packaging and Storage of Laban Chapter 11.7 Evaluation of Laban Quality Chapter 11.8 Conclusio

Cancer chemotherapy failure: a synthetic view

Cancer is a highly prevalent and fatal disease, being one of the main causes of death in Brazil and in the world. In the last decades, a great advance has been reached in fight against cancer, with some translation in curability. However, these advances are still insufficient, and the prognosis of the cancer patient is usually unfavorable. Indeed, there are still many gaps in our knowledge about this complex and heterogeneous disease. Several treatments approaches against cancer are available to clinical practice - and some others are being developed - one of which is chemotherapy, both traditional and targeted therapy (TT), used - above all - as primary treatment for metastatic or secondary treatment in local or locally advanced disease. Several factors can act through many mechanisms to determine the failure of chemotherapy treatment. These factors are distributed across the various biological scales, from the molecular to the socioeconomic level, making the holistic view of treatment a great challenge and impairing the awareness of what can go wrong. The purpose of this paper is to be a comprehensive - but not superficial - picture of the many factors that influence the success of chemotherapy. In this way, the result of this work was this discussion on chemotherapy failure, were it was exposed recent advances, challenges to be overcome and new paths to be explored on this field.O Câncer é uma doença de alta prevalência e letalidade, sendo uma das principais causas de morte no Brasil e no mundo. Nas últimas décadas, grandes avanços foram alcançados na luta contra o câncer, com alguma tradução em curabilidade. Contudo, esses avanços ainda não são suficientes, de modo que o prognóstico do paciente com câncer ainda é, geralmente, desfavorável. De fato, há ainda diversas lacunas em nosso conhecimento a respeito dessa complexa e heterogênea doença. Diversos tratamentos contra o câncer já estão disponíveis à prática clínica - e outros ainda estão sendo desenvolvidos - uma delas a quimioterapia, tanto a tradicional quando a alvo dirigida, utilizada, sobretudo, como tratamento primário contra doença metastática ou secundário contra doença local ou localmente avançada. Diversos fatores podem atuar, através de vários mecanismos, de modo a determinar a falha do tratamento quimioterápico. Esses fatores estão distribuídos ao longo de diversas escalas biológicas, do nível molecular ao socioeconômico, tornando uma visão holística do tratamento um grande desafio, prejudicando a compreensão acerca do que pode dar errado. O objetivo deste trabalho é ser uma leitura compreensiva - mas não superficial - dos muitos fatores que influenciam o sucesso de quimioterapia. Deste modo, o resultado foi a presente discussão, na qual foram expostos avanços recentes, desafios a serem superados e novos caminhos a serem explorados na área

An Antibody to De-N-Acetyl Sialic Acid Containing-Polysialic Acid Identifies an Intracellular Antigen and Induces Apoptosis in Human Cancer Cell Lines

Polysialic acid (PSA), an α2,8-linked homopolymer of N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), is developmentally regulated and its expression is thought to be restricted to a few tissues in adults. Recently, we showed that two human pathogens expressed a derivative of PSA containing de-N-acetyl sialic acid residues (NeuPSA). Here we show that an epitope identified by the anti-NeuPSA monoclonal antibody, SEAM 3 (SEAM 3-reactive antigen or S3RA), is expressed in human melanomas, and also intracellularly in a human melanoma cell line (SK-MEL-28), a human T cell leukemia cell line (Jurkat), and two neuroblastoma cell lines (CHP-134 and SH-SY5Y). SEAM 3 binding induced apoptosis in the four cell lines tested. The unusual intracellular distribution of S3RA was similar to that described for the PSA polysialyltransferases, STX and PST, which are also expressed in the four cell lines used here. Interestingly, suppression of PST mRNA expression by transfection of SK-MEL-28 cells with PST-specific short interfering RNA (siRNA) resulted in decreased SEAM 3 binding. The results suggest further studies of the utility of antibodies such as SEAM 3 as therapeutic agents for certain malignancies

Resistance Mechanisms Influencing Oncolytic Virotherapy, a Systematic Analysis:a Systematic Analysis

Resistance to therapy is a frequently observed phenomenon in the treatment of cancer, and as with other cancer therapeutics, therapies based on oncolytic viruses also face the challenges of resistance, such as humoral and cellular antiviral responses, and tumor-associated interferon-mediated resistance. In order to identify additional mechanisms of resistance that may contribute to therapeutic failure, we developed a systematic search strategy for studies published in PubMed. We analyzed 6143 articles on oncolytic virotherapy and found that approximately 8% of these articles use resistance terms in the abstract and/or title. Of these 439 articles, 87 were original research. Most of the findings reported pertain to resistance mediated by tumor-cell-dependent interferon signaling. Yet, mechanisms such as epigenetic modifications, hypoxia-mediated inhibition, APOBEC-mediated resistance, virus entry barriers, and spatiotemporal restriction to viral spread, although not frequently assessed, were demonstrated to play a major role in resistance. Similarly, our results suggest that the stromal compartment consisting of, but not limited to, myeloid cells, fibroblasts, and epithelial cells requires more study in relation to therapy resistance using oncolytic viruses. Thus, our findings emphasize the need to assess the stromal compartment and to identify novel mechanisms that play an important role in conferring resistance to oncolytic virotherapy

Khalas!: Institutionalized SWANA Erasure, Resilience, and Resistance In Higher Education

The question of SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) diasporic identity formation has been widely debated in area studies, ethnic studies, and the burgeoning field of Arab American Studies with scholars such as Sarah Gualtieri (2009), Nadine Naber (2012), and Neda Maghbouleh (2017) arguing that people of SWANA descent are racial minorities even though the U.S. government classifies them as white.  However, these works have not adequately addressed SWANA racialization in the context of higher education following 9/11.  This co-authored paper closely examines institutionalized SWANA erasure from the shared intersectional perspective of one faculty member, one graduate student, and two undergraduate students at a California State University campus in Southern California.  Specifically, in this co-authored paper, we draw on our individual and collective co-organizing experiences to illustrate (a) the persistence of specific structural inequities that SWANA heritage people face in the academy, (b) the multilayered impact of these educational barriers, and (c) our wide range of ongoing activist responses to them.  We say “khalas!” (enough!) to systemic oppression and argue that the ultimate antidote to institutionalized SWANA erasure is solidarity within and between marginalized subjects at every level of academia in the service of anti-racist education.  In conclusion, this co-authored paper uplifts SWANA resilience and resistance in California’s most diverse public university system to shed new light on the understudied issue of how higher education perpetuates SWANA racialization.&nbsp