Spanish generation from Spanish Sign Language using a phrase-based translation system

This paper describes the development of a Spoken Spanish generator from Spanish Sign Language (LSE – Lengua de Signos Española) in a specific domain: the renewal of Identity Document and Driver’s license. The system is composed of three modules. The first one is an interface where a deaf person can specify a sign sequence in sign-writing. The second one is a language translator for converting the sign sequence into a word sequence. Finally, the last module is a text to speech converter. Also, the paper describes the generation of a parallel corpus for the system development composed of more than 4,000 Spanish sentences and their LSE translations in the application domain. The paper is focused on the translation module that uses a statistical strategy with a phrase-based translation model, and this paper analyses the effect of the alignment configuration used during the process of word based translation model generation. Finally, the best configuration gives a 3.90% mWER and a 0.9645 BLEU

Altonaga Begoña, Bakarne (2021): Cuerpos en tránsito. Los significados del género en la crisis del Antiguo Régimen en el País Vasco. Granada: Comares. 245 pp. isbn: 9788413691749.

[ES] Reseña del libro Cuerpos en tránsito. Los significados del género en la crisis del Antiguo Régimen en el País Vasco coordinado por Altonaga Begoña, Bakarne en el año 2021

High-Chromium (9-12Cr) Steels: Creep Enhancement by Conventional Thermomechanical Treatments

There is a worldwide need to develop materials for advanced power plants with steam temperatures of 700°C and above which have the capacity to achieve high efficiency and low CO2 emissions. This request involves the development of new grades of 9-12Cr heat-resistant steels, with a nanostructured martensite, mainly focusing on the long-term creep rupture strength of base metal and welded joints, creep-fatigue properties, and microstructure evolution during exposure at such elevated temperatures. The main shortcomings of actual 9-12Cr high-chromium steels are that the creep resistance is not enough to fulfill the engineering requirements at temperatures higher than 600°C and the material undergoes a cyclic softening. Creep strength at high temperature could be improved by a microstructural optimization through nano-precipitation, guided by computational thermodynamics, and thermomechanical control process optimization

Brewery by-products (yeast and spent grain) as protein sources in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) feeds

A trial was conducted to analyze the effect of the inclusion of yeast and spent grain obtained from breweries in feeds for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), taking into account the availability of these by-products, produced in large quantities in Europe. The ingredients were assayed in both dried and hydrolyzed format and compared with a commercial dried or hydrolyzed yeast. According to the results, the inclusion of 20% yeast and 15% spent grain in the feed, formulated with only 15% inclusion of fish meal, produced similar results in growth among all the groups, a food conversion significantly lower for the control and spent grain formulated feeds, and rainbow trout muscle composition similar to the fish fed with a control commercial feed and showed a protein digestibility of 87%–89% without differences with the commercial yeast. Hydrolysis of the ingredients had no effects on the protein digestibility of the feeds. Protein digestibility of the ingredients was lower for spent grain. An inclusion rate not higher than 15% for spent grain is recommended. These industrial by-products can be a good source to reduce the use of plant-based ingredients and increase the sustainability of both sectors, brewery industry, and aquaculture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluating a Speech Communication System for deaf people

This paper describes the development of an Advanced Speech Communication System for Deaf People and its field evaluation in a real application domain: the renewal of Driver’s License. The system is composed of two modules. The first one is a Spanish into Spanish Sign Language (LSE: Lengua de Signos Española) translation module made up of a speech recognizer, a natural language translator (for converting a word sequence into a sequence of signs), and a 3D avatar animation module (for playing back the signs). The second module is a Spoken Spanish generator from sign-writing composed of a visual interface (for specifying a sequence of signs), a language translator (for generating the sequence of words in Spanish), and finally, a text to speech converter. For language translation, the system integrates three technologies: an example-based strategy, a rule-based translation method and a statistical translator. This paper also includes a detailed description of the evaluation carried out in the Local Traffic Office in the city of Toledo (Spain) involving real government employees and deaf people. This evaluation includes objective measurements from the system and subjective information from questionnaires. Finally, the paper reports an analysis of the main problems and a discussion about possible solutions

Sistema de Comunicación Oral para Personas Sordas

Este artículo describe el desarrollo y la evaluación de un sistema de comunicación para personas sordas en un ámbito de aplicación específico: la renovación del permiso de conducir. El sistema de comunicación desarrollado está compuesto por dos módulos que permiten la comunicación en los dos sentidos. El primer módulo es un traductor de voz en castellano a Lengua de Signos Española (LSE) y está formado por un reconocedor de voz, un traductor de palabras en castellano a una secuencia de signos y un tercer módulo de representación de los signos mediante un agente animado. El segundo módulo es un generador de voz en castellano a partir de una secuencia de signos, y está formado por una interfaz donde se especifican los signos, un traductor (para convertir la secuencia de signos en una secuencia de palabras) y un conversor de texto a voz. En los dos módulos de traducción entre lenguas, se integran tres tecnologías: una basada en ejemplos, una basada en reglas y un traductor estadístico. Este artículo describe la evaluación del sistema llevada a cabo en la Jefatura Provincial de Tráfico de Toledo implicando a funcionarios de dicha jefatura y personas sordas

Can the Incorporation of Quick Response Codes and Smartphones Improve Field-based Science Education?

Innovative approaches to field-based biology classes are needed to overcome logistic and financial constraints to running them. Quick Response (QR) technology, which links users to online content by scanning barcodes with their smartphones, provides an inexpensive, customisable way to support field-based learning. This paper reports on the trial of mobile learning, using hand-held devices and online material, in an undergraduate biology class. Students conducted a wildlife survey with reference to an online identification guide, accessed by scanning QR codes on site. Students expressed mixed opinions about the use of QR technology in field-based classes. Technical problems with scanning QR codes, weak wifi coverage and apprehension towards new technologies appeared to influence their attitudes towards mobile learning. However, they felt that they benefited from online resources and endorsed QR codes for learning. To improve student engagement with QR technology, staff should provide students with adequate training, test QR scanning software before use, and emphasise cellular coverage

Language Resources for Spanish - Spanish Sign Language (LSE) translation

This paper describes the development of a Spanish Spanish Sign Language (LSE) translation system. Firstly, it describes the first Spanish Spanish Sign Language (LSE) parallel corpus focused on two specific domains: the renewal of the Identity Document and Driver’s License. This corpus includes more than 4,000 Spanish sentences (in these domains), their LSE translation and a video for each LSE sentence with the sign language representation. This corpus also contains more than 700 sign descriptions in several sign writing specifications. The translation system developed with this corpus consists of two modules: a Spanish into LSE translation module that is composed of a speech recognizer (for decoding the spoken utterance into a word sequence), a natural language translator (for converting a word sequence into a sequence of signs) and a 3D avatar animation module (for playing back the signs). The second module is a Spanish generator from LSE made up of a visual interface (for specifying a sequence of signs in sign writing), a language translator (for generating the sequence of words in Spanish) and a text to speech converter. For each language translation, the system uses three technologies: an example based strategy, a rule based translation method and a statistical translator

Do Students Value On-Campus Field-Based Education? A Case Study of Science Educational Initiatives in the Jock Marshall Reserve

Fieldwork, known for fostering more engaging and authentic learning experiences, is an established tradition in higher education which is changing; increasingly run on-campus for financial and logistical reasons and enhanced through education technologies to reflect industry practices. Here we examine student perceptions of on-campus fieldwork with the aim of understanding if on-campus fieldwork was valued and why, to be able to compare against literature on off-campus fieldwork. We explore student views on activities at the Jock Marshall Reserve, an on-campus nature reserve of Monash University, Australia using mixed-methods approach. An online survey targeted students undertaking four subjects across first to third year and received 116 responses. In alignment with off-campus fieldwork studies, we found that overwhelmingly respondents highly valued fieldwork with dominant reasons being; 1) developed skills relevant to ‘real-world’ science, 2) reinforced theoretical learning, and 3) was more engaging than traditional study, with some benefits to their wellbeing. The novel perceptions related to increased convenience and authenticity. Since a majority of respondents wished to undertake on-campus fieldwork more frequently, this study suggests that the inclusion of on-campus fieldwork should be considered within science curriculum in higher education

Sistema de traducción de lenguaje SMS a castellano

En este artículo se describe el proceso llevado a cabo para desarrollar un sistema de traducción de lenguaje SMS (Short Message Service) a castellano. En primer lugar, se genera una base de datos necesaria para desarrollar el sistema, formada por más de 11000 términos y expresiones en lenguaje SMS y sus traducciones al castellano, así como frases de ejemplo en lenguaje SMS para realizar una primera evaluación del sistema. La arquitectura completa está formada por un traductor automático estadístico basado en subfrases o secuencias de palabras y una serie de funciones implementadas para actuar sobre las frases en tiempo real. La evaluación de la arquitectura se realiza con las siguientes métricas: WER (tasa de error de palabras), BLEU (“BiLingual Evaluation Understudy”) y NIST. Como resultado final, se obtiene una tasa de error de palabra de 20,2% para el mejor experimento