Generating ellipsis using discourse structures

This article describes an effort to generate elliptic sentences, using Dependency Trees connected by Discourse Relations as input. We contend that the process of syntactic aggregation should be performed in the Surface Realization stage of the language generation process, and that Dependency Trees with Rhetorical Relations are excellent input for a generation system that has to generate ellipsis. We also propose a taxonomy of the most common Dutch cue words, grouped according to the kind of discourse relations they signal

Expenditure elasticities for rural households in the Embo ward, Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal

Household consumption patterns were investigated to determine the impact of an income shock on household expenditure and to establish the potential for demand-led growth in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. Household consumption data were collected from sample households in the Embo ward of Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal during October 2004 and March 2005. Budget shares and expenditure elasticities were estimated for household consumption categories for the two study periods, allowing for a comparison of expenditure elasticities between the two seasons. Results suggest that expenditure elasticities for consumer expendables, durables and transport were highly elastic, while expenditure elasticities for the aggregate food category were negative (October) and highly inelastic (March). Analysis of the expenditure categories of tradable and non-tradable goods and services showed expenditure on tradable non-farm goods and services to have the greatest potential for demand-led growth with expenditure elasticities of 2.88 and 2.91, respectively. The category of non-tradable non-farm goods and services was not statistically significant for both periods and the category non-tradable farm goods and services was not statistically significant for October. A seasonal difference in expenditure patterns was apparent, suggesting that responses to income changes vary at different times of the year.Expenditure elasticities, demand-led growth, Umbumbulu region, KwaZulu-Natal, Consumer/Household Economics,

Transcription analysis of apple fruit development using cDNA microarrays

The knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying fruit quality traits is fundamental to devise efficient marker-assisted selection strategies and to improve apple breeding. In this study, cDNA microarray technology was used to identify genes whose expression changes during fruit development and maturation thus potentially involved in fruit quality traits. The expression profile of 1,536 transcripts was analysed by microarray hybridisation. A total of 177 genes resulted to be differentially expressed in at least one of the developmental stages considered. Gene ontology annotation was employed to univocally describe gene function, while cluster analysis allowed grouping genes according to their expression profile. An overview of the transcriptional changes and of the metabolic pathways involved in fruit development was obtained. As expected, August and September are the two months where the largest number of differentially expressed genes was observed. In particular, 85 genes resulted to be up-regulated in September. Even though most of the differentially expressed genes are involved in primary metabolism, several other interesting functions were detected and will be presented

Kinetic Anomalies in Addition-Aggregation Processes

We investigate irreversible aggregation in which monomer-monomer, monomer-cluster, and cluster-cluster reactions occur with constant but distinct rates K_{MM}, K_{MC}, and K_{CC}, respectively. The dynamics crucially depends on the ratio gamma=K_{CC}/K_{MC} and secondarily on epsilon=K_{MM}/K_{MC}. For epsilon=0 and gamma<2, there is conventional scaling in the long-time limit, with a single mass scale that grows linearly in time. For gamma >= 2, there is unusual behavior in which the concentration of clusters of mass k, c_k decays as a stretched exponential in time within a boundary layer k<k* propto t^{1-2/gamma} (k* propto ln t for gamma=2), while c_k propto t^{-2} in the bulk region k>k*. When epsilon>0, analogous behaviors emerge for gamma<2 and gamma >= 2.Comment: 6 pages, 2 column revtex4 format, for submission to J. Phys.

State space c-reductions for concurrent systems in rewriting logic

We present c-reductions, a state space reduction technique. The rough idea is to exploit some equivalence relation on states (possibly capturing system regularities) that preserves behavioral properties, and explore the induced quotient system. This is done by means of a canonizer function, which maps each state into a (non necessarily unique) canonical representative of its equivalence class. The approach exploits the expressiveness of rewriting logic and its realization in Maude to enjoy several advantages over similar approaches: exibility and simplicity in the definition of the reductions (supporting not only traditional symmetry reductions, but also name reuse and name abstraction); reasoning support for checking and proving correctness of the reductions; and automatization of the reduction infrastructure via Maude's meta-programming features. The approach has been validated over a set of representative case studies, exhibiting comparable results with respect to other tools

Reconstructing Van Gogh’s palette to determine the optical characteristics of his paints

The colors of Field with Irises near Arles, painted by Van Gogh in Arles in 1888, have changed considerably. To get an idea of how this painting, as well as other works by Van Gogh, looked shortly after their production, the Revigo (Re-assessing Vincent van Gogh’s colors) research project was initiated. The aim of this project was to digitally visualize the original colors of paintings and drawings by Vincent van Gogh, using scientific methods backed by expert judgement where required. We adopted an experimental art technological approach and physically reconstructed Van Gogh’s full palette of oil paints, closely matching those he used to paint Field with Irises near Arles. Sixteen different paints were reconstructed, among which the most light-sensitive pigments and linseed oil, which is prone to yellowing, were produced according to 19th century practice. The resulting pigments and oils were chemically analyzed and compared to those used by Van Gogh. The ones that resembled his paints the most were used in the paint reconstructions. Other pigments were either obtained from the Cultural Heritage Agency’s collection of historical pigments, or purchased from Kremer Pigmente. The reconstructed paints were subsequently used to calculate the absorption K and scattering S parameters of the individual paints. Using Kubelka–Munk theory, these optical parameters could in turn be used to determine the color of paint mixtures. We applied this method successfully to digitally visualize the original colors of Field with Irises near Arles. Moreover, the set of optical parameters presented here can similarly be applied to calculate digital visualizations of other paintings by Van Gogh and his contemporaries

Size reduction in feed technology and methods for determining, expressing and predicting particle size: A review

Particle size of diets or ingredients plays an important role in pig growth and gut health. The way the size of particles is measured and expressed, however, is limited in explaining pig growth performance differences. This review explores new possibilities to determine, express and predict particle size. Different grinding methods, including the use of roller mills, hammer mills, multicracker and multi-stage grinding were reviewed. Roller milling tends to produce a more uniform particle size distribution (PSD) and consumes less energy, whilst hammer mills have a greater grinding capacity and a higher reduction ratio compared to roller mill. The multicracker system, a more recently developed technology, can be considered cost-effective and ensures grinding capacity. Since the effects of different grinding methods vary, multi-stage grinding, combining different grinding methods, might be a solution to obtain a defined PSD. Particle size determination techniques, including dry/wet sieving, laser diffraction, microscopy, and static/dynamic image analysis are described and compared. It is concluded that more characteristics of particles (e.g. shape, volume or surface area) should be investigated. Besides geometric mean diameter (GMD), particle size can also be expressed with parameters such as D50, D4,3 and span of PSD. Equivalent particle size (EPS) is introduced as a mean of describing the size of particles related to a functional trait of the particles. A meta-analysis was performed by collecting particle size and pig performance data from scientific studies examining the effect of recalculated EPS on pig performance (feed conversion ratio, FCR). Regression/linear modelling shows that recalculated EPS was not better than GMD in explaining pig performance differences due to the high variation among studies. Different expressions of PSD may result in different conclusions. An introduction of describing the breaking behavior of diet ingredients via mathematical models is provided. The development in breakage functions of wheat in roller milling in food preparations indicates that breakage functions are applicable in predicting the output PSD. Functions may also be extended to diet ingredients to be ground in animal feed manufacture. In feed manufacturing diagrams, particle size reduction for downstream processes (e.g. pelleting, extruding, expander processing) should be taken into account when the relationship between pig performance and particle size of diets is investigated. In conclusion, the determination, expression and prediction of particle size can be a new direction for controlling the grinding process in the feed mill to better explain its relationship with pig performance.</p