A Study on Dialog Act Recognition using Character-Level Tokenization

Dialog act recognition is an important step for dialog systems since it reveals the intention behind the uttered words. Most approaches on the task use word-level tokenization. In contrast, this paper explores the use of character-level tokenization. This is relevant since there is information at the sub-word level that is related to the function of the words and, thus, their intention. We also explore the use of different context windows around each token, which are able to capture important elements, such as affixes. Furthermore, we assess the importance of punctuation and capitalization. We performed experiments on both the Switchboard Dialog Act Corpus and the DIHANA Corpus. In both cases, the experiments not only show that character-level tokenization leads to better performance than the typical word-level approaches, but also that both approaches are able to capture complementary information. Thus, the best results are achieved by combining tokenization at both levels.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, AIMSA 201

Chirality asymptotic behavior and non-Markovianity in quantum walks on a line

We investigate the time evolution of the chirality reduced density matrix for a discrete-time quantum walk on a one-dimensional lattice. The matrix is obtained by tracing out the spatial degree of freedom. We analyze the standard case, without decoherence, and the situation in which decoherence appears in the form of broken links in the lattice. By examining the trace distance for possible pairs of initial states as a function of time, we conclude that the evolution of the reduced density matrix is non-Markovian, in the sense defined by Breuer, Laine, and Piilo [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009)]. As the level of noise increases, the dynamics approaches a Markovian process. The highest non-Markovianity corresponds to the case without decoherence. The reduced density matrix tends always to a well-defined limit that we calculate, but only in the decoherence-free case is this limit nontrivial

In Planta Colonization and Role of T6SS in Two Rice Kosakonia Endophytes.

Endophytes live inside plants and are often beneficial. Kosakonia is a novel bacterial genus that includes many diazotrophic plant-associated isolates. Plant–bacteria studies on two rice endophytic Kosakonia beneficial strains were performed, including comparative genomics, secretome profiling, in planta tests, and a field release trial. The strains are efficient rhizoplane and root endosphere colonizers and localized in the root cortex. Secretomics revealed 144 putative secreted proteins, including type VI secretory system (T6SS) proteins. A Kosakonia T6SS genomic knock-out mutant showed a significant decrease in rhizoplane and endosphere colonization ability. A field trial using rice seed inoculated with Kosakonia spp. showed no effect on plant growth promotion upon nitrogen stress and microbiome studies revealed that Kosakonia spp. were significantly more present in the inoculated rice. Comparative genomics indicated that several protein domains were enriched in plant-associated Kosakonia spp. This study highlights that Kosakonia is an important, recently classified genus involved in plant–bacteria interaction

Resultados de la técnica de Zarins en la reconstrucción del ligamento cruzado anterior

Se presenta una serie de 96 pacientes con lesión crónica del ligamento cruzado anterior de la rodilla que fueron intervenidos mediante un procedimiento combinado intra y extraarticular que utiliza como método de reconstrucción el tendón del semitendinoso y una tira de fascia lata. Ochenta y cinco pacientes pudieron ser revisados a una media de 119 meses de la intervención (rango 110-130). El test de Lachman instrumentado con Genucom fue inferior a 5mm en el 88% de los casos y el pívot-shift fue negativo en el 91%. Se observaron cambios radiológicos en 52% de las rodillas. De acuerdo con la escala de Zarins, 88% de pacientes fueron calificados de excelentes o buenos. En la escala de Lysholm, la puntuación media fue de 93 puntos. Los resultados demuestran que esta técnica puede restaurar la estabilidad de la rodilla con déficit del LCA a largo plazo.Ninety-six patients who had chronic lesions of the anterior cruciata were treated using a combined method of intraarticular and extraarticular transfer of the semitendinous tendon and a strip of fascia lata (Zarins technique). Eighty-five patients were studied at 119 (110 to 130) months after surgery. In 88 percent of the patients, instrumented measurement of anteroposterior laxity at 30 degrees knee flexion was zero to five milimeters. The pivot shift test was negative in 91 percent of them. Radiological changes were observed in 52 percent of the patients. According to the Zarins scale, 88 percent of the patients were rated as excellent or good. Lysholm evaluation showed an average of 93 points. This study demonstrates that this method can restore long term stability to a knee that has a torn anterior cruciate ligament

Identification and characterization of fungi associated with esca in vineyards of the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain)

Abstract Grapevines sampled in the Comunidad Valenciana in Spain were examined for esca symptoms, and the different vine parts (trunk, cane and young vine) were surveyed for the presence of esca-related fungi. The fungal species most frequently identified were the mitosporic fungi Diplodia mutila (Dmu), Phaeoacremonium aleophilum (Pal), Phaeomoniella chlamydospora (Pch) and Phomopsis viticola (Pvi) and the basidiomycetes Fomitiporia mediterranea (Fm) and Stereum hirsutum (Shi). PCR and sequencing using the universal pair primers ITS1-ITS4 confirmed the identification, these techniques proved very useful, particularly in cases where fruiting was not evident and/or pure cultures did not display enough diagnostic traits. Dmu and both basidiomycetes were the most frequent fungi associated with esca in this region. Dmu was the only fungal species found in all vine parts studied, being significantly more present in canes (82%) than in trunks (58%) or shoots (28%). Moreover, both basidiomycetes (50% Fm and 56% Shi) and Pch (32%) were most frequently found in trunks. Additional key words: Basidiomycetes, grapevine, ITS, mitosporic fungi, molecular characterization, morphological characteristics, rDNA, Vitis vinifera. Resumen Identificación y caracterización de hongos asociados a la yesca en viñedos de la Comunidad Valenciana (España) Se muestrearon viñas en la Comunidad Valenciana y se examinaron para detectar síntomas de yesca, y analizar la presencia de hongos relacionados con dicha enfermedad en las diferentes partes de la planta (tronco, caña y sarmiento). Las especies fúngicas identificadas de forma más frecuente fueron los hongos mitospóricos Diplodia mutila (Dmu), Phaeoacremonium aleophilum (Pal), Phaeomoniella chlamydospora (Pch) y Phomopsis viticola (Pvi) y los basidiomicetes Fomitiporia mediterranea (Fm) y Stereum hirsutum (Shi). Dicha identificación fue confirmada mediante PCR y secuenciación con la pareja de primers universal ITS1-ITS4, siendo especialmente útil en aquellos casos donde la fructificación no fue evidente y/o en los cultivos puros que no mostraron suficientes caracteres diagnósticos. Dmu, junto con ambos basidiomicetes, fueron los hongos más encontrados asociados a la yesca en esta región. Dmu fue la única especie fúngica presente en todas las partes de la viña estudiadas, con una incidencia significativa en cañas (82%) comparada con los troncos (58%) y los sarmientos (28%). Además, se encontraron de forma mayoritaria en el tronco los basidiomicetes (50% Fm y 56% Shi), así como Pch (32%)

Transcultural adaptation and validation of the ' Hip and Knee ' questionnaire into Spanish

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study is to translate and validate the 'Hip and Knee Outcomes Questionnaire', developed in English, into Spanish. The 'Hip and Knee Outcomes Questionnaire is a questionnaire planned to evaluate the impact in quality of life of any problem related to the human musculoskeletal system. 10 scientific associations developed it. METHODS: The questionnaire underwent a validated translation/retro-translation process. Patients undergoing primary knee arthroplasty, before and six months postoperative, tested the final version in Spanish. Psychometric properties of feasibility, reliability, validity and sensitivity to change were assessed. Convergent validity with SF-36 and WOMAC questionnaires was evaluated. RESULTS: 316 patients were included. Feasibility: a high number of missing items in questions 3, 4 and 5 were observed. The number of patients with a missing item was 171 (51.35%) in the preoperative visit and 139 (44.0%) at the postoperative. Internal validity: revision of coefficients in the item-rest correlation recommended removing question 6 during the preoperative visit (coefficient <0.20). Convergent validity: coefficients of correlation with WOMAC and SF-36 scales confirm the questionnaire's validity. Sensitivity to change: statistically significant differences were found between the mean scores of the first visit compared to the postoperative. CONCLUSION: The proposed translation to Spanish of the 'Hip and Knee Questionnaire' is found to be reliable, valid and sensible to changes produced at the clinical practice of patients undergoing primary knee arthroplasty. However, some changes at the completion instructions are recommended. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I. Prognostic study

The Political De-Determination of Legal Rules and the Contested Meaning of the ‘No Bailout’ Clause

Traditional debates on legal theory have devoted a great deal of attention to the question of the determinacy of legal rules. With the aid of social sciences and linguistics, this article suggests a way out of the ‘determinate-indeterminate’ dichotomy that has dominated the academic debate on the topic so far. Instead, a dynamic approach is proposed, in which rules are deemed to undergo processes of political ‘de-determination’ and ‘re-determination’. To illustrate this, the article uses the example of Art. 125 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the ‘no bailout’ provision, which played a major role in the management of the Euro-crisis. As will be shown, with the start of the crisis, this provision, whose meaning was once scarcely controversial, became the object of intense interpretative disagreement. As it became politically relevant, the rule also became the site of interpretative competitions, until the intervention of the European Court of Justice disambiguated and redefined its meaning

A high-reflectivity atom-focusing mirror stable at room temperature

It is shown that the Pb(root 3x root 3)R30/Si(111) ordered layer is an excellent mirror for neutral He atoms. It focuses more than 15% of the incoming He atoms into the specular peak, and is stable up to 450 K. Moreover, the reflectivity remains almost unchanged in a time scale of several weeks in ultrahigh vacuum. As a consequence, this system is a very good candidate to be used as a mirror in the next generation of the scanning helium atom microscope