Bootstrapping Lexical Choice via Multiple-Sequence Alignment

An important component of any generation system is the mapping dictionary, a lexicon of elementary semantic expressions and corresponding natural language realizations. Typically, labor-intensive knowledge-based methods are used to construct the dictionary. We instead propose to acquire it automatically via a novel multiple-pass algorithm employing multiple-sequence alignment, a technique commonly used in bioinformatics. Crucially, our method leverages latent information contained in multi-parallel corpora -- datasets that supply several verbalizations of the corresponding semantics rather than just one. We used our techniques to generate natural language versions of computer-generated mathematical proofs, with good results on both a per-component and overall-output basis. For example, in evaluations involving a dozen human judges, our system produced output whose readability and faithfulness to the semantic input rivaled that of a traditional generation system.Comment: 8 pages; to appear in the proceedings of EMNLP-200

Near-field angular distributions of high velocity ions for low-power hall thrusters

Experimental angular distributions of high-energy primary ions in the near-field region of a small Hall thruster between 50-200 mm downstream of the thruster exit plane at a range of centerline angles have been determined using a highly-collimated, energy-selective diagnostic probe. The measurements reveal a wide angular distribution of ions exiting the thruster channel and the formation of a strong, axially-directed jet of ions along the thruster centerline. Comparisons are made to other experimental determinations as applicable

Understanding Opportunities in Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Realist Abstraction

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.This paper extends social entrepreneurship (SE) research by drawing upon a critical realist perspective to analyse dynamic structure/agency relations in SE opportunity emergence, illustrated by empirical evidence. Our findings demonstrate an agential aspect (opportunity actualisation following a path-dependent seeding-growing-shaping process) and a structural aspect (institutional, cognitive and embedded structures necessary for SE opportunity emergence) related to SE opportunities. These structures provide three boundary conditions for SE agency: institutional discrimination, an SE belief system and social feasibility. Within this paper, we develop a novel theoretical framework to analyse SE opportunities plus, an applicable tool to advance related empirical research

Review Essay: Private Lives and Armory Practice: Artifacts and Armsmaking Reconsidered

Review of Colt: The Making of an American Legend by William N. Hosley, Jr., 1996. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford. 254 pp., illustrations, and notes, $49.95 (cloth),$29.95 (paper); and Culture Change and the New Technology: An Archaeology of the Early American Industrial Era by Paul A. Shackel, 1996. Contributions to Global Historical Archaeology, series edited by Charles E. Orser, Jr. Plenum Press, NY. 217 pp., illustrations, appendix, bibliography, and notes, $37.50

Imagining Consumers

Winner of the Hagley Prize in Business History from The Hagley Museum and Library and the Business History ConferenceSelected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic TitleOriginally published in 1999. Imagining Consumers tells for the first time the story of American consumer society from the perspective of mass-market manufacturers and retailers. It relates the trials and tribulations of china and glassware producers in their contest for the hearts of the working- and middle-class women who made up more than eighty percent of those buying mass-manufactured goods by the 1920s. Based on extensive research in untapped corporate archives, Imagining Consumers supplies a fresh appraisal of the history of American business, culture, and consumerism. Case studies illuminate decision making in key firms—including the Homer Laughlin China Company, the Kohler Company, and Corning Glass Works—and consider the design and development of ubiquitous lines such as Fiesta tableware and Pyrex Ovenware

Establishing Privacy Advisory Commissions for the Regulation of Facial Recognition Systems at the Municipal Level

As facial recognition systems (FRS) become widely available, a growing number of local governing bodies across the country have adopted these technologies. Without regulating how and when these technologies are used, the adoption of FRS by municipal governments has the potential to violate civil liberties and disproportionately harm marginalized groups. FRS may be an invaluable tool for law enforcement; however, best practices must be adopted to curb their misuse, specifically at the municipal level. We propose that cities considering procurement of FRS create an independent privacy advisory commission with a clear mandate, guaranteed cooperation from local government, technology expertise, and community stakeholder input

Usage du Podcasting pour la maîtrise de l\u27information

Communication faite lors du 73e congrès annuel de l\u27IFLA, 19 au 23 août 2007, Durban, Afrique du Su

Simulation of Single Gimbal Control Moment Gyroscopes (SGCMG) Cluster for Microsatellite Maritime Surveillance Mission

The potential for agile missions for small satellites exists through development of single gimbal control moment gyroscopes (SGCMG). An SGCMG cluster comes with additional complexity and volume requirements, but efforts in their development have reduced their overall size while providing higher torque over similarly sized reaction wheels. In this paper, we present a feasibility study of a small satellite using a small volume pyramid SGCMG cluster for coastline monitoring through Simulink. Two realistic torque profiles for sweeping capture of complex coastlines within one minute were generated using STK, requiring maximum torques of 0.190 and 0.218 Nm and rapid slew rate. The torques are beyond the capabilities of a similarly sized reaction wheel, which can only output maximum torques of 0.020 Nm. The torque profiles were replicated using simulated SGCMG cluster using modelled SGCMG scaled for small satellites. Results show that the SGCMG pyramid cluster meets the required torque profiles with less than 0.3 degrees of pointing error throughout the maneuver. A novel SGCMG hardware is currently under development and preliminary analysis indicates sufficient torque for agile missions such as coastal monitoring presented in this paper. The viability of SGCMG cluster provide promising alternative for ACS design of small satellites where agility have been limited by existing attitude actuators