Is query translation a distinct task from search?

INTRODUCTION The University of Sheffield participated in iCLEF 2002 using, as a test-bed, the prototype under development in the Clarity project. Clarity is an EU funded project aimed at developing a system for cross-language information retrieval for so-called low density languages, those with few translation resources. Currently translation between English and Finnish is supported; soon Swedish will be added and in the near future Latvian and Lithuanian. Clarity is being developed in a user-centred way with user involvement from the beginning. The design of the first user interface was based on current best practise, particular attention was paid to empirical evidence for a specific design choice. Six paper-based interface mock-ups representing important points in the cross-language search task were generated and presented for user assessment as a part of an extensive user study. The study (reported in Petrelli et al. 2002) was conducted to understand users and uses of cross-language information retrieval systems. Many different techniques were applied: contextual enquiry, interviews, questionnaires, informal evaluation of existing cross-language technology, and participatory design sessions with the interface mock-ups mentioned above. As a result, a user class profile was sketched and a long list of user requirements was compiled. As a followup, a redesign session took place and the new system was designed for users whoknow the language(s) they are searching (polyglots); • search for writing (journalists, translators business analysts); • have limited searching skills; • know the topic in advance or will learn/read on it while searching; • use many languages in the same search session and often swap between them. New system features were listed as important and the user interface was redesigned. Considering the result of the study the new interface allowed the user to dynamically change the language setting from query to query, hid the query translation and showed the retrieved set as ranked list primary. Despite the fact that this new design was considered to be more effective, a comparison between the first layout based on the relevant literature and the new one based on the user study was considered an important research question. In particular, the choice of hiding the query translation was considered an important design decision, against the common agreement to allow and support the user in controlling the system actions. Thus the participation of Sheffield in iCLEF was organized around the idea of checking if the user should validate the query translation before the search is run or instead if the system should perform the translation and search in a single step without any user’s supervision

Nucleon magnetic moments in an extended chiral constituent quark model

We present results for the nucleon magnetic moments in the context of an extended chiral constituent quark model based on the mechanism of the Goldstone boson exchange, as suggested by the spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry in QCD. The electromagnetic charge-current operator is consistently deduced from the model Hamiltonian, which includes all force components for the pseudoscalar, vector and scalar meson exchanges. Thus, the continuity equation is satisfied for each piece of the interaction, avoiding the introduction of any further parameter. A good agreement with experimental values is found. The role of isoscalar two-body operators, not constrained by the continuity equation, is also investigated.Comment: 7 pages, 1 table, submitted for publication to Phys. Lett. B, elsart.sty/elsart12.sty include

Oxidation Behavior of a Pd_(43)Cu_(27)Ni_(10)P_(20) Bulk Metallic Glass and Foam in Dry Air

The oxidation behavior of both Pd_(43)Cu_(27)Ni_(10)P_(20) bulk metallic glass (Pd4-BMG) and its amorphous foam containing 45 pct porosity (Pd4-AF) was investigated over the temperature range of 343 K (70 °C) to 623 K (350 °C) in dry air. The results showed that virtually no oxidation occurred in the Pd4-BMG at T < 523 K (250 °C), revealing the alloy’s favorable oxidation resistance in this temperature range. In addition, the oxidation kinetics at T ≥ 523 K (250 °C) followed a parabolic-rate law, and the parabolic-rate constants (k_p values) generally increased with temperature. It was found that the oxidation k_p values of the Pd4-AF are slightly lower than those of the Pd4-BMG, indicating that the porous structure contributes to improving the overall oxidation resistance. The scale formed on the alloys was composed exclusively of CuO at T ≥ 548 K (275 °C), whose thickness gradually increased with increasing temperature. In addition, the amorphous structure remained unchanged at T ≤ 548 K (275 °C), while a triplex-phase structure developed after the oxidation at higher temperatures, consisting of Pd_2Ni_2P, Cu_3P, and Pd_3P

Group analysis of a class of nonlinear Kolmogorov equations

A class of (1+2)-dimensional diffusion-convection equations (nonlinear Kolmogorov equations) with time-dependent coefficients is studied with Lie symmetry point of view. The complete group classification is achieved using a gauging of arbitrary elements (i.e. via reducing the number of variable coefficients) with the application of equivalence transformations. Two possible gaugings are discussed in detail in order to show how equivalence groups serve in making the optimal choice.Comment: 12 pages, 4 table

Quantifying the origin of metallic glass formation

The waiting time to form a crystal in a unit volume of homogeneous undercooled liquid exhibits a pronounced minimum τ_X* at a ‘nose temperature’ T* located between the glass transition temperature T_g, and the crystal melting temperature, T_L. Turnbull argued that τ_X* should increase rapidly with the dimensionless ratio t_(rg)=T_g/T_L. Angell introduced a dimensionless ‘fragility parameter’, m, to characterize the fall of atomic mobility with temperature above T_g. Both t_(rg) and m are widely thought to play a significant role in determining τ_X*. Here we survey and assess reported data for T_L, T_g, t_(rg), m and τ_X* for a broad range of metallic glasses with widely varying τ_X*. By analysing this database, we derive a simple empirical expression for τ_X*(t_(rg), m) that depends exponentially on t_(rg) and m, and two fitting parameters. A statistical analysis shows that knowledge of t_(rg) and m alone is therefore sufficient to predict τ_X* within estimated experimental errors. Surprisingly, the liquid/crystal interfacial free energy does not appear in this expression for τ_X*

Cross-lingual document retrieval categorisation and navigation based on distributed services

The widespread use of the Internet across countries has increased the need for access to document collections that are often written in languages different from a user’s native language. In this paper we describe Clarity, a Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR) system for English, Finnish, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian. Clarity is a fully-fledged retrieval system that supports the user during the whole process of query formulation, text retrieval and document browsing. We address four of the major aspects of Clarity: (i) the user-driven methodology that formed the basis for the iterative design cycle and framework in the project, (ii) the system architecture that was developed to support the interaction and coordination of Clarity’s distributed services, (iii) the data resources and methods for query translation, and (iv) the support for Baltic languages. Clarity is an example of a distributed CLIR system built with minimal translation resources and, to our knowledge, the only such system that currently supports Baltic languages

Dynamical and quasistatic structural relaxation paths in Pd_(40)Ni_(40)P_(20) glass

By sequential heat treatment of a Pd_(40)Ni_(40)P_(20) metallic glass at temperatures and durations for which α-relaxation is not possible, dynamic, and quasistatic relaxation paths below the glass transition are identified via ex situ ultrasonic measurements following each heat treatment. The dynamic relaxation paths are associated with hopping between nonequilibrium potential energy states of the glass, while the quasistatic relaxation path is associated with reversible β-relaxation events toward quasiequilibrium states. These quasiequilibrium states are identified with secondary potential energy minima that exist within the inherent energy minimum of the glass, thereby supporting the concept of the sub-basin/metabasin organization of the potential-energy landscape