Improving KantanMT training efficiency with fast align

In recent years, statistical machine translation (SMT) has been widely deployed in translators’ workflow with significant improvement of productivity. However, prior to invoking an SMT system to translate an unknown text, an SMT engine needs to be built. As such, building speed of the engine is essential for the translation workflow, i.e., the sooner an engine is built, the sooner it will be exploited. With the increase of the computational capabilities of recent technology the building time for an SMT engine has decreased substantially. For example, cloud-based SMT providers, such as KantanMT, can built high-quality, ready-to-use, custom SMT engines in less than a couple of days. To speed-up furthermore this process we look into optimizing the word alignment process that takes place during building the SMT engine. Namely, we substitute the word alignment tool used by KantanMT pipeline – Giza++ – with a more efficient one, i.e., fast_align. In this work we present the design and the implementation of the KantanMT pipeline that uses fast_align in place of Giza++. We also conduct a comparison between the two word alignment tools with industry data and report on our findings. Up to our knowledge, such extensive empirical evaluation of the two tools has not been done before

Large-scale machine translation evaluation of the iADAATPA project

This paper reports the results of an indepth evaluation of 34 state-of-the-art domain-adapted machine translation (MT) systems that were built by four leading MT companies as part of the EU-funded iADAATPA project. These systems support a wide variety of languages for several domains. The evaluation combined automatic metrics and human methods, namely assessments of adequacy, fluency, and comparative ranking. The paper also discusses the most effective techniques to build domain-adapted MT systems for the relevant language combinations and domains

Fibrotic interstitial lung disease - palliative care needs:a World-Café qualitative study

Objectives: The importance of palliative care in those with advanced fibrotic interstitial lung diseases (F-ILD) is recognised, but the palliative care requirements of patients and caregivers affected by F-ILD regardless of disease course are not established. We set out to explore this and identify optimal solutions in meeting the needs of a F-ILD population in Ireland. Methods: Implementing a World-Café qualitative research approach, we captured insights evolving, iteratively in interactive small group discussions in response to six predefined topics on palliative care and planning for the future. Thirty-nine stakeholders participated in the World-Café including 12 patients, 13 caregivers, 9 healthcare professionals, 4 industry representatives and 1 representative of the clergy. Results: Palliative care emerged as fundamental to the care and treatment of F-ILDs, regardless of disease progression. Unmet palliative care needs were identified as psychological and social support, disease education, inclusion of caregivers and practical/legal advice for disease progression and end-of-life planning. Participants identified diagnosis as a particularly distressing time for patients and families. They called for the introduction of palliative care discussions at this early-stage alongside improvements in integrated care, specifically increasing the involvement of primary care practitioners in referrals to palliative services. Conclusion: Patients and caregivers need discussions on palliative care associated with F-ILD to be included at the point of diagnosis. This approach may address persisting inadequacies in service provision previously identified over the course of the last decade in the UK, Ireland and European F-ILD patient charters.</p

Science-Driven Optimization of the LSST Observing Strategy

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is designed to provide an unprecedented optical imaging dataset that will support investigations of our Solar System, Galaxy and Universe, across half the sky and over ten years of repeated observation. However, exactly how the LSST observations will be taken (the observing strategy or "cadence") is not yet finalized. In this dynamically-evolving community white paper, we explore how the detailed performance of the anticipated science investigations is expected to depend on small changes to the LSST observing strategy. Using realistic simulations of the LSST schedule and observation properties, we design and compute diagnostic metrics and Figures of Merit that provide quantitative evaluations of different observing strategies, analyzing their impact on a wide range of proposed science projects. This is work in progress: we are using this white paper to communicate to each other the relative merits of the observing strategy choices that could be made, in an effort to maximize the scientific value of the survey. The investigation of some science cases leads to suggestions for new strategies that could be simulated and potentially adopted. Notably, we find motivation for exploring departures from a spatially uniform annual tiling of the sky: focusing instead on different parts of the survey area in different years in a "rolling cadence" is likely to have significant benefits for a number of time domain and moving object astronomy projects. The communal assembly of a suite of quantified and homogeneously coded metrics is the vital first step towards an automated, systematic, science-based assessment of any given cadence simulation, that will enable the scheduling of the LSST to be as well-informed as possible