PLuTO: MT for online patent translation

PLuTO – Patent Language Translation Online – is a partially EU-funded commercialization project which specializes in the automatic retrieval and translation of patent documents. At the core of the PLuTO framework is a machine translation (MT) engine through which web-based translation services are offered. The fully integrated PLuTO architecture includes a translation engine coupling MT with translation memories (TM), and a patent search and retrieval engine. In this paper, we first describe the motivating factors behind the provision of such a service. Following this, we give an overview of the PLuTO framework as a whole, with particular emphasis on the MT components, and provide a real world use case scenario in which PLuTO MT services are exploited

Botanical rejuvenation of field margins and benefits for invertebrate fauna on a drystock farm in County Longford

peer-reviewedThis study investigates methods to rejuvenate the fl ora of previously degraded fi eld margins on a pastoral farm in County Longford. We also assess the effects of individual treatments on the abundance of various orders of invertebrates recorded within the experimental plots. Field margin treatments were 1.5m-wide unfenced control margins, 1.5m-wide fenced margins or 3.5m-wide fenced margins. Nutrient inputs were excluded from all of the experimental plots. The botanical composition of the plots was examined on four occasions between 2002 and 2004 using permanent, nested quadrats. Emergence traps were used to measure invertebrate abundance within treatment plots and the main sward. Results indicated that 1) exclusion of nutrient inputs had a positive effect on plant species richness within the fi eld margins; 2) plant species richness decreased with increased distance from the hedgerow; 3) herb species richness was greatest in the 1.5m closest to the hedgerow; 4) greater abundance of invertebrates occurred within the 3.5m-wide margins; 5) successful control of Pteridium aquilinum was achieved through spot treatment with the selective herbicide ‘Asulox’; and 6) a combination of management techniques such as cutting and grazing is likely to enhance plant species richness and facilitate the structural diversity of vegetation that is necessary for many invertebrate taxa.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programm

Septoria blight of celery

Imperial Users onl

An experimental investigation of the recirculation zone formed downstream of a forward facing step

An experimental investigation of the recirculation zone formed downstream of a forward facing step immersed in a turbulent boundary layer has been undertaken using particle image velocimetry. Bluff body flow is observed with the fixed separation point located at the leading edge of the step. The recirculation region dimensions are characterised over a range of Reynolds numbers (1400–19 000), with Reh based on the step height and the free stream velocity. Turbulent perturbations are produced in the free shear layer which develops between the recirculating flow close to the step and the free stream flow. Contour maps of amplification factor, streamwise perturbation velocity and Reynolds stresses are constructed, providing insight into optimal placement of structures within such topographical features. The mechanisms affecting the reattachment distance, namely the turbulent mixing within the boundary layer and the velocity deficit in the boundary layer, are discussed

Characterisation of a horizontal axis wind turbine’s tip and root vortices

The vortical near wake of a model horizontal axis wind turbine has been investigated experimentally in a water channel. The objective of this work is to study vortex interaction and stability of the helical vortex filaments within a horizontal axis wind turbine wake. The experimental model is a geometrically scaled version of the Tjæreborg wind turbine, which existed in western Denmark in the late 1980s. Here, the turbine was tested in both the upwind and downwind configurations. Qualitative flow visualisations using hydrogen bubble, particle streakline and planar laser-induced fluorescence techniques were combined with quantitative data measurements taken using planar particle image velocimetry. Vortices were identified using velocity gradient tensor invariants. Parameters that describe the helical vortex wake, such as the helicoidal pitch, and vortex circulation, were determined for three tip speed ratios. Particular attention is given here to the root vortex, which has been investigated minimally to date. Signatures of the coherent tip vortices are seen throughout the measurement domain; however, the signature of the root vortex is only evident much closer to the rotor plane, irrespective of the turbine configuration. It is postulated that the root vortex diffuses rapidly due to the effects of the turbine support geometries

Billion Dollar Orphans: Tension Between the Legal Intent and Social Purpose of the Orphan Drug Act

This Comment examines the extent to which Congress empowered the FDA to address the increase in petitions and the general accessibility of orphan drug remedies. Specifically, this Comment seeks to understand why the FDA’s interpretation of the purpose of the ODA seems to conflict with the statutory intent as interpreted by federal courts. This Comment considers a statute’s ultimate goal or social purpose to be the purpose of the statute, whereas the express mechanisms by which Congress seeks to bring about these goals is best understood as the statute’s intent. To understand the FDA and judiciary’s differing interpretations of the ODA, this Comment analyzes the language of the Statute, recent ODA litigation, FDA’s promulgated regulations, as well as recent response to pharmaceutical companies’ increase in designation requests for orphan drugs. Ultimately, this Comment strives to determine whether or not the ODA can effectively achieve the goals Congress set forth in 1983.This Comment conducts a statutory analysis of the ODA and closely examines how courts, the FDA, and litigant pharmaceutical companies interpret the Statute differently. This Comment argues that Congress’s intent in passing the ODA was to create lucrative incentives for the development of drugs for orphan diseases. But, Congress’s purpose in drafting the ODA was to ensure the drugs became available to patients. The incentives serve as a tool to achieve the purpose of the ODA: to treat patients suffering from rare diseases.This Comment concludes that to better effectuate this purpose, Congress must amend the ODA or pass other legislation empowering the FDA to promulgate regulations that alter the schedule and administration of the ODA’s lucrative “basket of goodies.

Vortex-induced vibration of a square-section cylinder with incidence angle variation

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) occurs when vortex shedding from a body results in fluctuating forces that, in turn, cause the body to vibrate. This can result in undesired large-amplitude vibrations leading to structural damage or catastrophic failure. While much has been done on the VIV of a circular cylinder less has been done on other canonical bluff bodies, such as rectangular cylinders. The present experimental work studied the VIV of a square cross-section cylinder in a water channel, with three different incidence angles (α 15 , 30 and 45 ). The influence of geometry on the body’s oscillation amplitude and frequency response, and its wake structure over a range of reduced velocity were investigated. The oscillations were measured at a low mass damping ratio of m ζ 0.013 , which was comparable to the circular cylinder system with m ζ 0.013 studied by Khalak & Williamson (1997)1. The comparison showed that the incidence angle change had a significant impact on amplitude response. For α 15 the maximum non-dimensional amplitude was A 1.11, 10% larger than the circular case, as shown in figure 1 (a). Asymmetric amplitudes with respect to the cylinder’s equilibrium position in still water were observed in α 15 and 30 cases, due to the one-sided nature of the mean lift force. Compared with the circular cyinder, the square cylinder locked on to the structural natural frequency in water over a smaller reduced velocity regime. An oscillation frequency drop was found in the α 15 case, during which the cylinder experienced its largest amplitude response. The wake structure for each case in the different flow regimes was determined using particle image velocimetry and will also be presented

The interaction between flow-induced vibration mechanisms of a square cylinder with varying angles of attack

This study examines the influence of angle of attack of a square section cylinder on the cylinder’s flow-induced vibration, where the direction of the vibration is transverse to the oncoming flow. Our experiments, which traversed the velocity–angle of attack parameter space in considerable breadth and depth, show that a low-mass ratio body can undergo combinations of both vortex-induced vibration and galloping. When the body has an angle of attack that makes it symmetric to the flow, such as when it assumes the square or diamond orientation, the two mechanisms remain independent. However, when symmetry is lost we find a mixed mode response with a new branch of vortex-induced oscillations that exceeds the amplitudes resulting from the two phenomena independently. The oscillations of this higher branch have amplitudes larger than the ‘upper branch’ of vortex-induced vibrations and at half the frequency. For velocities above this resonant region, the frequency splits into two diverging branches. Analysis of the amplitude response reveals that the transition between galloping and vortex-induced vibrations occurs over a narrow range of angle of incidence. Despite the rich set of states found in the parameter space the vortex shedding modes remain very similar to those found previously in vortex-induced vibration

Explaining the Cross-Section of Stock Returns in Japan: Factors or Characteristics?

Japanese stock returns are even more closely related to their book-to-market ratios than are their U.S. counterparts, and thus provide a good setting for testing whether the return premia associated with these characteristics arise because the characteristics are proxies for covariance with priced factors. Our tests, which replicate the Daniel and Titman (1997) tests on a Japanese sample, reject the Fama and French (1993) three-factor model but fails to reject the characteristic model.