Profiling of OCR'ed Historical Texts Revisited

In the absence of ground truth it is not possible to automatically determine the exact spectrum and occurrences of OCR errors in an OCR'ed text. Yet, for interactive postcorrection of OCR'ed historical printings it is extremely useful to have a statistical profile available that provides an estimate of error classes with associated frequencies, and that points to conjectured errors and suspicious tokens. The method introduced in Reffle (2013) computes such a profile, combining lexica, pattern sets and advanced matching techniques in a specialized Expectation Maximization (EM) procedure. Here we improve this method in three respects: First, the method in Reffle (2013) is not adaptive: user feedback obtained by actual postcorrection steps cannot be used to compute refined profiles. We introduce a variant of the method that is open for adaptivity, taking correction steps of the user into account. This leads to higher precision with respect to recognition of erroneous OCR tokens. Second, during postcorrection often new historical patterns are found. We show that adding new historical patterns to the linguistic background resources leads to a second kind of improvement, enabling even higher precision by telling historical spellings apart from OCR errors. Third, the method in Reffle (2013) does not make any active use of tokens that cannot be interpreted in the underlying channel model. We show that adding these uninterpretable tokens to the set of conjectured errors leads to a significant improvement of the recall for error detection, at the same time improving precision

Muir-Torre syndrome - Treatment with isotretinoin and interferon alpha-2a can prevent tumour development

Muir-Torre syndrome is a genodermatosis in which multiple internal malignancies are associated with cutaneous sebaceous tumours and kerato-acanthomas. A 57-year-old man presented with multiple sebaceous tumours, kerato-acanthomas, verrucous carcinoma of the nose, renal cell and transitional cell carcinomas of the left kidney, adenoma of the colon and a positive family history of colon carcinoma. He was treated with interferon (IFN-alpha Pa) s.c. 3 x 10(6) U three times a week along with 50 mg isotretinoin daily as well as topical isotretinoin gel. During a follow-up of 29 months, only 1 sebaceous skin tumour developed and was removed, whereas more than 30 such skin tumours had been surgically removed during the last 3 years. No evidence of internal tumour development or recurrence was found. The combination of IFN with retinoids seems to be of promise to prevent tumour development in Muir-Torre syndrome. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

An internet-based approach to enhance self-management of chronic low back pain in the Italian-speaking population of Switzerland: results from a pilot study

Summary: Objective:: To illustrate the development and pilot evaluation of a website designed to enhance self-management of chronic low back pain for the Italian-speaking population of Switzerland. Methods:: 20 patients affected by chronic low back pain used a website - specifically created for the project - for a period of five months, under the monitoring of a team of health professionals. Evaluation was carried out by means of a telephone questionnaire administered at baseline and at the end of the intervention, and intermediate online user-testing performed in the fourth month of the intervention. A control group of 15 patients was created to assist the evaluation. Results:: Compared to the control group, results from the pilot evaluation suggest a decrease in the intensity of back pain in people with access to the website; an increase in physical activity; a reduction in both medical consultation and the use of painkillers, and a gain in declarative and procedural knowledge. This coincides with a general positive assessment of the website. Conclusion:: The study supports the need to test the proposed approach on a wider scal

Innovative Fortbildung der Lehrerinnen und Lehrer an beruflichen Schulen. Gutachten zum Programm

Mit der vorliegenden Expertise soll die Programmskizze für das BLK-Programm "Innovative Fortbildung der Lehrer und Lehrerinnen an beruflichen Schulen" ausdifferenziert werden. Aufgabe der Expertengruppe war es, die in der Programmskizze benannten Aufgabenfelder aufzugreifen, zu ergänzen und daraus thematische Schwerpunkte zu erarbeiten, die zugleich Empfehlungen für Maßnahmebereiche und mögliche Länderprojekte darstellen. Dabei sind die Autoren von dem Phasenmodell der KMK-Rahmenvereinbarung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für ein Lehramt der Sekundarstufe II (berufliche Fächer) oder für berufliche Schulen vom 12. Mai 1995 ausgegangen und haben sich auftragsgemäß auf die 2. und 3. Phase beschränkt. Gliederung: 0. Konkretisierung des Auftrages. - 1. Leitbild der Entwicklung der Lehrerpersönlichkeit. - 2. Anforderungsprofil der Lehrkräfte an beruflichen Schulen. - 3. Bezugspunkte und Leitorientierungen einer innovativen Lehrerfortbildung (3.1 Berufsbiografische Phasen der Lehrerbildung. - 3.2 Gestaltungsgrundsätze in den berufsbiografischen Phasen. - 3.3 Aktuelle thematische Brennpunkte). - 4. Maßnahmebereiche für das Modellversuchsprogramm (4.1 Neue Qualifizierungs- und Lernkonzepte in der 2. Phase der Lehrerausbildung (Referendariat). - 4.2 Innovative Fortbildungsstrategien für die 3. Phase der Qualifizierung (Lernen im Beruf). - 4.3 Zusammenfassende Übersicht zu Maßnahmebereichen und Untersuchungsfeldern). - 5. Empfehlungen zur Programmorganisation, zu Projektstrukturen sowie zum Ergebnistransfer. (HoF/Text übernommen

Effect of smoke-free legislation on Ticino gastronomy revenue

Objective: To provide evidence on the effects of smoke-free laws on gastronomy revenue in a European setting based on objective data. Damage to gastronomy revenue is a widely used argument against smoke-free legislation. Method: Gastronomy revenue in Ticino is compared with the rest of Switzerland before and after Ticino banned smoking from gastronomy in April 2007, being the first (and at the time of the study only) Swiss canton to do that. The study uses breakdowns by cantons of taxable revenue of gastronomy branches and retailers (for comparison) provided by the Swiss tax authorities for the years 2005-2008. Results: Revenues of restaurants and bars were not damaged by the Ticino smoke-free law. Decreases in Ticino happened before the smoke-free law came into effect. Evidence for night clubs is inconclusive. Discussion: The absence of detrimental effects on restaurant and bar revenue corroborates the gist of research on the subject from other countries. The argument that the decline of bar and restaurant sales prior to the implementation of the ban might have occurred in anticipation of the new regulation is not considered tenabl

Microstructure, phase formation and cyclic behavior of PVD-based Y- silicate Environmental Barrier Coatings for SiC-SiC CMC

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Oxidation protection of Mo-Si-B alloys by magnetron-sputtered coatings

Mo-Si-B alloys with melting temperature above 2000 °C are attractive high temperature materials offering significantly enhanced operating temperatures compared to those of the currently used Ni-based superalloys. However, their oxidation behavior is poor at temperatures below 1000 °C, suffering from evaporation of MoO3. Above 1000 °C oxidation is characterized by a transient state showing considerable mass loss followed by a steady state condition with reduced mass change. To mitigate this degradation by oxidation, application of coatings is an appropriate method ensuring the formation of slowly growing protective scales. The presentation summarizes recent results on overlay coatings that were deposited on coupons of a Mo-9Si-8B (in at.%) alloy using magnetron sputtering. A double layer design was applied: a 2 µm thick intermediate Mo5SiB2 layer to prevent interdiffusion and approximately 5 µm thick protective topcoats with different chemical compositions: Mo-45Si-25B, Mo-55Si-10B, Mo-29Si-15B, Mo-48Si-24Al, Mo-71Si-8Al (all in at.%). The amorphous as-deposited coatings were annealed in a vacuum furnace. In the boron containing Mo-Si topcoats, the MoSi2 and MoB phases formed as well as the Mo5Si3 phase in the Mo-29Si-15B coating. In the annealed Mo-48Si-24Al and Mo-71Si-8Al topcoats, the C40-Mo(Si,Al)2 and C11b-MoSi2 phases were observed, respectively. The oxidation behavior of the coated samples was investigated at 800, 1100 and 1300 °C under cyclic condition in laboratory air. The dwell time at high temperature was 10 or 20 h and the samples were tested for up to 10 cycles. Microstructural examinations of the coated samples were carried out using scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Intraoperative Image Guidance in Neurosurgery: Development, Current Indications, and Future Trends

Introduction. As minimally invasive surgery becomes the standard of care in neurosurgery, it is imperative that surgeons become skilled in the use of image-guided techniques. The development of image-guided neurosurgery represents a substantial improvement in the microsurgical treatment of tumors, vascular malformations, and other intracranial lesions. Objective. There have been numerous advances in neurosurgery which have aided the neurosurgeon to achieve accurate removal of pathological tissue with minimal disruption of surrounding healthy neuronal matter including the development of microsurgical, endoscopic, and endovascular techniques. Neuronavigation systems and intraoperative imaging should improve success in cranial neurosurgery. Additional functional imaging modalities such as PET, SPECT, DTI (for fiber tracking), and fMRI can now be used in order to reduce neurological deficits resulting from surgery; however the positive long-term effect remains questionable for many indications. Method. PubMed database search using the search term “image guided neurosurgery.” More than 1400 articles were published during the last 25 years. The abstracts were scanned for prospective comparative trials. Results and Conclusion. 14 comparative trials are published. To date significant data amount show advantages in intraoperative accuracy influencing the perioperative morbidity and long-term outcome only for cerebral glioma surgery

Abschlussbericht des BLK-Programmträgers zum Modellversuchsprogramm "Innovative Fortbildung der Lehrerinnen und Lehrer an beruflichen Schulen"

Ziel des Programms war die Verbesserung der Qualifizierung der Berufsschullehrer in der 2. (Vorbereitungsdienst/Studienseminar) und 3. Phase (berufsbegleitende Fortbildung), da hierdurch notwendige Veränderungen schnell und direkt in die beruflichen Schulen eingebracht werden können. Insbesondere erprobte Innovationen aus berufsschulischen BLK-Modellversuchen wurden in die Lehrerfortbildung und in den Vorbereitungsdienst transferiert und dadurch verbreitet und umgesetzt. Programmschwerpunkte waren besondere Fragen des Vorbereitungsdienstes (z.B. Qualifizierung von "Seiteneinsteigern" für den Schuldienst, der Seminarleiter und Fachleiter, der Mentoren und Ausbildungslehrer, Bewertung von Lehrproben) und Lehrerfortbildung in Verbindung mit der Schnittstelle zum Vorbereitungsdienst (Unterrichtsgestaltung, Berufliche Schulen im Berufsbildungssystem, Organisation der Lehrerqualifizierung). Der Abschlussbericht beschreibt 1. Anliegen des Programms; 2. Steuerungsmaßnahmen des Programmträgers; 3. Innovationsbeiträge der Modellversuche und liefert 4. eine Zusammenfassende Einschätzung. (DIPF/DBS