Content-prioritised video coding for British Sign Language communication.

Video communication of British Sign Language (BSL) is important for remote interpersonal communication and for the equal provision of services for deaf people. However, the use of video telephony and video conferencing applications for BSL communication is limited by inadequate video quality. BSL is a highly structured, linguistically complete, natural language system that expresses vocabulary and grammar visually and spatially using a complex combination of facial expressions (such as eyebrow movements, eye blinks and mouth/lip shapes), hand gestures, body movements and finger-spelling that change in space and time. Accurate natural BSL communication places specific demands on visual media applications which must compress video image data for efficient transmission. Current video compression schemes apply methods to reduce statistical redundancy and perceptual irrelevance in video image data based on a general model of Human Visual System (HVS) sensitivities. This thesis presents novel video image coding methods developed to achieve the conflicting requirements for high image quality and efficient coding. Novel methods of prioritising visually important video image content for optimised video coding are developed to exploit the HVS spatial and temporal response mechanisms of BSL users (determined by Eye Movement Tracking) and the characteristics of BSL video image content. The methods implement an accurate model of HVS foveation, applied in the spatial and temporal domains, at the pre-processing stage of a current standard-based system (H.264). Comparison of the performance of the developed and standard coding systems, using methods of video quality evaluation developed for this thesis, demonstrates improved perceived quality at low bit rates. BSL users, broadcasters and service providers benefit from the perception of high quality video over a range of available transmission bandwidths. The research community benefits from a new approach to video coding optimisation and better understanding of the communication needs of deaf people

Name changes and visions of ”a new Jew” in the Helsinki Jewish community

This article discusses an organized name-change process that occurred in the 1930s in the Jewish community of Helsinki. Between 1933 and 1944 in approximately one fifth of the Helsinki Jewish families (c. 16 %) someone had their family name changed. We argue that the name changes served two purposes: on the one hand they made life easier in the new nation state. It was part of a broader process where tens of thousands of Finns translated and changed their Swedish names to Finnish ones. On the other hand, the changed family names offered a new kind of Jewish identity. The name-changing process of the Helsinki Jews opens a window onto the study of nationalism, antisemitism, identity politics and visions of a Jewish future from the Finnish perspective

Gaze tracking and its application to video coding for sign language.

Sign language communication via videotelephone has demanding visual quality requirements. In order to optimise video coding for sign language it is necessary to quantify the importance of areas of the video scene. Eye movements of deaf users are tracked whilst watching a sign language video sequence. The results indicate that the gaze tends to concentrate on the face region with occasional excursions (saccades). The implications of these results for prioritised coding of sign language video sequences are discussed

Exploratory information searching in the enterprise: a study of user satisfaction and task performance.

No prior research has been identified that investigates the causal factors for workplace exploratory search task performance. The impact of user, task, and environmental factors on user satisfaction and task performance was investigated through a mixed methods study with 26 experienced information professionals using enterprise search in an oil and gas enterprise. Some participants found 75% of high-value items, others found none, with an average of 27%. No association was found between self-reported search expertise and task performance, with a tendency for many participants to overestimate their search expertise. Successful searchers may have more accurate mental models of both search systems and the information space. Organizations may not have effective exploratory search task performance feedback loops, a lack of learning. This may be caused by management bias towards technology, not capability, a lack of systems thinking. Furthermore, organizations may not “know” they “don't know” their true level of search expertise, a lack of knowing. A metamodel is presented identifying the causal factors for workplace exploratory search task performance. Semistructured qualitative interviews with search staff from the defense, pharmaceutical, and aerospace sectors indicates the potential transferability of the finding that organizations may not know their search expertise levels

Linguistic, Cultural and History-related Studies on Jews in Finland : A Look into the Scholarship in the 21 Century

Peer reviewe

Microenvironmental regulation of cancer cell metabolism: implications for experimental design and translational studies

Cancers have an altered metabolism, and there is interest in understanding precisely how oncogenic transformation alters cellular metabolism and how these metabolic alterations can translate into therapeutic opportunities. Researchers are developing increasingly powerful experimental techniques to study cellular metabolism, and these techniques have allowed for the analysis of cancer cell metabolism, both in tumors and in ex vivo cancer models. These analyses show that, while factors intrinsic to cancer cells such as oncogenic mutations, alter cellular metabolism, cell-extrinsic microenvironmental factors also substantially contribute to the metabolic phenotype of cancer cells. These findings highlight that microenvironmental factors within the tumor, such as nutrient availability, physical properties of the extracellular matrix, and interactions with stromal cells, can influence the metabolic phenotype of cancer cells and might ultimately dictate the response to metabolically targeted therapies. In an effort to better understand and target cancer metabolism, this Review focuses on the experimental evidence that microenvironmental factors regulate tumor metabolism, and on the implications of these findings for choosing appropriate model systems and experimental approaches. Keywords\: Cancer, Cancer models, Metabolism, Microenvironment, Nutrient availability, Nutrient sensingNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01CA168653)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (F32CA213810)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (F32CA210421)Howard Hughes Medical InstituteLudwig Institute for Cancer ResearchStand Up To Cancer (SU2C-AACR-IRG 09-16)Lustgarten FoundationMIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicin

Using Knowledge Organization Systems to automatically detect forward-looking sentiment in company reports to infer social phenomena.

The study investigates whether existing Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS) for strong and hesitant forward-looking sentiment could be improved to detect social phenomena.Five judges identified examples of strong/hesitant forward-looking sentiment which were used to compare the KOS developed in the study, to existing models. The ‘composite’ KOS was subsequently applied to annual company reports to generate word frequency and biologically inspired diversity ratios. Critical Realism was used as a philosophy to interpret word patterns.Results indicate the composite KOS improved on existing models identified in the literature for strong forward-looking sentiment. In one company, a statistically significant association was found between increasing diversity of assertive forward-looking sentiment and subsequent declining relative business performance. This supported the Pollyanna effect: the social phenomena of over-positive business language in that company. Sharp increases in mentions of the ‘future’ and ‘learnings’ was discovered in another company which may be explained by an industrial disaster and subsequent crisis management rhetoric, supporting Discourse of Renewal Theory.This study shows that improvements can be made to existing KOS used to detect forward-looking sentiment in reports. Adopting Critical Realism as a philosophy when analysing ‘big data’ may lead to improved theory generation and the potential for differentiating insights

Towards a Definition of Metaskills

Introduction: The term ‘metaskill’ has been used to mean a range of different types of information-based skill. This poster describes this variation in use across disciplines and industries, and two distinct but related definitions are found.Method: 210 scholarly papers were identified across the fields of psychology, work-based learning, education and information using key word searches. These papers are analysed for inclusion of definitions and examples of ‘metaskills’.Analysis: Comparisons are made to find similarities and disagreements within both definitions and examples. Excel is used to create word lists, and word clouds used to assess weight and frequency.Findings: Although some agreement can be found, there is no wide consensus. Two separate but related definitions emerge: that of a shorthand for ‘metacognitive skill’, and a broader ‘higher order’ technical skill type.Conclusions: Used as a buzzword in work-based learning literature, the idea of ‘metaskills’ seems to be an increasingly important part of lifelong learning. The two definitions that have emerged have some crossover, which may lead to confusion when designing skill development interventions. While formal education environments have traditionally been the source of participants for skill-based research, further work on the development of well-defined metaskills within the workplace is encouraged

DNA-guided establishment of canonical nucleosome patterns in a eukaryotic genome [preprint]

A conserved hallmark of eukaryotic chromatin architecture is the distinctive array of well-positioned nucleosomes downstream of transcription start sites (TSS). Recent studies indicate that trans-acting factors establish this stereotypical array. Here, we present the first genome-wide in vitro and in vivo nucleosome maps for the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. In contrast with previous studies in yeast, we find that the stereotypical nucleosome array is preserved in the in vitro reconstituted map, which is governed only by the DNA sequence preferences of nucleosomes. Remarkably, this average in vitro pattern arises from the presence of subsets of nucleosomes, rather than the whole array, in individual Tetrahymena genes. Variation in GC content contributes to the positioning of these sequence-directed nucleosomes, and affects codon usage and amino acid composition in genes. We propose that these ‘seed’ nucleosomes may aid the AT-rich Tetrahymena genome – which is intrinsically unfavorable for nucleosome formation – in establishing nucleosome arrays in vivo in concert with trans-acting factors, while minimizing changes to the coding sequences they are embedded within