Logical segmentation for article extraction in digitized old newspapers

Newspapers are documents made of news item and informative articles. They are not meant to be red iteratively: the reader can pick his items in any order he fancies. Ignoring this structural property, most digitized newspaper archives only offer access by issue or at best by page to their content. We have built a digitization workflow that automatically extracts newspaper articles from images, which allows indexing and retrieval of information at the article level. Our back-end system extracts the logical structure of the page to produce the informative units: the articles. Each image is labelled at the pixel level, through a machine learning based method, then the page logical structure is constructed up from there by the detection of structuring entities such as horizontal and vertical separators, titles and text lines. This logical structure is stored in a METS wrapper associated to the ALTO file produced by the system including the OCRed text. Our front-end system provides a web high definition visualisation of images, textual indexing and retrieval facilities, searching and reading at the article level. Articles transcriptions can be collaboratively corrected, which as a consequence allows for better indexing. We are currently testing our system on the archives of the Journal de Rouen, one of France eldest local newspaper. These 250 years of publication amount to 300 000 pages of very variable image quality and layout complexity. Test year 1808 can be consulted at plair.univ-rouen.fr.Comment: ACM Document Engineering, France (2012

Vers une analyse géopolitique des grands projets d'aménagement et de développement au Québec : le cas des gaz de schiste

Les grands projets d’aménagement et de développement sont de plus en plus contestés au Québec. De l’ensemble de ces projets, ceux dans le secteur énergétique occupent une place à part. Par leur taille et leur portée, les projets énergétiques sont particulièrement sensibles. Ils sont porteurs de croissance économique et de progrès sociaux, mais aussi de nuisances et de risques. Comme tels, ils engendrent des discours concurrents, des représentations antagoniques et des intérêts contradictoires. Hier encore, ces grands projets faisaient l’objet de consensus et nourrissaient l’imaginaire collectif. Aujourd’hui, ils suscitent des épreuves de force et de la méfiance. Dans les dernières années, nombre de ces projets ont été contestés. Un des derniers en liste est le projet de développement de l’industrie des gaz de schiste. C’est sur ce projet que nous nous penchons dans ce mémoire. Nous avançons que les représentations des risques, portées par les acteurs, sont décisives dans ce conflit. À l’instar des travaux menés par l’école géographique, notre mémoire consiste à montrer que l’analyse des représentations est un outil indispensable d’une analyse géopolitique des projets d’aménagement et de développement au Québec. Elle permet d’appréhender les relations au territoire et surtout de comprendre la nature des rivalités rencontrées. Nous nous demandons : quelle est l’influence des représentations des risques sur le positionnement des acteurs ? Et, à l’aide des travaux de Philippe Subra, nous étudions ce cas par le biais d’une démarche qualitative et multiméthodologique alliant observation territoriale, entretiens avec les acteurs et cartographie mentale. En somme, nos données, issues de notre démarche empirique, nous permettent de conclure que les représentations antagoniques des risques influencent le positionnement des acteurs; bien qu’il existe aussi, dans le déploiement du conflit, une relation dialectique entre ces deux termes.Large-scale planning and development projects are more and more contested in Quebec. Out of all these projects, those of the energy sector occupy a distinctive place. Due to their size and their reach, energy projects are particularly sensitive. They convey economic growth and social progress, but also disturbances and risks. As such, they engender competing discourses, antagonistic representations and contradictory interests. Only yesterday, these large-scale projects were the object of consensus and nourished collective imaginaries. Today, they generate feats of strength and suspiciousness. Over the past few years, a number of these projects have been contested. One of the latest ones is the development project of the shale gas industry. It is this project that we are addressing in this masters thesis. We propose that representations of risks, carried by the actors, are decisive in this conflict. Similarly to research endeavors led by the school of geography, our thesis consists of showing that the analysis of representations is an indispensable tool in the geopolitical analysis of planning and development projects in Quebec. It allows us to understand territorial relations and especially to understand the nature of the encountered rivalries. We ask ourselves : what is the influence of representations of risks on the positioning of actors ? Aided by Philippe Subra’s work, we study this case through a qualitative and multime thodological approach combining territorial observations, interviews with actors and mental cartography. In summary, our data, which resulted from our empirical approach, enabled us to conclude that antagonistic representations of risks influence the positioning of actors; whilst there also exists, in the conflict’s deployment, a dialectical relationship between these two terms

Reconnaissance et résurgence : la nécessité d'une approche ascendante dans le contexte colonial canadien

À la lumière des thèses de penseurs Indigènes et non-indigènes contemporains, l'auteur montre que la résurgence indigène constitue une étape préalable nécessaire à la réconciliation entre les communautés indigènes d'un côté, et le groupe majoritaire et l'État de l'autre. Dans le contexte du colonialisme d'établissement au Canada, cette stratégie de « retour sur soi » a pour but de corriger certaines des limites de la politique de la reconnaissance, telle que conceptualisée notamment par Charles Taylor. La résurgence modifie la structure subjective de la relation coloniale et permet de diminuer l'asymétrie du rapport de force entre les Indigènes et l'État. Par des actes de résurgence, les Indigènes entendent retrouver individuellement et collectivement leur identité et leur dignité. La lutte pour la reconnaissance devient alors susceptible de porter fruits et de modifier la dimension objective de la relation coloniale pour qu'une cohabitation pacifique et une reconnaissance mutuelle de la dignité des cultures soient possibles.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : résurgence indigène, reconnaissance, dignité, identité, colonialisme, autochton

Adaptation de modèles de Markov cachés - Application à la reconnaissance de caractères imprimés

International audienceWe present in this paper a new algorithm for the adaptation of hidden Markov models (HMM models). The principle of our iterative adaptive algorithm is to alternate an HMM structure adaptation stage with an HMM Gaussian MAP adaptation stage. This algorithm is applied to the recognition of printed characters to adapt the models learned by a polyfont character recognition engine to new forms of characters. Comparing the results with those of MAP and MLLR classic adaptations shows a slight increase in the performance of the recognition system

Prediction of Selection Decision of Document Using Bibliographic Data at the National Library of France (BnF)

p. 135-140International audienceThe selection process of the documents is a very important step in mass digitization projects. This is especially true at the BnF, where the digitization should include or not OCRization depending on the OCR results expected. Consequently, the selection task is very complex and time consuming due to the number of documents to be processed and the diversity of the selection criteria to consider. Trying to improve and simplify this task by automation, we studied the relationship between bibliographic data and the selection decisions of documents. We used two statistical analysis : a factor analysis of correspondence and a multiple correspondence analysis. Our analysis has shown that, for example, the documents in format "4 or GR FOL" and edited "between 1961 and 1990" in Morocco are more likely to be "Selected". However, the documents in format "16 or 8" and edited "between 1871 and 1800 in English or Spanish have a greater chance to be "Not Selected"

Mercury and methylmercury concentrations in high altitude lakes and fish (Arctic charr) from the French Alps related to watershed characteristics

International audienceTotal mercury (THg) andmethylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were measured in the muscle of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and in the water column of 4 lakes that are located in the French Alps. Watershed characteristics were determined (6 coverage classes) for each lake in order to evaluate the influence of watershed composition on mercury and methylmercury concentrations in fish muscle and in the water column. THg and MeHg concentrations in surface water were relatively low and similar among lakes and watershed characteristics play a major role in determining water column Hg and MeHg levels. THg muscle concentrations for fish with either a standardized length of 220 mm, a standardized age of 5 years or for individualuals did not exceed the 0.5 mg kg−1 fish consumption advisory limit established for Hg by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1990). These relatively low THg concentrations can be explained by watershed characteristics, which lead to short Hg residence time in the water column, and also by the short trophic chain that is characteristic of mountain lakes. Growth rate did not seem to influence THg concentrations in fish muscles of these lakes and we observed no relationship between fish Hg concentrations and altitude. This study shows that in the French Alps, high altitude lakes have relatively low THg and MeHg concentrations in both the water column and in Arctic charr populations. Therefore, Hg does not appear to present a danger for local populations and the fishermen of these lakes

Toward food sovereignty for coastal communities of eastern Québec : co-designing a website to support consumption of edible resources from the St. Lawrence River, Estuary, and Gulf

Background. Despite the abundance and proximity of edible marine resources, coastal communities along the St. Lawrence in Eastern Québec rarely consume these resources. Within a community-based food sovereignty project, Manger notre Saint-Laurent (‘‘Sustenance from our St. Lawrence''), members of participating communities (3 nonIndigenous, 1 Indigenous) identified a need for a web-based decision tool to help make informed consumption choices. Methods. We thus aimed to co-design a prototype website that facilitates informed choices about consuming local edible marine resources based on seasonal and regional availability, food safety, nutrition, and sustainability, with community members, regional stakeholders, and experts in user experience design and web development. We conducted 48 interviews with a variety of people over 3 iterative cycles, assessing the prototype's ease of use with a validated measure, the System Usability Scale. Results. Community members, regional stakeholders, and other experts identified problematic elements in initial versions of the website (e.g., confusing symbols). We resolved issues and added features people identified as useful. Usability scores reached ‘‘best imaginable'' for both the second and the third versions and did not differ significantly between sociodemographic groups. The final prototype includes a tool to explore each species and index cards to regroup accurate evidence relevant to each species. Conclusions. Engaging co-designers with different sociodemographic characteristics brought together a variety of perspectives. Several components would not have been included without co-designers' input; other components were greatly improved thanks to their feedback. Co-design approaches in research and intervention development are preferable to foster the inclusion of a variety of people. Once the prototype is programmed and available online, we hope to evaluate the website to determine its effects on food choices

Nestor-Guillermo Progeria Syndrome: a biochemical insight into Barrier-to-Autointegration Factor 1, alanine 12 threonine mutation

Background - Premature aging syndromes recapitulate many aspects of natural aging and provide an insight into this phenomenon at a molecular and cellular level. The progeria syndromes appear to cause rapid aging through disruption of normal nuclear structure. Recently, a coding mutation (c.34G > A [p.A12T]) in the Barrier to Autointegration Factor 1 (BANF1) gene was identified as the genetic basis of Néstor-Guillermo Progeria syndrome (NGPS). This mutation was described to cause instability in the BANF1 protein, causing a disruption of the nuclear envelope structure. Results - Here we demonstrate that the BANF1 A12T protein is indeed correctly folded, stable and that the observed phenotype, is likely due to the disruption of the DNA binding surface of the A12T mutant. We demonstrate, using biochemical assays, that the BANF1 A12T protein is impaired in its ability to bind DNA while its interaction with nuclear envelope proteins is unperturbed. Consistent with this, we demonstrate that ectopic expression of the mutant protein induces the NGPS cellular phenotype, while the protein localizes normally to the nuclear envelope. Conclusions - Our study clarifies the role of the A12T mutation in NGPS patients, which will be of importance for understanding the development of the disease

hSSB1 (NABP2/OBFC2B) is regulated by oxidative stress

The maintenance of genome stability is an essential cellular process to prevent the development of diseases including cancer. hSSB1 (NABP2/ OBFC2A) is a critical component of the DNA damage response where it participates in the repair of double-strand DNA breaks and in base excision repair of oxidized guanine residues (8-oxoguanine) by aiding the localization of the human 8-oxoguanine glycosylase (hOGG1) to damaged DNA. Here we demonstrate that following oxidative stress, hSSB1 is stabilized as an oligomer which is required for hSSB1 to function in the removal of 8-oxoguanine. Monomeric hSSB1 shows a decreased affinity for oxidized DNA resulting in a cellular 8-oxoguanine-repair defect and in the absence of ATM signaling initiation. While hSSB1 oligomerization is important for the removal of 8-oxoguanine from the genome, it is not required for the repair of double-strand DNA-breaks by homologous recombination. These findings demonstrate a novel hSSB1 regulatory mechanism for the repair of damaged DNA.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

hSSB1 phosphorylation is dynamically regulated by DNA-PK and PPP-family protein phosphatases

This work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council project grant [1066550], an Australian Research Council project grant [DP 120103099] and by a Queensland Health Senior Clinical Research Fellowship awarded to K.J.O. This work was also supported by the Wellcome Trust [094476/Z/10/Z], which funded the purchase of the TripleTOF 5600 mass spectrometer at the BSRC Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility, University of St Andrews. NWA was supported by a scholarship awarded by Cancer Council Queensland. E.B. is supported by an Advance Queensland Research Fellowship.The maintenance of genomic stability is essential for cellular viability and the prevention of diseases such as cancer. Human single-stranded DNA-binding protein 1 (hSSB1) is a protein with roles in the stabilisation and restart of stalled DNA replication forks, as well as in the repair of oxidative DNA lesions and double-strand DNA breaks. In the latter process, phosphorylation of threonine 117 by the ATM kinase is required for hSSB1 stability and efficient DNA repair. The regulation of hSSB1 in other DNA repair pathways has however remained unclear. Here we report that hSSB1 is also directly phosphorylated by DNA-PK at serine residue 134. While this modification is largely suppressed in undamaged cells by PPP-family protein phosphatases, S134 phosphorylation is enhanced following the disruption of replication forks and promotes cellular survival. Together, these data thereby represent a novel mechanism for hSSB1 regulation following the inhibition of replication.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe