Speech Recognition by Composition of Weighted Finite Automata

We present a general framework based on weighted finite automata and weighted finite-state transducers for describing and implementing speech recognizers. The framework allows us to represent uniformly the information sources and data structures used in recognition, including context-dependent units, pronunciation dictionaries, language models and lattices. Furthermore, general but efficient algorithms can used for combining information sources in actual recognizers and for optimizing their application. In particular, a single composition algorithm is used both to combine in advance information sources such as language models and dictionaries, and to combine acoustic observations and information sources dynamically during recognition.Comment: 24 pages, uses psfig.st

Comparison of Hedging Cost with Other Variable Input Costs

Recent spikes in commodity prices have led to higher margin amounts and option premiums. For the most part, producers have always attributed their lack of use in reducing risk via futures and options markets to the high cost associated with the use of these markets. This study determines the relative costs of hedging with futures and options and compares these with the costs of other variable inputs. We find that with the exception of hedging corn with both tools and soybeans with options the costs of hedging has only increased at roughly the same rate as all other inputs.Hedging costs, Costs of production, Risk management, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Marketing, Risk and Uncertainty,

Producer Perceptions of Corn, Soybean and Cotton Price Risk

Risk is an inevitable part of agricultural production and all producers face various forms of risk. This study used the subjective price expectations and price distributions of survey participants to determine how producer’s expectations compare with that of the market. Data used for this study were gathered through survey responses from Mississippi State University Extension meeting and workshop participants. Individual respondent’s discreet stated price and price distribution information was fitted to a continuous distribution and an implied mean and standard deviation was determined. This was compared to market price and price risk data. Participants largely over-estimated price. Individual volatilities resulting from each fitted distribution were lower than that implied by the market.price risk, price perception, subjective probability elicitation, Production Economics, Q13,

Factors Influencing Marketing Margins in Cattle and Beef Markets

Livestock Production/Industries,

Valuing Fed Cattle Using Objective Tenderness Measures

Beef tenderness is critical in consumer satisfaction with beef steak products. Current fed cattle valuation systems do not differentiate carcasses based upon tenderness variation. However, considerable research indicates consumers are willing to pay more for tender relative to tough beef steak. This article develops a tenderness-augmentation to current fed cattle grid pricing systems. Using a large set of actual carcasses, we determine that a tenderness-augmented price grid would reorder fed cattle value by on average nearly $5.00/cwt dressed relative to current valuation methods. Substantial opportunity is present to improve beef tenderness through new price signals to producers.beef quality, meat tenderness, cattle value, cattle price, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Q11, Q13, M31,

A Uniform Dress Code

Discusses the need for uniform dress codes for both uniform and plain clothes personnel

A Comparison of Outcomes After 8 and 12 Weeks of Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Purpose: To compare changes in functional exercise capacity, dyspnea, functional status, and depression in patients after 8 weeks (24 sessions) and 12 weeks (36 sessions) of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Methods: A prospective sample of 31 participants in our PR program completed outcome measures prior to and during the eighth and twelfth weeks of the program. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and a stairs climbing test (ST) measured functional exercise capacity. Perceived dyspnea (PD) was measured with a 6-20 scale. The Pulmonary Function Status Scale (PFSS) measured functional status, and the Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) measured depression. Results : Statistically significant improvements were seen in the 6MWT, PD during 6MWT, and ST after 8 weeks and after 12 weeks of PR, but the improvements between 8 and 12 weeks were small and not statistically significant. After 8 weeks, PFSS total scores suggested increased difficulty carrying out daily tasks that moderated by 12 weeks. CDS scores showed modest, but not statistically significant improvements, after 8 and 12 weeks. Conclusion : Statistically significant and clinically important improvements in 6MWT, ST, and dyspnea occur after 8 weeks and 12 weeks of PR, but the changes between 8 and 12 weeks were not large enough to be statistically significant or clinically important. Neither 8 nor 12 weeks was sufficient to produce statistically significant changes in functional status and depression

Discordant Population Structure Among Rhizobium Divided Genomes and Their Legume Hosts

Symbiosis often occurs between partners with distinct life history characteristics and dispersal mechanisms. Many bacterial symbionts have genomes comprising multiple replicons with distinct rates of evolution and horizontal transmission. Such differences might drive differences in population structure between hosts and symbionts and among the elements of the divided genomes of bacterial symbionts. These differences might, in turn, shape the evolution of symbiotic interactions and bacterial evolution. Here we use whole genome resequencing of a hierarchically structured sample of 191 strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti collected from 21 locations in southern Europe to characterize population structures of this bacterial symbiont, which forms a root nodule symbiosis with the host plant Medicago truncatula. S. meliloti genomes showed high local (within-site) variation and little isolation by distance. This was particularly true for the two symbiosis elements, pSymA and pSymB, which have population structures that are similar to each other, but distinct from both the bacterial chromosome and the host plant. Given limited recombination on the chromosome, compared to the symbiosis elements, distinct population structures may result from differences in effective gene flow. Alternatively, positive or purifying selection, with little recombination, may explain distinct geographical patterns at the chromosome. Discordant population structure between hosts and symbionts indicates that geographically and genetically distinct host populations in different parts of the range might interact with genetically similar symbionts, potentially minimizing local specialization