User-Centered Comparison of Web Search Tools

This study explores a user-centered approach to the comparative evaluation of the Web search tool ProThes against popular all-purpose search engines Yandex and Google. An original research design was developed. Data were collected from 12 volunteers who performed 48 search tasks in total. Main outcomes include: (1) search strategy supported through ProThes can be quite effective for focused Web search and (2) ProThes’ interface and system performance must be improved.The research was supported in part by the Russian Fund of Basic Research, grant # 03-07-90342

ProThes: Thesaurus-based Meta-Search Engine for a Specific Application Domain

In this poster we introduce ProThes, a pilot meta-search engine (MSE) for a specific application domain. ProThes combines three approaches: meta-search, graphical user interface (GUI) for query specification, and thesaurus-based query techniques. ProThes attempts to employ domain-specific knowledge, which is represented by both a conceptual thesaurus and results ranking heuristics. Since the knowledge representation is separated from the MSE core, adjusting the system to a specific domain is trouble free. Thesaurus allows for manual query building and automatic query techniques. This poster outlines the overall system architecture, thesaurus representation format, and query operations. ProThes is implemented on J2EE platform as a Web service.The project was supported in part by the Russian Fund of Basic Research, grant # 03-07-90342

Regularities in Phenotypic Variation as a Property of the Developmental System: Evidence from the Evolution of Early Amphibians

An evident non-randomness in the variability of living organisms is caused by the integrity of their developmental systems, which undergo the evolutionary transformation as a whole. The commonest manifestation of such orderliness is the occurrence of homologous variations in related forms. The evolution of the dominant group of early amphibians (Temnospondyli) provides numerous examples of this phenomenon

Determination of Different Biological Factors on the Base of Dried Blood Spot Technology

It is well-known that distinct biological indices (analytes) have distinct variability. We try to use some mathematical algorithms to pick out a set of blood parameters which give an opportunity to retrieve the initial volume of the blood spotted, and use it to calculate exact concentrations of analyts interesting to a physician. For our analysis we used the database of biochemical blood parameters obtained in Russian Scientific Center of Roentgen-Radiology during 1995-2000, which includes more than 30000 of patients.Comment: 5 page

Deep Learning Based Human Emotional State Recognition in a Video

Human emotions play significant role in everyday life. There are a lot of applications of automatic emotion recognition in medicine, e-learning, monitoring, marketing etc. In this paper the method and neural network architecture for real-time human emotion recognition by audio-visual data are proposed. To classify one of seven emotions, deep neural networks, namely, convolutional and recurrent neural networks are used. Visual information is represented by a sequence of 16 frames of 96 × 96 pixels, and audio information - by 140 features for each of a sequence of 37 temporal windows. To reduce the number of audio features autoencoder was used. Audio information in conjunction with visual one is shown to increase recognition accuracy up to 12%. The developed system being not demanding to be computing resources is dynamic in terms of selection of parameters, reducing or increasing the number of emotion classes, as well as the ability to easily add, accumulate and use information from other external devices for further improvement of classification accuracy

A new find of Trematosuchus (Amphibia, Temnospondyli) from the Cynognathus Zone of South Africa

Some aspects of the cranial morphology of Trematosuchus sobeyi, a temnospondylous Trematosaurid amphibian from the South African Cynognathus Zone, are described in detail for the first time from a new fossil find referred to this form. The new specimen is similar in size to that of the holotype of Trematosuchus sobeyi but differs in the more moderate elongation of the snout. Apart from the presence of the septomaxilla, the validity of the genus Trematosuchus is reconfirmed inter alia by its much larger size and the position of the supraorbital sensory groove alongside the lachrymal margin rather than crossing this bone. This last characteristic differentiates Trematosuchus from all other trematosauroids. T. Sobeyi is of particular importance since it represents the only purely freshwater Gondwanan form closely comparable to the European Trematosaurus. The presence of T. Sobeyi in the lowermost strata of the Cynognathus Zone in South Africa, in association with some other forms related to the Upper Olenekian (Middle Buntsandstein) tetrapod assemblage of Europe, indicates that these strata belong to the Scythian in contrast to the higher strata of the Cynognathus Zone which are Anisian

Counterflow step-type bulk material cooler

Counterflow cooling is extensively used in many industries to recover the heat from hot materials coming out of kiln. The method for calculating a counterflow step-type bulk material cooler is proposed. It is based on a matrix model of heat balance for individual cooling stages. The proposed equation system allows calculating the required number of steps and airing flow rate. The method was used to design a cyclone heat exchanger for an alumina calcination furnace and a counterflow louvered proppant cooler. It allows taking into account the degree of heat transfer incompleteness at individual stages and minimizing air flow for cooling. Examples of industrial introduction are given. The applicability of the method for counterflow heaters calculating is noted. On the basis of the offered method, step counterflow coolers with louvers were developed and introduced. Such devices and calculation methods can be used to heat the material before being fed into the furnace. The use of step-type counterflow heat exchanger makes it possible to utilize the heat of bulk material leaving the furnace and the heat of exhaust gases. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd