A Large-Scale Comparison of Historical Text Normalization Systems

There is no consensus on the state-of-the-art approach to historical text normalization. Many techniques have been proposed, including rule-based methods, distance metrics, character-based statistical machine translation, and neural encoder--decoder models, but studies have used different datasets, different evaluation methods, and have come to different conclusions. This paper presents the largest study of historical text normalization done so far. We critically survey the existing literature and report experiments on eight languages, comparing systems spanning all categories of proposed normalization techniques, analysing the effect of training data quantity, and using different evaluation methods. The datasets and scripts are made publicly available.Comment: Accepted at NAACL 201

Transmuting CHY formulae

© The Author(s) 2019.The various formulations of scattering amplitudes presented in recent years have underlined a hidden unity among very different theories. The KLT and BCJ relations, together with the CHY formulation, connect the S-matrices of a wide range of theories: the transmutation operators, recently proposed by Cheung, Shen and Wen, provide an account for these similarities. In this note we use the transmutation operators to link the various CHY integrands at tree-level. Starting from gravity, we generate the integrands for YangMills, biadjoint scalar, Einstein-Maxwell, Yang-Mills scalar, Born-Infeld, Dirac-Born-Infeld, non-linear sigma model and special Galileon theories, as well as for their extensions. We also commence the study of the CHY-like formulae at loop level.Peer reviewe

Estuarine Nitrifiers: New Players, Patterns and Processes

Ever since the first descriptions of ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria by Winogradsky in the late 1800s, the metabolic capability of aerobic ammonia oxidation has been restricted to a phylogenetically narrow group of bacteria. However, the recent discovery of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea has forced microbiologists and ecologists to re-evaluate long-held paradigms and the role of niche partitioning between bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidizers. Much of the current research has been conducted in open ocean or terrestrial systems, where community patterns of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers are highly congruent. Studies of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers in estuarine systems, however, present a very different picture, with highly variable patterns of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizer abundances. Although salinity is often identified as an important factor regulating abundance, distribution, and diversity of both archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers, the data suggest that the variability in the observed patterns is likely not due to a simple salinity effect. Here we review current knowledge of ammonia oxidizers in estuaries and propose that because of their steep physico-chemical gradients, estuaries may serve as important natural laboratories in which to investigate the relationships between archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidizers

Few-Shot and Zero-Shot Learning for Historical Text Normalization

Historical text normalization often relies on small training datasets. Recent work has shown that multi-task learning can lead to significant improvements by exploiting synergies with related datasets, but there has been no systematic study of different multi-task learning architectures. This paper evaluates 63~multi-task learning configurations for sequence-to-sequence-based historical text normalization across ten datasets from eight languages, using autoencoding, grapheme-to-phoneme mapping, and lemmatization as auxiliary tasks. We observe consistent, significant improvements across languages when training data for the target task is limited, but minimal or no improvements when training data is abundant. We also show that zero-shot learning outperforms the simple, but relatively strong, identity baseline.Comment: Accepted at DeepLo-201

Perceived Market Risks and Strategic Risk Management of Food Manufactures: Empirical Results from the German Brewing Industry

The food industry is currently facing huge structural changes, such as growing concentration ratios and degrees of internationalization and as well as the reorganizations of food supply chains. Such developments do not only contribute to growing market risks but also require strategic reorientations on the part of food manufacturers. So far, risk management and strategic planning have been two fairly separated theoretical strands. In this paper we blend both schools of thought and analyze food manufacturers' perceived market risks and strategic risk management of food manufacturers. Empirical Our data stem from large-scale empirical research in the German brewing industry.Brewing industry, market risks, risk management, Agribusiness, Risk and Uncertainty,

Serial Correlations in Single-Subject fMRI with Sub-Second TR

When performing statistical analysis of single-subject fMRI data, serial correlations need to be taken into account to allow for valid inference. Otherwise, the variability in the parameter estimates might be under-estimated resulting in increased false-positive rates. Serial correlations in fMRI data are commonly characterized in terms of a first-order autoregressive (AR) process and then removed via pre-whitening. The required noise model for the pre-whitening depends on a number of parameters, particularly the repetition time (TR). Here we investigate how the sub-second temporal resolution provided by simultaneous multislice (SMS) imaging changes the noise structure in fMRI time series. We fit a higher-order AR model and then estimate the optimal AR model order for a sequence with a TR of less than 600 ms providing whole brain coverage. We show that physiological noise modelling successfully reduces the required AR model order, but remaining serial correlations necessitate an advanced noise model. We conclude that commonly used noise models, such as the AR(1) model, are inadequate for modelling serial correlations in fMRI using sub-second TRs. Rather, physiological noise modelling in combination with advanced pre-whitening schemes enable valid inference in single-subject analysis using fast fMRI sequences

Matrix metalloproteinase-9-mediated Syndecan-4 shedding correlates with osteoarthritis severity

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, characterized by the extracellular matrix (ECM) breakdown of articular cartilage, as well as by changes in the synovial membrane, subchondral bone and synovial fluid composition. The heparan sulphate proteoglycan Syndecan- 4 (Sdc4) has been shown to play a crucial role in the progression of OA. In an animal model of OA, based on the destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM), Sdc4 deficiency and antibody-mediated blocking of Sdc4 ameliorated clinical signs of OA. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) signaling is repeatedly correlated with OA pathology. It was shown that IL-1¯, binds directly to Sdc4 and that Sdc4 regulates the IL-1 receptor type I (IL-1R1) presentation at the membrane surface and thereby modulates IL-1 signaling. Moreover Sdc4 is a target for extracellular domain shedding. Several studies show that Sdc4 shedding is crucial in physiological, as well as pathophysiological, processes. Thus, I investigated the involvement of Sdc4 shedding in the development and progression of OA. Shed Sdc4 levels were analyzed in knee synovial fluid of OA patients using a specific ELISA. The severity of OA in the individual patients was assessed by the radiographic Kellgren-Lawrence score (KL 1-4). The levels of shed Sdc4 correlated with the KL score, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve presented shed Sdc4 as a suitable biomarker for discriminating early (KL 1-2) and late (KL 3-4) OA. Levels of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-2 and -9 as potential sheddases, analyzed by specific ELISAs, showed an increase depending on the KL score forMMP-9, whereas levels ofMMP-2 did not change. However, assessment with the ROC curve showed thatMMP-9 was less suitable to discriminate between early and late OA. Further, levels ofMMP-9 significantly correlated with levels of shed Sdc4, suggestingMMP-9 to be a potential sheddase for Sdc4 in OA.MMP-2 levels did not correlate with shed Sdc4 levels. Expression levels of Sdc4 and MMP-2 mRNA in articular cartilage and synovial membrane did not change depending on the KL score, whereasMMP-9 mRNA levels were upregulated with increasing KL score in the synovial membrane. MMP-9 mRNA expression in cartilage, however, did not change in context of OA severity. To elucidate the role of Sdc4 shedding in OA, Sdc4 shedding was induced in chondrocytes by 4-Aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA), an organomercurial activator of MMPs, and IL-1¯ stimulation. The addition of an MMP-9 inhibitor reduced basal, as well as APMA- and IL-1¯-induced, Sdc4 shedding. An inhibitor for MMP-2 did not influence Sdc4 shedding, whether basal or induced. In IL-1¯-induced Sdc4 shedding the inhibition ofMMP-9 had more prominent effects with higher concentrations of IL-1¯. The samewas apparent when MMP-9 was knocked down by siRNA. APMA-induced increase of Sdc4 shedding attenuated IL-1 signaling. The addition of the soluble ectodomain of Sdc4 had no effect on IL-1 signaling. Thereby, the possibility of shed Sdc4 being a decoy receptor for IL-1 was ruled out. In conclusion, this study presents shed Sdc4 as a possible biomarker for knee OA severity for the first time, whileMMP-9 was shown to be a sheddases in Sdc4 shedding in OA.Moreover, it is shown that IL-1 signaling can be modulated by Sdc4 shedding, displaying a possible role for the increased shedding in OA

Technical Note: Weight approximation of coccoliths using a circular polarizer and interference colour derived retardation estimates – (The CPR Method)

A circular polarizer is used for the first time to image coccoliths without the extinction pattern of crossed polarized light at maximum interference colour. The combination of a circular polarizer with retardation measurements based on grey values derived from theoretical calculations allows for the first time accurate calculations of the weight of single coccoliths thinner than 1.37 μm. The weight estimates of 364 Holocene coccoliths using this new method are in good agreement with published volumetric estimates. A robust calibration method based on the measurement of a calibration target of known retardation enables the comparison of data between different imaging systems. Therefore, the new method overcomes the shortcomings of the error prone empirical calibration procedure of a previously reported method based on birefringence of calcite. Furthermore, it greatly simplifies the identification of coccolithophore species on the light microscope as well as the calculation of the area and thus weight of a coccolith

One Livelihood Risk Factor Too Many? How Unintended Impacts of Conservation Contribute to Food Insecurity in Kavango Zambezi, Southern Africa.

Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) is the world’s largest terrestrial Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), covering vast regions of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Elephants and other species traverse KAZA across national borders through both protected and inhabited landscapes along wildlife migration corridors. Zimbabwe’s Simangani ward is located within such a corridor. As in most rural areas of KAZA, subsistence farming constitutes the predominant livelihood strategy in Simangani. Research across KAZA has mostly focused either on climate- or wildlife-induced impacts on farming communities. This paper combines findings from in-depth, qualitative fieldwork with quantitative livelihood survey data and provides a detailed assessment from a farming-household perspective of on-farm and off-farm income sources, which are mobilised in order to mitigate grain harvest shortfalls resulting from climatic fluctuations and wildlife depredation. This study concludes that drought and other stressors have a considerably higher impact on food insecurity than unintended conservation impacts. However, it also confirms that the impacts of crop raiding and livestock depredation caused by wildlife do indeed trigger additional food security risk factors for farming households whose livelihoods are already under pressure