Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, we aim to improve meeting summarization performance using discourse specific information. Since there are intrinsically different characteristics in utterances in different types of function segments, e.g., Monologue segments versus Discussion ones, we propose a new summarization framework where different summarizers are used for different segment types. For monologue segments, we adopt the integer linear programming-based summarization method; whereas for discussion segments, we use a graph-based method to incorporate speaker information. Performance of our proposed method is evaluated using the standard AMI meeting corpus. Results show a good improvement over previous... 

Linear segmentation of a meeting conversation is beneficial as a stand-alone system (to organize a meeting and make it easier to access) or as a preprocessing step for many other meeting related tasks. Such segmentation can be done according to two different criteria: topic in which a meeting is segmented according to the different items in its agenda, and function in which the segmentation is done according to the meeting's different events (like discussion, monologue). In this article we concentrate on the function segmentation task and propose new unsupervised methods to segment a meeting into functionally coherent parts. The first proposed method assigns a score to each possible boundary... 

In this paper we investigate the role of discourse analysis in extractive meeting summarization task. Specifically our proposed method comprises of two distinct steps. First we use a meeting segmentation algorithm in order to detect various functional parts of the input meeting. Afterwards, a two level scoring mechanism in a graph-based framework is used to score each dialogue act in order to extract the most valuable ones and include them in the extracted summary. We evaluate our proposed method on AMI and ICSI corpora and compare it with other state-of-the-art graph based algorithms according to various evaluation metrics. The experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms the... 

Summary keywords are words that are used in the reference extracted summary, therefore can be used to discriminate between summary sentences from non-summary ones. Finding these words is important for the extractive summarization algorithms that measure the importance of a sentence based on the importance of its constituent words. This paper is focused on extracting summary keywords in the multi-party meeting domain. We test previously proposed keyword extraction algorithms and evaluate their performance to determine summary keywords. We also propose a new approach which uses discourse information to find local important keywords and show that it outperforms all the previous methods. We... 

In this article we tackle the problem of multi-party conversation summarization. We investigate the role of discourse segmentation of a conversation on meeting summarization. First, an unsupervised function segmentation algorithm is proposed to segment the transcript into functionally coherent parts, such as Monologuei (which indicates a segment where speaker i is the dominant speaker, e.g., lecturing all the other participants) or Discussionx1x2,...,xn (which indicates a segment where speakers x 1 to xn involve in a discussion). Then the salience score for a sentence is computed by leveraging the score of the segment containing the sentence. Performance of our proposed segmentation and... 

Microorganisms have been essential in the natural world for millions of years, contributing significantly to environmental interaction. It has been disoverd that some bacteria are potential in geotechnical and environmental engineering due to their outstanding ability of biomineralization. Therefore, how to train bacteria as special and professional “workers” for biomineralization is increasingly a key topic in related research fields. This article briefly introduces the methods that are commonly utilized to improve the environmental adaptability and mineralization efficiency of bacteria, including microbial domestication, microbial mutation breeding, microbial targeted screening, and... 

In current study, microstructure and high-temperature mechanical properties of ZK60 magnesium alloy reinforced by SiC whiskers were investigated after casting, the KOBO extrusion and aging processes. For this purpose, ZK60/SiCw composite specimens were prepared by stir casting technique. In order to achieve a laminar structure and improve the strength, the samples were subjected to KOBO extrusion technique and precipitation hardening, resulting in improved strength and increased ductility. The former is due to grain refining and formation of precipitates in the microstructure, while the latter is attributed to grain refining and formation of laminar structure. To evaluate the strength of the... 

One of the most crucial steps in comprehensively planning the proper and efficient use of energy (optimisation of consumption) and appropriate management of resources to fulfil the power demand is accurately forecasting the energy demand (optimisation of production). This study presents the modelling of an ideal technique for short-term power demand prediction as a novel hybrid approach comprising two distinct methods, namely the Elman neural network (ELM) and adaptive network–based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The hybrid approach outperforms the conventional individual methods because it can eliminate the drawbacks of the individual methods while retaining their advantages, particularly... 

Traditional fluorescence switching molecules achieving the state change between on and off states commonly based on UV irradiation. However, it is worth noting that UV irradiation is harmful to both the cancer cells and the normal cells. To achieve fluorescence switching under visible wavelength and avoid complicate molecular design, a fluorophore of 2,4,5,6-tetrakis(carbazol-9-yl)-1,3-dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) and a quencher of diarylethene (DAE) were physically incorporated within the biocompatible block copolymer poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-b-PEG) to form 4CzIPN-DAE nanoparticles (NPs) through flash nanoprecipitation (FNP). By using the FNP method, the NPs... 

In this study, frequency simulation and critical angular velocity of a size-dependent laminated rotary microsystem using modified couple stress theory (MCST) as the higher-order elasticity model is undertaken. The centrifugal and Coriolis impacts due to the spinning are taken into account. The size-dependent thick annular microsystem's computational formulation, non-classical governing equations, and corresponding boundary conditions are obtained by using the higher-order stress tensors and symmetric rotation gradient to the strain energy. By using a single material length scale factor, the most recent non-classical approach captures the size-dependency in the annular laminated microsystem.... 

In this study, frequency simulation and critical angular velocity of a size-dependent laminated rotary microsystem using modified couple stress theory (MCST) as the higher-order elasticity model is undertaken. The centrifugal and Coriolis impacts due to the spinning are taken into account. The size-dependent thick annular microsystem's computational formulation, non-classical governing equations, and corresponding boundary conditions are obtained by using the higher-order stress tensors and symmetric rotation gradient to the strain energy. By using a single material length scale factor, the most recent non-classical approach captures the size-dependency in the annular laminated microsystem.... 

The huge volume change and unstable interface of the silicon anode usually result in the fracture of the active material and the disconnection with conducting agent/current collector, which would highly hinder the application of silicon in powering battery. Moreover, the un-uniform charge distribution at the surfaces of silicon would cause a degration of capacity at fast charging condition or low temperature. Thus, developing a stable interface with good mechanical stability to tolerate huge volume change of the silicon, and keep the robust adhesive property is one of the effective methods of resolving the above questions but a great challenge. Here, a molecular zipper fastened strategy is... 

A thorough understanding and accurate prediction of non-Newtonian fluid flow dynamics in rotating annular media are of paramount importance to numerous engineering applications. This is in particular relevant to oil and gas industry where this type of flow could occur during, e.g., drilling, well completion, and enhanced oil recovery scenarios. Here, mathematically we report on physical-based (numerical) and data-driven (intelligent) modeling of three-dimensional laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids driven by axial pressure gradient in annular media that consist of a coaxially rotating inner cylinder. We focus on the dynamics of pressure loss ratio (PLR)—the ratio of total pressure loss in... 

This work focused on the design of new pH-responsive nanoparticles for controlled delivery of anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox). Nanoparticles of poly(methacrylic acid)-polysorbate 80-grafted starch (PMAA-PS 80-g-St) were synthesized by using a one-pot method that enabled simultaneous grafting of PMAA and PS 80 onto starch and nanoparticle formation in an aqueous medium. The particles were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, TEM, DLS, and potentiometric titration. Dox loading and in vitro release from the nanoparticles were investigated. The FTIR and 1H NMR confirmed the chemical composition of the graft terpolymer. The nanoparticles were relatively spherical with narrow size distribution and... 

This paper presents the acoustic and structure characteristics of chambers with elastic/rigid baffles and elastic walls using a novel formulation. The acoustic fluid is assumed to be compressible and inviscid, and the effect of mean flow is neglected. The acoustic field is formulated based on the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM), and the finite element method (FEM) is used to model the structural dynamics of elastic walls. The reduced-order model (ROM) of the coupled system is derived based on modal analysis of the acoustic field with rigid boundaries and the structure in a vacuum. Numerical examples are presented, and the acoustic modes and frequencies of the chambers are... 

Over the last decades, several approaches have been proposed in the literature to incorporate users' perceptions of travel costs, their bounded rationality, and risk-taking behaviors into network equilibrium modeling for traffic assignment problem. While theoretically advanced, these models often suffer from high complexity and computational cost and often involve parameters that are difficult to estimate. This study proposes an alternative approach where users' imprecise perceptions of travel times are endogenously constructed as fuzzy sets based on the probability distributions of random link travel times. Two decision rules are proposed accordingly to account for users' heterogeneous... 

Zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) provide an exciting platform to design and fabricate non-precious-metal carbon-based catalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER). Herein, we elaborately design a facile enzyme-assisted synthetic strategy that enables to tailor the ZIFs precursors into structural stable decussation shape, which derived Co nanoislands grafted on decussate N-doped carbon nanoleaves (D-Co@NC) can well retain the interpenetrating nanostructure. Benefiting from the combined advantages of compositions and interpenetrating nanostructures, D-Co@NC possesses 5.2 times higher exposed electrochemical active area than the conventional dodecahedral one, thus endowing... 

In this paper, the interaction between various window specifications and different climate conditions is investigated. For this purpose, simultaneous effects of several aspects including glazing system, glass type, filling gas, glass thickness, window frame fraction, and interior shading are considered under three different climatic conditions. To evaluate the energy performance of various considered alternatives, the energy simulation of a base case building is evaluated in a computer environment. Using the validated model, the energy analysis is quantitatively performed, and cost-benefit analyses from the viewpoints of both residents and government are carried out based on the domestic and... 

Gene therapy has emerged as a promising tool for treating different intractable diseases, particularly cancer or even viral diseases such as COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). In this context, various non-viral gene carriers are being explored to transfer DNA or RNA sequences into target cells. Here, we review the applications of the naturally occurring amino acid histidine in the delivery of nucleic acids into cells. The biocompatibility of histidine-enhanced gene delivery systems has encouraged their wider use in gene therapy. Histidine-based gene carriers can involve the modification of peptides, dendrimers, lipids or nanocomposites. Several linear polymers, such as polyethylenimine,... 

Some tetra substituted derivatives of 2,2′ and 4,4′ bithiazoles have been synthesized and characterized in various solvents