Abstract: Methods and arrangements for developing knowledge bases from social media. A question is obtained from social media. Social media are consulted, and a legitimacy of the question is ascertained. All the answers to the question are harvested from the social media including the rich media that is associated with these answers, and the question is filtered out if determined not to be legitimate.

Abstract: A procedure to automatically evaluate the spoken fluency of a speaker by prompting the speaker to talk on a given topic, recording the speaker's speech to get a recorded sample of speech, and then analyzing the patterns of disfluencies in the speech to compute a numerical score to quantify the spoken fluency skills of the speakers. The numerical fluency score accounts for various prosodic and lexical features, including formant-based filled-pause detection, closely-occurring exact and inexact repeat N-grams, normalized average distance between consecutive occurrences of N-grams. The lexical features and prosodic features are combined to classify the speaker with a C-class classification and develop a rating for the speaker.

Abstract: A sump assembly for a dishwasher and associated method are provided. The sump assembly comprises an integrally-formed sump member defining a circulation pump volute receptacle and a drain pump volute receptacle. The circulation pump volute receptacle and the drain pump volute receptacle are adapted to receive respective pump and motor assemblies. Each of the volute receptacles is configured to receive the respective pump and motor assembly along a respective horizontal axis defined thereby. The drain pump volute receptacle includes a washing fluid input in direct communication with the circulation pump volute receptacle for receiving the washing fluid therefrom.

Abstract: Analyzing an audio interaction is provided. At least one change in an emotion of a speaker in an audio interaction and at least one aspect of the audio interaction are identified. The at least one change in an emotion is analyzed in conjunction with the at least one aspect to determine a relationship between the at least one change in an emotion and the at least one aspect, and a result of the analysis is provided.

Abstract: A phonetic vocabulary for a speech recognition system is adapted to a particular speaker's pronunciation. A speaker can be attributed specific pronunciation styles, which can be identified from specific pronunciation examples. Consequently, a phonetic vocabulary can be reduced in size, which can improve recognition accuracy and recognition speed.

Abstract: A method, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for automatic speech recognition. The method includes obtaining at least one language model word and at least one rule-based grammar word, determining an acoustic similarity of at least one pair of language model word and rule-based grammar word, and increasing a transition cost to the at least one language model word based on the acoustic similarity of the at least one language model word with the at least one rule-based grammar word to generate a modified language model for automatic speech recognition.

Abstract: A system and method are described for generating semantically similar sentences for a statistical language model. A semantic class generator determines for each word in an input utterance a set of corresponding semantically similar words. A sentence generator computes a set of candidate sentences each containing at most one member from each set of semantically similar words. A sentence verifier grammatically tests each candidate sentence to determine a set of grammatically correct sentences semantically similar to the input utterance. Also note that the generated semantically similar sentences are not restricted to be selected from an existing sentence database.

Abstract: Methods and arrangements for executing an audio search. A search query in a first language variety is accepted, the search query being in a form of at least one of: text and audio. A corpus of material in the first language variety is accessed, and first language variety baseforms are obtained via data obtained from a second language variety. A first language variety phonetic model is built, and the first language variety phonetic model and the second language variety are employed in executing an audio search based on the accepted search query.

Abstract: Described herein are methods, systems, apparatuses and products for reconstruction of a smooth speech signal from a stuttered speech signal. One aspect provides for accessing a stored speech signal having stuttering; identifying at least one stuttered region in the stored speech signal; modifying the at least one stuttered region in the stored speech signal; and responsive to modifying the at least one stuttered region, reconstructing a smooth speech signal corresponding to the stored speech signal. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: Described herein are methods, systems, apparatuses and products for reconstruction of a smooth speech signal from a stuttered speech signal. One aspect provides for accessing a stored speech signal having stuttering; identifying at least one stuttered region in the stored speech signal; modifying the at least one stuttered region in the stored speech signal; and responsive to modifying the at least one stuttered region, reconstructing a smooth speech signal corresponding to the stored speech signal. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Abstract: A method for depositing protective coatings on front and rear facets of an optical device, such as a laser die, is disclosed. The protective coatings help prevent laser facet damage common to laser dies manufactured using known processes. In one embodiment, the method for coating the laser die includes placing the laser in an evacuated coating chamber before applying a first coating portion to a first facet of the laser. The first coating portion is applied to the first facet so as to form a protective covering thereon, but is applied at a coating energy that minimizes damage to the as-yet uncoated second facet. The laser is then rotated within the coating chamber, and a full coating is applied to a second facet of the laser. The laser is again rotated, and a full coating is applied atop the first coating portion to the first facet of the laser.

Abstract: Techniques for assessing pronunciation abilities of a user are provided. The techniques include recording a sentence spoken by a user, performing a classification of the spoken sentence, wherein the classification is performed with respect to at least one N-ordered class, and wherein the spoken sentence is represented by a set of at least one acoustic feature extracted from the spoken sentence, and determining a score based on the classification, wherein the score is used to determine an optimal set of at least one question to assess pronunciation ability of the user without human intervention.

Abstract: A data processing system establishes a mapping between each of a plurality of plurality of internal data sources within a service organization and a respective one of multiple service quality factors. The data processing system determines a mathematical transformation of internal service quality data obtained from the plurality of internal data sources to obtain a customer satisfaction value. The data processing system estimates and reports a service quality delivered by the service organization by applying the mathematical transformation to at least some of the internal service quality data obtained from the plurality of internal data sources.

Abstract: A computer system for evaluating cross-domain clusterability upon a target domain and a source domain. The cross-domain clusterability is calculated as a linear combination of a target clusterability and a source-target pair matchability, by use of a trade-off parameter that determines relative contribution of the target clusterability and the source-target pair matchability. The target clusterability quantifies how clusterable the target domain is. The source-target pair matchability is calculated as an average of a target-side matchability and a source-side matchability, which quantifies how well target centroids of the target domain are aligned with the source centroids and how well source centroids of the source domain are aligned with the target centroids, respectively.

Abstract: A process for evaluating cross-domain clusterability upon a target domain and a source domain. The cross-domain clusterability is calculated as a linear combination of a target clusterability and a source-target pair matchability, by use of a trade-off parameter that determines relative contribution of the target clusterability and the source-target pair matchability. The target clusterability quantifies how clusterable the target domain is. The source- target pair matchability is calculated as an average of a target-side matchability and a source-side matchability, which quantifies how well target centroids of the target domain are aligned with the source centroids and how well source centroids of the source domain are aligned with the target centroids, respectively.

Abstract: A computer program product evaluating cross-domain clusterability upon a target domain and a source domain. The cross-domain clusterability is calculated as a linear combination of a target clusterability and a source-target pair matchability, by use of a trade-off parameter that determines relative contribution of the target clusterability and the source-target pair matchability. The target clusterability quantifies how clusterable the target domain is. The source-target pair matchability is calculated as an average of a target-side matchability and a source-side matchability, which quantifies how well target centroids of the target domain are aligned with the source centroids and how well source centroids of the source domain are aligned with the target centroids, respectively.

Abstract: A system and associated method for evaluating cross-domain clusterability upon a target domain and a source domain. The cross-domain clusterability is calculated as a linear combination of a target clusterability and a source-target pair matchability, by use of a trade-off parameter that determines relative contribution of the target clusterability and the source-target pair matchability. The target clusterability quantifies how clusterable the target domain is. The source-target pair matchability is calculated as an average of a target-side matchability and a source-side matchability, which quantifies how well target centroids of the target domain are aligned with the source centroids and how well source centroids of the source domain are aligned with the target centroids, respectively.

Abstract: A filtration system for a dishwasher, and an associated apparatus and method, are provided, comprising a macerator chamber adapted to house a macerator device. The macerator chamber is configured to receive washing fluid for the macerator device to comminute contaminants within the washing fluid. A drain chamber is in fluid communication with the macerator chamber and is configured to receive the washing fluid and comminuted contaminants therefrom via a fluid port therebetween. The drain chamber has a vented member associated therewith, which defines at least one first vent providing fluid communication between the drain chamber and the washing fluid circulation system. The vented member is spaced apart from the fluid port, and is configured to strain the comminuted contaminants from the washing fluid so as to retain the comminuted contaminants within the drain chamber while allowing the washing fluid to pass therethrough to the washing fluid circulation system.

Abstract: A data processing system establishes a mapping between each of a plurality of plurality of internal data sources within a service organization and a respective one of multiple service quality factors. The data processing system determines a mathematical transformation of internal service quality data obtained from the plurality of internal data sources to obtain a customer satisfaction value. The data processing system estimates and reports a service quality delivered by the service organization by applying the mathematical transformation to at least some of the internal service quality data obtained from the plurality of internal data sources.

Abstract: Methods and arrangements for employing descriptors for agent-customer interactions are disclosed. Filtering the pooled records based on one or more predetermined criteria is done such that analyzing the filtered records and comparing one interaction between an agent and a customer with another interaction between an agent and a customer may occur.