University of Salford

About: University of Salford is a education organization based out in Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 13049 authors who have published 22957 publications receiving 537330 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Salford Manchester & The University of Salford Manchester.

ICDAR 2003 page segmentation competition

Abstract: There is an established need for objective evaluation of layout analysis methods, in realistic circumstances. This paper describes the page segmentation competition (modus operandi, dataset and evaluation criteria) held in the context of ICDAR2005 and presents the results of the evaluation of four candidate methods. The main objective of the competition was to compare the performance of such methods using scanned documents from commonly-occurring publications. The results indicate that although methods seem to be maturing, there is still a considerable need to develop robust methods that deal with everyday documents.

Enhancing the early student experience

Abstract: This paper is concerned with identifying how the early student experience can be enhanced in order to improve levels of student retention and achievement. The early student experience is the focus of this project as the literature has consistently declared the first year to be the most critical in shaping persistence decisions. Programme managers of courses with high and low retention rates have been interviewed to identify activities that appear to be associated with good retention rates. The results show that there are similarities in the way programmes with high retention are run, with these features not being prevalent on programmes with low retention. Recommendations of activities that appear likely to enhance the early student experience are provided.

Echinococcosis in Tibetan populations, western Sichuan Province, China.

Abstract: We screened 3,199 people from Shiqu County, Sichuan Province, China, for abdominal echinococcosis (hydatid disease) by portable ultrasound combined with specific serodiagnostic tests. Both cystic echinococcosis (CE) (Echinococcus granulosus infection) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE) (E. multilocularis) were co-endemic in this area at the highest village prevalence values recorded anywhere in the world: 12.9% were infected with one or the other form (6.8% CE and 6.2% AE). Prevalences of both CE and AE were significantly higher in female than male patients and increased with the age of the person screened. Pastoral herdsmen were at highest risk for infection (prevalence 19.0%). Prevalence of CE varied in 5 townships from 0% to 12.1%, whereas AE prevalence ranged from 0% to 14.3%. Risk factors associated with both infections included the number of owned dogs, frequency of contact with dogs, and sources of drinking water.