Study abroad and complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF) development: a longitudinal investigation of French and Chinese Learners of L2 English

This longitudinal study tracked third-level French (n=10) and Chinese (n=7) learners of English as a second language (L2) during an eight-month study abroad (SA) period at an Irish university. The investigation sought to determine whether there was a significant relationship between length of stay (LoS) abroad and gains in the learners' oral complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF), what the relationship was between these three language constructs and whether the two learner groups would experience similar paths to development. Additionally, the study also investigated whether specific reported out-of-class contact with the L2 was implicated in oral CAF gains. Oral data were collected at three equidistant time points; at the beginning of SA (T1), midway through the SA sojourn (T2) and at the end (T3), allowing for a comparison of CAF gains arising during one semester abroad to those arising during a subsequent semester. Data were collected using Sociolinguistic Interviews (Labov, 1984) and adapted versions of the Language Contact Profile (Freed et al., 2004). Overall, the results point to LoS abroad as a highly influential variable in gains to be expected in oral CAF during SA. While one semester in the TL country was not enough to foster statistically significant improvement in any of the CAF measures employed, significant improvement was found during the second semester of SA. Significant differences were also revealed between the two learner groups. Finally, significant correlations, some positive, some negative, were found between gains in CAF and specific usage of the L2. All in all, the disaggregation of the group data clearly illustrates, in line with other recent enquiries (e.g. Wright and Cong, 2014) that each individual learner's path to CAF development was unique and highly individualised, thus providing strong evidence for the recent claim that SLA is "an individualized nonlinear endeavor" (Polat and Kim, 2014: 186).

Correlation between pre-treatment quasispecies complexity and treatment outcome in chronic HCV genotype 3a

Pre-treatment HCV quasispecies complexity and diversity may predict response to interferon based anti-viral therapy. The objective of this study was to retrospectively (1) examine temporal changes in quasispecies prior to the start of therapy and (2) investigate extensively quasispecies evolution in a group of 10 chronically infected patients with genotype 3a, treated with pegylated alpha 2a-Interferon and ribavirin. The degree of sequence heterogeneity within the hypervariable region 1 was assessed by analyzing 20-30 individual clones in serial serum samples. Genetic parameters, including amino acid Shannon entropy, Hamming distance and genetic distance were calculated for each sample. Treatment outcome was divided into (1) sustained virological responders (SVR) and (2) treatment failure (TF).Our results indicate, (1) quasispecies complexity and diversity are lower in the SVR group, (2) quasispecies vary temporally and (3) genetic heterogeneity at baseline can be used to predict treatment outcome. We discuss the results from the perspective of replicative homeostasis. We discuss the results from the perspective of replicative homeostasis.

Exploration of the relationship between tacit knowledge and software system test complexity

This research has explored the relationship between system test complexity and tacit knowledge. It is proposed as part of this thesis, that the process of system testing (comprising of test planning, test development, test execution, test fault analysis, test measurement, and case management), is directly affected by both complexity associated with the system under test, and also by other sources of complexity, independent of the system under test, but related to the wider process of system testing. While a certain amount of knowledge related to the system under test is inherent, tacit in nature, and therefore difficult to make explicit, it has been found that a significant amount of knowledge relating to these other sources of complexity, can indeed be made explicit. While the importance of explicit knowledge has been reinforced by this research, there has been a lack of evidence to suggest that the availability of tacit knowledge to a test team is of any less importance to the process of system testing, when operating in a traditional software development environment. The sentiment was commonly expressed by participants, that even though a considerable amount of explicit knowledge relating to the system is freely available, that a good deal of knowledge relating to the system under test, which is demanded for effective system testing, is actually tacit in nature (approximately 60% of participants operating in a traditional development environment, and 60% of participants operating in an agile development environment, expressed similar sentiments). To cater for the availability of tacit knowledge relating to the system under test, and indeed, both explicit and tacit knowledge required by system testing in general, an appropriate knowledge management structure needs to be in place. This would appear to be required, irrespective of the employed development methodology.

Complexity as key to designing cognitive-friendly environments for older people

The lived environment is the arena where our cognitive skills, preferences, and attitudes come together to determine our ability to interact with the world. The mechanisms through which lived environments can benefit cognitive health in older age are yet to be fully understood. The existing literature suggests that environments which are perceived as stimulating, usable and aesthetically appealing can improve or facilitate cognitive performance both in young and older age. Importantly, optimal stimulation for cognition seems to depend on experiencing sufficiently stimulating environments while not too challenging. Environmental complexity is an important contributor to determining whether an environment provides such an optimal stimulation. The present paper reviews a selection of studies which have explored complexity in relation to perceptual load, environmental preference and perceived usability to propose a framework which explores direct and indirect environmental influences on cognition, and to understand these influences in relation to aging processes. We identify ways to define complexity at different environmental scales, going from micro low-level perceptual features of scenes, to design qualities of proximal environments (e.g., streets, neighborhoods), to broad geographical areas (i.e., natural vs. urban environments). We propose that studying complexity at these different scales will provide new insight into the design of cognitive-friendly environments.