MapScript: A map algebra programming language incorporating neighborhood analysis

Map algebra is a data model and simple functional notation to study the distribution and patterns of spatial phenomena. It uses a uniform representation of space as discrete grids, which are organized into layers. This paper discusses extensions to map algebra to handle neighborhood operations with a new data type called a template. Templates provide general windowing operations on grids to enable spatial models for cellular automata, mathematical morphology, and local spatial statistics. A programming language for map algebra that incorporates templates and special processing constructs is described. The programming language is called MapScript. Example program scripts are presented to perform diverse and interesting neighborhood analysis for descriptive, model-based and processed-based analysis.

Subcortical brain mechanisms in speech and language

This paper reviews current research and contemporary theories of subcortical participation in the motor control of speech production and language processing. As a necessary precursor to the discussion of the functional roles of the basal ganglia and thalamus, the neuroanatomy of the basal ganglial-thalamocortical circuitry is described. Contemporary models of hypokinetic and hyperkinetic movement disorders based on recent neuroanatomical descriptions of the multi-segmented circuits that characterise basal ganglion anatomy are described. Reported effects of surgically induced lesions in the globus pallidus and thalamus on speech production are reviewed. In addition, contemporary models proposed to explain the possible contribution of various subcortical structures to language processing are described and discussed in the context of evidence gained from observation of the effects of circumscribed surgically induced lesions in the basal ganglia and thalamus on language function. The potential of studies based on examination of the speech/language outcomes of patients undergoing pallidotomy and thalamotomy to further inform the debate relating to the role of subcortical structures in speech motor control and language processing is highlighted. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Whither our Art? Clinical Wisdom & Evidence-based Medicine

The relationship between evidence-based medicine (EBM) and clinical judgement is the subject of conceptual and practical dispute. For example, EBM and clinical guidelines are seen to increasingly dominate medical decision-making at the expense of other, human elements, and to threaten the art of medicine. Clinical wisdom always remains open to question. We want to know why particular beliefs are held, and the epistemological status of claims based in wisdom or experience. The paper critically appraises a number of claims and distinctions, and attempts to clarify the connections between EBM, clinical experience and judgement, and the objective and evaluative categories of medicine. I conclude that to demystify clinical wisdom is not to devalue it. EBM ought not be conceived as needing to be limited or balanced by clinical wisdom, since if its language is translatable into terms comprehensible and applicable to individuals, it helps constitute clinical wisdom. Failure to appreciate this constitutive relation will help perpetuate medical paternalism and delay the adoption of properly evidence-based practice, which would be both unethical and unwise.

Can anticipatory skills be learned through implicit video-based perceptual training?

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of two video-based perceptual training approaches designed to improve the anticipatory skills of junior tennis players. Players were assigned equally to an explicit learning group, an implicit learning group, a placebo group or a control group. A progressive temporal occlusion paradigm was used to examine, before and after training, the ability of the players to predict the direction of an opponent's service in an in-vivo on-court setting. The players responded either through hitting a return stroke or making a verbal prediction of stroke direction. Results revealed that the implicit learning group, whose training required them to predict serve speed direction while viewing temporally occluded video footage of the return-of-serve scenario, significantly improved their prediction accuracy after the training intervention. However, this training effect dissipated after a 32 day unfilled retention interval. The explicit learning group, who received instructions about the specific aspects of the pre-contact service kinematics that are informative with respect to service direction, did not demonstrate any significant performance improvements after the intervention. This, together with the absence of any significant improvements for the placebo and control groups, demonstrated that the improvement observed for the implicit learning group was not a consequence of either expectancy or familiarity effects.

Input-driven Language Learning

Input-driven models provide an explicit and readily testable account of language learning. Although we share Ellis's view that the statistical structure of the linguistic environment is a crucial and, until recently, relatively neglected variable in language learning, we also recognize that the approach makes three assumptions about cognition and language learning that are not universally shared. The three assumptions concern (a) the language learner as an intuitive statistician, (b) the constraints on what constitute relevant surface cues, and (c) the redescription problem faced by any system that seeks to derive abstract grammatical relations from the frequency of co-occurring surface forms and functions. These are significant assumptions that must be established if input-driven models are to gain wider acceptance. We comment on these issues and briefly describe a distributed, instance-based approach that retains the key features of the input-driven account advocated by Ellis but that also addresses shortcomings of the current approaches.

Language choice of the Foochows in Sarawak, Malaysia

This paper investigates the factors affecting the language choices of the Chinese Foochows of Sarawak, focusing in particular on how the use of the Foochow dialect vis-a`-vis English and other languages might potentially result in a shift in language allegiance away from Foochow. In the context of Sarawak, the Foochows are a substantial, cohesive and homogeneous Chinese ethnic group with a distinctive language and ethnic identity. One would predict that they would engage in extensive language maintenance behaviour. Instead, Foochows living in non-Foochow dominant areas do not seem to have sufficient attachment to the language to transmit it to the next generation. Is this because the Foochows consider that accommodating to communicative norms is more important than preserving their native language as an inherent symbol of their ethnic identity? Or is it the result of the Foochows’ insecurity about the prestige of the dialect and the status of the Foochow people? These issues of accommodation and language allegiance are discussed, based on interview and questionnaire data from 11 Foochow participants. This data set is part of a larger study on the language use of different ethnic groups in multilingual organisational settings in Sarawak.

Virtual learning communities beyond the classroom: perceptions of tertiary Chinese language and non-language learners

As class contact times are reduced as a result of fiscal restraints in the modern tertiary sector, language instructors are placed in the position of having to find new ways to provide experience and continuity in language learning. Extending 'learning communities'—sites of learner knowledge exchange, exposure to diverse learning styles and strategies, and mutual support—beyond the classroom is one solution to maintaining successful linguistic competencies amongst learners. This, however, can conflict with the diverse extra-curricular commitments faced by tertiary students. The flexibility of web-based learning platforms provides one means of overcoming these obstacles. This study investigates learner perceptions of the use of the WebCT platform's computer medicated communication (CMC) tools as a means of extending the community of learning in tertiary Chinese language and non-language courses. Learner responses to Likert and open-ended questionnaires show that flexibility and reduction of negative affect are seen as significant benefits to 'virtual' interaction and communication, although responses are notably stronger in the non-language compared with the language cohort. While both learner cohorts acknowledge positive learning outcomes, CMC is not seen to consistently further interpersonal rapport beyond that established in the classroom. Maintaining a balance between web-based and classroom learning emerges as a concern, especially amongst language learners. [Author abstract, ed]

Urea based osmoregulation and endocrine control in elasmobranch fish with special reference to euryhalinity

Since the landmark contributions of Homer Smith and co-workers in the 1930s there has been a considerable advance in our knowledge regarding the osmoregulatory strategy of elasmobranch fish. Smith recognised that urea was retained in the body fluids as part of the 'osmoregulatory ballast' of elasmobranch fish so that body fluid osmolality is raised to a level that is iso- or slightly hyper-osmotic to that of the surrounding medium. From studies at that time he also postulated that many marine dwelling elasmobranchs were not capable of adaptation to dilute environments. However, more recent investigations have demonstrated that, at least in some species, this may not be the case. Gradual acclimation of marine dwelling elasmobranchs to varying environmental salinities under laboratory conditions has demonstrated that these fish do have the capacity to acclimate to changes in salinity through independent regulation of Na+, Cl- and urea levels. This suggests that many of the presumed stenohaline marine elasmobranchs could in fact be described as partially euryhaline. The contributions of Thomas Thorson in the 1970s demonstrated the osmoregulatory strategy of a fully euryhaline elasmobranch, the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, and more recent investigations have examined the mechanisms behind this strategy in the euryhaline elasmobranch, Dasyatis sabina. Both partially euryhaline and fully euryhaline species utilise the same physiological processes to control urea, Na+ and Cl- levels within the body fluids. The role of the gills, kidney, liver, rectal gland and drinking process is discussed in relation to the endocrine control of urea, Na+ and Cl- levels as elasmobranchs acclimate to different environmental salinities. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Literacy skills of adults with intellectual disability in community-based day programs

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. There is limited information available related to the literacy skills of adults with intellectual disabilities. In this project, information was collected about the contexts, current practices, and clients' abilities in literacy in two community-based disability service programs. Individual assessments were undertaken to collect details of the current literacy levels of adults with intellectual disabilities in day program settings. These assessments focused on receptive language, reading at the letter, word and sentence level, writing vocabulary and connected text, and literacy preferences. Audits were also conducted related to the provision of opportunities for clients accessing these services to engage with literacy including environmental print. Structured day program activities were observed to gather information about current literacy teaching and learning. Implications of the research findings and suggestions for provision of literacy education in these settings are discusse

Striving for a common language: A white feminist parallel to Indigenous ways of knowing and researching

In Striving Towards a Common Language I outline an innovative methodology which consists of three strands encompassing an Indigenous-centred approach based on Indigenous Self-determination (participatory action research), relationship as central to socio-cultural dynamics, and feminist phenomenology. This methodology - which I call Living On the Ground was created in direct concert with 13 Indigenous women elders who were my hosts, teachers and walytja (family) as we worked together to create a dynamic cultural revitalisation project for their community, one of Australia's most remote Aboriginal settlements. I explain the processes I went through as a White Irish-Australian woman living with the women elders and their 11 dogs in a one room tin shed for two years, and tell of how the nexus of land, Ancestors, and the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) combined with White cultural practices came to inspire a methodology which took the best from Indigenous and (White) feminist ways of knowing and of being. (c) 2005 Z. de Ishtar. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speaking for others: The pros and cons of group advocates using collective language

We examined how rhetorical style affects evaluations of group advocates, and how these evaluations are moderated by group identification. University students were given a letter to the editor defending student welfare. The argument was either constructed using personal language ('I believe') or collective language ('we believe'). Furthermore, the letter was either attributed to an official advocate (president of the student union) or an unofficial advocate (a rank-and-file member of the student body). Consistent with the social identity perspective, participants who showed strong identification as a university student thought that the group would feel better represented by official advocates using collective rather than personal language. Low identifiers, however, did not rate the rhetorical styles differently on representativeness. Furthermore, low identifiers (but not high identifiers) rated official advocates as more likable and more effective when they used personal rather than collective language. The discussion focuses on the conflict low identifiers might feel between (a) needing to homogenize with other group members in order to maximize the influence and political effectiveness of their message at the collective level, and (b) protecting themselves against categorization threat.

Hydrogen storage of magnesium-based nanocomposites system

Hydrogen storage in traditional metallic hydrides can deliver about 1.5 to 2.0 wt pct hydrogen but magnesium hydrides can achieve more than 7 wt pct. However, these systems suffer from high temperature release drawback and chemical instability problems. Recently, big improvements of reducing temperature and increasing kinetics of hydrogenation have been made in nanostructured Mg-based composites. This paper aims to provide an overview of the science and engineering of Mg materials and their nanosized composites with nanostructured carbon for hydrogen storage. The needs in research including preparation of the materials, processing and characterisation and basic mechanisms will be explored. The preliminary experimental results indicated a promising future for chemically stable hydrogen storage using carbon nanotubes modified metal hydrides under lower temperatures.