Costs and benefits of orthographic inconsistency in reading:evidence from a cross-linguistic comparison

We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade). However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, a consistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs later and it is less pronounced. This is demonstrated by larger length effects which remain significant even in older children and by larger effects of a global factor (related to speed of orthographic decoding) explaining changes of performance across ages. Our results show the importance of considering not only overall performance, but inter-individual variability and variability between conditions when interpreting cross-linguistic differences.

Lexical and nonlexical processing in developmental dyslexia: a case for different resources and different impairments

In a group of adult dyslexics word reading and, especially, word spelling are predicted more by what we have called lexical learning (tapped by a paired-associate task with pictures and written nonwords) than by phonological skills. Nonword reading and spelling, instead, are not associated with this task but they are predicted by phonological tasks. Consistently, surface and phonological dyslexics show opposite profiles on lexical learning and phonological tasks. The phonological dyslexics are more impaired on the phonological tasks, while the surface dyslexics are equally or more impaired on the lexical learning tasks. Finally, orthographic lexical learning explains more variation in spelling than in reading, and subtyping based on spelling returns more interpretable results than that based on reading. These results suggest that the quality of lexical representations is crucial to adult literacy skills. This is best measured by spelling and best predicted by a task of lexical learning. We hypothesize that lexical learning taps a uniquely human capacity to form new representations by recombining the units of a restricted set.

A DEA model for units with negative data

In this paper we propose an alternative method for measuring efficiency of Decision making Units, which allows the presence of variables with both negative and positive values. The model is applied to data on the notional effluent processing system to compare the results with recent developed methods; Modified Slacks Based Model as suggested by Sharp et al (2007) and Range Directional Measures developed by Silva Portela et al (2004). A further example explores advantages of using the new model.

A semi-oriented radial measure for measuring the efficiency of decision making units with negative data, using DEA

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric method for measuring the efficiency of a set of decision making units such as firms or public sector agencies, first introduced into the operational research and management science literature by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (CCR) [Charnes, A., Cooper, W.W., Rhodes, E., 1978. Measuring the efficiency of decision making units. European Journal of Operational Research 2, 429–444]. The original DEA models were applicable only to technologies characterized by positive inputs/outputs. In subsequent literature there have been various approaches to enable DEA to deal with negative data. In this paper, we propose a semi-oriented radial measure, which permits the presence of variables which can take both negative and positive values. The model is applied to data on a notional effluent processing system to compare the results with those yielded by two alternative methods for dealing with negative data in DEA: The modified slacks-based model suggested by Sharp et al. [Sharp, J.A., Liu, W.B., Meng, W., 2006. A modified slacks-based measure model for data envelopment analysis with ‘natural’ negative outputs and inputs. Journal of Operational Research Society 57 (11) 1–6] and the range directional model developed by Portela et al. [Portela, M.C.A.S., Thanassoulis, E., Simpson, G., 2004. A directional distance approach to deal with negative data in DEA: An application to bank branches. Journal of Operational Research Society 55 (10) 1111–1121]. A further example explores the advantages of using the new model.

The design and engineering of a reactor test facility for thermal processing of biomass

This thesis describes the design and engineering of a pressurised biomass gasification test facility. A detailed examination of the major elements within the plant has been undertaken in relation to specification of equipment, evaluation of options and final construction. The retrospective project assessment was developed from consideration of relevant literature and theoretical principles. The literature review includes a discussion on legislation and applicable design codes. From this analysis, each of the necessary equipment units was reviewed and important design decisions and procedures highlighted and explored. Particular emphasis was placed on examination of the stringent demands of the ASME VIII design codes. The inter-relationship of functional units was investigated and areas of deficiency, such as biomass feeders and gas cleaning, have been commented upon. Finally, plant costing was summarized in relation to the plant design and proposed experimental programme. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that pressurised gasification of biomass is far more difficult and expensive to support than atmospheric gasification. A number of recommendations have been made regarding future work in this area.

Managing performance of organisational units with PIMsoft:a new DEA software

DEA literature continues apace but software has lagged behind. This session uses suitably selected data to present newly developed software which includes many of the most recent DEA models. The software enables the user to address a variety of issues not frequently found in existing DEA software such as: -Assessments under a variety of possible assumptions of returns to scale including NIRS and NDRS; -Scale elasticity computations; -Numerous Input/Output variables and truly unlimited number of assessment units (DMUs) -Panel data analysis -Analysis of categorical data (multiple categories) -Malmquist Index and its decompositions -Computations of Supper efficiency -Automated removal of super-efficient outliers under user-specified criteria; -Graphical presentation of results -Integrated statistical tests