Background and foreground knowledge in dynamic ontology construction

Ontologies have become a key component in the Semantic Web and Knowledge management. One accepted goal is to construct ontologies from a domain specific set of texts. An ontology reflects the background knowledge used in writing and reading a text. However, a text is an act of knowledge maintenance, in that it re-enforces the background assumptions, alters links and associations in the ontology, and adds new concepts. This means that background knowledge is rarely expressed in a machine interpretable manner. When it is, it is usually in the conceptual boundaries of the domain, e.g. in textbooks or when ideas are borrowed into other domains. We argue that a partial solution to this lies in searching external resources such as specialized glossaries and the internet. We show that a random selection of concept pairs from the Gene Ontology do not occur in a relevant corpus of texts from the journal Nature. In contrast, a significant proportion can be found on the internet. Thus, we conclude that sources external to the domain corpus are necessary for the automatic construction of ontologies.

Comparison of near visual acuity and reading metrics in presbyopia correction

PURPOSE: To provide a consistent standard for the evaluation of different types of presbyopic correction. SETTING: Eye Clinic, School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom. METHODS: Presbyopic corrections examined were accommodating intraocular lenses (IOLs), simultaneous multifocal and monovision contact lenses, and varifocal spectacles. Binocular near visual acuity measured with different optotypes (uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and words) and reading metrics assessed with the Minnesota Near Reading chart (reading acuity, critical print size [CPS], CPS reading speed) were intercorrelated (Pearson product moment correlations) and assessed for concordance (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC]) and agreement (Bland-Altman analysis) for indication of clinical usefulness. RESULTS: Nineteen accommodating IOL cases, 40 simultaneous contact lens cases, and 38 varifocal spectacle cases were evaluated. Other than CPS reading speed, all near visual acuity and reading metrics correlated well with each other (r>0.70, P<.001). Near visual acuity measured with uppercase letters was highly concordant (ICC, 0.78) and in close agreement with lowercase letters (+/- 0.17 logMAR). Near word acuity agreed well with reading acuity (+/- 0.16 logMAR), which in turn agreed well with near visual acuity measured with uppercase letters 0.16 logMAR). Concordance (ICC, 0.18 to 0.46) and agreement (+/- 0.24 to 0.30 logMAR) of CPS with the other near metrics was moderate. CONCLUSION: Measurement of near visual ability in presbyopia should be standardized to include assessment of near visual acuity with logMAR uppercase-letter optotypes, smallest logMAR print size that maintains maximum reading speed (CPS), and reading speed. J Cataract Refract Surg 2009; 35:1401-1409 (C) 2009 ASCRS and ESCRS

Autochthonous heritage languages and social media:writing and bilingual practices in Low German on Facebook

This article analyses how speakers of an autochthonous heritage language (AHL) make use of digital media, through the example of Low German, a regional language used by a decreasing number of speakers mainly in northern Germany. The focus of the analysis is on Web 2.0 and its interactive potential for individual speakers. The study therefore examines linguistic practices on the social network site Facebook, with special emphasis on language choice, bilingual practices and writing in the autochthonous heritage language. The findings suggest that social network sites such as Facebook have the potential to provide new mediatized spaces for speakers of an AHL that can instigate sociolinguistic change.

Magnocellular mediated visual-spatial attention and reading ability

This study explores the relationship between attentional processing mediated by visual magnocellular (MC) processing and reading ability. Reading ability in a group of primary school children was compared to performance on a visual cued coherent motion detection task. The results showed that a brief spatial cue was more effective in drawing attention either away or towards a visual target in the group of readers ranked in the upper 25% of the sample compared to lower ranked readers. Regression analysis showed a significant relationship between attentional processing and reading when the effects of age and intellectual ability were removed. Results suggested a stronger relationship between visual attentional and non-word reading compared to irregular word reading. (C) 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Writing and characterisation methods for UV-photosensitivity based devices and their applications

The underlying work to this thesis focused on the exploitation and investigation of photosensitivity mechanisms in optical fibres and planar waveguides for the fabrication of advanced integrated optical devices for telecoms and sensing applications. One major scope is the improvement of grating fabrication specifications by introducing new writing techniques and the use of advanced characterisation methods for grating testing. For the first time the polarisation control method for advanced grating fabrication has successfully been converted to apodised planar waveguide fabrication and the development of a holographic method for the inscription of chirped gratings at arbitrary wavelength is presented. The latter resulted in the fabrication of gratings for pulse-width suppression and wavelength selection in diode lasers. In co-operation with research partners a number of samples were tested using optical frequency domain and optical low coherence reflectometry for a better insight into the limitations of grating writing techniques. Using a variety of different fabrication methods, custom apodised and chirped fibre Bragg gratings were written for the use as filter elements for multiplexer-demultiplexer devices, as well as for short pulse generation and wavelength selection in telecommunication transmission systems. Long period grating based devices in standard, speciality and tapered fibres are presented, showing great potential for multi-parameter sensing. One particular scope is the development of vectorial curvature and refractive index sensors with potential for medical, chemical and biological sensing. In addition the design of an optically tunable Mach-Zehnder based multiwavelength filter is introduced. The discovery of a Type IA grating type through overexposure of hydrogen loaded standard and Boron-Germanium co-doped fibres strengthened the assumption of UV-photosensitivity being a highly non-linear process. Gratings of this type show a significantly lower thermal sensitivity compared to standard gratings, which makes them useful for sensing applications. An Oxford Lasers copper-vapour laser operating at 255 nm in pulsed mode was used for their inscription, in contrast to previous work using CW-Argon-Ion lasers and contributing to differences in the processes of the photorefractive index change

An investigation into formal and functional characteristics of qualifications in legislative writing and its application to English for academic legal purposes.

The present investigation is based on a linguistic analysis of the 'Housing Act 1980' and attempts to examine the role of qualifications in the structuring of the legislative statement. The introductory chapter isolates legislative writing as a "sub-variety “of legal language and provides an overview of the controversies surrounding the way it is written and the problems it poses to its readers. Chapter two emphasizes the limitations of the available work on the description of language-varieties for the analysis of legislative writing and outlines the approach adopted for the present analysis. This chapter also gives some idea of the information-structuring of legislative provisions and establishes qualification as a key element in their textualisation. The next three chapters offer a detailed account of the ten major qualification-types identified in the corpus, concentrating on the surface form they take, the features of legislative statements they textualize and the syntactic positions to which they are generally assigned in the statement of legislative provisions. The emerging hypotheses in these chapters have often been verified through a specialist reaction from a Parliamentary Counsel, largely responsible for the writing of the ‘Housing Act 1980’• The findings suggest useful correlations between a number of qualificational initiators and the various aspects of the legislative statement. They also reveal that many of these qualifications typically occur in those clause-medial syntactic positions which are sparingly used in other specialist discourse, thus creating syntactic discontinuity in the legislative sentence. Such syntactic discontinuities, on the evidence from psycholinguistic experiments reported in chapter six, create special problems in the processing and comprehension of legislative statements. The final chapter converts the main linguistic findings into a series of pedagogical generalizations, offers indications of how this may be applied in EALP situations and concludes with other considerations of possible applications.

Effects of yellow filters on visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and reading under conditions of forward light scatter

Background Yellow filters are sometimes recommended to people with low vision. Our aim was investigate the effects of three commercial yellow filters on visual acuity and contrast sensitivity (with and without glare) and reading (without glare) under conditions of forward light scatter (FLS). Method Fifty-five healthy subjects were assessed with Corning Photochromic Filters (CPFs) 450, 511 and 527 and a filter producing FLS. The effects on log MAR visual acuity, Pelli–Robson contrast sensitivity with and without glare, and reading (measured with MNRead charts) without glare were determined. Results Statistically significant differences were found between the overall effect of glare and between CPFs for visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. A gradual decline in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and reading with increasing CPF absorption was noted. Conclusion Effects of CPF450, 511, 527 on visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and reading under conditions of FLS were negative but not clinically significant.

Common variance in amplitude envelope perception tasks and their impact on phoneme duration perception and reading and spelling in Finnish children with reading disabilities

Our goal was to investigate auditory and speech perception abilities of children with and without reading disability (RD) and associations between auditory, speech perception, reading, and spelling skills. Participants were 9-year-old, Finnish-speaking children with RD (N = 30) and typically reading children (N = 30). Results showed significant group differences between the groups in phoneme duration discrimination but not in perception of amplitude modulation and rise time. Correlations among rise time discrimination, phoneme duration, and spelling accuracy were found for children with RD. Those children with poor rise time discrimination were also poor in phoneme duration discrimination and in spelling. Results suggest that auditory processing abilities could, at least in some children, affect speech perception skills, which in turn would lead to phonological processing deficits and dyslexia.

Interactions of personality variables with inductive and deductive teaching strategies

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Challenges in teaching English to young learners:global perspectives and local realities

Drawing on data from a recent research international research project, this article focuses on the challenges faced by teachers of English to young learners against the backdrop of the global rise of English. A mixed-methods approach was used to obtain the data, including a survey, which was completed by 4,459 teachers worldwide, and case studies, including observations and interviews with teachers, in five different primary schools in five different countries. A number of challenges emerged as affecting large numbers of teachers in different educational contexts, namely, teaching speaking, motivation, differentiating learning, teaching large classes, discipline, teaching writing, and teaching grammar. Importantly, some of these challenges have not been highlighted in the literature on young learner teaching to date. Other challenges are more localised, such as developing teachers' English competence. The article argues that teacher education should focus less on introducing teachers to general approaches to English language teaching and more on supporting teachers to meet the challenges that they have identified.

Directions for a troubled discipline:strategy research, teaching and practice introduction to the dialog

This Dialog responds to a growing debate about the relevance of business schools generally and the value of strategy theory and research for strategic management practice. The authors propose that academic theory and management practice can be better connected through management education. The academy researches practice, derives theory, and returns it to practice through the development of teaching materials and the teaching of current and future practitioners. The three articles in this Dialog examine how different approaches to strategy research inform strategy teaching and its application to practice. Joseph Bower explains the rise of business policy and the process research approach that informed that teaching tradition at Harvard Business School. Robert Grant responds by emphasizing the economic theory underpinnings of strategic management research and its impact on teaching. Paula Jarzabkowski and Richard Whittington conclude by proposing a strategyas-practice perspective and suggesting ways to better incorporate strategy-as-practice research into strategy teaching.

A sensory-linguistic approach to normal and impaired reading development

In this chapter we outline a sensory-linguistic approach to the, study of reading skill development. We call this a sensory-linguistic approach because the focus of interest is on the relationship between basic sensory processing skills and the ability to extract efficiently the orthographic and phonological information available in text during reading. Our review discusses how basic sensory processing deficits are associated with developmental dyslexia, and how these impairments may degrade word-decoding skills. We then review studies that demonstrate a more direct relationship between sensitivity to particular types of auditory and visual stimuli and the normal development of literacy skills. Specifically, we suggest that the phonological and orthographic skills engaged while reading are constrained by the ability to detect and discriminate dynamic stimuli in the auditory and visual systems respectively.

Teaching and learning German language and culture in higher education in Britain:problems, challenges and didactical implications. A case study

The aim of this thesis is to explore key aspects and problems of the institutionalised teaching and learning of German language and culture in the context of German Studies in British Higher Education (HE). This investigation focuses on teaching and learning experiences in one department of German Studies in the UK, which is the micro-context of the present study, in order to provide an in-depth insight into real-life problems, strengths and weaknesses as they occur in the practice of teaching and learning German. Following Lamb (2004) and Holliday (1994), the present study acts on the assumption that each micro-context does not exist in vacuo but is always embedded in a wider socio-political and education environment, namely the macro-context, which largely determines how and what is taught. The macro-analysis of the present study surveys the socio-political developments that have recently affected the sector of modern languages and specifically the discipline of German Studies in the UK. It demonstrates the impact they have had on teaching and learning German at the undergraduate level in Britain. This context is interesting inasmuch as the situation in Britain is to a large extent a paradigmatic example of the developments in German Studies in English-speaking countries. Subsequently, the present study explores learning experiences of a group of thirty-five first year students. It focuses on their previous experiences in learning German, exposure to the target language, motivation, learning strategies and difficulties encountered, when learning German at the tertiary level. Then, on the basis of interviews with five lecturers of German, teaching experience in the context under study is explored, problems and successful teaching strategies discussed.