Generating natural language under pragmatic constraints

CERN Document Server

Hovy, Eduard H

2013-01-01

Recognizing that the generation of natural language is a goal- driven process, where many of the goals are pragmatic (i.e., interpersonal and situational) in nature, this book provides an overview of the role of pragmatics in language generation. Each chapter states a problem that arises in generation, develops a pragmatics-based solution, and then describes how the solution is implemented in PAULINE, a language generator that can produce numerous versions of a single underlying message, depending on its setting.

A Meta-Analysis of Reliability Coefficients in Second Language Research

Science.gov (United States)

Plonsky, Luke; Derrick, Deirdre J.

2016-01-01

Ensuring internal validity in quantitative research requires, among other conditions, reliable instrumentation. Unfortunately, however, second language (L2) researchers often fail to report and even more often fail to interpret reliability estimates beyond generic benchmarks for acceptability. As a means to guide interpretations of such estimates,…

Teaching natural language to computers

OpenAIRE

Corneli, Joseph; Corneli, Miriam

2016-01-01

"Natural Language," whether spoken and attended to by humans, or processed and generated by computers, requires networked structures that reflect creative processes in semantic, syntactic, phonetic, linguistic, social, emotional, and cultural modules. Being able to produce novel and useful behavior following repeated practice gets to the root of both artificial intelligence and human language. This paper investigates the modalities involved in language-like applications that computers -- and ...

Thought beyond language: neural dissociation of algebra and natural language.

Science.gov (United States)

Monti, Martin M; Parsons, Lawrence M; Osherson, Daniel N

2012-08-01

A central question in cognitive science is whether natural language provides combinatorial operations that are essential to diverse domains of thought. In the study reported here, we addressed this issue by examining the role of linguistic mechanisms in forging the hierarchical structures of algebra. In a 3-T functional MRI experiment, we showed that processing of the syntax-like operations of algebra does not rely on the neural mechanisms of natural language. Our findings indicate that processing the syntax of language elicits the known substrate of linguistic competence, whereas algebraic operations recruit bilateral parietal brain regions previously implicated in the representation of magnitude. This double dissociation argues against the view that language provides the structure of thought across all cognitive domains.

Validity and reliability of Preschool Language Scale 4 for measuring language development in children 48-59 months of age

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Nuryani Sidarta

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Prevalence rates for speech and language delay have been reported across wide ranges. Speech and language delay affects 5% to 8% of preschool children, often persisting into the school years.  A cross-sectional study was conducted in 208 children aged 48-59 months to determine the validity and reliability of the Indonesian edition of the Preschool Language Scale version 4 (PLS4 as a screening tool for the identification of language development disorders. Construct validity was examined by using Pearson correlation coefficient. Internal consistency was tested and repeated measurements were taken to establish the stability coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC for test-retest reliability. For construct validity, the Pearson correlation coefficient ranged from 0.151-0.526, indicating that all questions in this instrument were valid for measuring auditory comprehension (AC and expressive communication skills (EC. Cronbach’s alpha level ranged from 0.81-0.95 with standard error of measurement (SEM ranging from 3.1-3.3. Stability coefficients ranged from 0.98-.0.99 with ICC coefficient ranging from 0.97-0.99 both of which showed an excellent reliability. This study found that PLS-4 is a valid and reliable instrument. It is easy to handle and can be recommended for assessing language development in children aged 48-59 months.

Handbook of Natural Language Processing

CERN Document Server

Indurkhya, Nitin

2010-01-01

Provides a comprehensive, modern reference of practical tools and techniques for implementing natural language processing in computer systems. This title covers classical methods, empirical and statistical techniques, and various applications. It describes how the techniques can be applied to European and Asian languages as well as English

An Overview of Computer-Based Natural Language Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gevarter, William B.

Computer-based Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the key to enabling humans and their computer-based creations to interact with machines using natural languages (English, Japanese, German, etc.) rather than formal computer languages. NLP is a major research area in the fields of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics. Commercial…

Study on evaluation of construction reliability for engineering project based on fuzzy language operator

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yu-Fang; Ma, Yi-Yi; Song, Ping-Ping

2018-03-01

System Reliability Theory is a research hotspot of management science and system engineering in recent years, and construction reliability is useful for quantitative evaluation of project management level. According to reliability theory and target system of engineering project management, the defination of construction reliability appears. Based on fuzzy mathematics theory and language operator, value space of construction reliability is divided into seven fuzzy subsets and correspondingly, seven membership function and fuzzy evaluation intervals are got with the operation of language operator, which provides the basis of corresponding method and parameter for the evaluation of construction reliability. This method is proved to be scientific and reasonable for construction condition and an useful attempt for theory and method research of engineering project system reliability.

A quick aphasia battery for efficient, reliable, and multidimensional assessment of language function.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Stephen M; Eriksson, Dana K; Schneck, Sarah M; Lucanie, Jillian M

2018-01-01

This paper describes a quick aphasia battery (QAB) that aims to provide a reliable and multidimensional assessment of language function in about a quarter of an hour, bridging the gap between comprehensive batteries that are time-consuming to administer, and rapid screening instruments that provide limited detail regarding individual profiles of deficits. The QAB is made up of eight subtests, each comprising sets of items that probe different language domains, vary in difficulty, and are scored with a graded system to maximize the informativeness of each item. From the eight subtests, eight summary measures are derived, which constitute a multidimensional profile of language function, quantifying strengths and weaknesses across core language domains. The QAB was administered to 28 individuals with acute stroke and aphasia, 25 individuals with acute stroke but no aphasia, 16 individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia, and 14 healthy controls. The patients with chronic post-stroke aphasia were tested 3 times each and scored independently by 2 raters to establish test-retest and inter-rater reliability. The Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) was also administered to these patients to assess concurrent validity. We found that all QAB summary measures were sensitive to aphasic deficits in the two groups with aphasia. All measures showed good or excellent test-retest reliability (overall summary measure: intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.98), and excellent inter-rater reliability (overall summary measure: ICC = 0.99). Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of aphasia (relative to clinical impression) were 0.91 and 0.95 respectively. All QAB measures were highly correlated with corresponding WAB measures where available. Individual patients showed distinct profiles of spared and impaired function across different language domains. In sum, the QAB efficiently and reliably characterized individual profiles of language deficits.

A Tableau Prover for Natural Logic and Language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abzianidze, Lasha

2015-01-01

Modeling the entailment relation over sentences is one of the generic problems of natural language understanding. In order to account for this problem, we design a theorem prover for Natural Logic, a logic whose terms resemble natural language expressions. The prover is based on an analytic tableau

Advances in natural language processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschberg, Julia; Manning, Christopher D

2015-07-17

Natural language processing employs computational techniques for the purpose of learning, understanding, and producing human language content. Early computational approaches to language research focused on automating the analysis of the linguistic structure of language and developing basic technologies such as machine translation, speech recognition, and speech synthesis. Today's researchers refine and make use of such tools in real-world applications, creating spoken dialogue systems and speech-to-speech translation engines, mining social media for information about health or finance, and identifying sentiment and emotion toward products and services. We describe successes and challenges in this rapidly advancing area. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Integration Hypothesis of Human Language Evolution and the Nature of Contemporary Languages

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Shigeru eMiyagawa

2014-06-01

Full Text Available How human language arose is a mystery in the evolution of Homo sapiens. Miyagawa, Berwick, & Okanoya (Frontiers 2013 put forward a proposal, which we will call the Integration Hypothesis of human language evolution, which holds that human language is composed of two components, E for expressive, and L for lexical. Each component has an antecedent in nature: E as found, for example, in birdsong, and L in, for example, the alarm calls of monkeys. E and L integrated uniquely in humans to give rise to language. A challenge to the Integration Hypothesis is that while these non-human systems are finite-state in nature, human language is known to require characterization by a non-finite state grammar. Our claim is that E and L, taken separately, are finite-state; when a grammatical process crosses the boundary between E and L, it gives rise to the non-finite state character of human language. We provide empirical evidence for the Integration Hypothesis by showing that certain processes found in contemporary languages that have been characterized as non-finite state in nature can in fact be shown to be finite-state. We also speculate on how human language actually arose in evolution through the lens of the Integration Hypothesis.

Do neural nets learn statistical laws behind natural language?

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Shuntaro Takahashi

Full Text Available The performance of deep learning in natural language processing has been spectacular, but the reasons for this success remain unclear because of the inherent complexity of deep learning. This paper provides empirical evidence of its effectiveness and of a limitation of neural networks for language engineering. Precisely, we demonstrate that a neural language model based on long short-term memory (LSTM effectively reproduces Zipf's law and Heaps' law, two representative statistical properties underlying natural language. We discuss the quality of reproducibility and the emergence of Zipf's law and Heaps' law as training progresses. We also point out that the neural language model has a limitation in reproducing long-range correlation, another statistical property of natural language. This understanding could provide a direction for improving the architectures of neural networks.

Clinical Natural Language Processing in languages other than English: opportunities and challenges.

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Névéol, Aurélie; Dalianis, Hercules; Velupillai, Sumithra; Savova, Guergana; Zweigenbaum, Pierre

2018-03-30

Natural language processing applied to clinical text or aimed at a clinical outcome has been thriving in recent years. This paper offers the first broad overview of clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) for languages other than English. Recent studies are summarized to offer insights and outline opportunities in this area. We envision three groups of intended readers: (1) NLP researchers leveraging experience gained in other languages, (2) NLP researchers faced with establishing clinical text processing in a language other than English, and (3) clinical informatics researchers and practitioners looking for resources in their languages in order to apply NLP techniques and tools to clinical practice and/or investigation. We review work in clinical NLP in languages other than English. We classify these studies into three groups: (i) studies describing the development of new NLP systems or components de novo, (ii) studies describing the adaptation of NLP architectures developed for English to another language, and (iii) studies focusing on a particular clinical application. We show the advantages and drawbacks of each method, and highlight the appropriate application context. Finally, we identify major challenges and opportunities that will affect the impact of NLP on clinical practice and public health studies in a context that encompasses English as well as other languages.

Modelling language

CERN Document Server

Cardey, Sylviane

2013-01-01

In response to the need for reliable results from natural language processing, this book presents an original way of decomposing a language(s) in a microscopic manner by means of intra/inter‑language norms and divergences, going progressively from languages as systems to the linguistic, mathematical and computational models, which being based on a constructive approach are inherently traceable. Languages are described with their elements aggregating or repelling each other to form viable interrelated micro‑systems. The abstract model, which contrary to the current state of the art works in int

Concepts and implementations of natural language query systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dominick, Wayne D. (Editor); Liu, I-Hsiung

1984-01-01

The currently developed user language interfaces of information systems are generally intended for serious users. These interfaces commonly ignore potentially the largest user group, i.e., casual users. This project discusses the concepts and implementations of a natural query language system which satisfy the nature and information needs of casual users by allowing them to communicate with the system in the form of their native (natural) language. In addition, a framework for the development of such an interface is also introduced for the MADAM (Multics Approach to Data Access and Management) system at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.

The reliability of a severity rating scale to measure stuttering in an unfamiliar language.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, Laura; Wilson, Linda; Copley, Anna; Hewat, Sally; Lim, Valerie

2014-06-01

With increasing multiculturalism, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are likely to work with stuttering clients from linguistic backgrounds that differ from their own. No research to date has estimated SLPs' reliability when measuring severity of stuttering in an unfamiliar language. Therefore, this study was undertaken to estimate the reliability of SLPs' use of a 9-point severity rating (SR) scale, to measure severity of stuttering in a language that was different from their own. Twenty-six Australian SLPs rated 20 speech samples (10 Australian English [AE] and 10 Mandarin) of adults who stutter using a 9-point SR scale on two separate occasions. Judges showed poor agreement when using the scale to measure stuttering in Mandarin samples. Results also indicated that 50% of individual judges were unable to reliably measure the severity of stuttering in AE. The results highlight the need for (a) SLPs to develop intra- and inter-judge agreement when using the 9-point SR scale to measure severity of stuttering in their native language (in this case AE) and in unfamiliar languages; and (b) research into the development and evaluation of practice and/or training packages to assist SLPs to do so.

Arabic Natural Language Processing System Code Library

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

Adelphi, MD 20783-1197 This technical note provides a brief description of a Java library for Arabic natural language processing ( NLP ) containing code...for training and applying the Arabic NLP system described in the paper "A Cross-Task Flexible Transition Model for Arabic Tokenization, Affix...and also English) natural language processing ( NLP ), containing code for training and applying the Arabic NLP system described in Stephen Tratz’s

An overview of computer-based natural language processing

Science.gov (United States)

Gevarter, W. B.

1983-01-01

Computer based Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the key to enabling humans and their computer based creations to interact with machines in natural language (like English, Japanese, German, etc., in contrast to formal computer languages). The doors that such an achievement can open have made this a major research area in Artificial Intelligence and Computational Linguistics. Commercial natural language interfaces to computers have recently entered the market and future looks bright for other applications as well. This report reviews the basic approaches to such systems, the techniques utilized, applications, the state of the art of the technology, issues and research requirements, the major participants and finally, future trends and expectations. It is anticipated that this report will prove useful to engineering and research managers, potential users, and others who will be affected by this field as it unfolds.

Finite-State Methodology in Natural Language Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Korzycki

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Recent mathematical and algorithmic results in the field of finite-state technology, as well the increase in computing power, have constructed the base for a new approach in natural language processing. However the task of creating an appropriate model that would describe the phenomena of the natural language is still to be achieved. ln this paper I'm presenting some notions related to the finite-state modelling of syntax and morphology.

Short- and long-term reliability of language fMRI.

Science.gov (United States)

Nettekoven, Charlotte; Reck, Nicola; Goldbrunner, Roland; Grefkes, Christian; Weiß Lucas, Carolin

2018-08-01

When using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for mapping important language functions, a high test-retest reliability is mandatory, both in basic scientific research and for clinical applications. We, therefore, systematically tested the short- and long-term reliability of fMRI in a group of healthy subjects using a picture naming task and a sparse-sampling fMRI protocol. We hypothesized that test-retest reliability might be higher for (i) speech-related motor areas than for other language areas and for (ii) the short as compared to the long intersession interval. 16 right-handed subjects (mean age: 29 years) participated in three sessions separated by 2-6 (session 1 and 2, short-term) and 21-34 days (session 1 and 3, long-term). Subjects were asked to perform the same overt picture naming task in each fMRI session (50 black-white images per session). Reliability was tested using the following measures: (i) Euclidean distances (ED) between local activation maxima and Centers of Gravity (CoGs), (ii) overlap volumes and (iii) voxel-wise intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Analyses were performed for three regions of interest which were chosen based on whole-brain group data: primary motor cortex (M1), superior temporal gyrus (STG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Our results revealed that the activation centers were highly reliable, independent of the time interval, ROI or hemisphere with significantly smaller ED for the local activation maxima (6.45 ± 1.36 mm) as compared to the CoGs (8.03 ± 2.01 mm). In contrast, the extent of activation revealed rather low reliability values with overlaps ranging from 24% (IFG) to 56% (STG). Here, the left hemisphere showed significantly higher overlap volumes than the right hemisphere. Although mean ICCs ranged between poor (ICC0.75) were found for all ROIs. Voxel-wise reliability of the different ROIs was influenced by the intersession interval. Taken together, we could show that, despite of

Reliability and validity of a Swedish language version of the Resilience Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Nygren, Björn; Randström, Kerstin Björkman; Lejonklou, Anna K; Lundman, Beril

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Swedish language version of the Resilience Scale (RS). Participants were 142 adults between 19-85 years of age. Internal consistency reliability, stability over time, and construct validity were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, principal components analysis with varimax rotation and correlations with scores on the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). The mean score on the RS was 142 (SD = 15). The possible scores on the RS range from 25 to 175, and scores higher than 146 are considered high. The test-retest correlation was .78. Correlations with the SOC and the RSE were .41 (p Self and Life emerged as components from the principal components analysis. These findings provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the Swedish language version of the RS.

The Impact Analysis of Psychological Reliability of Population Pilot Study For Selection of Particular Reliable Multi-Choice Item Test in Foreign Language Research Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Hossein Fazeli

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of research described in the current study is the psychological reliability, its’ importance, application, and more to investigate on the impact analysis of psychological reliability of population pilot study for selection of particular reliable multi-choice item test in foreign language research work. The population for subject recruitment was all under graduated students from second semester at large university in Iran (both male and female that study English as a compulsory paper. In Iran, English is taught as a foreign language.

Statistical Language Models and Information Retrieval: Natural Language Processing Really Meets Retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hiemstra, Djoerd; de Jong, Franciska M.G.

2001-01-01

Traditionally, natural language processing techniques for information retrieval have always been studied outside the framework of formal models of information retrieval. In this article, we introduce a new formal model of information retrieval based on the application of statistical language models.

Generating and Executing Complex Natural Language Queries across Linked Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamon, Thierry; Mougin, Fleur; Grabar, Natalia

2015-01-01

With the recent and intensive research in the biomedical area, the knowledge accumulated is disseminated through various knowledge bases. Links between these knowledge bases are needed in order to use them jointly. Linked Data, SPARQL language, and interfaces in Natural Language question-answering provide interesting solutions for querying such knowledge bases. We propose a method for translating natural language questions in SPARQL queries. We use Natural Language Processing tools, semantic resources, and the RDF triples description. The method is designed on 50 questions over 3 biomedical knowledge bases, and evaluated on 27 questions. It achieves 0.78 F-measure on the test set. The method for translating natural language questions into SPARQL queries is implemented as Perl module available at http://search.cpan.org/ thhamon/RDF-NLP-SPARQLQuery.

The sentence verification task: a reliable fMRI protocol for mapping receptive language in individual subjects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanjuan, Ana; Avila, Cesar; Forn, Cristina; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Rodriguez-Pujadas, Aina; Garcia-Porcar, Maria; Belloch, Vicente; Villanueva, Vicente

2010-01-01

To test the capacity of a sentence verification (SV) task to reliably activate receptive language areas. Presurgical evaluation of language is useful in predicting postsurgical deficits in patients who are candidates for neurosurgery. Productive language tasks have been successfully elaborated, but more conflicting results have been found in receptive language mapping. Twenty-two right-handed healthy controls made true-false semantic judgements of brief sentences presented auditorily. Group maps showed reliable functional activations in the frontal and temporoparietal language areas. At the individual level, the SV task showed activation located in receptive language areas in 100% of the participants with strong left-sided distributions (mean lateralisation index of 69.27). The SV task can be considered a useful tool in evaluating receptive language function in individual subjects. This study is a first step towards designing the fMRI task which may serve to presurgically map receptive language functions. (orig.)

The sentence verification task: a reliable fMRI protocol for mapping receptive language in individual subjects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanjuan, Ana; Avila, Cesar [Universitat Jaume I, Departamento de Psicologia Basica, Clinica y Psicobiologia, Castellon de la Plana (Spain); Hospital La Fe, Unidad de Epilepsia, Servicio de Neurologia, Valencia (Spain); Forn, Cristina; Ventura-Campos, Noelia; Rodriguez-Pujadas, Aina; Garcia-Porcar, Maria [Universitat Jaume I, Departamento de Psicologia Basica, Clinica y Psicobiologia, Castellon de la Plana (Spain); Belloch, Vicente [Hospital La Fe, Eresa, Servicio de Radiologia, Valencia (Spain); Villanueva, Vicente [Hospital La Fe, Unidad de Epilepsia, Servicio de Neurologia, Valencia (Spain)

2010-10-15

To test the capacity of a sentence verification (SV) task to reliably activate receptive language areas. Presurgical evaluation of language is useful in predicting postsurgical deficits in patients who are candidates for neurosurgery. Productive language tasks have been successfully elaborated, but more conflicting results have been found in receptive language mapping. Twenty-two right-handed healthy controls made true-false semantic judgements of brief sentences presented auditorily. Group maps showed reliable functional activations in the frontal and temporoparietal language areas. At the individual level, the SV task showed activation located in receptive language areas in 100% of the participants with strong left-sided distributions (mean lateralisation index of 69.27). The SV task can be considered a useful tool in evaluating receptive language function in individual subjects. This study is a first step towards designing the fMRI task which may serve to presurgically map receptive language functions. (orig.)

Natural language computing an English generative grammar in Prolog

CERN Document Server

Dougherty, Ray C

2013-01-01

This book's main goal is to show readers how to use the linguistic theory of Noam Chomsky, called Universal Grammar, to represent English, French, and German on a computer using the Prolog computer language. In so doing, it presents a follow-the-dots approach to natural language processing, linguistic theory, artificial intelligence, and expert systems. The basic idea is to introduce meaningful answers to significant problems involved in representing human language data on a computer. The book offers a hands-on approach to anyone who wishes to gain a perspective on natural language

A grammar-based semantic similarity algorithm for natural language sentences.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ming Che; Chang, Jia Wei; Hsieh, Tung Cheng

2014-01-01

This paper presents a grammar and semantic corpus based similarity algorithm for natural language sentences. Natural language, in opposition to "artificial language", such as computer programming languages, is the language used by the general public for daily communication. Traditional information retrieval approaches, such as vector models, LSA, HAL, or even the ontology-based approaches that extend to include concept similarity comparison instead of cooccurrence terms/words, may not always determine the perfect matching while there is no obvious relation or concept overlap between two natural language sentences. This paper proposes a sentence similarity algorithm that takes advantage of corpus-based ontology and grammatical rules to overcome the addressed problems. Experiments on two famous benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has a significant performance improvement in sentences/short-texts with arbitrary syntax and structure.

A System for Natural Language Sentence Generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Levison, Michael; Lessard, Gregory

1992-01-01

Describes the natural language computer program, "Vinci." Explains that using an attribute grammar formalism, Vinci can simulate components of several current linguistic theories. Considers the design of the system and its applications in linguistic modelling and second language acquisition research. Notes Vinci's uses in linguistics…

Comparison of the reliability of parental reporting and the direct test of the Thai Speech and Language Test.

Science.gov (United States)

Prathanee, Benjamas; Angsupakorn, Nipa; Pumnum, Tawitree; Seepuaham, Cholada; Jaiyong, Pechcharat

2012-11-01

To find reliability of parental or caregiver's report and testing of the Thai Speech and Language Test for Children Aged 0-4 Years Old. Five investigators assessed speech and language abilities from video both contexts: parental or caregivers' report and test forms of Thai Speech and Language Test for Children Aged 0-4 Years Old. Twenty-five normal and 30 children with delayed development or risk for delayed speech and language skills were assessed at age intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 48 months. Reliability of parental or caregivers' testing and reporting was at a moderate level (0.41-0.60). Inter-rater reliability among investigators was excellent (0.86-1.00). The parental or caregivers' report form of the Thai Speech and Language test for Children aged 0-4 years old was an indicator for success at a moderate level. Trained professionals could use both forms of this test as reliable tools at an excellent level.

Task planning systems with natural language interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kambayashi, Shaw; Uenaka, Junji

1989-12-01

In this report, a natural language analyzer and two different task planning systems are described. In 1988, we have introduced a Japanese language analyzer named CS-PARSER for the input interface of the task planning system in the Human Acts Simulation Program (HASP). For the purpose of a high speed analysis, we have modified a dictionary system of the CS-PARSER by using C language description. It is found that the new dictionary system is very useful for a high speed analysis and an efficient maintenance of the dictionary. For the study of the task planning problem, we have modified a story generating system named Micro TALE-SPIN to generate a story written in Japanese sentences. We have also constructed a planning system with natural language interface by using the CS-PARSER. Task planning processes and related knowledge bases of these systems are explained. A concept design for a new task planning system will be also discussed from evaluations of above mentioned systems. (author)

An adaptive semantic matching paradigm for reliable and valid language mapping in individuals with aphasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Stephen M; Yen, Melodie; Eriksson, Dana K

2018-04-17

Research on neuroplasticity in recovery from aphasia depends on the ability to identify language areas of the brain in individuals with aphasia. However, tasks commonly used to engage language processing in people with aphasia, such as narrative comprehension and picture naming, are limited in terms of reliability (test-retest reproducibility) and validity (identification of language regions, and not other regions). On the other hand, paradigms such as semantic decision that are effective in identifying language regions in people without aphasia can be prohibitively challenging for people with aphasia. This paper describes a new semantic matching paradigm that uses an adaptive staircase procedure to present individuals with stimuli that are challenging yet within their competence, so that language processing can be fully engaged in people with and without language impairments. The feasibility, reliability and validity of the adaptive semantic matching paradigm were investigated in sixteen individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia and fourteen neurologically normal participants, in comparison to narrative comprehension and picture naming paradigms. All participants succeeded in learning and performing the semantic paradigm. Test-retest reproducibility of the semantic paradigm in people with aphasia was good (Dice coefficient = 0.66), and was superior to the other two paradigms. The semantic paradigm revealed known features of typical language organization (lateralization; frontal and temporal regions) more consistently in neurologically normal individuals than the other two paradigms, constituting evidence for validity. In sum, the adaptive semantic matching paradigm is a feasible, reliable and valid method for mapping language regions in people with aphasia. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Semantic structures advances in natural language processing

CERN Document Server

Waltz, David L

2014-01-01

Natural language understanding is central to the goals of artificial intelligence. Any truly intelligent machine must be capable of carrying on a conversation: dialogue, particularly clarification dialogue, is essential if we are to avoid disasters caused by the misunderstanding of the intelligent interactive systems of the future. This book is an interim report on the grand enterprise of devising a machine that can use natural language as fluently as a human. What has really been achieved since this goal was first formulated in Turing's famous test? What obstacles still need to be overcome?

Emerging Approach of Natural Language Processing in Opinion Mining: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Tai-Hoon

Natural language processing (NLP) is a subfield of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics. It studies the problems of automated generation and understanding of natural human languages. This paper outlines a framework to use computer and natural language techniques for various levels of learners to learn foreign languages in Computer-based Learning environment. We propose some ideas for using the computer as a practical tool for learning foreign language where the most of courseware is generated automatically. We then describe how to build Computer Based Learning tools, discuss its effectiveness, and conclude with some possibilities using on-line resources.

Developing Formal Correctness Properties from Natural Language Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Nikora, Allen P.

2006-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the rationale of the program to transform natural language specifications into formal notation.Specifically, automate generation of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL)correctness properties from natural language temporal specifications. There are several reasons for this approach (1) Model-based techniques becoming more widely accepted, (2) Analytical verification techniques (e.g., model checking, theorem proving) significantly more effective at detecting types of specification design errors (e.g., race conditions, deadlock) than manual inspection, (3) Many requirements still written in natural language, which results in a high learning curve for specification languages, associated tools and increased schedule and budget pressure on projects reduce training opportunities for engineers, and (4) Formulation of correctness properties for system models can be a difficult problem. This has relevance to NASA in that it would simplify development of formal correctness properties, lead to more widespread use of model-based specification, design techniques, assist in earlier identification of defects and reduce residual defect content for space mission software systems. The presentation also discusses: potential applications, accomplishments and/or technological transfer potential and the next steps.

A Grammar-Based Semantic Similarity Algorithm for Natural Language Sentences

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Jia Wei; Hsieh, Tung Cheng

2014-01-01

This paper presents a grammar and semantic corpus based similarity algorithm for natural language sentences. Natural language, in opposition to “artificial language”, such as computer programming languages, is the language used by the general public for daily communication. Traditional information retrieval approaches, such as vector models, LSA, HAL, or even the ontology-based approaches that extend to include concept similarity comparison instead of cooccurrence terms/words, may not always determine the perfect matching while there is no obvious relation or concept overlap between two natural language sentences. This paper proposes a sentence similarity algorithm that takes advantage of corpus-based ontology and grammatical rules to overcome the addressed problems. Experiments on two famous benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has a significant performance improvement in sentences/short-texts with arbitrary syntax and structure. PMID:24982952

A Grammar-Based Semantic Similarity Algorithm for Natural Language Sentences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Che Lee

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a grammar and semantic corpus based similarity algorithm for natural language sentences. Natural language, in opposition to “artificial language”, such as computer programming languages, is the language used by the general public for daily communication. Traditional information retrieval approaches, such as vector models, LSA, HAL, or even the ontology-based approaches that extend to include concept similarity comparison instead of cooccurrence terms/words, may not always determine the perfect matching while there is no obvious relation or concept overlap between two natural language sentences. This paper proposes a sentence similarity algorithm that takes advantage of corpus-based ontology and grammatical rules to overcome the addressed problems. Experiments on two famous benchmarks demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has a significant performance improvement in sentences/short-texts with arbitrary syntax and structure.

Evolution, brain, and the nature of language.

Science.gov (United States)

Berwick, Robert C; Friederici, Angela D; Chomsky, Noam; Bolhuis, Johan J

2013-02-01

Language serves as a cornerstone for human cognition, yet much about its evolution remains puzzling. Recent research on this question parallels Darwin's attempt to explain both the unity of all species and their diversity. What has emerged from this research is that the unified nature of human language arises from a shared, species-specific computational ability. This ability has identifiable correlates in the brain and has remained fixed since the origin of language approximately 100 thousand years ago. Although songbirds share with humans a vocal imitation learning ability, with a similar underlying neural organization, language is uniquely human. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Arabic Natural Language Processing: Introduction and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boukhatem Nadera

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by more than 330 million people as a native language, in an area extending from the Arabian/Persian Gulf in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West. Moreover, it is the language in which 1.4 billion Muslims around the world perform their daily prayers. Over the last few years, Arabic natural language processing (ANLP has gained increasing importance, and several state of the art systems have been developed for a wide range of applications.

ROPE: Recoverable Order-Preserving Embedding of Natural Language

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Widemann, David P. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Wang, Eric X. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Thiagarajan, Jayaraman J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-02-11

We present a novel Recoverable Order-Preserving Embedding (ROPE) of natural language. ROPE maps natural language passages from sparse concatenated one-hot representations to distributed vector representations of predetermined fixed length. We use Euclidean distance to return search results that are both grammatically and semantically similar. ROPE is based on a series of random projections of distributed word embeddings. We show that our technique typically forms a dictionary with sufficient incoherence such that sparse recovery of the original text is possible. We then show how our embedding allows for efficient and meaningful natural search and retrieval on Microsoft’s COCO dataset and the IMDB Movie Review dataset.

Symbolic Natural Language Processing

OpenAIRE

Laporte , Eric

2005-01-01

The connection between language processing and combinatorics on words is natural. Historically, linguists actually played a part in the beginning of the construction of theoretical combinatorics on words. Some of the terms in current use originate from linguistics: word, prefix, suffix, grammar, syntactic monoid... However, interpenetration between the formal world of computer theory and the intuitive world of linguistics is still a love story with ups and downs. We will encounter in this cha...

Ulisse Aldrovandi's Color Sensibility: Natural History, Language and the Lay Color Practices of Renaissance Virtuosi.

Science.gov (United States)

Pugliano, Valentina

2015-01-01

Famed for his collection of drawings of naturalia and his thoughts on the relationship between painting and natural knowledge, it now appears that the Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) also pondered specifically color and pigments, compiling not only lists and diagrams of color terms but also a full-length unpublished manuscript entitled De coloribus or Trattato dei colori. Introducing these writings for the first time, this article portrays a scholar not so much interested in the materiality of pigment production, as in the cultural history of hues. It argues that these writings constituted an effort to build a language of color, in the sense both of a standard nomenclature of hues and of a lexicon, a dictionary of their denotations and connotations as documented in the literature of ancients and moderns. This language would serve the naturalist in his artistic patronage and his natural historical studies, where color was considered one of the most reliable signs for the correct identification of specimens, and a guarantee of accuracy in their illustration. Far from being an exception, Aldrovandi's 'color sensibility'spoke of that of his university-educated nature-loving peers.

Multilingual natural language generation as part of a medical terminology server.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, J C; Solomon, W D; Michel, P A; Juge, C; Baud, R H; Rector, A L; Scherrer, J R

1995-01-01

Re-usable and sharable, and therefore language-independent concept models are of increasing importance in the medical domain. The GALEN project (Generalized Architecture for Languages Encyclopedias and Nomenclatures in Medicine) aims at developing language-independent concept representation systems as the foundations for the next generation of multilingual coding systems. For use within clinical applications, the content of the model has to be mapped to natural language. A so-called Multilingual Information Module (MM) establishes the link between the language-independent concept model and different natural languages. This text generation software must be versatile enough to cope at the same time with different languages and with different parts of a compositional model. It has to meet, on the one hand, the properties of the language as used in the medical domain and, on the other hand, the specific characteristics of the underlying model and its representation formalism. We propose a semantic-oriented approach to natural language generation that is based on linguistic annotations to a concept model. This approach is realized as an integral part of a Terminology Server, built around the concept model and offering different terminological services for clinical applications.

Knowledge modelling and reliability processing: presentation of the Figaro language and associated tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bouissou, M.; Villatte, N.; Bouhadana, H.; Bannelier, M.

1991-12-01

EDF has been developing for several years an integrated set of knowledge-based and algorithmic tools for automation of reliability assessment of complex (especially sequential) systems. In this environment, the reliability expert has at his disposal all the powerful software tools for qualitative and quantitative processing, besides he gets various means to generate automatically the inputs for these tools, through the acquisition of graphical data. The development of these tools has been based on FIGARO, a specific language, which was built to get an homogeneous system modelling. Various compilers and interpreters get a FIGARO model into conventional models, such as fault-trees, Markov chains, Petri Networks. In this report, we introduce the main basics of FIGARO language, illustrating them with examples

Handbook of natural language processing and machine translation DARPA global autonomous language exploitation

CERN Document Server

Olive, Joseph P; McCary, John

2011-01-01

This comprehensive handbook, written by leading experts in the field, details the groundbreaking research conducted under the breakthrough GALE program - The Global Autonomous Language Exploitation within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), while placing it in the context of previous research in the fields of natural language and signal processing, artificial intelligence and machine translation. The most fundamental contrast between GALE and its predecessor programs was its holistic integration of previously separate or sequential processes. In earlier language research pro

Natural language processing techniques for automatic test ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Natural language processing techniques for automatic test questions generation using discourse connectives. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH. AFRICAN JOURNALS ... Journal of Computer Science and Its Application.

Natural language processing with Java

CERN Document Server

Reese, Richard M

2015-01-01

If you are a Java programmer who wants to learn about the fundamental tasks underlying natural language processing, this book is for you. You will be able to identify and use NLP tasks for many common problems, and integrate them in your applications to solve more difficult problems. Readers should be familiar/experienced with Java software development.

Applications of Natural Language Processing in Biodiversity Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne E. Thessen

2012-01-01

A computer can handle the volume but cannot make sense of the language. This paper reviews and discusses the use of natural language processing (NLP and machine-learning algorithms to extract information from systematic literature. NLP algorithms have been used for decades, but require special development for application in the biological realm due to the special nature of the language. Many tools exist for biological information extraction (cellular processes, taxonomic names, and morphological characters, but none have been applied life wide and most still require testing and development. Progress has been made in developing algorithms for automated annotation of taxonomic text, identification of taxonomic names in text, and extraction of morphological character information from taxonomic descriptions. This manuscript will briefly discuss the key steps in applying information extraction tools to enhance biodiversity science.

Theoretical approaches to natural language understanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1985-01-01

This book discusses the following: Computational Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science and the current state of natural language understanding. Three topics form the focus for discussion; these topics include aspects of grammars, aspects of semantics/pragmatics, and knowledge representation.

Applications Associated With Morphological Analysis And Generation In Natural Language Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neha Yadav

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Natural Language Processing is one of the most developing fields in research area. In most of the applications related to the Natural Language Processing findings of the Morphological Analysis and Morphological Generation can be considered very important. As morphological study is the technique to recognise a word and its output can be used on later on stages .Keeping in view this importance this paper describes how Morphological Analysis and Morphological Generation can be proved as an important part of various Natural Language Processing fields such as Spell checker Machine Translation etc.

Reliability of the Dutch-language version of the Communication Function Classification System and its association with language comprehension and method of communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Vander Zwart, Karlijn E; Geytenbeek, Joke J; de Kleijn, Maaike; Oostrom, Kim J; Gorter, Jan Willem; Hidecker, Mary Jo Cooley; Vermeulen, R Jeroen

2016-02-01

The aims of this study were to determine the intra- and interrater reliability of the Dutch-language version of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS-NL) and to investigate the association between the CFCS level and (1) spoken language comprehension and (2) preferred method of communication in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Participants were 93 children with CP (50 males, 43 females; mean age 7y, SD 2y 6mo, range 2y 9mo-12y 10mo; unilateral spastic [n=22], bilateral spastic [n=51], dyskinetic [n=15], ataxic [n=3], not specified [n=2]; Gross Motor Function Classification System level I [n=16], II [n=14], III, [n=7], IV [n=24], V [n=31], unknown [n=1]), recruited from rehabilitation centres throughout the Netherlands. Because some centres only contributed to part of the study, different numbers of participants are presented for different aspects of the study. Parents and speech and language therapists (SLTs) classified the communication level using the CFCS. Kappa was used to determine the intra- and interrater reliability. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between CFCS level and spoken language comprehension, and Fisher's exact test was used to examine the association between the CFCS level and method of communication. Interrater reliability of the CFCS-NL between parents and SLTs was fair (r=0.54), between SLTs good (r=0.78), and the intrarater (SLT) reliability very good (r=0.85). The association between the CFCS and spoken language comprehension was strong for SLTs (r=0.63) and moderate for parents (r=0.51). There was a statistically significant difference between the CFCS level and the preferred method of communication of the child (pcommunication in children with CP. Preferably, professionals should classify the child's CFCS level in collaboration with the parents to acquire the most comprehensive information about the everyday communication of the child in various situations both with familiar and

Statistical learning in a natural language by 8-month-old infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelucchi, Bruna; Hay, Jessica F; Saffran, Jenny R

2009-01-01

Numerous studies over the past decade support the claim that infants are equipped with powerful statistical language learning mechanisms. The primary evidence for statistical language learning in word segmentation comes from studies using artificial languages, continuous streams of synthesized syllables that are highly simplified relative to real speech. To what extent can these conclusions be scaled up to natural language learning? In the current experiments, English-learning 8-month-old infants' ability to track transitional probabilities in fluent infant-directed Italian speech was tested (N = 72). The results suggest that infants are sensitive to transitional probability cues in unfamiliar natural language stimuli, and support the claim that statistical learning is sufficiently robust to support aspects of real-world language acquisition.

Where humans meet machines innovative solutions for knotty natural-language problems

CERN Document Server

Markowitz, Judith

2013-01-01

Where Humans Meet Machines: Innovative Solutions for Knotty Natural-Language Problems brings humans and machines closer together by showing how linguistic complexities that confound the speech systems of today can be handled effectively by sophisticated natural-language technology. Some of the most vexing natural-language problems that are addressed in this book entail   recognizing and processing idiomatic expressions, understanding metaphors, matching an anaphor correctly with its antecedent, performing word-sense disambiguation, and handling out-of-vocabulary words and phrases. This fourteen-chapter anthology consists of contributions from industry scientists and from academicians working at major universities in North America and Europe. They include researchers who have played a central role in DARPA-funded programs and developers who craft real-world solutions for corporations. These contributing authors analyze the role of natural language technology in the global marketplace; they explore the need f...

Natural language processing tools for computer assisted language learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vandeventer Faltin, Anne

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This paper illustrates the usefulness of natural language processing (NLP tools for computer assisted language learning (CALL through the presentation of three NLP tools integrated within a CALL software for French. These tools are (i a sentence structure viewer; (ii an error diagnosis system; and (iii a conjugation tool. The sentence structure viewer helps language learners grasp the structure of a sentence, by providing lexical and grammatical information. This information is derived from a deep syntactic analysis. Two different outputs are presented. The error diagnosis system is composed of a spell checker, a grammar checker, and a coherence checker. The spell checker makes use of alpha-codes, phonological reinterpretation, and some ad hoc rules to provide correction proposals. The grammar checker employs constraint relaxation and phonological reinterpretation as diagnosis techniques. The coherence checker compares the underlying "semantic" structures of a stored answer and of the learners' input to detect semantic discrepancies. The conjugation tool is a resource with enhanced capabilities when put on an electronic format, enabling searches from inflected and ambiguous verb forms.

Content validation: clarity/relevance, reliability and internal consistency of enunciative signs of language acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Crestani, Anelise Henrich; Moraes, Anaelena Bragança de; Souza, Ana Paula Ramos de

2017-08-10

To analyze the results of the validation of building enunciative signs of language acquisition for children aged 3 to 12 months. The signs were built based on mechanisms of language acquisition in an enunciative perspective and on clinical experience with language disorders. The signs were submitted to judgment of clarity and relevance by a sample of six experts, doctors in linguistic in with knowledge of psycholinguistics and language clinic. In the validation of reliability, two judges/evaluators helped to implement the instruments in videos of 20% of the total sample of mother-infant dyads using the inter-evaluator method. The method known as internal consistency was applied to the total sample, which consisted of 94 mother-infant dyads to the contents of the Phase 1 (3-6 months) and 61 mother-infant dyads to the contents of Phase 2 (7 to 12 months). The data were collected through the analysis of mother-infant interaction based on filming of dyads and application of the parameters to be validated according to the child's age. Data were organized in a spreadsheet and then converted to computer applications for statistical analysis. The judgments of clarity/relevance indicated no modifications to be made in the instruments. The reliability test showed an almost perfect agreement between judges (0.8 ≤ Kappa ≥ 1.0); only the item 2 of Phase 1 showed substantial agreement (0.6 ≤ Kappa ≥ 0.79). The internal consistency for Phase 1 had alpha = 0.84, and Phase 2, alpha = 0.74. This demonstrates the reliability of the instruments. The results suggest adequacy as to content validity of the instruments created for both age groups, demonstrating the relevance of the content of enunciative signs of language acquisition.

The Reliability and Validity of Prostate Cancer Fatalism Inventory in Turkish Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Aydoğdu, Nihal Gördes; Çapık, Cantürk; Ersin, Fatma; Kissal, Aygul; Bahar, Zuhal

2017-10-01

This study aimed to conduct the reliability and validity study of the Prostate Cancer Fatalism Inventory in Turkish language. The study carried out in methodological type and consisted of 171 men. The ages of the participants ranged between 40 and 82. The content validity index was determined to be 0.80, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value 0.825, Bartlett's test X 2  = 750.779 and p = 0.000. Then the principal component analysis was applied to the 15-item inventory. The inventory consisted of one dimension, and the load factors were over 0.30 for all items. The explained variance of the inventory was found 33.3 %. The Kuder-Richardson-20 coefficient was determined to be 0.849 and the item-total correlations ranged between 0.335 and 0.627. The Prostate Cancer Fatalism Inventory was a reliable and valid measurement tool in Turkish language. Integrating psychological strategies for prostate cancer screening may be required to strengthen the positive effects of nursing education.

The Islamic State Battle Plan: Press Release Natural Language Processing

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

Institute for the Study of Violent Groups NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NLP Natural Language Processing PCorpus Permanent Corpus PDF...approaches, we apply Natural Language Processing ( NLP ) tools to a unique database of text documents collected by Whiteside (2014). His collection...from Arabic to English. Compared to other terrorism databases, Whiteside’s collection methodology limits the scope of the database and avoids coding

The nature of pragmatic language impairment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaars, M.P.

2010-01-01

The present dissertation reports on research into the nature of Pragmatic Language Impairment (PLI) in children aged 4 to 7 in the Netherlands. First, the possibility of screening for PLI in the general population is examined. Results show that this is indeed possible as well as feasible. Second, an

Neurolinguistics and psycholinguistics as a basis for computer acquisition of natural language

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Powers, D.M.W.

1983-04-01

Research into natural language understanding systems for computers has concentrated on implementing particular grammars and grammatical models of the language concerned. This paper presents a rationale for research into natural language understanding systems based on neurological and psychological principles. Important features of the approach are that it seeks to place the onus of learning the language on the computer, and that it seeks to make use of the vast wealth of relevant psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic theory. 22 references.

Natural language processing in psychiatry. Artificial intelligence technology and psychopathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Garfield, D A; Rapp, C; Evens, M

1992-04-01

The potential benefit of artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a tool of psychiatry has not been well defined. In this essay, the technology of natural language processing and its position with regard to the two main schools of AI is clearly outlined. Past experiments utilizing AI techniques in understanding psychopathology are reviewed. Natural language processing can automate the analysis of transcripts and can be used in modeling theories of language comprehension. In these ways, it can serve as a tool in testing psychological theories of psychopathology and can be used as an effective tool in empirical research on verbal behavior in psychopathology.

Template-based generation of natural language expressions with Controlled M-Grammar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Appelo, Lisette; Leermakers, M.C.J.; Rous, J.H.G.

1993-01-01

A method is described for the generation of related natural-language expressions. The method is based on a formal grammar of the natural language in question, specified in the Controlled M-Grammar (CMG) formalism. In the CMG framework the generation of an utterance is controlled by a derivation

Deciphering the language of nature: cryptography, secrecy, and alterity in Francis Bacon.

Science.gov (United States)

Clody, Michael C

2011-01-01

The essay argues that Francis Bacon's considerations of parables and cryptography reflect larger interpretative concerns of his natural philosophic project. Bacon describes nature as having a language distinct from those of God and man, and, in so doing, establishes a central problem of his natural philosophy—namely, how can the language of nature be accessed through scientific representation? Ultimately, Bacon's solution relies on a theory of differential and duplicitous signs that conceal within them the hidden voice of nature, which is best recognized in the natural forms of efficient causality. The "alphabet of nature"—those tables of natural occurrences—consequently plays a central role in his program, as it renders nature's language susceptible to a process and decryption that mirrors the model of the bilateral cipher. It is argued that while the writing of Bacon's natural philosophy strives for literality, its investigative process preserves a space for alterity within scientific representation, that is made accessible to those with the interpretative key.

The Neck Disability Index-Russian Language Version (NDI-RU): A Study of Validity and Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakhtadze, Maxim A; Vernon, Howard; Zakharova, Olga B; Kuzminov, Kirill O; Bolotov, Dmitry A

2015-07-15

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric testing. To perform a validated Russian translation and then to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Russian language version of the Neck Disability Index (NDI-RU). Neck pain is highly prevalent and can greatly affect daily activity. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is the most frequently used scale for self-rating of disability due to neck pain. Its translated versions are applied in many countries. However, the Russian language version of the NDI has not been developed yet. Cross-cultural adaptation of the NDI-RU was performed according to established guidelines. Then, the NDI-RU was evaluated for content validity, concurrent criterion validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure, and minimum detectable change. Two hundred thirty-two patients took part in the study in total: 109 in validity (39.5 ± 10 yr), 123 in reliability (38.4 ± 11 yr; 80 in the test-retest phase). A culturally valid translation was achieved. NDI-RU total scores were distributed normally. Floor/ceiling effects were absent. Good values of Cronbach α were obtained for each item (from 0.80 to 0.84) and for the total NDI-RU (0.83). A 2-factor solution was found for the NDI-RU. The average interitem correlation coefficient was 0.53. Intraclass correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from 0.65 to 0.92 for different items and 0.91 for the total NDI-RU. Moderate correlation (Spearman rs = 0.62; P Russian language version of the Neck Disability Index resulted in a valid, reliable instrument that can be used both in clinical practice and scientific investigations. 1.

Reliability of an Automated High-Resolution Manometry Analysis Program across Expert Users, Novice Users, and Speech-Language Pathologists

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Corinne A.; Hoffman, Matthew R.; Geng, Zhixian; Abdelhalim, Suzan M.; Jiang, Jack J.; McCulloch, Timothy M.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate inter- and intrarater reliability among expert users, novice users, and speech-language pathologists with a semiautomated high-resolution manometry analysis program. We hypothesized that all users would have high intrarater reliability and high interrater reliability. Method: Three expert…

Sensitivity and reliability of language laterality assessment with a free reversed association task - a fMRI study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fesl, Gunther; Brueckmann, Hartmut; Bruhns, Philipp; Rau, Sabine; Ilmberger, Josef; Wiesmann, Martin; Kegel, Gerd

2010-01-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity and reliability of assessing hemispheric language dominance with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a 'free reversed association task.' Thirty-nine healthy subjects (13 dextrals, 13 sinistrals and 13 bimanuals) underwent two repeated fMRI sessions. In the active phases sets of words were presented via headphones, and an associated target item was named. During the baseline phases a standard answer was given after listening to unintelligible stimuli. Data were preprocessed with SPM, and then laterality indices (LI) and reliability coefficients (RC) were calculated. Extensive frontal, temporal and parietal activations were found. Seventy-eight percent of the subjects showed left-hemispheric dominance, 5% showed right-hemispheric dominance, and 17% had bilateral language representations. The incidence of right-hemispheric language dominance was 4.3 times higher in a left-hander with a handedness quotient (HQ) of -90 than in a right-hander with a HQ of +90. The RC was 0.61 for combined ROIs (global network). Strong correlations were found between the two session LIs (r = 0.95 for the global network). 'Free reversed association' is a sensitive and reliable task for the determination of individual language lateralization. This suggests that the task may be used in a clinical setting. (orig.)

Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural languages

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haitao; Xu, Chunshan; Liang, Junying

2017-07-01

Dependency distance, measured by the linear distance between two syntactically related words in a sentence, is generally held as an important index of memory burden and an indicator of syntactic difficulty. Since this constraint of memory is common for all human beings, there may well be a universal preference for dependency distance minimization (DDM) for the sake of reducing memory burden. This human-driven language universal is supported by big data analyses of various corpora that consistently report shorter overall dependency distance in natural languages than in artificial random languages and long-tailed distributions featuring a majority of short dependencies and a minority of long ones. Human languages, as complex systems, seem to have evolved to come up with diverse syntactic patterns under the universal pressure for dependency distance minimization. However, there always exist a small number of long-distance dependencies in natural languages, which may reflect some other biological or functional constraints. Language system may adapt itself to these sporadic long-distance dependencies. It is these universal constraints that have shaped such a rich diversity of syntactic patterns in human languages.

Telehealth language assessments using consumer grade equipment in rural and urban settings: Feasible, reliable and well tolerated.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Rebecca; Trembath, David; Hodge, Antoinette; Drevensek, Suzi; Lee, Sabrena; Silove, Natalie; Roberts, Jacqueline

2017-01-01

Introduction Telehealth can be an effective way to provide speech pathology intervention to children with speech and language impairments. However, the provision of reliable and feasible standardised language assessments via telehealth to establish children's needs for intervention and to monitor progress has not yet been well established. Further, there is limited information about children's reactions to telehealth. This study aimed to examine the reliability and feasibility of conducting standardised language assessment with school-aged children with known or suspected language impairment via a telehealth application using consumer grade computer equipment within a public school setting. Method Twenty-three children (aged 8-12 years) participated. Each child was assessed using a standardised language assessment comprising six subtests. Two subtests were administered by a speech pathologist face-to-face (local clinician) and four subtests were administered via telehealth. All subtests were completed within a single visit to the clinic service, with a break between the face to face and telehealth sessions. The face-to-face clinician completed behaviour observation checklists in the telehealth and face to face conditions and provided feedback on the audio and video quality of the application from the child's point of view. Parent feedback about their child's experience was elicited via survey. Results There was strong inter-rater reliability in the telehealth and face-to-face conditions (correlation coefficients ranged from r = 0.96-1.0 across the subtests) and good agreement on all measures. Similar levels of attention, distractibility and anxiety were observed in the two conditions. Clinicians rated only one session of 23 as having poor audio quality and no sessions were rated as having poor visual quality. Parent and child reactions to the use of telehealth were largely positive and supportive of using telehealth to assess rural children. Discussion The

A natural language interface plug-in for cooperative query answering in biological databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamil, Hasan M

2012-06-11

One of the many unique features of biological databases is that the mere existence of a ground data item is not always a precondition for a query response. It may be argued that from a biologist's standpoint, queries are not always best posed using a structured language. By this we mean that approximate and flexible responses to natural language like queries are well suited for this domain. This is partly due to biologists' tendency to seek simpler interfaces and partly due to the fact that questions in biology involve high level concepts that are open to interpretations computed using sophisticated tools. In such highly interpretive environments, rigidly structured databases do not always perform well. In this paper, our goal is to propose a semantic correspondence plug-in to aid natural language query processing over arbitrary biological database schema with an aim to providing cooperative responses to queries tailored to users' interpretations. Natural language interfaces for databases are generally effective when they are tuned to the underlying database schema and its semantics. Therefore, changes in database schema become impossible to support, or a substantial reorganization cost must be absorbed to reflect any change. We leverage developments in natural language parsing, rule languages and ontologies, and data integration technologies to assemble a prototype query processor that is able to transform a natural language query into a semantically equivalent structured query over the database. We allow knowledge rules and their frequent modifications as part of the underlying database schema. The approach we adopt in our plug-in overcomes some of the serious limitations of many contemporary natural language interfaces, including support for schema modifications and independence from underlying database schema. The plug-in introduced in this paper is generic and facilitates connecting user selected natural language interfaces to arbitrary databases using a

Automatic Item Generation via Frame Semantics: Natural Language Generation of Math Word Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Deane, Paul; Sheehan, Kathleen

This paper is an exploration of the conceptual issues that have arisen in the course of building a natural language generation (NLG) system for automatic test item generation. While natural language processing techniques are applicable to general verbal items, mathematics word problems are particularly tractable targets for natural language…

Software reliability and programming language

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehrenberger, W.

1983-01-01

When discussing advantages and drawbacks of programming languages, it is sometimes suggested to use these languages also for safety-related tasks. The author states the demands to be made on programming languages for this purpose. His recommendations are based on the work of TC7 of the European Workshop on Industrial Computer Systems and WG A3 of IEC SC 45a. (orig./HP) [de

An algorithm to transform natural language into SQL queries for relational databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garima Singh

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Intelligent interface, to enhance efficient interactions between user and databases, is the need of the database applications. Databases must be intelligent enough to make the accessibility faster. However, not every user familiar with the Structured Query Language (SQL queries as they may not aware of structure of the database and they thus require to learn SQL. So, non-expert users need a system to interact with relational databases in their natural language such as English. For this, Database Management System (DBMS must have an ability to understand Natural Language (NL. In this research, an intelligent interface is developed using semantic matching technique which translates natural language query to SQL using set of production rules and data dictionary. The data dictionary consists of semantics sets for relations and attributes. A series of steps like lower case conversion, tokenization, speech tagging, database element and SQL element extraction is used to convert Natural Language Query (NLQ to SQL Query. The transformed query is executed and the results are obtained by the user. Intelligent Interface is the need of database applications to enhance efficient interaction between user and DBMS.

Adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Preschool Language Scale-Fifth Edition (PLS-5) in the Turkish context: The Turkish Preschool Language Scale-5 (TPLS-5).

Science.gov (United States)

Sahli, A Sanem; Belgin, Erol

2017-07-01

Speech and language assessment is very important in early diagnosis of children with hearing and speech disorders. Aim of this study is to determine the validity and reliability of Preschool Language Scale (5th edition) test with its Turkish translation and adaptation. Our study is conducted on 1320 children aged between 0-7 years 11 months. While 1044 of these children have normal hearing, language and speech development, 276 of them have receptive and/or expressive language disorder. After the English-Turkish and Turkish-English translations of PLS-5 made by two experts command of both languages, some of the test items are reorganized because of the grammatical features of Turkish and the cultural structure of the country. The pilot study was conducted with 378 children. The test which is reorganized in the light of data obtained in pilot application, is applied to children chosen randomly with layering technique from different regions of Turkey, then 15 days later the first test applied again to 120 children. While 1044 of 1320 children aged between 0 and 7 years 11 months are normal, 276 of them have receptive and/or expressive language disorder. While 98 of 103 healthy children of 120 taken under the second evaluation have normal language development, 8 of 9 who used to have language development disorder in the past still remaining (Kappa coefficient:0,468, page equivalance is found as IA:0,871, IED: 0,896, TDP: 0,887. TPLS-5 is the first and only language test in our country that can evaluate receptive and/or expressive language skills of children aged between 0-7 years 11 months. Results of the study show that TPLS-5 is a valid and reliable language test for the Turkish children. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Natural language generation in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Cawsey, A J; Webber, B L; Jones, R B

1997-01-01

Good communication is vital in health care, both among health care professionals, and between health care professionals and their patients. And well-written documents, describing and/or explaining the information in structured databases may be easier to comprehend, more edifying, and even more convincing than the structured data, even when presented in tabular or graphic form. Documents may be automatically generated from structured data, using techniques from the field of natural language generation. These techniques are concerned with how the content, organization and language used in a document can be dynamically selected, depending on the audience and context. They have been used to generate health education materials, explanations and critiques in decision support systems, and medical reports and progress notes.

Natural Language Generation for dialogue: system survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Theune, Mariet

Many natural language dialogue systems make use of `canned text' for output generation. This approach may be su±cient for dialogues in restricted domains where system utterances are short and simple and use fixed expressions (e.g., slot filling dialogues in the ticket reservation or travel

Natural language processing and the Now-or-Never bottleneck.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Rodríguez, Carlos

2016-01-01

Researchers, motivated by the need to improve the efficiency of natural language processing tools to handle web-scale data, have recently arrived at models that remarkably match the expected features of human language processing under the Now-or-Never bottleneck framework. This provides additional support for said framework and highlights the research potential in the interaction between applied computational linguistics and cognitive science.

Natural language understanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshida, S

1982-04-01

Language understanding is essential for intelligent information processing. Processing of language itself involves configuration element analysis, syntactic analysis (parsing), and semantic analysis. They are not carried out in isolation. These are described for the Japanese language and their usage in understanding-systems is examined. 30 references.

Sensitivity and reliability of language laterality assessment with a free reversed association task - a fMRI study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fesl, Gunther; Brueckmann, Hartmut [University of Munich, Department of Neuroradiology, Campus Grosshadern, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich (Germany); Bruhns, Philipp [University of Munich, Department of Neuroradiology, Campus Grosshadern, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich (Germany); University of Munich, Department of Psycholinguistics, Munich (Germany); Rau, Sabine; Ilmberger, Josef [University of Munich, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Munich (Germany); Wiesmann, Martin [Helios Hospitals Schwerin, Department of Radiology and Neuroradiology, Schwerin (Germany); Kegel, Gerd [University of Munich, Department of Psycholinguistics, Munich (Germany)

2010-03-15

The aim of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity and reliability of assessing hemispheric language dominance with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a 'free reversed association task.' Thirty-nine healthy subjects (13 dextrals, 13 sinistrals and 13 bimanuals) underwent two repeated fMRI sessions. In the active phases sets of words were presented via headphones, and an associated target item was named. During the baseline phases a standard answer was given after listening to unintelligible stimuli. Data were preprocessed with SPM, and then laterality indices (LI) and reliability coefficients (RC) were calculated. Extensive frontal, temporal and parietal activations were found. Seventy-eight percent of the subjects showed left-hemispheric dominance, 5% showed right-hemispheric dominance, and 17% had bilateral language representations. The incidence of right-hemispheric language dominance was 4.3 times higher in a left-hander with a handedness quotient (HQ) of -90 than in a right-hander with a HQ of +90. The RC was 0.61 for combined ROIs (global network). Strong correlations were found between the two session LIs (r = 0.95 for the global network). 'Free reversed association' is a sensitive and reliable task for the determination of individual language lateralization. This suggests that the task may be used in a clinical setting. (orig.)

Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haitao; Xu, Chunshan; Liang, Junying

2017-07-01

Dependency distance, measured by the linear distance between two syntactically related words in a sentence, is generally held as an important index of memory burden and an indicator of syntactic difficulty. Since this constraint of memory is common for all human beings, there may well be a universal preference for dependency distance minimization (DDM) for the sake of reducing memory burden. This human-driven language universal is supported by big data analyses of various corpora that consistently report shorter overall dependency distance in natural languages than in artificial random languages and long-tailed distributions featuring a majority of short dependencies and a minority of long ones. Human languages, as complex systems, seem to have evolved to come up with diverse syntactic patterns under the universal pressure for dependency distance minimization. However, there always exist a small number of long-distance dependencies in natural languages, which may reflect some other biological or functional constraints. Language system may adapt itself to these sporadic long-distance dependencies. It is these universal constraints that have shaped such a rich diversity of syntactic patterns in human languages. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Natural Language Navigation Support in Virtual Reality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Luin, J.; Nijholt, Antinus; op den Akker, Hendrikus J.A.; Giagourta, V.; Strintzis, M.G.

2001-01-01

We describe our work on designing a natural language accessible navigation agent for a virtual reality (VR) environment. The agent is part of an agent framework, which means that it can communicate with other agents. Its navigation task consists of guiding the visitors in the environment and to

Natural-language processing applied to an ITS interface

OpenAIRE

Antonio Gisolfi; Enrico Fischetti

1994-01-01

The aim of this paper is to show that with a subset of a natural language, simple systems running on PCs can be developed that can nevertheless be an effective tool for interfacing purposes in the building of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). After presenting the special characteristics of the Smalltalk/V language, which provides an appropriate environment for the development of an interface, the overall architecture of the interface module is discussed. We then show how sentences are par...

Selecting the Best Mobile Information Service with Natural Language User Input

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Qiangze; Qi, Hongwei; Fukushima, Toshikazu

Information services accessed via mobile phones provide information directly relevant to subscribers’ daily lives and are an area of dynamic market growth worldwide. Although many information services are currently offered by mobile operators, many of the existing solutions require a unique gateway for each service, and it is inconvenient for users to have to remember a large number of such gateways. Furthermore, the Short Message Service (SMS) is very popular in China and Chinese users would prefer to access these services in natural language via SMS. This chapter describes a Natural Language Based Service Selection System (NL3S) for use with a large number of mobile information services. The system can accept user queries in natural language and navigate it to the required service. Since it is difficult for existing methods to achieve high accuracy and high coverage and anticipate which other services a user might want to query, the NL3S is developed based on a Multi-service Ontology (MO) and Multi-service Query Language (MQL). The MO and MQL provide semantic and linguistic knowledge, respectively, to facilitate service selection for a user query and to provide adaptive service recommendations. Experiments show that the NL3S can achieve 75-95% accuracies and 85-95% satisfactions for processing various styles of natural language queries. A trial involving navigation of 30 different mobile services shows that the NL3S can provide a viable commercial solution for mobile operators.

Learning to rank for information retrieval and natural language processing

CERN Document Server

Li, Hang

2014-01-01

Learning to rank refers to machine learning techniques for training a model in a ranking task. Learning to rank is useful for many applications in information retrieval, natural language processing, and data mining. Intensive studies have been conducted on its problems recently, and significant progress has been made. This lecture gives an introduction to the area including the fundamental problems, major approaches, theories, applications, and future work.The author begins by showing that various ranking problems in information retrieval and natural language processing can be formalized as tw

UNLization of Punjabi text for natural language processing ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Vaibhav Agarwal

2018-05-26

May 26, 2018 ... resent, and store information in a natural-language-inde- pendent format [8]. UNL is .... account semantic information available in words of the problem ...... Sentiment Analysis (SA) plays a vital role in decision making process.

Three-dimensional grammar in the brain: Dissociating the neural correlates of natural sign language and manually coded spoken language.

Science.gov (United States)

Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Bola, Łukasz; Mostowski, Piotr; Szwed, Marcin; Boguszewski, Paweł M; Marchewka, Artur; Rutkowski, Paweł

2015-05-01

In several countries natural sign languages were considered inadequate for education. Instead, new sign-supported systems were created, based on the belief that spoken/written language is grammatically superior. One such system called SJM (system językowo-migowy) preserves the grammatical and lexical structure of spoken Polish and since 1960s has been extensively employed in schools and on TV. Nevertheless, the Deaf community avoids using SJM for everyday communication, its preferred language being PJM (polski język migowy), a natural sign language, structurally and grammatically independent of spoken Polish and featuring classifier constructions (CCs). Here, for the first time, we compare, with fMRI method, the neural bases of natural vs. devised communication systems. Deaf signers were presented with three types of signed sentences (SJM and PJM with/without CCs). Consistent with previous findings, PJM with CCs compared to either SJM or PJM without CCs recruited the parietal lobes. The reverse comparison revealed activation in the anterior temporal lobes, suggesting increased semantic combinatory processes in lexical sign comprehension. Finally, PJM compared with SJM engaged left posterior superior temporal gyrus and anterior temporal lobe, areas crucial for sentence-level speech comprehension. We suggest that activity in these two areas reflects greater processing efficiency for naturally evolved sign language. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crowdsourcing a normative natural language dataset: a comparison of Amazon Mechanical Turk and in-lab data collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Daniel R; Bex, Peter J; Woods, Russell L

2013-05-20

to quickly and economically collect a large reliable dataset of normative natural language responses.

Learning to Understand Natural Language with Less Human Effort

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-01

Supervision Distant supervision is a recent trend in information extraction. Distantly-supervised extractors are trained using a corpus of unlabeled text...consists of fill-in-the-blank natural language questions such as “Incan emperor ” or “Cunningham directed Auchtre’s second music video .” These questions...with an 132 unknown knowledge base, simultaneously learning how to semantically parse language and pop - ulate the knowledge base. The weakly

Interactive natural language acquisition in a multi-modal recurrent neural architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrich, Stefan; Wermter, Stefan

2018-01-01

For the complex human brain that enables us to communicate in natural language, we gathered good understandings of principles underlying language acquisition and processing, knowledge about sociocultural conditions, and insights into activity patterns in the brain. However, we were not yet able to understand the behavioural and mechanistic characteristics for natural language and how mechanisms in the brain allow to acquire and process language. In bridging the insights from behavioural psychology and neuroscience, the goal of this paper is to contribute a computational understanding of appropriate characteristics that favour language acquisition. Accordingly, we provide concepts and refinements in cognitive modelling regarding principles and mechanisms in the brain and propose a neurocognitively plausible model for embodied language acquisition from real-world interaction of a humanoid robot with its environment. In particular, the architecture consists of a continuous time recurrent neural network, where parts have different leakage characteristics and thus operate on multiple timescales for every modality and the association of the higher level nodes of all modalities into cell assemblies. The model is capable of learning language production grounded in both, temporal dynamic somatosensation and vision, and features hierarchical concept abstraction, concept decomposition, multi-modal integration, and self-organisation of latent representations.

Adaptation of Internet Addiction Scale in Azerbaijani Language: A Validity-Reliability and Prevalence Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kerimova, Melek; Gunuc, Selim

2016-01-01

The purpose of the present paper was to adapt Gunuc and Kayri's (2010) "Internet Addiction Scale," with show validity and reliability for many various sampling groups, into the Azerbaijani language. Another objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction among Azerbaijani adolescents and youth, which…

Natural language processing and advanced information management

Science.gov (United States)

Hoard, James E.

1989-01-01

Integrating diverse information sources and application software in a principled and general manner will require a very capable advanced information management (AIM) system. In particular, such a system will need a comprehensive addressing scheme to locate the material in its docuverse. It will also need a natural language processing (NLP) system of great sophistication. It seems that the NLP system must serve three functions. First, it provides an natural language interface (NLI) for the users. Second, it serves as the core component that understands and makes use of the real-world interpretations (RWIs) contained in the docuverse. Third, it enables the reasoning specialists (RSs) to arrive at conclusions that can be transformed into procedures that will satisfy the users' requests. The best candidate for an intelligent agent that can satisfactorily make use of RSs and transform documents (TDs) appears to be an object oriented data base (OODB). OODBs have, apparently, an inherent capacity to use the large numbers of RSs and TDs that will be required by an AIM system and an inherent capacity to use them in an effective way.

Integrating deep and shallow natural language processing components : representations and hybrid architectures

OpenAIRE

Schäfer, Ulrich

2006-01-01

We describe basic concepts and software architectures for the integration of shallow and deep (linguistics-based, semantics-oriented) natural language processing (NLP) components. The main goal of this novel, hybrid integration paradigm is improving robustness of deep processing. After an introduction to constraint-based natural language parsing, we give an overview of typical shallow processing tasks. We introduce XML standoff markup as an additional abstraction layer that eases integration ...

Brain readiness and the nature of language.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Denis

2015-01-01

To identify the neural components that make a brain ready for language, it is important to have well defined linguistic phenotypes, to know precisely what language is. There are two central features to language: the capacity to form signs (words), and the capacity to combine them into complex structures. We must determine how the human brain enables these capacities. A sign is a link between a perceptual form and a conceptual meaning. Acoustic elements and content elements, are already brain-internal in non-human animals, but as categorical systems linked with brain-external elements. Being indexically tied to objects of the world, they cannot freely link to form signs. A crucial property of a language-ready brain is the capacity to process perceptual forms and contents offline, detached from any brain-external phenomena, so their "representations" may be linked into signs. These brain systems appear to have pleiotropic effects on a variety of phenotypic traits and not to be specifically designed for language. Syntax combines signs, so the combination of two signs operates simultaneously on their meaning and form. The operation combining the meanings long antedates its function in language: the primitive mode of predication operative in representing some information about an object. The combination of the forms is enabled by the capacity of the brain to segment vocal and visual information into discrete elements. Discrete temporal units have order and juxtaposition, and vocal units have intonation, length, and stress. These are primitive combinatorial processes. So the prior properties of the physical and conceptual elements of the sign introduce combinatoriality into the linguistic system, and from these primitive combinatorial systems derive concatenation in phonology and combination in morphosyntax. Given the nature of language, a key feature to our understanding of the language-ready brain is to be found in the mechanisms in human brains that enable the unique

Brain readiness and the nature of language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis eBouchard

2015-09-01

Full Text Available To identify the neural components that make a brain ready for language, it is important to have well defined linguistic phenotypes, to know precisely what language is. There are two central features to language: the capacity to form signs (words, and the capacity to combine them into complex structures. We must determine how the human brain enables these capacities.A sign is a link between a perceptual form and a conceptual meaning. Acoustic elements and content elements, are already brain-internal in non-human animals, but as categorical systems linked with brain-external elements. Being indexically tied to objects of the world, they cannot freely link to form signs. A crucial property of a language-ready brain is the capacity to process perceptual forms and contents offline, detached from any brain-external phenomena, so their representations may be linked into signs. These brain systems appear to have pleiotropic effects on a variety of phenotypic traits and not to be specifically designed for language.Syntax combines signs, so the combination of two signs operates simultaneously on their meaning and form. The operation combining the meanings long antedates its function in language: the primitive mode of predication operative in representing some information about an object. The combination of the forms is enabled by the capacity of the brain to segment vocal and visual information into discrete elements. Discrete temporal units have order and juxtaposition, and vocal units have intonation, length, and stress. These are primitive combinatorial processes. So the prior properties of the physical and conceptual elements of the sign introduce combinatoriality into the linguistic system, and from these primitive combinatorial systems derive concatenation in phonology and combination in morphosyntax.Given the nature of language, a key feature to our understanding of the language-ready brain is to be found in the mechanisms in human brains that

Reliability and validity evidence of the Assessment of Language Use in Social Contexts for Adults (ALUSCA).

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Ana Rita S; Hall, Andreia; Alvelos, Helena; Leahy, Margaret; Jesus, Luis M T

2018-04-12

The appropriate use of language in context depends on the speaker's pragmatic language competencies. A coding system was used to develop a specific and adult-focused self-administered questionnaire to adults who stutter and adults who do not stutter, The Assessment of Language Use in Social Contexts for Adults, with three categories: precursors, basic exchanges, and extended literal/non-literal discourse. This paper presents the content validity, item analysis, reliability coefficients and evidences of construct validity of the instrument. Content validity analysis was based on a two-stage process: first, 11 pragmatic questionnaires were assessed to identify items that probe each pragmatic competency and to create the first version of the instrument; second, items were assessed qualitatively by an expert panel composed by adults who stutter and controls, and quantitatively and qualitatively by an expert panel composed by clinicians. A pilot study was conducted with five adults who stutter and five controls to analyse items and calculate reliability. Construct validity evidences were obtained using the hypothesized relationships method and factor analysis with 28 adults who stutter and 28 controls. Concerning content validity, the questionnaires assessed up to 13 pragmatic competencies. Qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed ambiguities in items construction. Disagreement between experts was solved through item modification. The pilot study showed that the instrument presented internal consistency and temporal stability. Significant differences between adults who stutter and controls and different response profiles revealed the instrument's underlying construct. The instrument is reliable and presented evidences of construct validity.

Identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus within the Nation’s Veterans Affairs Medical Centers using natural language processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jones Makoto

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accurate information is needed to direct healthcare systems’ efforts to control methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA. Assembling complete and correct microbiology data is vital to understanding and addressing the multiple drug-resistant organisms in our hospitals. Methods Herein, we describe a system that securely gathers microbiology data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA network of databases. Using natural language processing methods, we applied an information extraction process to extract organisms and susceptibilities from the free-text data. We then validated the extraction against independently derived electronic data and expert annotation. Results We estimate that the collected microbiology data are 98.5% complete and that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was extracted accurately 99.7% of the time. Conclusions Applying natural language processing methods to microbiology records appears to be a promising way to extract accurate and useful nosocomial pathogen surveillance data. Both scientific inquiry and the data’s reliability will be dependent on the surveillance system’s capability to compare from multiple sources and circumvent systematic error. The dataset constructed and methods used for this investigation could contribute to a comprehensive infectious disease surveillance system or other pressing needs.

Understanding and representing natural language meaning

Science.gov (United States)

Waltz, D. L.; Maran, L. R.; Dorfman, M. H.; Dinitz, R.; Farwell, D.

1982-12-01

During this contract period the authors have: (1) continued investigation of events and actions by means of representation schemes called 'event shape diagrams'; (2) written a parsing program which selects appropriate word and sentence meanings by a parallel process know as activation and inhibition; (3) begun investigation of the point of a story or event by modeling the motivations and emotional behaviors of story characters; (4) started work on combining and translating two machine-readable dictionaries into a lexicon and knowledge base which will form an integral part of our natural language understanding programs; (5) made substantial progress toward a general model for the representation of cognitive relations by comparing English scene and event descriptions with similar descriptions in other languages; (6) constructed a general model for the representation of tense and aspect of verbs; (7) made progress toward the design of an integrated robotics system which accepts English requests, and uses visual and tactile inputs in making decisions and learning new tasks.

Ontology Based Queries - Investigating a Natural Language Interface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Sluis, Ielka; Hielkema, F.; Mellish, C.; Doherty, G.

2010-01-01

In this paper we look at what may be learned from a comparative study examining non-technical users with a background in social science browsing and querying metadata. Four query tasks were carried out with a natural language interface and with an interface that uses a web paradigm with hyperlinks.

Natural language retrieval in nuclear safety information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komata, Masaoki; Oosawa, Yasuo; Ujita, Hiroshi

1983-01-01

A natural language retrieval program NATLANG is developed to assist in the retrieval of information from event-and-cause descriptions in Licensee Event Reports (LER). The characteristics of NATLANG are (1) the use of base forms of words to retrieve related forms altered by the addition of prefixes or suffixes or changes in inflection, (2) direct access and short time retrieval with an alphabet pointer, (3) effective determination of the items and entries for a Hitachi event classification in a two step retrieval scheme, and (4) Japanese character output with the PL-1 language. NATLANG output reduces the effort needed to re-classify licensee events in the Hitachi event classification. (author)

Reliability evaluation of a natural circulation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jafari, Jalil; D'Auria, Francesco; Kazeminejad, Hossein; Davilu, Hadi

2003-01-01

This paper discusses a reliability study performed with reference to a passive thermohydraulic natural circulation (NC) system, named TTL-1. A methodology based on probabilistic techniques has been applied with the main purpose to optimize the system design. The obtained results have been adopted to estimate the thermal-hydraulic reliability (TH-R) of the same system. A total of 29 relevant parameters (including nominal values and plausible ranges of variations) affecting the design and the NC performance of the TTL-1 loop are identified and a probability of occurrence is assigned for each value based on expert judgment. Following procedures established for the uncertainty evaluation of thermal-hydraulic system codes results, 137 system configurations have been selected and each configuration has been analyzed via the Relap5 best-estimate code. The reference system configuration and the failure criteria derived from the 'mission' of the passive system are adopted for the evaluation of the system TH-R. Four different definitions of a less-than-unity 'reliability-values' (where unity represents the maximum achievable reliability) are proposed for the performance of the selected passive system. This is normally considered fully reliable, i.e. reliability-value equal one, in typical Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) applications in nuclear reactor safety. The two 'point' TH-R values for the considered NC system were found equal to 0.70 and 0.85, i.e. values comparable with the reliability of a pump installed in an 'equivalent' forced circulation (active) system having the same 'mission'. The design optimization study was completed by a regression analysis addressing the output of the 137 calculations: heat losses, undetected leakage, loop length, riser diameter, and equivalent diameter of the test section have been found as the most important parameters bringing to the optimal system design and affecting the TH-R. As added values for this work, the comparison has

Capturing and Modeling Domain Knowledge Using Natural Language Processing Techniques

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Auger, Alain

2005-01-01

.... Initiated in 2004 at Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the SACOT knowledge engineering research project is currently investigating, developing and validating innovative natural language processing (NLP...

Reliability and validity of the Pragmatics Observational Measure (POM): a new observational measure of pragmatic language for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordier, Reinie; Munro, Natalie; Wilkes-Gillan, Sarah; Speyer, Renée; Pearce, Wendy M

2014-07-01

There is a need for a reliable and valid assessment of childhood pragmatic language skills during peer-peer interactions. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a newly developed pragmatic assessment, the Pragmatic Observational Measure (POM). The psychometric properties of the POM were investigated from observational data of two studies - study 1 involved 342 children aged 5-11 years (108 children with ADHD; 108 typically developing playmates; 126 children in the control group), and study 2 involved 9 children with ADHD who attended a 7-week play-based intervention. The psychometric properties of the POM were determined based on the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) taxonomy of psychometric properties and definitions for health-related outcomes; the Pragmatic Protocol was used as the reference tool against which the POM was evaluated. The POM demonstrated sound psychometric properties in all the reliability, validity and interpretability criteria against which it was assessed. The findings showed that the POM is a reliable and valid measure of pragmatic language skills of children with ADHD between the age of 5 and 11 years and has clinical utility in identifying children with pragmatic language difficulty. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

A Classification of Sentences Used in Natural Language Processing in the Military Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Wittrock, Merlin C.

Concepts in cognitive psychology are applied to the language used in military situations, and a sentence classification system for use in analyzing military language is outlined. The system is designed to be used, in part, in conjunction with a natural language query system that allows a user to access a database. The discussion of military…

Orwell's 1984: Natural Language Searching and the Contemporary Metaphor.

Science.gov (United States)

Dadlez, Eva M.

1984-01-01

Describes a natural language searching strategy for retrieving current material which has bearing on George Orwell's "1984," and identifies four main themes (technology, authoritarianism, press and psychological/linguistic implications of surveillance, political oppression) which have emerged from cross-database searches of the "Big…

Evaluation of uncertainty in the measurement of sense of natural language constructions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bisikalo Oleg V.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The task of evaluating uncertainty in the measurement of sense in natural language constructions (NLCs was researched through formalization of the notions of the language image, formalization of artificial cognitive systems (ACSs and the formalization of units of meaning. The method for measuring the sense of natural language constructions incorporated fuzzy relations of meaning, which ensures that information about the links between lemmas of the text is taken into account, permitting the evaluation of two types of measurement uncertainty of sense characteristics. Using developed applications programs, experiments were conducted to investigate the proposed method to tackle the identification of informative characteristics of text. The experiments resulted in dependencies of parameters being obtained in order to utilise the Pareto distribution law to define relations between lemmas, analysis of which permits the identification of exponents of an average number of connections of the language image as the most informative characteristics of text.

Using of Natural Language Processing Techniques in Suicide Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azam Orooji

2017-09-01

Full Text Available It is estimated that each year many people, most of whom are teenagers and young adults die by suicide worldwide. Suicide receives special attention with many countries developing national strategies for prevention. Since, more medical information is available in text, Preventing the growing trend of suicide in communities requires analyzing various textual resources, such as patient records, information on the web or questionnaires. For this purpose, this study systematically reviews recent studies related to the use of natural language processing techniques in the area of people’s health who have completed suicide or are at risk. After electronically searching for the PubMed and ScienceDirect databases and studying articles by two reviewers, 21 articles matched the inclusion criteria. This study revealed that, if a suitable data set is available, natural language processing techniques are well suited for various types of suicide related research.

Discovery of Kolmogorov Scaling in the Natural Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurice H. P. M. van Putten

2017-05-01

Full Text Available We consider the rate R and variance σ 2 of Shannon information in snippets of text based on word frequencies in the natural language. We empirically identify Kolmogorov’s scaling law in σ 2 ∝ k - 1 . 66 ± 0 . 12 (95% c.l. as a function of k = 1 / N measured by word count N. This result highlights a potential association of information flow in snippets, analogous to energy cascade in turbulent eddies in fluids at high Reynolds numbers. We propose R and σ 2 as robust utility functions for objective ranking of concordances in efficient search for maximal information seamlessly across different languages and as a starting point for artificial attention.

MILROY, Lesley. Observing and Analysing Natural Language: A Critical Account of Sociolinguistic Method. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987. 230pp. MILROY, Lesley. Observing and Analysing Natural Language: A Critical Account of Sociolinguistic Method. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987. 230pp.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iria Werlang Garcia

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Lesley Milroy's Observing and Analysing Natural Language is a recent addition to an ever growing number of publications in the field of Sociolinguistics. It carries the weight of one of the experienced authors in the current days in the specified field and should offer basic information to both newcomers and established investigators in natural language. Lesley Milroy's Observing and Analysing Natural Language is a recent addition to an ever growing number of publications in the field of Sociolinguistics. It carries the weight of one of the experienced authors in the current days in the specified field and should offer basic information to both newcomers and established investigators in natural language.

Artificial intelligence, expert systems, computer vision, and natural language processing

Science.gov (United States)

Gevarter, W. B.

1984-01-01

An overview of artificial intelligence (AI), its core ingredients, and its applications is presented. The knowledge representation, logic, problem solving approaches, languages, and computers pertaining to AI are examined, and the state of the art in AI is reviewed. The use of AI in expert systems, computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition and understanding, speech synthesis, problem solving, and planning is examined. Basic AI topics, including automation, search-oriented problem solving, knowledge representation, and computational logic, are discussed.

Reliability and validity of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 in Hispanic Americans with English or Spanish language preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Baik, Sharon H; Fox, Rina S; Mills, Sarah D; Roesch, Scott C; Sadler, Georgia Robins; Klonoff, Elizabeth A; Malcarne, Vanessa L

2017-01-01

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 among 436 community-dwelling Hispanic Americans with English or Spanish language preference. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis examined the factorial invariance of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 across language groups. Results supported a two-factor model (negative, positive) with equivalent response patterns and item intercepts but different factor covariances across languages. Internal consistency reliability of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 total and subscale scores was good in both language groups. Convergent validity was supported by expected relationships of Perceived Stress Scale-10 scores to measures of anxiety and depression. These results support the use of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 among Hispanic Americans.

CITE NLM: Natural-Language Searching in an Online Catalog.

Science.gov (United States)

Doszkocs, Tamas E.

1983-01-01

The National Library of Medicine's Current Information Transfer in English public access online catalog offers unique subject search capabilities--natural-language query input, automatic medical subject headings display, closest match search strategy, ranked document output, dynamic end user feedback for search refinement. References, description…

Computing an Ontological Semantics for a Natural Language Fragment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szymczak, Bartlomiej Antoni

tried to establish a domain independent “ontological semantics” for relevant fragments of natural language. The purpose of this research is to develop methods and systems for taking advantage of formal ontologies for the purpose of extracting the meaning contents of texts. This functionality...

Incidence Rate of Canonical vs. Derived Medical Terminology in Natural Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Topac, Vasile; Jurcau, Daniel-Alexandru; Stoicu-Tivadar, Vasile

2015-01-01

Medical terminology appears in the natural language in multiple forms: canonical, derived or inflected form. This research presents an analysis of the form in which medical terminology appears in Romanian and English language. The sources of medical language used for the study are web pages presenting medical information for patients and other lay users. The results show that, in English, medical terminology tends to appear more in canonical form while, in the case of Romanian, it is the opposite. This paper also presents the service that was created to perform this analysis. This tool is available for the general public, and it is designed to be easily extensible, allowing the addition of other languages.

Second Language Aquisition and The Development through Nature-Nurture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahfitri Purnama

2017-10-01

Full Text Available There are some factors regarding which aspect of second language acquisition is affected by individual learner factors, age, learning style. aptitude, motivation, and personality. This research is about English language acquisition of fourth-year child by nature and nurture. The child acquired her second language acquisition at home and also in one of the courses in Jakarta. She schooled by her parents in order to be able to speak English well as a target language for her future time. The purpose of this paper is to see and examine individual learner difference especially in using English as a second language. This study is a library research and retrieved data collected, recorded, transcribed, and analyzed descriptively. The results can be concluded: the child is able to communicate well and also able to construct simple sentences, complex sentences, sentence statement, phrase questions, and explain something when her teacher asks her at school. She is able to communicate by making a simple sentence or compound sentence in well-form (two clauses or three clauses, even though she still not focus to use the past tense form and sometimes she forgets to put bound morpheme -s in third person singular but she can use turn-taking in her utterances. It is a very long process since the child does the second language acquisition. The family and teacher should participate and assist the child, the proven child can learn the first and the second language at the same time.

Natural-language processing applied to an ITS interface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Gisolfi

1994-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to show that with a subset of a natural language, simple systems running on PCs can be developed that can nevertheless be an effective tool for interfacing purposes in the building of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS. After presenting the special characteristics of the Smalltalk/V language, which provides an appropriate environment for the development of an interface, the overall architecture of the interface module is discussed. We then show how sentences are parsed by the interface, and how interaction takes place with the user. The knowledge-acquisition phase is subsequently described. Finally, some excerpts from a tutoring session concerned with elementary geometry are discussed, and some of the problems and limitations of the approach are illustrated.

Reliable Path Selection Problem in Uncertain Traffic Network after Natural Disaster

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available After natural disaster, especially for large-scale disasters and affected areas, vast relief materials are often needed. In the meantime, the traffic networks are always of uncertainty because of the disaster. In this paper, we assume that the edges in the network are either connected or blocked, and the connection probability of each edge is known. In order to ensure the arrival of these supplies at the affected areas, it is important to select a reliable path. A reliable path selection model is formulated, and two algorithms for solving this model are presented. Then, adjustable reliable path selection model is proposed when the edge of the selected reliable path is broken. And the corresponding algorithms are shown to be efficient both theoretically and numerically.

HomeNL: Homecare Assistance in Natural Language. An Intelligent Conversational Agent for Hypertensive Patients Management.

OpenAIRE

Rojas Barahona , Lina Maria; Quaglini , Silvana; Stefanelli , Mario

2009-01-01

International audience; The prospective home-care management will probably of- fer intelligent conversational assistants for supporting patients at home through natural language interfaces. Homecare assistance in natural lan- guage, HomeNL, is a proof-of-concept dialogue system for the manage- ment of patients with hypertension. It follows up a conversation with a patient in which the patient is able to take the initiative. HomeNL pro- cesses natural language, makes an internal representation...

Automatic Requirements Specification Extraction from Natural Language (ARSENAL)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-10-01

studies: the Time-Triggered Ethernet (TTEthernet) communication platform used in space, and FAA-Isolette infant incubators used in NICU . We...in space, and FAA-Isolette infant incubators used in Neonatal Intensive Care Units ( NICUs ). We systematically evalu- ated various aspects of ARSENAL...effect, we present the ARSENAL methodology. ARSENAL uses state-of-the-art advances in natural language processing (NLP) and formal methods (FM) to

Managing Fieldwork Data with Toolbox and the Natural Language Toolkit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart Robinson

2007-06-01

Full Text Available This paper shows how fieldwork data can be managed using the program Toolbox together with the Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK for the Python programming language. It provides background information about Toolbox and describes how it can be downloaded and installed. The basic functionality of the program for lexicons and texts is described, and its strengths and weaknesses are reviewed. Its underlying data format is briefly discussed, and Toolbox processing capabilities of NLTK are introduced, showing ways in which it can be used to extend the functionality of Toolbox. This is illustrated with a few simple scripts that demonstrate basic data management tasks relevant to language documentation, such as printing out the contents of a lexicon as HTML.

Using natural language processing techniques to inform research on nanotechnology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nastassja A. Lewinski

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Literature in the field of nanotechnology is exponentially increasing with more and more engineered nanomaterials being created, characterized, and tested for performance and safety. With the deluge of published data, there is a need for natural language processing approaches to semi-automate the cataloguing of engineered nanomaterials and their associated physico-chemical properties, performance, exposure scenarios, and biological effects. In this paper, we review the different informatics methods that have been applied to patent mining, nanomaterial/device characterization, nanomedicine, and environmental risk assessment. Nine natural language processing (NLP-based tools were identified: NanoPort, NanoMapper, TechPerceptor, a Text Mining Framework, a Nanodevice Analyzer, a Clinical Trial Document Classifier, Nanotoxicity Searcher, NanoSifter, and NEIMiner. We conclude with recommendations for sharing NLP-related tools through online repositories to broaden participation in nanoinformatics.

Combining Natural Language Processing and Statistical Text Mining: A Study of Specialized versus Common Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Jarman, Jay

2011-01-01

This dissertation focuses on developing and evaluating hybrid approaches for analyzing free-form text in the medical domain. This research draws on natural language processing (NLP) techniques that are used to parse and extract concepts based on a controlled vocabulary. Once important concepts are extracted, additional machine learning algorithms,…

Reliability and competitiveness of Canadian natural gas supply - discussion paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

A summary of market evolution for the Canadian natural gas industry was provided. Canada's undisputed position as an important supplier of natural gas to domestic and United States consumers was reaffirmed. The industry has marketable potential of 582 trillion cubic feet of conventional natural gas, of which 254 trillion cubic feet is found in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. The role of the Free Trade Agreement of 1988, and the recent deregulation of the Canadian natural gas industry in allowing the gas market to evolve into a competitive, continental market were noted. The end result to consumers is a choice of suppliers, competitive prices, reliability and confidence. 7 refs., 2 tabs., 8 figs

Learning from a Computer Tutor with Natural Language Capabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Joel; Rovick, Allen; Glass, Michael; Zhou, Yujian; Evens, Martha

2003-01-01

CIRCSIM-Tutor is a computer tutor designed to carry out a natural language dialogue with a medical student. Its domain is the baroreceptor reflex, the part of the cardiovascular system that is responsible for maintaining a constant blood pressure. CIRCSIM-Tutor's interaction with students is modeled after the tutoring behavior of two experienced…

Natural language processing: an introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadkarni, Prakash M; Ohno-Machado, Lucila; Chapman, Wendy W

2011-01-01

To provide an overview and tutorial of natural language processing (NLP) and modern NLP-system design. This tutorial targets the medical informatics generalist who has limited acquaintance with the principles behind NLP and/or limited knowledge of the current state of the art. We describe the historical evolution of NLP, and summarize common NLP sub-problems in this extensive field. We then provide a synopsis of selected highlights of medical NLP efforts. After providing a brief description of common machine-learning approaches that are being used for diverse NLP sub-problems, we discuss how modern NLP architectures are designed, with a summary of the Apache Foundation's Unstructured Information Management Architecture. We finally consider possible future directions for NLP, and reflect on the possible impact of IBM Watson on the medical field.

Selected Topics on Systems Modeling and Natural Language Processing: Editorial Introduction to the Issue 7 of CSIMQ

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Witold Andrzejewski

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The seventh issue of Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly presents five papers devoted to two distinct research topics: systems modeling and natural language processing (NLP. Both of these subjects are very important in computer science. Through modeling we can simplify the studied problem by concentrating on only one aspect at a time. Moreover, a properly constructed model allows the modeler to work on higher levels of abstraction and not having to concentrate on details. Since the size and complexity of information systems grows rapidly, creating good models of such systems is crucial. The analysis of natural language is slowly becoming a widely used tool in commerce and day to day life. Opinion mining allows recommender systems to provide accurate recommendations based on user-generated reviews. Speech recognition and NLP are the basis for such widely used personal assistants as Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google Now. While a lot of work has already been done on natural language processing, the research usually concerns widely used languages, such as English. Consequently, natural language processing in languages other than English is very relevant subject and is addressed in this issue.

Natural Language Processing in Radiology: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pons, Ewoud; Braun, Loes M M; Hunink, M G Myriam; Kors, Jan A

2016-05-01

Radiological reporting has generated large quantities of digital content within the electronic health record, which is potentially a valuable source of information for improving clinical care and supporting research. Although radiology reports are stored for communication and documentation of diagnostic imaging, harnessing their potential requires efficient and automated information extraction: they exist mainly as free-text clinical narrative, from which it is a major challenge to obtain structured data. Natural language processing (NLP) provides techniques that aid the conversion of text into a structured representation, and thus enables computers to derive meaning from human (ie, natural language) input. Used on radiology reports, NLP techniques enable automatic identification and extraction of information. By exploring the various purposes for their use, this review examines how radiology benefits from NLP. A systematic literature search identified 67 relevant publications describing NLP methods that support practical applications in radiology. This review takes a close look at the individual studies in terms of tasks (ie, the extracted information), the NLP methodology and tools used, and their application purpose and performance results. Additionally, limitations, future challenges, and requirements for advancing NLP in radiology will be discussed. (©) RSNA, 2016 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

The social impact of natural language processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hovy, Dirk; Spruit, Shannon

Research in natural language processing (NLP) used to be mostly performed on anonymous corpora, with the goal of enriching linguistic analysis. Authors were either largely unknown or public figures. As we increasingly use more data from social media, this situation has changed: users are now...... individually identifiable, and the outcome of NLP experiments and applications can have a direct effect on their lives. This change should spawn a debate about the ethical implications of NLP, but until now, the internal discourse in the field has not followed the technological development. This position paper...

Designing Service-Oriented Chatbot Systems Using a Construction Grammar-Driven Natural Language Generation System

OpenAIRE

Jenkins, Marie-Claire

2011-01-01

Service oriented chatbot systems are used to inform users in a conversational manner about a particular service or product on a website. Our research shows that current systems are time consuming to build and not very accurate or satisfying to users. We find that natural language understanding and natural language generation methods are central to creating an e�fficient and useful system. In this thesis we investigate current and past methods in this research area and place particular emph...

Exploiting Lexical Regularities in Designing Natural Language Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

1988-04-01

ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASKN Artificial Inteligence Laboratory A1A4WR NTumet 0) 545 Technology Square Cambridge, MA 02139 Ln *t- CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND...RO-RI95 922 EXPLOITING LEXICAL REGULARITIES IN DESIGNING NATURAL 1/1 LANGUAGE SYSTENS(U) MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE...oes.ary and ftdou.Ip hr Nl wow" L,2This paper presents the lexical component of the START Question Answering system developed at the MIT Artificial

An ontology model for nursing narratives with natural language generation technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Yul Ha; Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Jeon, Eunjoo; Lee, Joo Yun; Jo, Soo Jung

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop an ontology model to generate nursing narratives as natural as human language from the entity-attribute-value triplets of a detailed clinical model using natural language generation technology. The model was based on the types of information and documentation time of the information along the nursing process. The typesof information are data characterizing the patient status, inferences made by the nurse from the patient data, and nursing actions selected by the nurse to change the patient status. This information was linked to the nursing process based on the time of documentation. We describe a case study illustrating the application of this model in an acute-care setting. The proposed model provides a strategy for designing an electronic nursing record system.

Advanced applications of natural language processing for performing information extraction

CERN Document Server

Rodrigues, Mário

2015-01-01

This book explains how can be created information extraction (IE) applications that are able to tap the vast amount of relevant information available in natural language sources: Internet pages, official documents such as laws and regulations, books and newspapers, and social web. Readers are introduced to the problem of IE and its current challenges and limitations, supported with examples. The book discusses the need to fill the gap between documents, data, and people, and provides a broad overview of the technology supporting IE. The authors present a generic architecture for developing systems that are able to learn how to extract relevant information from natural language documents, and illustrate how to implement working systems using state-of-the-art and freely available software tools. The book also discusses concrete applications illustrating IE uses.   ·         Provides an overview of state-of-the-art technology in information extraction (IE), discussing achievements and limitations for t...

Linguistic fundamentals for natural language processing 100 essentials from morphology and syntax

CERN Document Server

Bender, Emily M

2013-01-01

Many NLP tasks have at their core a subtask of extracting the dependencies-who did what to whom-from natural language sentences. This task can be understood as the inverse of the problem solved in different ways by diverse human languages, namely, how to indicate the relationship between different parts of a sentence. Understanding how languages solve the problem can be extremely useful in both feature design and error analysis in the application of machine learning to NLP. Likewise, understanding cross-linguistic variation can be important for the design of MT systems and other multilingual a

Paired structures in logical and semiotic models of natural language

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodríguez, J. Tinguaro; Franco, Camilo; Montero, Javier

2014-01-01

The evidence coming from cognitive psychology and linguistics shows that pairs of reference concepts (as e.g. good/bad, tall/short, nice/ugly, etc.) play a crucial role in the way we everyday use and understand natural languages in order to analyze reality and make decisions. Different situations...

Acceptability, reliability, and validity of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39) across languages: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadi, Akram; Tohidast, Seyed Abolfazl; Mansuri, Banafshe; Kamali, Mohammad; Krishnan, Gopee

2017-09-01

This systematic review aimed to explore the acceptability, reliability, and validity of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life-39 (SAQOL-39) scale across languages. We employed a systematic search of the online databases including MEDLINE (Pubmed), Science direct, Web of science, Psychinfo, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library published between 2003 and 2016. We used PRISMA guidelines for conducting and reporting this review. Subsequently, screening of the titles and abstracts, extraction of data as well as the appraisal of the quality of relevant studies were carried out. The initial search returned 8185 studies. Subsequent screening and study selection processes narrowed them to 20, needing detailed review. Forward-backward translation scheme was the preferred method for translation of the SAQOL-39 from English to other languages. Mainly, the socio-cultural and linguistic adaptations were performed in the translated versions. Most versions of the SAQOL-39 showed high test-retest reliability and internal consistency. However, several psychometric properties including the validity and responsiveness were seldom reported in these versions. The SAQOL-39 scale showed high acceptability, and reliability across the languages reviewed in this study. Future translations may additionally focus on reporting the validity and responsiveness of the instrument.

Natural Language Processing Technologies in Radiology Research and Clinical Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Tianrun; Giannopoulos, Andreas A.; Yu, Sheng; Kelil, Tatiana; Ripley, Beth; Kumamaru, Kanako K.; Rybicki, Frank J.

2016-01-01

The migration of imaging reports to electronic medical record systems holds great potential in terms of advancing radiology research and practice by leveraging the large volume of data continuously being updated, integrated, and shared. However, there are significant challenges as well, largely due to the heterogeneity of how these data are formatted. Indeed, although there is movement toward structured reporting in radiology (ie, hierarchically itemized reporting with use of standardized terminology), the majority of radiology reports remain unstructured and use free-form language. To effectively “mine” these large datasets for hypothesis testing, a robust strategy for extracting the necessary information is needed. Manual extraction of information is a time-consuming and often unmanageable task. “Intelligent” search engines that instead rely on natural language processing (NLP), a computer-based approach to analyzing free-form text or speech, can be used to automate this data mining task. The overall goal of NLP is to translate natural human language into a structured format (ie, a fixed collection of elements), each with a standardized set of choices for its value, that is easily manipulated by computer programs to (among other things) order into subcategories or query for the presence or absence of a finding. The authors review the fundamentals of NLP and describe various techniques that constitute NLP in radiology, along with some key applications. ©RSNA, 2016 PMID:26761536

Natural Language Processing Technologies in Radiology Research and Clinical Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Tianrun; Giannopoulos, Andreas A; Yu, Sheng; Kelil, Tatiana; Ripley, Beth; Kumamaru, Kanako K; Rybicki, Frank J; Mitsouras, Dimitrios

2016-01-01

The migration of imaging reports to electronic medical record systems holds great potential in terms of advancing radiology research and practice by leveraging the large volume of data continuously being updated, integrated, and shared. However, there are significant challenges as well, largely due to the heterogeneity of how these data are formatted. Indeed, although there is movement toward structured reporting in radiology (ie, hierarchically itemized reporting with use of standardized terminology), the majority of radiology reports remain unstructured and use free-form language. To effectively "mine" these large datasets for hypothesis testing, a robust strategy for extracting the necessary information is needed. Manual extraction of information is a time-consuming and often unmanageable task. "Intelligent" search engines that instead rely on natural language processing (NLP), a computer-based approach to analyzing free-form text or speech, can be used to automate this data mining task. The overall goal of NLP is to translate natural human language into a structured format (ie, a fixed collection of elements), each with a standardized set of choices for its value, that is easily manipulated by computer programs to (among other things) order into subcategories or query for the presence or absence of a finding. The authors review the fundamentals of NLP and describe various techniques that constitute NLP in radiology, along with some key applications. ©RSNA, 2016.

Query2Question: Translating Visualization Interaction into Natural Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Nafari, Maryam; Weaver, Chris

2015-06-01

Richly interactive visualization tools are increasingly popular for data exploration and analysis in a wide variety of domains. Existing systems and techniques for recording provenance of interaction focus either on comprehensive automated recording of low-level interaction events or on idiosyncratic manual transcription of high-level analysis activities. In this paper, we present the architecture and translation design of a query-to-question (Q2Q) system that automatically records user interactions and presents them semantically using natural language (written English). Q2Q takes advantage of domain knowledge and uses natural language generation (NLG) techniques to translate and transcribe a progression of interactive visualization states into a visual log of styled text that complements and effectively extends the functionality of visualization tools. We present Q2Q as a means to support a cross-examination process in which questions rather than interactions are the focus of analytic reasoning and action. We describe the architecture and implementation of the Q2Q system, discuss key design factors and variations that effect question generation, and present several visualizations that incorporate Q2Q for analysis in a variety of knowledge domains.

Probabilistically-Cued Patterns Trump Perfect Cues in Statistical Language Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Lany, Jill; Gómez, Rebecca L

2013-01-01

Probabilistically-cued co-occurrence relationships between word categories are common in natural languages but difficult to acquire. For example, in English, determiner-noun and auxiliary-verb dependencies both involve co-occurrence relationships, but determiner-noun relationships are more reliably marked by correlated distributional and phonological cues, and appear to be learned more readily. We tested whether experience with co-occurrence relationships that are more reliable promotes learning those that are less reliable using an artificial language paradigm. Prior experience with deterministically-cued contingencies did not promote learning of less reliably-cued structure, nor did prior experience with relationships instantiated in the same vocabulary. In contrast, prior experience with probabilistically-cued co-occurrence relationships instantiated in different vocabulary did enhance learning. Thus, experience with co-occurrence relationships sharing underlying structure but not vocabulary may be an important factor in learning grammatical patterns. Furthermore, experience with probabilistically-cued co-occurrence relationships, despite their difficultly for naïve learners, lays an important foundation for learning novel probabilistic structure.

Reliable JavaScript how to code safely in the world's most dangerous language

CERN Document Server

Spencer, Lawrence

2015-01-01

Create more robust applications with a test-first approach to JavaScript Reliable JavaScript, How to Code Safely in the World's Most Dangerous Language demonstrates how to create test-driven development for large-scale JavaScript applications that will stand the test of time and stay accurate through long-term use and maintenance. Taking a test-first approach to software architecture, this book walks you through several patterns and practices and explains what they are supposed to do by having you write unit tests. Write the code to pass the unit tests, so you not only develop your technique

Exploring culture, language and the perception of the nature of science

Science.gov (United States)

Sutherland, Dawn

2002-01-01

One dimension of early Canadian education is the attempt of the government to use the education system as an assimilative tool to integrate the First Nations and Me´tis people into Euro-Canadian society. Despite these attempts, many First Nations and Me´tis people retained their culture and their indigenous language. Few science educators have examined First Nations and Western scientific worldviews and the impact they may have on science learning. This study explored the views some First Nations (Cree) and Euro-Canadian Grade-7-level students in Manitoba had about the nature of science. Both qualitative (open-ended questions and interviews) and quantitative (a Likert-scale questionnaire) instruments were used to explore student views. A central hypothesis to this research programme is the possibility that the different world-views of two student populations, Cree and Euro-Canadian, are likely to influence their perceptions of science. This preliminary study explored a range of methodologies to probe the perceptions of the nature of science in these two student populations. It was found that the two cultural groups differed significantly between some of the tenets in a Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale (NSKS). Cree students significantly differed from Euro-Canadian students on the developmental, testable and unified tenets of the nature of scientific knowledge scale. No significant differences were found in NSKS scores between language groups (Cree students who speak English in the home and those who speak English and Cree or Cree only). The differences found between language groups were primarily in the open-ended questions where preformulated responses were absent. Interviews about critical incidents provided more detailed accounts of the Cree students' perception of the nature of science. The implications of the findings of this study are discussed in relation to the challenges related to research methodology, further areas for investigation, science

Recurrent Artificial Neural Networks and Finite State Natural Language Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Moisl, Hermann

It is argued that pessimistic assessments of the adequacy of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for natural language processing (NLP) on the grounds that they have a finite state architecture are unjustified, and that their adequacy in this regard is an empirical issue. First, arguments that counter standard objections to finite state NLP on the…

Teaching the tacit knowledge of programming to noviceswith natural language tutoring

Science.gov (United States)

Lane, H. Chad; Vanlehn, Kurt

2005-09-01

For beginning programmers, inadequate problem solving and planning skills are among the most salient of their weaknesses. In this paper, we test the efficacy of natural language tutoring to teach and scaffold acquisition of these skills. We describe ProPL (Pro-PELL), a dialogue-based intelligent tutoring system that elicits goal decompositions and program plans from students in natural language. The system uses a variety of tutoring tactics that leverage students' intuitive understandings of the problem, how it might be solved, and the underlying concepts of programming. We report the results of a small-scale evaluation comparing students who used ProPL with a control group who read the same content. Our primary findings are that students who received tutoring from ProPL seem to have developed an improved ability to solve the composition problem and displayed behaviors that suggest they were able to think at greater levels of abstraction than students in the read-only group.

The Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire: cross-cultural adaptation, validation and reliability of the Hausa language version in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyeyemi, Adewale L; Oyeyemi, Adetoyeje Y; Adegoke, Babatunde O; Oyetoke, Fatima O; Aliyu, Habeeb N; Aliyu, Salamatu U; Rufai, Adamu A

2011-11-22

Accurate assessment of physical activity is important in determining the risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity. The absence of culturally relevant measures in indigenous languages could pose challenges to epidemiological studies on physical activity in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) to the Hausa language, and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Hausa version of IPAQ-SF in Nigeria. The English IPAQ-SF was translated into the Hausa language, synthesized, back translated, and subsequently subjected to expert committee review and pre-testing. The final product (Hausa IPAQ-SF) was tested in a cross-sectional study for concurrent (correlation with the English version) and construct validity, and test-retest reliability in a sample of 102 apparently healthy adults. The Hausa IPAQ-SF has good concurrent validity with Spearman correlation coefficients (ρ) ranging from 0.78 for vigorous activity (Min Week-1) to 0.92 for total physical activity (Metabolic Equivalent of Task [MET]-Min Week-1), but poor construct validity, with cardiorespiratory fitness (ρ = 0.21, p = 0.01) and body mass index (ρ = 0.22, p = 0.04) significantly correlated with only moderate activity and sitting time (Min Week-1), respectively. Reliability was good for vigorous (ICC = 0.73, 95% C.I = 0.55-0.84) and total physical activity (ICC = 0.61, 95% C.I = 0.47-0.72), but fair for moderate activity (ICC = 0.33, 95% C.I = 0.12-0.51), and few meaningful differences were found in the gender and socioeconomic status specific analyses. The Hausa IPAQ-SF has acceptable concurrent validity and test-retest reliability for vigorous-intensity activity, walking, sitting and total physical activity, but demonstrated only fair construct validity for moderate and sitting activities. The Hausa IPAQ-SF can be used for

Mathematical Formula Search using Natural Language Queries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

YANG, S.

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents how to search mathematical formulae written in MathML when given plain words as a query. Since the proposed method allows natural language queries like the traditional Information Retrieval for the mathematical formula search, users do not need to enter any complicated math symbols and to use any formula input tool. For this, formula data is converted into plain texts, and features are extracted from the converted texts. In our experiments, we achieve an outstanding performance, a MRR of 0.659. In addition, we introduce how to utilize formula classification for formula search. By using class information, we finally achieve an improved performance, a MRR of 0.690.

The social impact of natural language processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hovy, Dirk; Spruit, Shannon

Research in natural language processing (NLP) used to be mostly performed on anonymous corpora, with the goal of enriching linguistic analysis. Authors were either largely unknown or public figures. As we increasingly use more data from social media, this situation has changed: users are now...... individually identifiable, and the outcome of NLP experiments and applications can have a direct effect on their lives. This change should spawn a debate about the ethical implications of NLP, but until now, the internal discourse in the field has not followed the technological development. This position paper...... identifies a number of social implications that NLP research may have, and discusses their ethical significance, as well as ways to address them....

Reliability analysis of 2400 MWth gas-cooled fast reactor natural circulation decay heat removal system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marques, M.; Bassi, C.; Bentivoglio, F.

2012-01-01

In support to a PSA (Probability Safety Assessment) performed at the design level on the 2400 MWth Gas-cooled Fast Reactor, the functional reliability of the decay heat removal system (DHR) working in natural circulation has been estimated in two transient situations corresponding to an 'aggravated' Loss of Flow Accident (LOFA) and a Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). The reliability analysis was based on the RMPS methodology. Reliability and global sensitivity analyses use uncertainty propagation by Monte Carlo techniques. The DHR system consists of 1) 3 dedicated DHR loops: the choice of 3 loops (3*100% redundancy) is made in assuming that one could be lost due to the accident initiating event (break for example) and that another one must be supposed unavailable (single failure criterion); 2) a metallic guard containment enclosing the primary system (referred as close containment), not pressurized in normal operation, having a free volume such as the fast primary helium expansion gives an equilibrium pressure of 1.0 MPa, in the first part of the transient (few hours). Each dedicated DHR loop designed to work in forced circulation with blowers or in natural circulation, is composed of 1) a primary loop (cross-duct connected to the core vessel), with a driving height of 10 meters between core and DHX mid-plan; 2) a secondary circuit filled with pressurized water at 1.0 MPa (driving height of 5 meters for natural circulation DHR); 3) a ternary pool, initially at 50 C. degrees, whose volume is determined to handle one day heat extraction (after this time delay, additional measures are foreseen to fill up the pool). The results obtained on the reliability of the DHR system and on the most important input parameters are very different from one scenario to the other showing the necessity for the PSA to perform specific reliability analysis of the passive system for each considered scenario. The analysis shows that the DHR system working in natural circulation is

Box: Natural Language Processing Research Using Amazon Web Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axelrod Amittai

2015-10-01

Full Text Available We present a publicly-available state-of-the-art research and development platform for Machine Translation and Natural Language Processing that runs on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. This provides a standardized research environment for all users, and enables perfect reproducibility and compatibility. Box also enables users to use their hardware budget to avoid the management and logistical overhead of maintaining a research lab, yet still participate in global research community with the same state-of-the-art tools.

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS): Its Nature and Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, D. E.

The nature and development of the recently released International English Language Testing System (IELTS) instrument are described. The test is the result of a joint Australian-British project to develop a new test for use with foreign students planning to study in English-speaking countries. It is expected that the modular instrument will become…

On the Thematic Nature of the Subjunctive in the Romance Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerzymisch-Arbogast, Heidrun

1993-01-01

A theoretical discussion is offered on whether the subjunctive in the Romance languages is by nature thematic, as suggested in previous studies. English and Spanish samples are used to test the hypothesis; one conclusion is that the subjunctive seems to offer speaker-related information and may express the intensity of the speaker's involvement.…

Quantization, Frobenius and Bi algebras from the Categorical Framework of Quantum Mechanics to Natural Language Semantics

Science.gov (United States)

Sadrzadeh, Mehrnoosh

2017-07-01

Compact Closed categories and Frobenius and Bi algebras have been applied to model and reason about Quantum protocols. The same constructions have also been applied to reason about natural language semantics under the name: ``categorical distributional compositional'' semantics, or in short, the ``DisCoCat'' model. This model combines the statistical vector models of word meaning with the compositional models of grammatical structure. It has been applied to natural language tasks such as disambiguation, paraphrasing and entailment of phrases and sentences. The passage from the grammatical structure to vectors is provided by a functor, similar to the Quantization functor of Quantum Field Theory. The original DisCoCat model only used compact closed categories. Later, Frobenius algebras were added to it to model long distance dependancies such as relative pronouns. Recently, bialgebras have been added to the pack to reason about quantifiers. This paper reviews these constructions and their application to natural language semantics. We go over the theory and present some of the core experimental results.

Zipf’s word frequency law in natural language: A critical review and future directions

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

The frequency distribution of words has been a key object of study in statistical linguistics for the past 70 years. This distribution approximately follows a simple mathematical form known as Zipf ’ s law. This article first shows that human language has a highly complex, reliable structure in the frequency distribution over and above this classic law, although prior data visualization methods have obscured this fact. A number of empirical phenomena related to word frequencies are then reviewed. These facts are chosen to be informative about the mechanisms giving rise to Zipf’s law and are then used to evaluate many of the theoretical explanations of Zipf’s law in language. No prior account straightforwardly explains all the basic facts or is supported with independent evaluation of its underlying assumptions. To make progress at understanding why language obeys Zipf’s law, studies must seek evidence beyond the law itself, testing assumptions and evaluating novel predictions with new, independent data. PMID:24664880

Modelling the phonotactic structure of natural language words with simple recurrent networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stoianov, [No Value; Nerbonne, J; Bouma, H; Coppen, PA; vanHalteren, H; Teunissen, L

1998-01-01

Simple Recurrent Networks (SRN) are Neural Network (connectionist) models able to process natural language. Phonotactics concerns the order of symbols in words. We continued an earlier unsuccessful trial to model the phonotactics of Dutch words with SRNs. In order to overcome the previously reported

Adult language learning after minimal exposure to an unknown natural language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gullberg, M.; Robert, L.; Dimroth, C.; Veroude, K.; Indefrey, P.

2010-01-01

Despite the literature on the role of input in adult second-language (L2) acquisition and on artificial and statistical language learning, surprisingly little is known about how adults break into a new language in the wild. This article reports on a series of behavioral and neuroimaging studies that

Validity and reliability of the Spanish-language version of the self-administered Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) pain scale.

Science.gov (United States)

López-de-Uralde-Villanueva, I; Gil-Martínez, A; Candelas-Fernández, P; de Andrés-Ares, J; Beltrán-Alacreu, H; La Touche, R

2016-12-08

The self-administered Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (S-LANSS) scale is a tool designed to identify patients with pain with neuropathic features. To assess the validity and reliability of the Spanish-language version of the S-LANSS scale. Our study included a total of 182 patients with chronic pain to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of the S-LANSS; the sample was increased to 321 patients to evaluate construct validity and reliability. The validated Spanish-language version of the ID-Pain questionnaire was used as the criterion variable. All participants completed the ID-Pain, the S-LANSS, and the Numerical Rating Scale for pain. Discriminant validity was evaluated by analysing sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Construct validity was assessed with factor analysis and by comparing the odds ratio of each S-LANSS item to the total score. Convergent validity and reliability were evaluated with Pearson's r and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. The optimal cut-off point for S-LANSS was ≥12 points (AUC=.89; sensitivity=88.7; specificity=76.6). Factor analysis yielded one factor; furthermore, all items contributed significantly to the positive total score on the S-LANSS (P<.05). The S-LANSS showed a significant correlation with ID-Pain (r=.734, α=.71). The Spanish-language version of the S-LANSS is valid and reliable for identifying patients with chronic pain with neuropathic features. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The application of natural language processing to augmentative and alternative communication.

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Higginbotham, D Jeffery; Lesher, Gregory W; Moulton, Bryan J; Roark, Brian

2011-01-01

Significant progress has been made in the application of natural language processing (NLP) to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), particularly in the areas of interface design and word prediction. This article will survey the current state-of-the-science of NLP in AAC and discuss its future applications for the development of next generation of AAC technology.

A Qualitative Analysis Framework Using Natural Language Processing and Graph Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, Patrick J.

2012-01-01

This paper introduces a method of extending natural language-based processing of qualitative data analysis with the use of a very quantitative tool--graph theory. It is not an attempt to convert qualitative research to a positivist approach with a mathematical black box, nor is it a "graphical solution". Rather, it is a method to help qualitative…

The reliability, validity, and applicability of an English language version of the Mini-ICF-APP.

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Molodynski, Andrew; Linden, Michael; Juckel, George; Yeeles, Ksenija; Anderson, Catriona; Vazquez-Montes, Maria; Burns, Tom

2013-08-01

This study aimed at establishing the validity and reliability of an English language version of the Mini-ICF-APP. One hundred and five patients under the care of secondary mental health care services were assessed using the Mini-ICF-APP and several well-established measures of functioning and symptom severity. 47 (45 %) patients were interviewed on two occasions to ascertain test-retest reliability and 50 (48 %) were interviewed by two researchers simultaneously to determine the instrument's inter-rater reliability. Occupational and sick leave status were also recorded to assess construct validity. The Mini-ICF-APP was found to have substantial internal consistency (Chronbach's α 0.869-0.912) and all 13 items correlated highly with the total score. Analysis also showed that the Mini-ICF-APP had good test-retest (ICC 0.832) and inter-rater (ICC 0.886) reliability. No statistically significant association with length of sick leave was found, but the unemployed scored higher on the Mini ICF-APP than those in employment (mean 18.4, SD 9.1 vs. 9.4, SD 6.4, p Mini-ICF-APP correlated highly with the other measures of illness severity and functioning considered in the study. The English version of the Mini-ICF-APP is a reliable and valid measure of disorders of capacity as defined by the International Classification of Functioning. Further work is necessary to establish whether the scale could be divided into sub scales which would allow the instrument to more sensitively measure an individual's specific impairments.

Combining Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to Assess Literary Text Comprehension

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Balyan, Renu; McCarthy, Kathryn S.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2017-01-01

This study examined how machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques can be leveraged to assess the interpretive behavior that is required for successful literary text comprehension. We compared the accuracy of seven different machine learning classification algorithms in predicting human ratings of student essays about…

Field Programmable Gate Array Reliability Analysis Guidelines for Launch Vehicle Reliability Block Diagrams

Science.gov (United States)

Al Hassan, Mohammad; Britton, Paul; Hatfield, Glen Spencer; Novack, Steven D.

2017-01-01

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) integrated circuits (IC) are one of the key electronic components in today's sophisticated launch and space vehicle complex avionic systems, largely due to their superb reprogrammable and reconfigurable capabilities combined with relatively low non-recurring engineering costs (NRE) and short design cycle. Consequently, FPGAs are prevalent ICs in communication protocols and control signal commands. This paper will identify reliability concerns and high level guidelines to estimate FPGA total failure rates in a launch vehicle application. The paper will discuss hardware, hardware description language, and radiation induced failures. The hardware contribution of the approach accounts for physical failures of the IC. The hardware description language portion will discuss the high level FPGA programming languages and software/code reliability growth. The radiation portion will discuss FPGA susceptibility to space environment radiation.

Using Edit Distance to Analyse Errors in a Natural Language to Logic Translation Corpus

Science.gov (United States)

Barker-Plummer, Dave; Dale, Robert; Cox, Richard; Romanczuk, Alex

2012-01-01

We have assembled a large corpus of student submissions to an automatic grading system, where the subject matter involves the translation of natural language sentences into propositional logic. Of the 2.3 million translation instances in the corpus, 286,000 (approximately 12%) are categorized as being in error. We want to understand the nature of…

The Ostomy Adjustment Scale: translation into Norwegian language with validation and reliability testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Indrebø, Kirsten Lerum; Andersen, John Roger; Natvig, Gerd Karin

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Ostomy Adjustment Scale to a Norwegian version and to assess its construct validity and 2 components of its reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability). One hundred fifty-eight of 217 patients (73%) with a colostomy, ileostomy, or urostomy participated in the study. Slightly more than half (56%) were men. Their mean age was 64 years (range, 26-91 years). All respondents had undergone ostomy surgery at least 3 months before participation in the study. The Ostomy Adjustment Scale was translated into Norwegian according to standard procedures for forward and backward translation. The questionnaire was sent to the participants via regular post. The Cronbach alpha and test-retest were computed to assess reliability. Construct validity was evaluated via correlations between each item and score sums; correlations were used to analyze relationships between the Ostomy Adjustment Scale and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, the Quality of Life Scale, the Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The Cronbach alpha was 0.93, and test-retest reliability r was 0.69. The average correlation quotient item to sum score was 0.49 (range, 0.31-0.73). Results showed moderate negative correlations between the Ostomy Adjustment Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (-0.37 and -0.40), and moderate positive correlations between the Ostomy Adjustment Scale and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, the Quality of Life Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (0.30-0.45) with the exception of the pain domain in the Short Form 36 (0.28). Regression analysis showed linear associations between the Ostomy Adjustment Scale and sociodemographic and clinical variables with the exception of education. The Norwegian language version of the Ostomy Adjustment Scale was found to possess construct validity, along with internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The instrument is

Toward a Theory-Based Natural Language Capability in Robots and Other Embodied Agents: Evaluating Hausser's SLIM Theory and Database Semantics

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Burk, Robin K.

2010-01-01

Computational natural language understanding and generation have been a goal of artificial intelligence since McCarthy, Minsky, Rochester and Shannon first proposed to spend the summer of 1956 studying this and related problems. Although statistical approaches dominate current natural language applications, two current research trends bring…

Detecting inpatient falls by using natural language processing of electronic medical records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toyabe Shin-ichi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Incident reporting is the most common method for detecting adverse events in a hospital. However, under-reporting or non-reporting and delay in submission of reports are problems that prevent early detection of serious adverse events. The aim of this study was to determine whether it is possible to promptly detect serious injuries after inpatient falls by using a natural language processing method and to determine which data source is the most suitable for this purpose. Methods We tried to detect adverse events from narrative text data of electronic medical records by using a natural language processing method. We made syntactic category decision rules to detect inpatient falls from text data in electronic medical records. We compared how often the true fall events were recorded in various sources of data including progress notes, discharge summaries, image order entries and incident reports. We applied the rules to these data sources and compared F-measures to detect falls between these data sources with reference to the results of a manual chart review. The lag time between event occurrence and data submission and the degree of injury were compared. Results We made 170 syntactic rules to detect inpatient falls by using a natural language processing method. Information on true fall events was most frequently recorded in progress notes (100%, incident reports (65.0% and image order entries (12.5%. However, F-measure to detect falls using the rules was poor when using progress notes (0.12 and discharge summaries (0.24 compared with that when using incident reports (1.00 and image order entries (0.91. Since the results suggested that incident reports and image order entries were possible data sources for prompt detection of serious falls, we focused on a comparison of falls found by incident reports and image order entries. Injury caused by falls found by image order entries was significantly more severe than falls detected by

Visual statistical learning is related to natural language ability in adults: An ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Daltrozzo, Jerome; Emerson, Samantha N; Deocampo, Joanne; Singh, Sonia; Freggens, Marjorie; Branum-Martin, Lee; Conway, Christopher M

2017-03-01

Statistical learning (SL) is believed to enable language acquisition by allowing individuals to learn regularities within linguistic input. However, neural evidence supporting a direct relationship between SL and language ability is scarce. We investigated whether there are associations between event-related potential (ERP) correlates of SL and language abilities while controlling for the general level of selective attention. Seventeen adults completed tests of visual SL, receptive vocabulary, grammatical ability, and sentence completion. Response times and ERPs showed that SL is related to receptive vocabulary and grammatical ability. ERPs indicated that the relationship between SL and grammatical ability was independent of attention while the association between SL and receptive vocabulary depended on attention. The implications of these dissociative relationships in terms of underlying mechanisms of SL and language are discussed. These results further elucidate the cognitive nature of the links between SL mechanisms and language abilities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantization, Frobenius and Bi Algebras from the Categorical Framework of Quantum Mechanics to Natural Language Semantics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Compact Closed categories and Frobenius and Bi algebras have been applied to model and reason about Quantum protocols. The same constructions have also been applied to reason about natural language semantics under the name: “categorical distributional compositional” semantics, or in short, the “DisCoCat” model. This model combines the statistical vector models of word meaning with the compositional models of grammatical structure. It has been applied to natural language tasks such as disambiguation, paraphrasing and entailment of phrases and sentences. The passage from the grammatical structure to vectors is provided by a functor, similar to the Quantization functor of Quantum Field Theory. The original DisCoCat model only used compact closed categories. Later, Frobenius algebras were added to it to model long distance dependancies such as relative pronouns. Recently, bialgebras have been added to the pack to reason about quantifiers. This paper reviews these constructions and their application to natural language semantics. We go over the theory and present some of the core experimental results.

Mathematics and the Laws of Nature Developing the Language of Science (Revised Edition)

CERN Document Server

Tabak, John

2011-01-01

Mathematics and the Laws of Nature, Revised Edition describes the evolution of the idea that nature can be described in the language of mathematics. Colorful chapters explore the earliest attempts to apply deductive methods to the study of the natural world. This revised resource goes on to examine the development of classical conservation laws, including the conservation of momentum, the conservation of mass, and the conservation of energy. Chapters have been updated and revised to reflect recent information, including the mathematical pioneers who introduced new ideas about what it meant to

Comparative study on the customization of natural language interfaces to databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Pazos R, Rodolfo A; Aguirre L, Marco A; González B, Juan J; Martínez F, José A; Pérez O, Joaquín; Verástegui O, Andrés A

2016-01-01

In the last decades the popularity of natural language interfaces to databases (NLIDBs) has increased, because in many cases information obtained from them is used for making important business decisions. Unfortunately, the complexity of their customization by database administrators make them difficult to use. In order for a NLIDB to obtain a high percentage of correctly translated queries, it is necessary that it is correctly customized for the database to be queried. In most cases the performance reported in NLIDB literature is the highest possible; i.e., the performance obtained when the interfaces were customized by the implementers. However, for end users it is more important the performance that the interface can yield when the NLIDB is customized by someone different from the implementers. Unfortunately, there exist very few articles that report NLIDB performance when the NLIDBs are not customized by the implementers. This article presents a semantically-enriched data dictionary (which permits solving many of the problems that occur when translating from natural language to SQL) and an experiment in which two groups of undergraduate students customized our NLIDB and English language frontend (ELF), considered one of the best available commercial NLIDBs. The experimental results show that, when customized by the first group, our NLIDB obtained a 44.69 % of correctly answered queries and ELF 11.83 % for the ATIS database, and when customized by the second group, our NLIDB attained 77.05 % and ELF 13.48 %. The performance attained by our NLIDB, when customized by ourselves was 90 %.

Communicative language testing in ESP context

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Alma Cenkaj Vladi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Language tests have always been important to people. Language is the most important means of communication, and only through it we can convey and receive messages, as well as test our cognitive abilities in different fields of knowledge. But while testing other cognitive areas of human knowledge is considered relatively easy, testing language itself has resulted rather difficult. Language testing theory has undergone several phases of development, from being completely uninterested in reliability and validity, to becoming obsessed with statistical formulae, which would have catered for the much wanted reliability. Swaying from one extreme to the other, communicative language testing seems to have found a balance between reliability through statistical analyses on the one hand, and validity through closely observing elements of language competence and performance, as well as ethical issues which bring tests closer to the social dimension. This article will give a general overview of how communicative language testing came in place, the theory and pertaining elements of such tests, as well as issues that have yet to be answered.

A semantic-based approach for querying linked data using natural language

KAUST Repository

Paredes-Valverde, Mario André s; Valencia-Garcí a, Rafael; Rodriguez-Garcia, Miguel Angel; Colomo-Palacios, Ricardo; Alor-Herná ndez, Giner

2016-01-01

The semantic Web aims to provide to Web information with a well-defined meaning and make it understandable not only by humans but also by computers, thus allowing the automation, integration and reuse of high-quality information across different applications. However, current information retrieval mechanisms for semantic knowledge bases are intended to be only used by expert users. In this work, we propose a natural language interface that allows non-expert users the access to this kind of information through formulating queries in natural language. The present approach uses a domain-independent ontology model to represent the question's structure and context. Also, this model allows determination of the answer type expected by the user based on a proposed question classification. To prove the effectiveness of our approach, we have conducted an evaluation in the music domain using LinkedBrainz, an effort to provide the MusicBrainz information as structured data on the Web by means of Semantic Web technologies. Our proposal obtained encouraging results based on the F-measure metric, ranging from 0.74 to 0.82 for a corpus of questions generated by a group of real-world end users. © The Author(s) 2015.

A semantic-based approach for querying linked data using natural language

KAUST Repository

Paredes-Valverde, Mario Andrés

2016-01-11

The semantic Web aims to provide to Web information with a well-defined meaning and make it understandable not only by humans but also by computers, thus allowing the automation, integration and reuse of high-quality information across different applications. However, current information retrieval mechanisms for semantic knowledge bases are intended to be only used by expert users. In this work, we propose a natural language interface that allows non-expert users the access to this kind of information through formulating queries in natural language. The present approach uses a domain-independent ontology model to represent the question\\'s structure and context. Also, this model allows determination of the answer type expected by the user based on a proposed question classification. To prove the effectiveness of our approach, we have conducted an evaluation in the music domain using LinkedBrainz, an effort to provide the MusicBrainz information as structured data on the Web by means of Semantic Web technologies. Our proposal obtained encouraging results based on the F-measure metric, ranging from 0.74 to 0.82 for a corpus of questions generated by a group of real-world end users. © The Author(s) 2015.

Speech perception and reading: two parallel modes of understanding language and implications for acquiring literacy naturally.

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Massaro, Dominic W

2012-01-01

I review 2 seminal research reports published in this journal during its second decade more than a century ago. Given psychology's subdisciplines, they would not normally be reviewed together because one involves reading and the other speech perception. The small amount of interaction between these domains might have limited research and theoretical progress. In fact, the 2 early research reports revealed common processes involved in these 2 forms of language processing. Their illustration of the role of Wundt's apperceptive process in reading and speech perception anticipated descriptions of contemporary theories of pattern recognition, such as the fuzzy logical model of perception. Based on the commonalities between reading and listening, one can question why they have been viewed so differently. It is commonly believed that learning to read requires formal instruction and schooling, whereas spoken language is acquired from birth onward through natural interactions with people who talk. Most researchers and educators believe that spoken language is acquired naturally from birth onward and even prenatally. Learning to read, on the other hand, is not possible until the child has acquired spoken language, reaches school age, and receives formal instruction. If an appropriate form of written text is made available early in a child's life, however, the current hypothesis is that reading will also be learned inductively and emerge naturally, with no significant negative consequences. If this proposal is true, it should soon be possible to create an interactive system, Technology Assisted Reading Acquisition, to allow children to acquire literacy naturally.

Natural language processing-based COTS software and related technologies survey.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stickland, Michael G.; Conrad, Gregory N.; Eaton, Shelley M.

2003-09-01

Natural language processing-based knowledge management software, traditionally developed for security organizations, is now becoming commercially available. An informal survey was conducted to discover and examine current NLP and related technologies and potential applications for information retrieval, information extraction, summarization, categorization, terminology management, link analysis, and visualization for possible implementation at Sandia National Laboratories. This report documents our current understanding of the technologies, lists software vendors and their products, and identifies potential applications of these technologies.

Modeling Coevolution between Language and Memory Capacity during Language Origin

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Tao; Shuai, Lan

2015-01-01

Memory is essential to many cognitive tasks including language. Apart from empirical studies of memory effects on language acquisition and use, there lack sufficient evolutionary explorations on whether a high level of memory capacity is prerequisite for language and whether language origin could influence memory capacity. In line with evolutionary theories that natural selection refined language-related cognitive abilities, we advocated a coevolution scenario between language and memory capacity, which incorporated the genetic transmission of individual memory capacity, cultural transmission of idiolects, and natural and cultural selections on individual reproduction and language teaching. To illustrate the coevolution dynamics, we adopted a multi-agent computational model simulating the emergence of lexical items and simple syntax through iterated communications. Simulations showed that: along with the origin of a communal language, an initially-low memory capacity for acquired linguistic knowledge was boosted; and such coherent increase in linguistic understandability and memory capacities reflected a language-memory coevolution; and such coevolution stopped till memory capacities became sufficient for language communications. Statistical analyses revealed that the coevolution was realized mainly by natural selection based on individual communicative success in cultural transmissions. This work elaborated the biology-culture parallelism of language evolution, demonstrated the driving force of culturally-constituted factors for natural selection of individual cognitive abilities, and suggested that the degree difference in language-related cognitive abilities between humans and nonhuman animals could result from a coevolution with language. PMID:26544876

Language related differences of the sustained response evoked by natural speech sounds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina Siu-Dschu Fan

Full Text Available In tonal languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, the pitch contour of vowels discriminates lexical meaning, which is not the case in non-tonal languages such as German. Recent data provide evidence that pitch processing is influenced by language experience. However, there are still many open questions concerning the representation of such phonological and language-related differences at the level of the auditory cortex (AC. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG, we recorded transient and sustained auditory evoked fields (AEF in native Chinese and German speakers to investigate language related phonological and semantic aspects in the processing of acoustic stimuli. AEF were elicited by spoken meaningful and meaningless syllables, by vowels, and by a French horn tone. Speech sounds were recorded from a native speaker and showed frequency-modulations according to the pitch-contours of Mandarin. The sustained field (SF evoked by natural speech signals was significantly larger for Chinese than for German listeners. In contrast, the SF elicited by a horn tone was not significantly different between groups. Furthermore, the SF of Chinese subjects was larger when evoked by meaningful syllables compared to meaningless ones, but there was no significant difference regarding whether vowels were part of the Chinese phonological system or not. Moreover, the N100m gave subtle but clear evidence that for Chinese listeners other factors than purely physical properties play a role in processing meaningful signals. These findings show that the N100 and the SF generated in Heschl's gyrus are influenced by language experience, which suggests that AC activity related to specific pitch contours of vowels is influenced in a top-down fashion by higher, language related areas. Such interactions are in line with anatomical findings and neuroimaging data, as well as with the dual-stream model of language of Hickok and Poeppel that highlights the close and reciprocal interaction

Language related differences of the sustained response evoked by natural speech sounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Christina Siu-Dschu; Zhu, Xingyu; Dosch, Hans Günter; von Stutterheim, Christiane; Rupp, André

2017-01-01

In tonal languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, the pitch contour of vowels discriminates lexical meaning, which is not the case in non-tonal languages such as German. Recent data provide evidence that pitch processing is influenced by language experience. However, there are still many open questions concerning the representation of such phonological and language-related differences at the level of the auditory cortex (AC). Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we recorded transient and sustained auditory evoked fields (AEF) in native Chinese and German speakers to investigate language related phonological and semantic aspects in the processing of acoustic stimuli. AEF were elicited by spoken meaningful and meaningless syllables, by vowels, and by a French horn tone. Speech sounds were recorded from a native speaker and showed frequency-modulations according to the pitch-contours of Mandarin. The sustained field (SF) evoked by natural speech signals was significantly larger for Chinese than for German listeners. In contrast, the SF elicited by a horn tone was not significantly different between groups. Furthermore, the SF of Chinese subjects was larger when evoked by meaningful syllables compared to meaningless ones, but there was no significant difference regarding whether vowels were part of the Chinese phonological system or not. Moreover, the N100m gave subtle but clear evidence that for Chinese listeners other factors than purely physical properties play a role in processing meaningful signals. These findings show that the N100 and the SF generated in Heschl's gyrus are influenced by language experience, which suggests that AC activity related to specific pitch contours of vowels is influenced in a top-down fashion by higher, language related areas. Such interactions are in line with anatomical findings and neuroimaging data, as well as with the dual-stream model of language of Hickok and Poeppel that highlights the close and reciprocal interaction between

Using Open Geographic Data to Generate Natural Language Descriptions for Hydrological Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Molina, Martin; Sanchez-Soriano, Javier; Corcho, Oscar

2015-07-03

Providing descriptions of isolated sensors and sensor networks in natural language, understandable by the general public, is useful to help users find relevant sensors and analyze sensor data. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of using geographic knowledge from public databases available on the Web (such as OpenStreetMap, Geonames, or DBpedia) to automatically construct such descriptions. We present a general method that uses such information to generate sensor descriptions in natural language. The results of the evaluation of our method in a hydrologic national sensor network showed that this approach is feasible and capable of generating adequate sensor descriptions with a lower development effort compared to other approaches. In the paper we also analyze certain problems that we found in public databases (e.g., heterogeneity, non-standard use of labels, or rigid search methods) and their impact in the generation of sensor descriptions.

Using Open Geographic Data to Generate Natural Language Descriptions for Hydrological Sensor Networks

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Martin Molina

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Providing descriptions of isolated sensors and sensor networks in natural language, understandable by the general public, is useful to help users find relevant sensors and analyze sensor data. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of using geographic knowledge from public databases available on the Web (such as OpenStreetMap, Geonames, or DBpedia to automatically construct such descriptions. We present a general method that uses such information to generate sensor descriptions in natural language. The results of the evaluation of our method in a hydrologic national sensor network showed that this approach is feasible and capable of generating adequate sensor descriptions with a lower development effort compared to other approaches. In the paper we also analyze certain problems that we found in public databases (e.g., heterogeneity, non-standard use of labels, or rigid search methods and their impact in the generation of sensor descriptions.

BT-Nurse: computer generation of natural language shift summaries from complex heterogeneous medical data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, James; Freer, Yvonne; Gatt, Albert; Reiter, Ehud; Sripada, Somayajulu; Sykes, Cindy; Westwater, Dave

2011-01-01

The BT-Nurse system uses data-to-text technology to automatically generate a natural language nursing shift summary in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The summary is solely based on data held in an electronic patient record system, no additional data-entry is required. BT-Nurse was tested for two months in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh NICU. Nurses were asked to rate the understandability, accuracy, and helpfulness of the computer-generated summaries; they were also asked for free-text comments about the summaries. The nurses found the majority of the summaries to be understandable, accurate, and helpful (pgenerated summaries. In conclusion, natural language NICU shift summaries can be automatically generated from an electronic patient record, but our proof-of-concept software needs considerable additional development work before it can be deployed.

Harnessing Biomedical Natural Language Processing Tools to Identify Medicinal Plant Knowledge from Historical Texts.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Vivekanand; Law, Wayne; Balick, Michael J; Sarkar, Indra Neil

2017-01-01

The growing amount of data describing historical medicinal uses of plants from digitization efforts provides the opportunity to develop systematic approaches for identifying potential plant-based therapies. However, the task of cataloguing plant use information from natural language text is a challenging task for ethnobotanists. To date, there have been only limited adoption of informatics approaches used for supporting the identification of ethnobotanical information associated with medicinal uses. This study explored the feasibility of using biomedical terminologies and natural language processing approaches for extracting relevant plant-associated therapeutic use information from historical biodiversity literature collection available from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. The results from this preliminary study suggest that there is potential utility of informatics methods to identify medicinal plant knowledge from digitized resources as well as highlight opportunities for improvement.

Suicide Note Classification Using Natural Language Processing: A Content Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pestian, John; Nasrallah, Henry; Matykiewicz, Pawel; Bennett, Aurora; Leenaars, Antoon

2010-08-04

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25-34 year olds and the third leading cause of death among 15-25 year olds in the United States. In the Emergency Department, where suicidal patients often present, estimating the risk of repeated attempts is generally left to clinical judgment. This paper presents our second attempt to determine the role of computational algorithms in understanding a suicidal patient's thoughts, as represented by suicide notes. We focus on developing methods of natural language processing that distinguish between genuine and elicited suicide notes. We hypothesize that machine learning algorithms can categorize suicide notes as well as mental health professionals and psychiatric physician trainees do. The data used are comprised of suicide notes from 33 suicide completers and matched to 33 elicited notes from healthy control group members. Eleven mental health professionals and 31 psychiatric trainees were asked to decide if a note was genuine or elicited. Their decisions were compared to nine different machine-learning algorithms. The results indicate that trainees accurately classified notes 49% of the time, mental health professionals accurately classified notes 63% of the time, and the best machine learning algorithm accurately classified the notes 78% of the time. This is an important step in developing an evidence-based predictor of repeated suicide attempts because it shows that natural language processing can aid in distinguishing between classes of suicidal notes.

A Cognitive Neural Architecture Able to Learn and Communicate through Natural Language.

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Bruno Golosio

Full Text Available Communicative interactions involve a kind of procedural knowledge that is used by the human brain for processing verbal and nonverbal inputs and for language production. Although considerable work has been done on modeling human language abilities, it has been difficult to bring them together to a comprehensive tabula rasa system compatible with current knowledge of how verbal information is processed in the brain. This work presents a cognitive system, entirely based on a large-scale neural architecture, which was developed to shed light on the procedural knowledge involved in language elaboration. The main component of this system is the central executive, which is a supervising system that coordinates the other components of the working memory. In our model, the central executive is a neural network that takes as input the neural activation states of the short-term memory and yields as output mental actions, which control the flow of information among the working memory components through neural gating mechanisms. The proposed system is capable of learning to communicate through natural language starting from tabula rasa, without any a priori knowledge of the structure of phrases, meaning of words, role of the different classes of words, only by interacting with a human through a text-based interface, using an open-ended incremental learning process. It is able to learn nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and other word classes, and to use them in expressive language. The model was validated on a corpus of 1587 input sentences, based on literature on early language assessment, at the level of about 4-years old child, and produced 521 output sentences, expressing a broad range of language processing functionalities.

An intelligent tutoring system that generates a natural language dialogue using dynamic multi-level planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Woo, Chong Woo; Evens, Martha W; Freedman, Reva; Glass, Michael; Shim, Leem Seop; Zhang, Yuemei; Zhou, Yujian; Michael, Joel

2006-09-01

The objective of this research was to build an intelligent tutoring system capable of carrying on a natural language dialogue with a student who is solving a problem in physiology. Previous experiments have shown that students need practice in qualitative causal reasoning to internalize new knowledge and to apply it effectively and that they learn by putting their ideas into words. Analysis of a corpus of 75 hour-long tutoring sessions carried on in keyboard-to-keyboard style by two professors of physiology at Rush Medical College tutoring first-year medical students provided the rules used in tutoring strategies and tactics, parsing, and text generation. The system presents the student with a perturbation to the blood pressure, asks for qualitative predictions of the changes produced in seven important cardiovascular variables, and then launches a dialogue to correct any errors and to probe for possible misconceptions. The natural language understanding component uses a cascade of finite-state machines. The generation is based on lexical functional grammar. Results of experiments with pretests and posttests have shown that using the system for an hour produces significant learning gains and also that even this brief use improves the student's ability to solve problems more then reading textual material on the topic. Student surveys tell us that students like the system and feel that they learn from it. The system is now in regular use in the first-year physiology course at Rush Medical College. We conclude that the CIRCSIM-Tutor system demonstrates that intelligent tutoring systems can implement effective natural language dialogue with current language technology.

Recent Technological Advances in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence

OpenAIRE

Shah, Nishal Pradeepkumar

2012-01-01

A recent advance in computer technology has permitted scientists to implement and test algorithms that were known from quite some time (or not) but which were computationally expensive. Two such projects are IBM's Jeopardy as a part of its DeepQA project [1] and Wolfram's Wolframalpha[2]. Both these methods implement natural language processing (another goal of AI scientists) and try to answer questions as asked by the user. Though the goal of the two projects is similar, both of them have a ...

Quantum Algorithms for Compositional Natural Language Processing

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William Zeng

2016-08-01

Full Text Available We propose a new application of quantum computing to the field of natural language processing. Ongoing work in this field attempts to incorporate grammatical structure into algorithms that compute meaning. In (Coecke, Sadrzadeh and Clark, 2010, the authors introduce such a model (the CSC model based on tensor product composition. While this algorithm has many advantages, its implementation is hampered by the large classical computational resources that it requires. In this work we show how computational shortcomings of the CSC approach could be resolved using quantum computation (possibly in addition to existing techniques for dimension reduction. We address the value of quantum RAM (Giovannetti,2008 for this model and extend an algorithm from Wiebe, Braun and Lloyd (2012 into a quantum algorithm to categorize sentences in CSC. Our new algorithm demonstrates a quadratic speedup over classical methods under certain conditions.

Integrating Multi-Purpose Natural Language Understanding, Robot's Memory, and Symbolic Planning for Task Execution in Humanoid Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wächter, Mirko; Ovchinnikova, Ekaterina; Wittenbeck, Valerij

2017-01-01

We propose an approach for instructing a robot using natural language to solve complex tasks in a dynamic environment. In this study, we elaborate on a framework that allows a humanoid robot to understand natural language, derive symbolic representations of its sensorimotor experience, generate....... The framework is implemented within the robot development environment ArmarX. We evaluate the framework on the humanoid robot ARMAR-III in the context of two experiments: a demonstration of the real execution of a complex task in the kitchen environment on ARMAR-III and an experiment with untrained users...

Cognitive Neuroscience of Natural Language Use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Willems, R.M.

2015-01-01

When we think of everyday language use, the first things that come to mind include colloquial conversations, reading and writing e-mails, sending text messages or reading a book. But can we study the brain basis of language as we use it in our daily lives? As a topic of study, the cognitive

Research and Development in Natural Language Understanding as Part of the Strategic Computing Program.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-04-01

facilities. BBN is developing a series of increasingly sophisticated natural language understanding systems which will serve as an integrated interface...Haas, A.R. A Syntactic Theory of Belief and Action. Artificial Intelligence. 1986. Forthcoming. [6] Hinrichs, E. Temporale Anaphora im Englischen

Language Revitalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinton, Leanne

2003-01-01

Surveys developments in language revitalization and language death. Focusing on indigenous languages, discusses the role and nature of appropriate linguistic documentation, possibilities for bilingual education, and methods of promoting oral fluency and intergenerational transmission in affected languages. (Author/VWL)

Measuring language lateralisation with different language tasks: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abigail R. Bradshaw

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Language lateralisation refers to the phenomenon in which one hemisphere (typically the left shows greater involvement in language functions than the other. Measurement of laterality is of interest both to researchers investigating the neural organisation of the language system and to clinicians needing to establish an individual’s hemispheric dominance for language prior to surgery, as in patients with intractable epilepsy. Recently, there has been increasing awareness of the possibility that different language processes may develop hemispheric lateralisation independently, and to varying degrees. However, it is not always clear whether differences in laterality across language tasks with fMRI are reflective of meaningful variation in hemispheric lateralisation, or simply of trivial methodological differences between paradigms. This systematic review aims to assess different language tasks in terms of the strength, reliability and robustness of the laterality measurements they yield with fMRI, to look at variability that is both dependent and independent of aspects of study design, such as the baseline task, region of interest, and modality of the stimuli. Recommendations are made that can be used to guide task design; however, this review predominantly highlights that the current high level of methodological variability in language paradigms prevents conclusions as to how different language functions may lateralise independently. We conclude with suggestions for future research using tasks that engage distinct aspects of language functioning, whilst being closely matched on non-linguistic aspects of task design (e.g., stimuli, task timings etc; such research could produce more reliable and conclusive insights into language lateralisation. This systematic review was registered as a protocol on Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/5vmpt/.

Laboratory process control using natural language commands from a personal computer

Science.gov (United States)

Will, Herbert A.; Mackin, Michael A.

1989-01-01

PC software is described which provides flexible natural language process control capability with an IBM PC or compatible machine. Hardware requirements include the PC, and suitable hardware interfaces to all controlled devices. Software required includes the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) operating system, a PC-based FORTRAN-77 compiler, and user-written device drivers. Instructions for use of the software are given as well as a description of an application of the system.

Suicide Note Classification Using Natural Language Processing: A Content Analysis

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John Pestian

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25–34 year olds and the third leading cause of death among 15–25 year olds in the United States. In the Emergency Department, where suicidal patients often present, estimating the risk of repeated attempts is generally left to clinical judgment. This paper presents our second attempt to determine the role of computational algorithms in understanding a suicidal patient’s thoughts, as represented by suicide notes. We focus on developing methods of natural language processing that distinguish between genuine and elicited suicide notes. We hypothesize that machine learning algorithms can categorize suicide notes as well as mental health professionals and psychiatric physician trainees do. The data used are comprised of suicide notes from 33 suicide completers and matched to 33 elicited notes from healthy control group members. Eleven mental health professionals and 31 psychiatric trainees were asked to decide if a note was genuine or elicited. Their decisions were compared to nine different machine-learning algorithms. The results indicate that trainees accurately classified notes 49% of the time, mental health professionals accurately classified notes 63% of the time, and the best machine learning algorithm accurately classified the notes 78% of the time. This is an important step in developing an evidence-based predictor of repeated suicide attempts because it shows that natural language processing can aid in distinguishing between classes of suicidal notes.

Steering the conversation: A linguistic exploration of natural language interactions with a digital assistant during simulated driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Large, David R; Clark, Leigh; Quandt, Annie; Burnett, Gary; Skrypchuk, Lee

2017-09-01

Given the proliferation of 'intelligent' and 'socially-aware' digital assistants embodying everyday mobile technology - and the undeniable logic that utilising voice-activated controls and interfaces in cars reduces the visual and manual distraction of interacting with in-vehicle devices - it appears inevitable that next generation vehicles will be embodied by digital assistants and utilise spoken language as a method of interaction. From a design perspective, defining the language and interaction style that a digital driving assistant should adopt is contingent on the role that they play within the social fabric and context in which they are situated. We therefore conducted a qualitative, Wizard-of-Oz study to explore how drivers might interact linguistically with a natural language digital driving assistant. Twenty-five participants drove for 10 min in a medium-fidelity driving simulator while interacting with a state-of-the-art, high-functioning, conversational digital driving assistant. All exchanges were transcribed and analysed using recognised linguistic techniques, such as discourse and conversation analysis, normally reserved for interpersonal investigation. Language usage patterns demonstrate that interactions with the digital assistant were fundamentally social in nature, with participants affording the assistant equal social status and high-level cognitive processing capability. For example, participants were polite, actively controlled turn-taking during the conversation, and used back-channelling, fillers and hesitation, as they might in human communication. Furthermore, participants expected the digital assistant to understand and process complex requests mitigated with hedging words and expressions, and peppered with vague language and deictic references requiring shared contextual information and mutual understanding. Findings are presented in six themes which emerged during the analysis - formulating responses; turn-taking; back

Potential for natural evaporation as a reliable renewable energy resource.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavusoglu, Ahmet-Hamdi; Chen, Xi; Gentine, Pierre; Sahin, Ozgur

2017-09-26

About 50% of the solar energy absorbed at the Earth's surface drives evaporation, fueling the water cycle that affects various renewable energy resources, such as wind and hydropower. Recent advances demonstrate our nascent ability to convert evaporation energy into work, yet there is little understanding about the potential of this resource. Here we study the energy available from natural evaporation to predict the potential of this ubiquitous resource. We find that natural evaporation from open water surfaces could provide power densities comparable to current wind and solar technologies while cutting evaporative water losses by nearly half. We estimate up to 325 GW of power is potentially available in the United States. Strikingly, water's large heat capacity is sufficient to control power output by storing excess energy when demand is low, thus reducing intermittency and improving reliability. Our findings motivate the improvement of materials and devices that convert energy from evaporation.The evaporation of water represents an alternative source of renewable energy. Building on previous models of evaporation, Cavusoglu et al. show that the power available from this natural resource is comparable to wind and solar power, yet it does not suffer as much from varying weather conditions.

Deviations in the Zipf and Heaps laws in natural languages

Science.gov (United States)

Bochkarev, Vladimir V.; Lerner, Eduard Yu; Shevlyakova, Anna V.

2014-03-01

This paper is devoted to verifying of the empirical Zipf and Hips laws in natural languages using Google Books Ngram corpus data. The connection between the Zipf and Heaps law which predicts the power dependence of the vocabulary size on the text size is discussed. In fact, the Heaps exponent in this dependence varies with the increasing of the text corpus. To explain it, the obtained results are compared with the probability model of text generation. Quasi-periodic variations with characteristic time periods of 60-100 years were also found.

Semi-supervised learning and domain adaptation in natural language processing

CERN Document Server

Søgaard, Anders

2013-01-01

This book introduces basic supervised learning algorithms applicable to natural language processing (NLP) and shows how the performance of these algorithms can often be improved by exploiting the marginal distribution of large amounts of unlabeled data. One reason for that is data sparsity, i.e., the limited amounts of data we have available in NLP. However, in most real-world NLP applications our labeled data is also heavily biased. This book introduces extensions of supervised learning algorithms to cope with data sparsity and different kinds of sampling bias.This book is intended to be both

Deviations in the Zipf and Heaps laws in natural languages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bochkarev, Vladimir V; Lerner, Eduard Yu; Shevlyakova, Anna V

2014-01-01

This paper is devoted to verifying of the empirical Zipf and Hips laws in natural languages using Google Books Ngram corpus data. The connection between the Zipf and Heaps law which predicts the power dependence of the vocabulary size on the text size is discussed. In fact, the Heaps exponent in this dependence varies with the increasing of the text corpus. To explain it, the obtained results are compared with the probability model of text generation. Quasi-periodic variations with characteristic time periods of 60-100 years were also found

Language Models With Meta-information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shi, Y.

2014-01-01

Language modeling plays a critical role in natural language processing and understanding. Starting from a general structure, language models are able to learn natural language patterns from rich input data. However, the state-of-the-art language models only take advantage of words themselves, which

Automated Trait Extraction using ClearEarth, a Natural Language Processing System for Text Mining in Natural Sciences

OpenAIRE

Thessen,Anne; Preciado,Jenette; Jain,Payoj; Martin,James; Palmer,Martha; Bhat,Riyaz

2018-01-01

The cTAKES package (using the ClearTK Natural Language Processing toolkit Bethard et al. 2014, http://cleartk.github.io/cleartk/) has been successfully used to automatically read clinical notes in the medical field (Albright et al. 2013, Styler et al. 2014). It is used on a daily basis to automatically process clinical notes and extract relevant information by dozens of medical institutions. ClearEarth is a collaborative project that brings together computational linguistics and domain scient...

AutoTutor and Family: A Review of 17 Years of Natural Language Tutoring

Science.gov (United States)

Nye, Benjamin D.; Graesser, Arthur C.; Hu, Xiangen

2014-01-01

AutoTutor is a natural language tutoring system that has produced learning gains across multiple domains (e.g., computer literacy, physics, critical thinking). In this paper, we review the development, key research findings, and systems that have evolved from AutoTutor. First, the rationale for developing AutoTutor is outlined and the advantages…

Construct Validity in TOEFL iBT Speaking Tasks: Insights from Natural Language Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

This study explores the construct validity of speaking tasks included in the TOEFL iBT (e.g., integrated and independent speaking tasks). Specifically, advanced natural language processing (NLP) tools, MANOVA difference statistics, and discriminant function analyses (DFA) are used to assess the degree to which and in what ways responses to these…

Language evolution and human-computer interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Grudin, Jonathan; Norman, Donald A.

1991-01-01

Many of the issues that confront designers of interactive computer systems also appear in natural language evolution. Natural languages and human-computer interfaces share as their primary mission the support of extended 'dialogues' between responsive entities. Because in each case one participant is a human being, some of the pressures operating on natural languages, causing them to evolve in order to better support such dialogue, also operate on human-computer 'languages' or interfaces. This does not necessarily push interfaces in the direction of natural language - since one entity in this dialogue is not a human, this is not to be expected. Nonetheless, by discerning where the pressures that guide natural language evolution also appear in human-computer interaction, we can contribute to the design of computer systems and obtain a new perspective on natural languages.

Children with Specific Language Impairment and Their Families: A Future View of Nature Plus Nurture and New Technologies for Comprehensive Language Intervention Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Mabel L

2016-11-01

Future perspectives on children with language impairments are framed from what is known about children with specific language impairment (SLI). A summary of the current state of services is followed by discussion of how these children can be overlooked and misunderstood and consideration of why it is so hard for some children to acquire language when it is effortless for most children. Genetic influences are highlighted, with the suggestion that nature plus nurture should be considered in present as well as future intervention approaches. A nurture perspective highlights the family context of the likelihood of SLI for some of the children. Future models of the causal pathways may provide more specific information to guide gene-treatment decisions, in ways parallel to current personalized medicine approaches. Future treatment options can build on the potential of electronic technologies and social media to provide personalized treatment methods available at a time and place convenient for the person to use as often as desired. The speech-language pathologist could oversee a wide range of treatment options and monitor evidence provided electronically to evaluate progress and plan future treatment steps. Most importantly, future methods can provide lifelong language acquisition activities that maintain the privacy and dignity of persons with language impairment, and in so doing will in turn enhance the effectiveness of speech-language pathologists. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Status of the IAEA coordinated research project on natural circulation phenomena, modelling, and reliability of passive systems that utilize natural circulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reyes, J.N. Jr.; Cleveland, J.; Aksan, N.

2004-01-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has established a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) titled ''Natural Circulation Phenomena, Modelling and Reliability of Passive Safety Systems that Utilize Natural Circulation. '' This work has been organized within the framework of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy's Technical Working Groups for Advanced Technologies for Light Water Reactors and Heavy Water Reactors (the TWG-LWR and the TWG-HWR). This CRP is part of IAEA's effort to foster international collaborations that strive to improve the economic performance of future water-cooled nuclear power plants while meeting stringent safety requirements. Thus far, IAEA has established 12 research agreements with organizations from industrialized Member States and 3 research contracts with organizations from developing Member States. The objective of the CRP is to enhance our understanding of natural circulation phenomena in water-cooled reactors and passive safety systems. The CRP participants are particularly interested in establishing a natural circulation and passive safety system thermal hydraulic database that can be used to benchmark computer codes for advanced reactor systems design and safety analysis. An important aspect of this CRP relates to developing methodologies to assess the reliability of passive safety systems in advanced reactor designs. This paper describes the motivation and objectives of the CRP, the research plan, and the role of each of the participating organizations. (author)

Natural language acquisition in large scale neural semantic networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ealey, Douglas

This thesis puts forward the view that a purely signal- based approach to natural language processing is both plausible and desirable. By questioning the veracity of symbolic representations of meaning, it argues for a unified, non-symbolic model of knowledge representation that is both biologically plausible and, potentially, highly efficient. Processes to generate a grounded, neural form of this model-dubbed the semantic filter-are discussed. The combined effects of local neural organisation, coincident with perceptual maturation, are used to hypothesise its nature. This theoretical model is then validated in light of a number of fundamental neurological constraints and milestones. The mechanisms of semantic and episodic development that the model predicts are then used to explain linguistic properties, such as propositions and verbs, syntax and scripting. To mimic the growth of locally densely connected structures upon an unbounded neural substrate, a system is developed that can grow arbitrarily large, data- dependant structures composed of individual self- organising neural networks. The maturational nature of the data used results in a structure in which the perception of concepts is refined by the networks, but demarcated by subsequent structure. As a consequence, the overall structure shows significant memory and computational benefits, as predicted by the cognitive and neural models. Furthermore, the localised nature of the neural architecture also avoids the increasing error sensitivity and redundancy of traditional systems as the training domain grows. The semantic and episodic filters have been demonstrated to perform as well, or better, than more specialist networks, whilst using significantly larger vocabularies, more complex sentence forms and more natural corpora.

Drawing Dynamic Geometry Figures Online with Natural Language for Junior High School Geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Wing-Kwong; Yin, Sheng-Kai; Yang, Chang-Zhe

2012-01-01

This paper presents a tool for drawing dynamic geometric figures by understanding the texts of geometry problems. With the tool, teachers and students can construct dynamic geometric figures on a web page by inputting a geometry problem in natural language. First we need to build the knowledge base for understanding geometry problems. With the…

Scale for positive aspects of caregiving experience: development, reliability, and factor structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kate, N; Grover, S; Kulhara, P; Nehra, R

2012-06-01

OBJECTIVE. To develop an instrument (Scale for Positive Aspects of Caregiving Experience [SPACE]) that evaluates positive caregiving experience and assess its psychometric properties. METHODS. Available scales which assess some aspects of positive caregiving experience were reviewed and a 50-item questionnaire with a 5-point rating was constructed. In all, 203 primary caregivers of patients with severe mental disorders were asked to complete the questionnaire. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, cross-language reliability, split-half reliability, and face validity were evaluated. Principal component factor analysis was run to assess the factorial validity of the scale. RESULTS. The scale developed as part of the study was found to have good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, cross-language reliability, split-half reliability, and face validity. Principal component factor analysis yielded a 4-factor structure, which also had good test-retest reliability and cross-language reliability. There was a strong correlation between the 4 factors obtained. CONCLUSION. The SPACE developed as part of this study has good psychometric properties.

PERSISTENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN NATURAL SCIENCES STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandr I Krupnov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the results of empirical study of the association between variables of persistence and academic achievement in foreign languages. The sample includes students of the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Science at the RUDN University ( n = 115, divided into 5 subsamples, two of which are featured in the present study (the most and the least successful students subsamples. Persistence as a personality trait is studied within A.I. Krupnov’s system-functional approach. A.I. Krupnov’s paper-and-pencil test was used to measure persistence variables. Academic achievement was measured according to the four parameters: Phonetics, Grammar, Speaking and Political vocabulary based on the grades students received during the academic year. The analysis revealed that persistence displays different associations with academic achievement variables in more and less successful students subsamples, the general prominence of this trait is more important for unsuccessful students. Phonetics is the academic achievement variable most associated with persistence due to its nature, a skill one can acquire through hard work and practice which is the definition of persistence. Grammar as an academic achievement variable is not associated with persistence and probably relates to other factors. Unsuccessful students may have difficulties in separating various aspects of language acquisition from each other which should be taken into consideration by the teachers.

Testing an AAC system that transforms pictograms into natural language with persons with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pahisa-Solé, Joan; Herrera-Joancomartí, Jordi

2017-10-18

In this article, we describe a compansion system that transforms the telegraphic language that comes from the use of pictogram-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) into natural language. The system was tested with four participants with severe cerebral palsy and ranging degrees of linguistic competence and intellectual disabilities. Participants had used pictogram-based AAC at least for the past 30 years each and presented a stable linguistic profile. During tests, which consisted of a total of 40 sessions, participants were able to learn new linguistic skills, such as the use of basic verb tenses, while using the compansion system, which proved a source of motivation. The system can be adapted to the linguistic competence of each person and required no learning curve during tests when none of its special features, like gender, number, verb tense, or sentence type modifiers, were used. Furthermore, qualitative and quantitative results showed a mean communication rate increase of 41.59%, compared to the same communication device without the compansion system, and an overall improvement in the communication experience when the output is in natural language. Tests were conducted in Catalan and Spanish.

Questionnaire for Assessing Preschoolers’ Organizational Abilities in Their Natural Environments: Development and Establishment of Validity and Reliability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gila Tubul-Lavy

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the consensus in the literature regarding the importance of organizational abilities in performing daily tasks, currently there is no assessment that focuses exclusively on such abilities among young children. The study aims to develop a Questionnaire for Assessing Preschoolers’ Organizational Abilities (QAPOA, Parents’ and Teachers’ versions, and to examine their reliability and validity. QAPOA was distributed to preschool teachers and parents of 215 typically developing 4–5.6-year-old children. The teachers’ and parents’ versions demonstrated good internal consistency. Factor analysis performed to examine the tool’s content validity yielded two factors: motor-based and language-based OA. Furthermore, both versions of the questionnaire demonstrated significant differences between OA among boys and girls. Concurrent validity was demonstrated between the QAPOA total scores and the equivalent subscale of the BRIEF-P. Given these findings, different cut-off scores were established for identifying boys and girls with either motor-based and/or language-based OA. The results indicate that both the teachers’ and parents’ versions of the QAPOA are reliable and valid measures of children’s organizational abilities. The questionnaires can assess and identify risk for organizational disabilities as early as preschool age. Thus, it can contribute to the planning of appropriate intervention programs and the prevention of difficulties in the future.

Constructing Concept Schemes From Astronomical Telegrams Via Natural Language Clustering

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Matthew; Zhang, M.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Donalek, C.; Drake, A. J.; Mahabal, A.

2012-01-01

The rapidly emerging field of time domain astronomy is one of the most exciting and vibrant new research frontiers, ranging in scientific scope from studies of the Solar System to extreme relativistic astrophysics and cosmology. It is being enabled by a new generation of large synoptic digital sky surveys - LSST, PanStarrs, CRTS - that cover large areas of sky repeatedly, looking for transient objects and phenomena. One of the biggest challenges facing these is the automated classification of transient events, a process that needs machine-processible astronomical knowledge. Semantic technologies enable the formal representation of concepts and relations within a particular domain. ATELs (http://www.astronomerstelegram.org) are a commonly-used means for reporting and commenting upon new astronomical observations of transient sources (supernovae, stellar outbursts, blazar flares, etc). However, they are loose and unstructured and employ scientific natural language for description: this makes automated processing of them - a necessity within the next decade with petascale data rates - a challenge. Nevertheless they represent a potentially rich corpus of information that could lead to new and valuable insights into transient phenomena. This project lies in the cutting-edge field of astrosemantics, a branch of astroinformatics, which applies semantic technologies to astronomy. The ATELs have been used to develop an appropriate concept scheme - a representation of the information they contain - for transient astronomy using hierarchical clustering of processed natural language. This allows us to automatically organize ATELs based on the vocabulary used. We conclude that we can use simple algorithms to process and extract meaning from astronomical textual data.

Highly Reliable Organizations in the Onshore Natural Gas Sector: An Assessment of Current Practices, Regulatory Frameworks, and Select Case Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Logan, Jeffrey S. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Paranhos, Elizabeth [Energy Innovation Partners, Seattle, WA (United States); Kozak, Tracy G. [Energy Innovation Partners, Seattle, WA (United States); Boyd, William [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

2017-07-31

This study focuses on onshore natural gas operations and examines the extent to which oil and gas firms have embraced certain organizational characteristics that lead to 'high reliability' - understood here as strong safety and reliability records over extended periods of operation. The key questions that motivated this study include whether onshore oil and gas firms engaged in exploration and production (E&P) and midstream (i.e., natural gas transmission and storage) are implementing practices characteristic of high reliability organizations (HROs) and the extent to which any such practices are being driven by industry innovations and standards and/or regulatory requirements.

Dynamical Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Huimin

The following sections are included: * Definition of Dynamical Languages * Distinct Excluded Blocks * Definition and Properties * L and L″ in Chomsky Hierarchy * A Natural Equivalence Relation * Symbolic Flows * Symbolic Flows and Dynamical Languages * Subshifts of Finite Type * Sofic Systems * Graphs and Dynamical Languages * Graphs and Shannon-Graphs * Transitive Languages * Topological Entropy

European Reliability Data System: main developments and use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amesz, J.; Capobianchi, S.; Kalfsbeek, H.W.; Mancini, G.

1985-01-01

The paper revises the aims and objectives of the European Reliability Data System (ERDS), a centralized system collecting and organizing information related to the operation of light water reactors. The paper first describes the recent developments of the four data banks constituting the system: Component Event Data Bank, Abnormal Occurrences Reporting System, Operating Unit Status Report and Reliability Parameters Data Bank. Then several issues are discussed referring mostly to the status of classification schemes and their use, to the operation of the banks (data input and transcoding) and to the retrieval and utilization of the information; in this latter case particularly the analysis potential of the data collection scheme of the AORS (Abnormal Occurrences Reporting System) is demonstrated. Finally, emphasis is given to the increasing role which artificial intelligence techniques such as natural language and expert systems and fuzzy logic may play in improving the future capabilities of the system

Training Parents to Use the Natural Language Paradigm to Increase Their Autistic Children's Speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Laski, Karen E.; And Others

1988-01-01

Parents of four nonverbal and four echolalic autistic children, aged five-nine, were trained to increase their children's speech by using the Natural Language Paradigm. Following training, parents increased the frequency with which they required their children to speak, and children increased the frequency of their verbalizations in three…

Reliability in perceptual analysis of voice quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bele, Irene Velsvik

2005-12-01

This study focuses on speaking voice quality in male teachers (n = 35) and male actors (n = 36), who represent untrained and trained voice users, because we wanted to investigate normal and supranormal voices. In this study, both substantial and methodologic aspects were considered. It includes a method for perceptual voice evaluation, and a basic issue was rater reliability. A listening group of 10 listeners, 7 experienced speech-language therapists, and 3 speech-language therapist students evaluated the voices by 15 vocal characteristics using VA scales. Two sets of voice signals were investigated: text reading (2 loudness levels) and sustained vowel (3 levels). The results indicated a high interrater reliability for most perceptual characteristics. Connected speech was evaluated more reliably, especially at the normal level, but both types of voice signals were evaluated reliably, although the reliability for connected speech was somewhat higher than for vowels. Experienced listeners tended to be more consistent in their ratings than did the student raters. Some vocal characteristics achieved acceptable reliability even with a smaller panel of listeners. The perceptual characteristics grouped in 4 factors reflected perceptual dimensions.

Reliability and effectiveness of early warning systems for natural hazards: Concept and application to debris flow warning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sättele, Martina; Bründl, Michael; Straub, Daniel

2015-01-01

Early Warning Systems (EWS) are increasingly applied to mitigate the risks posed by natural hazards. To compare the effect of EWS with alternative risk reduction measures and to optimize their design and operation, their reliability and effectiveness must be quantified. In the present contribution, a framework approach to the evaluation of threshold-based EWS for natural hazards is presented. The system reliability is classically represented by the Probability of Detection (POD) and Probability of False Alarms (PFA). We demonstrate how the EWS effectiveness, which is a measure of risk reduction, can be formulated as a function of POD and PFA. To model the EWS and compute the reliability, we develop a framework based on Bayesian Networks, which is further extended to a decision graph, facilitating the optimization of the warning system. In a case study, the framework is applied to the assessment of an existing debris flow EWS. The application demonstrates the potential of the framework for identifying the important factors influencing the effectiveness of the EWS and determining optimal warning strategies and system configurations. - Highlights: • Warning systems are increasingly applied measures to reduce natural hazard risks. • Bayesian Networks (BN) are powerful tools to quantify warning system's reliability. • The effectiveness is defined to assess the optimality of warning systems. • By extending BNs to decision graphs, the optimal warning strategy is identified. • Sensors positioning significantly influence the effectiveness of warning systems

Coupling ontology driven semantic representation with multilingual natural language generation for tuning international terminologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Rassinoux, Anne-Marie; Baud, Robert H; Rodrigues, Jean-Marie; Lovis, Christian; Geissbühler, Antoine

2007-01-01

The importance of clinical communication between providers, consumers and others, as well as the requisite for computer interoperability, strengthens the need for sharing common accepted terminologies. Under the directives of the World Health Organization (WHO), an approach is currently being conducted in Australia to adopt a standardized terminology for medical procedures that is intended to become an international reference. In order to achieve such a standard, a collaborative approach is adopted, in line with the successful experiment conducted for the development of the new French coding system CCAM. Different coding centres are involved in setting up a semantic representation of each term using a formal ontological structure expressed through a logic-based representation language. From this language-independent representation, multilingual natural language generation (NLG) is performed to produce noun phrases in various languages that are further compared for consistency with the original terms. Outcomes are presented for the assessment of the International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) and its translation into Portuguese. The initial results clearly emphasize the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the proposed method for handling both a different classification and an additional language. NLG tools, based on ontology driven semantic representation, facilitate the discovery of ambiguous and inconsistent terms, and, as such, should be promoted for establishing coherent international terminologies.

Text to Speech Berbasis Natural Language pada Aplikasi Pembelajaran Tenses Bahasa Inggris

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amak Yunus

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Bahasa adalah sebuah cara berkomunikasi secara sistematis dengan menggunakan suara atau simbol-simbol yang memiliki arti, yang diucapkan melalui mulut. Bahasa juga ditulis dengan mengikuti kaidah yang berlaku. Salah satu bahasa yang banyak digunakan di belahan dunia adalah Bahasa Inggris. Namun ada beberapa kendala apabila kita belajar kepada seorang guru atau instruktur. Waktu yang diberikan seorang guru, terbatas pada jam sekolah atau les saja. Bila siswa pulang sekolah atau les, maka yang bersangkutan harus belajar bahasa Inggris secara mandiri. Dari permasalahan di atas, muncul sebuah ide tentang bagaimana membuat sebuah penelitian yang berkaitan dengan pembuatan aplikasi yang mampu memberikan pengetahuan kepada siswa tentang bagaimana belajar bahasa Inggris secara mandiri baik dari perubahan kalimat postif menjadi kalimat negatif dan kalimat tanya. Disamping itu, aplikasi ini juga mampu memberikan pengetahuan tentang bagaimana mengucapkan kalimat dalam bahasa Inggris. Pada intinya kontribusi yang dapat diperoleh dari hasil penelitian ini adalah pihak terkait dari tingkat SMP sampai dengan SMU/SMK, dapat menggunakan aplikasi text to speech berbasis natural language processing untuk mempelajari tenses pada bahasa Inggris. Aplikasi ini dapat memperdengarkan kalimat-kalimat pada bahasa inggris dan dapat menyusun kalimat tanya dan kalimat negatif berdasarkan kalimat positifnya dalam beberapa tenses bahasa Inggris. Kata Kunci : Natural language processing, Text to speech

Children's Foreign Language Anxiety Scale: Preliminary Tests of Reliability and Validity

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Selami; Harputlu, Leyla; Güzel, Serhat; Ustuk, Özgehan; Savran Çelik, Seyda; Genç, Deniz

2016-01-01

Foreign language anxiety (FLA), which constitutes a serious problem in the foreign language learning process, has been mainly seen as a research issue regarding adult language learners, while it has been overlooked in children. This is because there is no an appropriate tool to measure FLA among children, whereas there are many studies on the…

ONTOLOGY BASED MEANINGFUL SEARCH USING SEMANTIC WEB AND NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Palaniammal

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The semantic web extends the current World Wide Web by adding facilities for the machine understood description of meaning. The ontology based search model is used to enhance efficiency and accuracy of information retrieval. Ontology is the core technology for the semantic web and this mechanism for representing formal and shared domain descriptions. In this paper, we proposed ontology based meaningful search using semantic web and Natural Language Processing (NLP techniques in the educational domain. First we build the educational ontology then we present the semantic search system. The search model consisting three parts which are embedding spell-check, finding synonyms using WordNet API and querying ontology using SPARQL language. The results are both sensitive to spell check and synonymous context. This paper provides more accurate results and the complete details for the selected field in a single page.

Bibliography of Research in Natural Language Generation

Science.gov (United States)

1993-11-01

593], pages International Conference of the IEEE Engineer- 351-363. ing in Medicine and Biology Society, volume 3, pages 1347-1348, New Orleans, LA...Conference on Machine Translation of Languages and Applied [1218] Ingrid Zukerman. Koalas are not bears: Gener- Language Analysis. pages 66-80. Her

The Children's Foreign Language Anxiety Scale: Reliability and Validity

Science.gov (United States)

Aydin, Selami; Harputlu, Leyla; Ustuk, Özgehan; Güzel, Serhat; Çelik, Seyda Savran

2017-01-01

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been mainly associated with adult language learners. Although FLA forms a serious problem in the foreign language learning process for all learners, the effects of FLA on children have been mainly overlooked. The underlying reason is that there is a lack of an appropriate measurement tool for FLA among children.…

Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

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Jantunen Tommi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the interplay of constructed action and the clause in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL. Constructed action is a form of gestural enactment in which the signers use their hands, face and other parts of the body to represent the actions, thoughts or feelings of someone they are referring to in the discourse. With the help of frequencies calculated from corpus data, this article shows firstly that when FinSL signers are narrating a story, there are differences in how they use constructed action. Then the paper argues that there are differences also in the prototypical structure, linkage type and non-manual activity of clauses, depending on the presence or non-presence of constructed action. Finally, taking the view that gesturality is an integral part of language, the paper discusses the nature of syntax in sign languages and proposes a conceptualization in which syntax is seen as a set of norms distributed on a continuum between a categorial-conventional end and a gradient-unconventional end.

Language and Interactional Discourse: Deconstrusting the Talk- Generating Machinery in Natural Convresation

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Amaechi Uneke Enyi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The study entitled. “Language and Interactional Discourse: Deconstructing the Talk - Generating Machinery in Natural Conversation,” is an analysis of spontaneous and informal conversation. The study, carried out in the theoretical and methodological tradition of Ethnomethodology, was aimed at explicating how ordinary talk is organized and produced, how people coordinate their talk –in- interaction, how meanings are determined, and the role of talk in the wider social processes. The study followed the basic assumption of conversation analysis which is, that talk is not just a product of two ‘speakers - hearers’ who attempt to exchange information or convey messages to each other. Rather, participants in conversation are seen to be mutually orienting to, and collaborating in order to achieve orderly and meaningful communication. The analytic objective is therefore to make clear these procedures on which speakers rely to produce utterances and by which they make sense of other speakers’ talk. The datum used for this study was a recorded informal conversation between two (and later three middle- class civil servants who are friends. The recording was done in such a way that the participants were not aware that they were being recorded. The recording was later transcribed in a way that we believe is faithful to the spontaneity and informality of the talk. Our finding showed that conversation has its own features and is an ordered and structured social day by- day event. Specifically, utterances are designed and informed by organized procedures, methods and resources which are tied to the contexts in which they are produced, and which participants are privy to by virtue of their membership of a culture or a natural language community.  Keywords: Language, Discourse and Conversation

A Requirements-Based Exploration of Open-Source Software Development Projects--Towards a Natural Language Processing Software Analysis Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Vlas, Radu Eduard

2012-01-01

Open source projects do have requirements; they are, however, mostly informal, text descriptions found in requests, forums, and other correspondence. Understanding such requirements provides insight into the nature of open source projects. Unfortunately, manual analysis of natural language requirements is time-consuming, and for large projects,…

On the Possibility of ESP Data Use in Natural Language Processing

OpenAIRE

Knopp, Tomáš

2011-01-01

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to explore this image label database coming from the ESP game from the natural language processing (NLP) point of view. ESP game is an online game, in which human players do useful work - they label images. The output of the ESP game is then a database of images and their labels. What interests us is whether the data collected in the process of labeling images will be of any use in NLP tasks. Specifically, we are interested in the tasks of automatic corefere...

Development of a user-friendly interface for the searching of a data base in natural language while using concepts and means of artificial intelligence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pujo, Pascal

1989-01-01

This research thesis aimed at the development of a natural-language-based user-friendly interface for the searching of relational data bases. The author first addresses how to store data which will be accessible through an interface in natural language: this organisation must result in as few constraints as possible in query formulation. He briefly presents techniques related to the automatic processing of natural language, and highlights the need for a more user-friendly interface. Then, he presents the developed interface and outlines the user-friendliness and ergonomics of implemented procedures. He shows how the interface has been designed to deliver information and explanations on its processing. This allows the user to control the relevance of the answer. He also indicates the classification of mistakes and errors which may be present in queries in natural language. He finally gives an overview of possible evolutions of the interface, briefly presents deductive functionalities which could expand data management. The handling of complex objects is also addressed [fr

A natural language screening measure for motivation to change.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, William R; Johnson, Wendy R

2008-09-01

Client motivation for change, a topic of high interest to addiction clinicians, is multidimensional and complex, and many different approaches to measurement have been tried. The current effort drew on psycholinguistic research on natural language that is used by clients to describe their own motivation. Seven addiction treatment sites participated in the development of a simple scale to measure client motivation. Twelve items were drafted to represent six potential dimensions of motivation for change that occur in natural discourse. The maximum self-rating of motivation (10 on a 0-10 scale) was the median score on all items, and 43% of respondents rated 10 on all 12 items - a substantial ceiling effect. From 1035 responses, three factors emerged representing importance, ability, and commitment - constructs that are also reflected in several theoretical models of motivation. A 3-item version of the scale, with one marker item for each of these constructs, accounted for 81% of variance in the full scale. The three items are: 1. It is important for me to . . . 2. I could . . . and 3. I am trying to . . . This offers a quick (1-minute) assessment of clients' self-reported motivation for change.

Spot market natural gas strategies and reliability dealing with changing industry conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure, D.C.

1992-01-01

Many in the energy industry thought the natural gas buying game had finally settled down to a predictable pattern in the 90's. After a tumultuous decade in the 80's they are ready to turn their attention to new challenges such as electricity wheeling and cogeneration. They were wrong. There is plenty of change left in the natural gas industry for the rest of the century. This growth will dramatically increase the number of options available to Energy Buyers, giving them new flexibility to design programs that meet goals for cost reduction, supply reliability, and administrative effort. However, with new options also come the responsibility for choices. Energy Managers of well designed gas programs will make these choices after careful consideration of the pro's and con's of each option. In short, the effective Buyer will develop a natural gas strategy. This report will begin by reviewing the basic types of change occurring in the industry, and then discuss some of the varied strategy options available to the Energy Buyer

Preface to Proceedings of the 12th European Workshop on Natural Language Generation (ENLG 2009)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krahmer, E.; Krahmer, E.; Theune, Mariet

We are pleased to present the Proceedings of the 12th European Workshop on Natural Language Generation (ENLG 2009). ENLG 2009 was held in Athens, Greece, as a workshop at the 12th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL 2009). Following our call, we

Natural Language Processing Approach for Searching the Quran: Quick and Intuitive

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Zainal Abidah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The Quran is a scripture that acts as the main reference to people which their religion is Islam. It covers information from politics to science, with vast amount of information that requires effort to uncover the knowledge behind it. Today, the emergence of smartphones has led to the development of a wide-range application for enhancing knowledge-seeking activities. This project proposes a mobile application that is taking a natural language approach to searching topics in the Quran based on keyword searching. The benefit of the application is two-fold; it is intuitive and it saves time.

A Best Practice for Developing Availability Guarantee Language in Photovoltaic (PV) O&M Agreements.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klise, Geoffrey Taylor [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Balfour, John [High Performance PV, Phoenix, AZ (United States)

2015-11-01

This document outlines the foundation for developing language that can be utilized in an Equipment Availability Guarantee, typically included in an O&M services agreement between a PV system or plant owner and an O&M services provider, or operator. Many of the current PV O&M service agreement Availability Guarantees are based on contracts used for traditional power generation, which create challenges for owners and operators due to the variable nature of grid-tied photovoltaic generating technologies. This report documents language used in early PV availability guarantees and presents best practices and equations that can be used to more openly communicate how the reliability of the PV system and plant equipment can be expressed in an availability guarantee. This work will improve the bankability of PV systems by providing greater transparency into the equipment reliability state to all parties involved in an O&M services contract.

Causal knowledge extraction by natural language processing in material science: a case study in chemical vapor deposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuya Kajikawa

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Scientific publications written in natural language still play a central role as our knowledge source. However, due to the flood of publications, the literature survey process has become a highly time-consuming and tangled process, especially for novices of the discipline. Therefore, tools supporting the literature-survey process may help the individual scientist to explore new useful domains. Natural language processing (NLP is expected as one of the promising techniques to retrieve, abstract, and extract knowledge. In this contribution, NLP is firstly applied to the literature of chemical vapor deposition (CVD, which is a sub-discipline of materials science and is a complex and interdisciplinary field of research involving chemists, physicists, engineers, and materials scientists. Causal knowledge extraction from the literature is demonstrated using NLP.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education.

THIS BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS MATERIAL ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT. APPROXIMATELY 65 UNANNOTATED REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED TO DOCUMENTS DATING FROM 1958 TO 1966. JOURNALS, BOOKS, AND REPORT MATERIALS ARE LISTED. SUBJECT AREAS INCLUDED ARE THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, LANGUAGE LEARNING, LANGUAGE SKILLS, LANGUAGE PATTERNS, AND…

Designing a reliable leak bio-detection system for natural gas pipelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batzias, F.A.; Siontorou, C.G.; Spanidis, P.-M.P.

2011-01-01

Monitoring of natural gas (NG) pipelines is an important task for economical/safety operation, loss prevention and environmental protection. Timely and reliable leak detection of gas pipeline, therefore, plays a key role in the overall integrity management for the pipeline system. Owing to the various limitations of the currently available techniques and the surveillance area that needs to be covered, the research on new detector systems is still thriving. Biosensors are worldwide considered as a niche technology in the environmental market, since they afford the desired detector capabilities at low cost, provided they have been properly designed/developed and rationally placed/networked/maintained by the aid of operational research techniques. This paper addresses NG leakage surveillance through a robust cooperative/synergistic scheme between biosensors and conventional detector systems; the network is validated in situ and optimized in order to provide reliable information at the required granularity level. The proposed scheme is substantiated through a knowledge based approach and relies on Fuzzy Multicriteria Analysis (FMCA), for selecting the best biosensor design that suits both, the target analyte and the operational micro-environment. This approach is illustrated in the design of leak surveying over a pipeline network in Greece.

Designing a reliable leak bio-detection system for natural gas pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batzias, F.A., E-mail: fbatzi@unipi.gr [Univ. Piraeus, Dept. Industrial Management and Technology, Karaoli and Dimitriou 80, 18534 Piraeus (Greece); Siontorou, C.G., E-mail: csiontor@unipi.gr [Univ. Piraeus, Dept. Industrial Management and Technology, Karaoli and Dimitriou 80, 18534 Piraeus (Greece); Spanidis, P.-M.P., E-mail: pspani@asprofos.gr [Asprofos Engineering S.A, El. Venizelos 284, 17675 Kallithea (Greece)

2011-02-15

Monitoring of natural gas (NG) pipelines is an important task for economical/safety operation, loss prevention and environmental protection. Timely and reliable leak detection of gas pipeline, therefore, plays a key role in the overall integrity management for the pipeline system. Owing to the various limitations of the currently available techniques and the surveillance area that needs to be covered, the research on new detector systems is still thriving. Biosensors are worldwide considered as a niche technology in the environmental market, since they afford the desired detector capabilities at low cost, provided they have been properly designed/developed and rationally placed/networked/maintained by the aid of operational research techniques. This paper addresses NG leakage surveillance through a robust cooperative/synergistic scheme between biosensors and conventional detector systems; the network is validated in situ and optimized in order to provide reliable information at the required granularity level. The proposed scheme is substantiated through a knowledge based approach and relies on Fuzzy Multicriteria Analysis (FMCA), for selecting the best biosensor design that suits both, the target analyte and the operational micro-environment. This approach is illustrated in the design of leak surveying over a pipeline network in Greece.

Natural Language Description of Emotion

Science.gov (United States)

Kazemzadeh, Abe

2013-01-01

This dissertation studies how people describe emotions with language and how computers can simulate this descriptive behavior. Although many non-human animals can express their current emotions as social signals, only humans can communicate about emotions symbolically. This symbolic communication of emotion allows us to talk about emotions that we…

Reliability and Validity of the English-, Chinese- and Malay-Language Versions of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) Questionnaire in Singapore.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Yin Bun; Yeo, Khung Keong; Chong, Kok Joon; Khoo, Eric Yh; Wee, Hwee Lin

2017-12-01

The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire is a 26-item questionnaire that evaluates 4 domains of quality of life (QoL), namely Physical, Psychological, Social Relationships and Environment. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the WHOQOL-BREF among Singapore residents aged 21 and above. We recruited participants from the general population by using multistage cluster sampling and participants from 2 hospitals by using convenience sampling. Participants completed either English, Chinese or Malay versions of the WHOQOL-BREF and the EuroQoL 5 Dimension 5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis, known-group validity, internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were performed. Data from 1316 participants were analysed (Chinese: 46.9%, Malay: 41.0% and Indian: 11.7%; 57.5% mean, mean standard deviation [SD, range] age: 51.9 [15.68, 24 to 90] years); 154 participants took part in the retest in various languages (English: 60, Chinese: 49 and Malay: 45). Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) was 0.919, 0.913 and 0.909 for the English, Chinese and Malay versions, respectively. Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.7 and ICC exceeded 0.4 for all domains in all language versions. The WHOQOL-BREF is valid and reliable for assessing QoL in Singapore. Model fit is reasonable with room for improvement.

Policy-Based Management Natural Language Parser

Science.gov (United States)

James, Mark

2009-01-01

The Policy-Based Management Natural Language Parser (PBEM) is a rules-based approach to enterprise management that can be used to automate certain management tasks. This parser simplifies the management of a given endeavor by establishing policies to deal with situations that are likely to occur. Policies are operating rules that can be referred to as a means of maintaining order, security, consistency, or other ways of successfully furthering a goal or mission. PBEM provides a way of managing configuration of network elements, applications, and processes via a set of high-level rules or business policies rather than managing individual elements, thus switching the control to a higher level. This software allows unique management rules (or commands) to be specified and applied to a cross-section of the Global Information Grid (GIG). This software embodies a parser that is capable of recognizing and understanding conversational English. Because all possible dialect variants cannot be anticipated, a unique capability was developed that parses passed on conversation intent rather than the exact way the words are used. This software can increase productivity by enabling a user to converse with the system in conversational English to define network policies. PBEM can be used in both manned and unmanned science-gathering programs. Because policy statements can be domain-independent, this software can be applied equally to a wide variety of applications.

Approaching Sign Language Test Construction: Adaptation of the German Sign Language Receptive Skills Test

Science.gov (United States)

Haug, Tobias

2011-01-01

There is a current need for reliable and valid test instruments in different countries in order to monitor deaf children's sign language acquisition. However, very few tests are commercially available that offer strong evidence for their psychometric properties. A German Sign Language (DGS) test focusing on linguistic structures that are acquired…

Systemic functional grammar in natural language generation linguistic description and computational representation

CERN Document Server

Teich, Elke

1999-01-01

This volume deals with the computational application of systemic functional grammar (SFG) for natural language generation. In particular, it describes the implementation of a fragment of the grammar of German in the computational framework of KOMET-PENMAN for multilingual generation. The text also presents a specification of explicit well-formedness constraints on syntagmatic structure which are defined in the form of typed feature structures. It thus achieves a model of systemic functional grammar that unites both the strengths of systemics, such as stratification, functional diversification

Natural language solution to a Tuff problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Langkopf, B.S.; Mallory, L.H.

1984-01-01

A scientific data base, the Tuff Data Base, is being created at Sandia National Laboratories on the Cyber 170/855, using System 2000. It is being developed for use by scientists and engineers investigating the feasibility of locating a high-level radioactive waste repository in tuff (a type of volcanic rock) at Yucca Mountain on and adjacent to the Nevada Test Site. This project, the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project, is managed by the Nevada Operations Office of the US Department of Energy. A user-friendly interface, PRIMER, was developed that uses the Self-Contained Facility (SCF) command SUBMIT and System 2000 Natural Language functions and parametric strings that are schema resident. The interface was designed to: (1) allow users, with or without computer experience or keyboard skill, to sporadically access data in the Tuff Data Base; (2) produce retrieval capabilities for the user quickly; and (3) acquaint the users with the data in the Tuff Data Base. This paper gives a brief description of the Tuff Data Base Schema and the interface, PRIMER, which is written in Fortran V. 3 figures

"Speaking English Naturally": The Language Ideologies of English as an Official Language at a Korean University

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jinsook

2016-01-01

This study explores language ideologies of English at a Korean university where English has been adopted as an official language. This study draws on ethnographic data in order to understand how speakers respond to and experience the institutional language policy. The findings show that language ideologies in this university represent the…

Automatic generation of natural language nursing shift summaries in neonatal intensive care: BT-Nurse.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, James; Freer, Yvonne; Gatt, Albert; Reiter, Ehud; Sripada, Somayajulu; Sykes, Cindy

2012-11-01

Our objective was to determine whether and how a computer system could automatically generate helpful natural language nursing shift summaries solely from an electronic patient record system, in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A system was developed which automatically generates partial NICU shift summaries (for the respiratory and cardiovascular systems), using data-to-text technology. It was evaluated for 2 months in the NICU at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, under supervision. In an on-ward evaluation, a substantial majority of the summaries was found by outgoing and incoming nurses to be understandable (90%), and a majority was found to be accurate (70%), and helpful (59%). The evaluation also served to identify some outstanding issues, especially with regard to extra content the nurses wanted to see in the computer-generated summaries. It is technically possible automatically to generate limited natural language NICU shift summaries from an electronic patient record. However, it proved difficult to handle electronic data that was intended primarily for display to the medical staff, and considerable engineering effort would be required to create a deployable system from our proof-of-concept software. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Computational Nonlinear Morphology with Emphasis on Semitic Languages. Studies in Natural Language Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiraz, George Anton

This book presents a tractable computational model that can cope with complex morphological operations, especially in Semitic languages, and less complex morphological systems present in Western languages. It outlines a new generalized regular rewrite rule system that uses multiple finite-state automata to cater to root-and-pattern morphology,…

Optimizing annotation resources for natural language de-identification via a game theoretic framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Muqun; Carrell, David; Aberdeen, John; Hirschman, Lynette; Kirby, Jacqueline; Li, Bo; Vorobeychik, Yevgeniy; Malin, Bradley A

2016-06-01

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are increasingly repurposed for activities beyond clinical care, such as to support translational research and public policy analysis. To mitigate privacy risks, healthcare organizations (HCOs) aim to remove potentially identifying patient information. A substantial quantity of EMR data is in natural language form and there are concerns that automated tools for detecting identifiers are imperfect and leak information that can be exploited by ill-intentioned data recipients. Thus, HCOs have been encouraged to invest as much effort as possible to find and detect potential identifiers, but such a strategy assumes the recipients are sufficiently incentivized and capable of exploiting leaked identifiers. In practice, such an assumption may not hold true and HCOs may overinvest in de-identification technology. The goal of this study is to design a natural language de-identification framework, rooted in game theory, which enables an HCO to optimize their investments given the expected capabilities of an adversarial recipient. We introduce a Stackelberg game to balance risk and utility in natural language de-identification. This game represents a cost-benefit model that enables an HCO with a fixed budget to minimize their investment in the de-identification process. We evaluate this model by assessing the overall payoff to the HCO and the adversary using 2100 clinical notes from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. We simulate several policy alternatives using a range of parameters, including the cost of training a de-identification model and the loss in data utility due to the removal of terms that are not identifiers. In addition, we compare policy options where, when an attacker is fined for misuse, a monetary penalty is paid to the publishing HCO as opposed to a third party (e.g., a federal regulator). Our results show that when an HCO is forced to exhaust a limited budget (set to $2000 in the study), the precision and recall of the

Linguistics in Language Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Rajesh; Yunus, Reva

2014-01-01

This article looks at the contribution of insights from theoretical linguistics to an understanding of language acquisition and the nature of language in terms of their potential benefit to language education. We examine the ideas of innateness and universal language faculty, as well as multilingualism and the language-society relationship. Modern…

Natural Language Generation from Pictographs

OpenAIRE

Sevens, Leen; Vandeghinste, Vincent; Schuurman, Ineke; Van Eynde, Frank

2015-01-01

We present a Pictograph-to-Text translation system for people with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD). The system translates pictograph messages, consisting of one or more pictographs, into Dutch text using WordNet links and an n-gram language model. We also provide several pictograph input methods assisting the users in selecting the appropriate pictographs.

The oscillopathic nature of language deficits in autism: from genes to language evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio eBenítez-Burraco

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorders (ASD are pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders involving a number of deficits to linguistic cognition. The gap between genetics and the pathophysiology of ASD remains open, in particular regarding its distinctive linguistic profile. The goal of this paper is to attempt to bridge this gap, focusing on how the autistic brain processes language, particularly through the perspective of brain rhythms. Due to the phenomenon of pleiotropy, which may take some decades to overcome, we believe that studies of brain rhythms, which are not faced with problems of this scale, may constitute a more tractable route to interpreting language deficits in ASD and eventually other neurocognitive disorders. Building on recent attempts to link neural oscillations to certain computational primitives of language, we show that interpreting language deficits in ASD as oscillopathic traits is a potentially fruitful way to construct successful endophenotypes of this condition. Additionally, we will show that candidate genes for ASD are overrepresented among the genes that played a role in the evolution of language. These genes include (and are related to genes involved in brain rhythmicity. We hope that the type of steps taken here will additionally lead to a better understanding of the comorbidity, heterogeneity, and variability of ASD, and may help achieve a better treatment of the affected populations.

Gesture language use in natural UI: pen-based sketching in conceptual design

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Cuixia; Dai, Guozhong

2003-04-01

Natural User Interface is one of the important next generation interactions. Computers are not just the tools of many special people or areas but for most people. Ubiquitous computing makes the world magic and more comfortable. In the design domain, current systems, which need the detail information, cannot conveniently support the conceptual design of the early phrase. Pen and paper are the natural and simple tools to use in our daily life, especially in design domain. Gestures are the useful and natural mode in the interaction of pen-based. In natural UI, gestures can be introduced and used through the similar mode to the existing resources in interaction. But the gestures always are defined beforehand without the users' intention and recognized to represent something in certain applications without being transplanted to others. We provide the gesture description language (GDL) to try to cite the useful gestures to the applications conveniently. It can be used in terms of the independent control resource such as menus or icons in applications. So we give the idea from two perspectives: one from the application-dependent point of view and the other from the application-independent point of view.

Behind the scenes: A medical natural language processing project.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Joy T; Dernoncourt, Franck; Gehrmann, Sebastian; Tyler, Patrick D; Moseley, Edward T; Carlson, Eric T; Grant, David W; Li, Yeran; Welt, Jonathan; Celi, Leo Anthony

2018-04-01

Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities in medicine can help address many pressing problems in healthcare. However, AI research endeavors in healthcare may not be clinically relevant, may have unrealistic expectations, or may not be explicit enough about their limitations. A diverse and well-functioning multidisciplinary team (MDT) can help identify appropriate and achievable AI research agendas in healthcare, and advance medical AI technologies by developing AI algorithms as well as addressing the shortage of appropriately labeled datasets for machine learning. In this paper, our team of engineers, clinicians and machine learning experts share their experience and lessons learned from their two-year-long collaboration on a natural language processing (NLP) research project. We highlight specific challenges encountered in cross-disciplinary teamwork, dataset creation for NLP research, and expectation setting for current medical AI technologies. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Resolution of ambiguities in cartoons as an illustration of the role of pragmatics in natural language understanding by computers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mazlack, L.J.; Paz, N.M.

1983-01-01

Newspaper cartoons can graphically display the result of ambiguity in human speech; the result can be unexpected and funny. Likewise, computer analysis of natural language statements also needs to successfully resolve ambiguous situations. Computer techniques already developed use restricted world knowledge in resolving ambiguous language use. This paper illustrates how these techniques can be used in resolving ambiguous situations arising in cartoons. 8 references.

Computers and languages theory and practice

CERN Document Server

Nijholt, A

1988-01-01

A global introduction to language technology and the areas of computer science where language technology plays a role. Surveyed in this volume are issues related to the parsing problem in the fields of natural languages, programming languages, and formal languages.Throughout the book attention is paid to the social forces which influenced the development of the various topics. Also illustrated are the development of the theory of language analysis, its role in compiler construction, and its role in computer applications with a natural language interface between men and machine. Parts of the ma

Sociolinguistic Typology and Sign Languages.

Science.gov (United States)

Schembri, Adam; Fenlon, Jordan; Cormier, Kearsy; Johnston, Trevor

2018-01-01

This paper examines the possible relationship between proposed social determinants of morphological 'complexity' and how this contributes to linguistic diversity, specifically via the typological nature of the sign languages of deaf communities. We sketch how the notion of morphological complexity, as defined by Trudgill (2011), applies to sign languages. Using these criteria, sign languages appear to be languages with low to moderate levels of morphological complexity. This may partly reflect the influence of key social characteristics of communities on the typological nature of languages. Although many deaf communities are relatively small and may involve dense social networks (both social characteristics that Trudgill claimed may lend themselves to morphological 'complexification'), the picture is complicated by the highly variable nature of the sign language acquisition for most deaf people, and the ongoing contact between native signers, hearing non-native signers, and those deaf individuals who only acquire sign languages in later childhood and early adulthood. These are all factors that may work against the emergence of morphological complexification. The relationship between linguistic typology and these key social factors may lead to a better understanding of the nature of sign language grammar. This perspective stands in contrast to other work where sign languages are sometimes presented as having complex morphology despite being young languages (e.g., Aronoff et al., 2005); in some descriptions, the social determinants of morphological complexity have not received much attention, nor has the notion of complexity itself been specifically explored.

Sociolinguistic Typology and Sign Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Schembri, Adam; Fenlon, Jordan; Cormier, Kearsy; Johnston, Trevor

2018-01-01

This paper examines the possible relationship between proposed social determinants of morphological ‘complexity’ and how this contributes to linguistic diversity, specifically via the typological nature of the sign languages of deaf communities. We sketch how the notion of morphological complexity, as defined by Trudgill (2011), applies to sign languages. Using these criteria, sign languages appear to be languages with low to moderate levels of morphological complexity. This may partly reflect the influence of key social characteristics of communities on the typological nature of languages. Although many deaf communities are relatively small and may involve dense social networks (both social characteristics that Trudgill claimed may lend themselves to morphological ‘complexification’), the picture is complicated by the highly variable nature of the sign language acquisition for most deaf people, and the ongoing contact between native signers, hearing non-native signers, and those deaf individuals who only acquire sign languages in later childhood and early adulthood. These are all factors that may work against the emergence of morphological complexification. The relationship between linguistic typology and these key social factors may lead to a better understanding of the nature of sign language grammar. This perspective stands in contrast to other work where sign languages are sometimes presented as having complex morphology despite being young languages (e.g., Aronoff et al., 2005); in some descriptions, the social determinants of morphological complexity have not received much attention, nor has the notion of complexity itself been specifically explored. PMID:29515506

Sociolinguistic Typology and Sign Languages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Schembri

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the possible relationship between proposed social determinants of morphological ‘complexity’ and how this contributes to linguistic diversity, specifically via the typological nature of the sign languages of deaf communities. We sketch how the notion of morphological complexity, as defined by Trudgill (2011, applies to sign languages. Using these criteria, sign languages appear to be languages with low to moderate levels of morphological complexity. This may partly reflect the influence of key social characteristics of communities on the typological nature of languages. Although many deaf communities are relatively small and may involve dense social networks (both social characteristics that Trudgill claimed may lend themselves to morphological ‘complexification’, the picture is complicated by the highly variable nature of the sign language acquisition for most deaf people, and the ongoing contact between native signers, hearing non-native signers, and those deaf individuals who only acquire sign languages in later childhood and early adulthood. These are all factors that may work against the emergence of morphological complexification. The relationship between linguistic typology and these key social factors may lead to a better understanding of the nature of sign language grammar. This perspective stands in contrast to other work where sign languages are sometimes presented as having complex morphology despite being young languages (e.g., Aronoff et al., 2005; in some descriptions, the social determinants of morphological complexity have not received much attention, nor has the notion of complexity itself been specifically explored.

Human Computer Collaboration at the Edge: Enhancing Collective Situation Understanding with Controlled Natural Language

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-06

conversational agent with information exchange disabled until the end of the experiment run. The meaning of the indicator in the top- right of the agent... Human Computer Collaboration at the Edge: Enhancing Collective Situation Understanding with Controlled Natural Language Alun Preece∗, William...email: PreeceAD@cardiff.ac.uk †Emerging Technology Services, IBM United Kingdom Ltd, Hursley Park, Winchester, UK ‡US Army Research Laboratory, Human

Reliability Assessment of 2400 MWth Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Natural Circulation Decay Heat Removal in Pressurized Situations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Bassi

2008-01-01

Full Text Available As the 2400 MWth gas-cooled fast reactor concept makes use of passive safety features in combination with active safety systems, the question of natural circulation decay heat removal (NCDHR reliability and performance assessment into the ongoing probabilistic safety assessment in support to the reactor design, named “probabilistic engineering assessment” (PEA, constitutes a challenge. Within the 5th Framework Program for Research and Development (FPRD of the European Community, a methodology has been developed to evaluate the reliability of passive systems characterized by a moving fluid and whose operation is based on physical principles, such as the natural circulation. This reliability method for passive systems (RMPSs is based on uncertainties propagation into thermal-hydraulic (T-H calculations. The aim of this exercise is finally to determine the performance reliability of the DHR system operating in a “passive” mode, taking into account the uncertainties of parameters retained for thermal-hydraulical calculations performed with the CATHARE 2 code. According to the PEA preliminary results, exhibiting the weight of pressurized scenarios (i.e., with intact primary circuit boundary for the core damage frequency (CDF, the RMPS exercise is first focusing on the NCDHR performance at these T-H conditions.

78 FR 72755 - Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-03

... impact on Bulk-Power System reliability. However, the Commission is concerned that the proposed language... focus on the reliability and security of the Bulk Power System.'' \\26\\ Accordingly, NERC requests that...-002-5 through CIP-011-1, submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the...

LABORATORY PROCESS CONTROLLER USING NATURAL LANGUAGE COMMANDS FROM A PERSONAL COMPUTER

Science.gov (United States)

Will, H.

1994-01-01

The complex environment of the typical research laboratory requires flexible process control. This program provides natural language process control from an IBM PC or compatible machine. Sometimes process control schedules require changes frequently, even several times per day. These changes may include adding, deleting, and rearranging steps in a process. This program sets up a process control system that can either run without an operator, or be run by workers with limited programming skills. The software system includes three programs. Two of the programs, written in FORTRAN77, record data and control research processes. The third program, written in Pascal, generates the FORTRAN subroutines used by the other two programs to identify the user commands with the user-written device drivers. The software system also includes an input data set which allows the user to define the user commands which are to be executed by the computer. To set the system up the operator writes device driver routines for all of the controlled devices. Once set up, this system requires only an input file containing natural language command lines which tell the system what to do and when to do it. The operator can make up custom commands for operating and taking data from external research equipment at any time of the day or night without the operator in attendance. This process control system requires a personal computer operating under MS-DOS with suitable hardware interfaces to all controlled devices. The program requires a FORTRAN77 compiler and user-written device drivers. This program was developed in 1989 and has a memory requirement of about 62 Kbytes.

Creation of structured documentation templates using Natural Language Processing techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashyap, Vipul; Turchin, Alexander; Morin, Laura; Chang, Frank; Li, Qi; Hongsermeier, Tonya

2006-01-01

Structured Clinical Documentation is a fundamental component of the healthcare enterprise, linking both clinical (e.g., electronic health record, clinical decision support) and administrative functions (e.g., evaluation and management coding, billing). One of the challenges in creating good quality documentation templates has been the inability to address specialized clinical disciplines and adapt to local clinical practices. A one-size-fits-all approach leads to poor adoption and inefficiencies in the documentation process. On the other hand, the cost associated with manual generation of documentation templates is significant. Consequently there is a need for at least partial automation of the template generation process. We propose an approach and methodology for the creation of structured documentation templates for diabetes using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Building gold standard corpora for medical natural language processing tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Deleger, Louise; Li, Qi; Lingren, Todd; Kaiser, Megan; Molnar, Katalin; Stoutenborough, Laura; Kouril, Michal; Marsolo, Keith; Solti, Imre

2012-01-01

We present the construction of three annotated corpora to serve as gold standards for medical natural language processing (NLP) tasks. Clinical notes from the medical record, clinical trial announcements, and FDA drug labels are annotated. We report high inter-annotator agreements (overall F-measures between 0.8467 and 0.9176) for the annotation of Personal Health Information (PHI) elements for a de-identification task and of medications, diseases/disorders, and signs/symptoms for information extraction (IE) task. The annotated corpora of clinical trials and FDA labels will be publicly released and to facilitate translational NLP tasks that require cross-corpora interoperability (e.g. clinical trial eligibility screening) their annotation schemas are aligned with a large scale, NIH-funded clinical text annotation project.

Impact of Climate Change on Natural Snow Reliability, Snowmaking Capacities, and Wind Conditions of Ski Resorts in Northeast Turkey: A Dynamical Downscaling Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Osman Cenk Demiroglu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Many ski resorts worldwide are going through deteriorating snow cover conditions due to anthropogenic warming trends. As the natural and the artificially supported, i.e., technical, snow reliability of ski resorts diminish, the industry approaches a deadlock. For this reason, impact assessment studies have become vital for understanding vulnerability of ski tourism. This study considers three resorts at one of the rapidly emerging ski destinations, Northeast Turkey, for snow reliability analyses. Initially one global circulation model is dynamically downscaled by using the regional climate model RegCM4.4 for 1971–2000 and 2021–2050 periods along the RCP4.5 greenhouse gas concentration pathway. Next, the projected climate outputs are converted into indicators of natural snow reliability, snowmaking capacity, and wind conditions. The results show an overall decline in the frequencies of naturally snow reliable days and snowmaking capacities between the two periods. Despite the decrease, only the lower altitudes of one ski resort would face the risk of losing natural snow reliability and snowmaking could still compensate for forming the base layer before the critical New Year’s week. On the other hand, adverse high wind conditions improve as to reduce the number of lift closure days at all resorts. Overall, this particular region seems to be relatively resilient against climate change.

Dependency distance: A new perspective on the syntactic development in second language acquisition. Comment on "Dependency distance: A new perspective on syntactic patterns in natural language" by Haitao Liu et al.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jingyang; Ouyang, Jinghui

2017-07-01

Liu et al. [1] offers a clear and informative account of the use of dependency distance in studying natural languages, with a focus on the viewpoint that dependency distance minimization (DDM) can be regarded as a linguistic universal. We would like to add the perspective of employing dependency distance in the studies of second languages acquisition (SLA), particularly the studies of syntactic development.

An Early Years Toolbox for Assessing Early Executive Function, Language, Self-Regulation, and Social Development: Validity, Reliability, and Preliminary Norms.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Steven J; Melhuish, Edward

2017-06-01

Several methods of assessing executive function (EF), self-regulation, language development, and social development in young children have been developed over previous decades. Yet new technologies make available methods of assessment not previously considered. In resolving conceptual and pragmatic limitations of existing tools, the Early Years Toolbox (EYT) offers substantial advantages for early assessment of language, EF, self-regulation, and social development. In the current study, results of our large-scale administration of this toolbox to 1,764 preschool and early primary school students indicated very good reliability, convergent validity with existing measures, and developmental sensitivity. Results were also suggestive of better capture of children's emerging abilities relative to comparison measures. Preliminary norms are presented, showing a clear developmental trajectory across half-year age groups. The accessibility of the EYT, as well as its advantages over existing measures, offers considerably enhanced opportunities for objective measurement of young children's abilities to enable research and educational applications.

New Ways to Learn a Foreign Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Robert A., Jr.

This text focuses on the nature of language learning in the light of modern linguistic analysis. Common linguistic problems encountered by students of eight major languages are examined--Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Russian. The text discusses the nature of language, building new language habits, overcoming…

Safety and reliability of automatization software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kapp, K; Daum, R [Karlsruhe Univ. (TH) (Germany, F.R.). Lehrstuhl fuer Angewandte Informatik, Transport- und Verkehrssysteme

1979-02-01

Automated technical systems have to meet very high requirements concerning safety, security and reliability. Today, modern computers, especially microcomputers, are used as integral parts of those systems. In consequence computer programs must work in a safe and reliable mannter. Methods are discussed which allow to construct safe and reliable software for automatic systems such as reactor protection systems and to prove that the safety requirements are met. As a result it is shown that only the method of total software diversification can satisfy all safety requirements at tolerable cost. In order to achieve a high degree of reliability, structured and modular programming in context with high level programming languages are recommended.

Designing a reliable leak bio-detection system for natural gas pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Batzias, F A; Siontorou, C G; Spanidis, P-M P

2011-02-15

Monitoring of natural gas (NG) pipelines is an important task for economical/safety operation, loss prevention and environmental protection. Timely and reliable leak detection of gas pipeline, therefore, plays a key role in the overall integrity management for the pipeline system. Owing to the various limitations of the currently available techniques and the surveillance area that needs to be covered, the research on new detector systems is still thriving. Biosensors are worldwide considered as a niche technology in the environmental market, since they afford the desired detector capabilities at low cost, provided they have been properly designed/developed and rationally placed/networked/maintained by the aid of operational research techniques. This paper addresses NG leakage surveillance through a robust cooperative/synergistic scheme between biosensors and conventional detector systems; the network is validated in situ and optimized in order to provide reliable information at the required granularity level. The proposed scheme is substantiated through a knowledge based approach and relies on Fuzzy Multicriteria Analysis (FMCA), for selecting the best biosensor design that suits both, the target analyte and the operational micro-environment. This approach is illustrated in the design of leak surveying over a pipeline network in Greece. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a user friendly interface for database querying in natural language by using concepts and means related to artificial intelligence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pujo, Pascal

1989-01-01

This research thesis reports the development of a user-friendly interface in natural language for querying a relational database. The developed system differs from usual approaches for its integrated architecture as the relational model management is totally controlled by the interface. The author first addresses the way to store data in order to make them accessible through an interface in natural language, and more precisely to store data with an organisation which would result in the less possible constraints in query formulation. The author then briefly presents techniques related to automatic processing in natural language, and discusses the implications of a better user-friendliness and for error processing. The next part reports the study of the developed interface: selection of data processing tools, interface development, data management at the interface level, information input by the user. The last chapter proposes an overview of possible evolutions for the interface: use of deductive functionalities, use of an extensional base and of an intentional base to deduce facts from knowledge stores in the extensional base, and handling of complex objects [fr

Teaching and Learning Sign Language as a “Foreign” Language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In recent years, there has been a growing debate in the United States, Europe, and Australia about the nature of the Deaf community as a cultural community,1 and the recognition of signed languages as “real” or “legitimate” languages comparable in all meaningful ways to spoken languages. An important element of this ...

Differences Across Levels in the Language of Agency and Ability in Rating Scales for Large-Scale Second Language Writing Assessments

OpenAIRE

Anderson Salena Sampson

2017-01-01

While large-scale language and writing assessments benefit from a wealth of literature on the reliability and validity of specific tests and rating procedures, there is comparatively less literature that explores the specific language of second language writing rubrics. This paper provides an analysis of the language of performance descriptors for the public versions of the TOEFL and IELTS writing assessment rubrics, with a focus on linguistic agency encoded by agentive verbs and language of ...

Language of the Earth: Exploring Natural Hazards through a Literary Anthology

Science.gov (United States)

Malamud, B. D.; Rhodes, F. H. T.

2009-04-01

This paper explores natural hazards teaching and communications through the use of a literary anthology of writings about the earth aimed at non-experts. Teaching natural hazards in high-school and university introductory Earth Science and Geography courses revolves mostly around lectures, examinations, and laboratory demonstrations/activities. Often the results of such a course are that a student 'memorizes' the answers, and is penalized when they miss a given fact [e.g., "You lost one point because you were off by 50 km/hr on the wind speed of an F5 tornado."] Although facts and general methodologies are certainly important when teaching natural hazards, it is a strong motivation to a student's assimilation of, and enthusiasm for, this knowledge, if supplemented by writings about the Earth. In this paper, we discuss a literary anthology which we developed [Language of the Earth, Rhodes, Stone, Malamud, Wiley-Blackwell, 2008] which includes many descriptions about natural hazards. Using first- and second-hand accounts of landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and volcanic eruptions, through the writings of McPhee, Gaskill, Voltaire, Austin, Cloos, and many others, hazards become 'alive', and more than 'just' a compilation of facts and processes. Using short excerpts such as these, or other similar anthologies, of remarkably written accounts and discussions about natural hazards results in 'dry' facts becoming more than just facts. These often highly personal viewpoints of our catostrophic world, provide a useful supplement to a student's understanding of the turbulent world in which we live.

Reading comprehension and its underlying components in second-language learners: A meta-analysis of studies comparing first- and second-language learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Melby-Lervåg, Monica; Lervåg, Arne

2014-03-01

We report a systematic meta-analytic review of studies comparing reading comprehension and its underlying components (language comprehension, decoding, and phonological awareness) in first- and second-language learners. The review included 82 studies, and 576 effect sizes were calculated for reading comprehension and underlying components. Key findings were that, compared to first-language learners, second-language learners display a medium-sized deficit in reading comprehension (pooled effect size d = -0.62), a large deficit in language comprehension (pooled effect size d = -1.12), but only small differences in phonological awareness (pooled effect size d = -0.08) and decoding (pooled effect size d = -0.12). A moderator analysis showed that characteristics related to the type of reading comprehension test reliably explained the variation in the differences in reading comprehension between first- and second-language learners. For language comprehension, studies of samples from low socioeconomic backgrounds and samples where only the first language was used at home generated the largest group differences in favor of first-language learners. Test characteristics and study origin reliably contributed to the variations between the studies of language comprehension. For decoding, Canadian studies showed group differences in favor of second-language learners, whereas the opposite was the case for U.S. studies. Regarding implications, unless specific decoding problems are detected, interventions that aim to ameliorate reading comprehension problems among second-language learners should focus on language comprehension skills.

A Natural Language Intelligent Tutoring System for Training Pathologists - Implementation and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

El Saadawi, Gilan M.; Tseytlin, Eugene; Legowski, Elizabeth; Jukic, Drazen; Castine, Melissa; Fine, Jeffrey; Gormley, Robert; Crowley, Rebecca S.

2009-01-01

Introduction We developed and evaluated a Natural Language Interface (NLI) for an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) in Diagnostic Pathology. The system teaches residents to examine pathologic slides and write accurate pathology reports while providing immediate feedback on errors they make in their slide review and diagnostic reports. Residents can ask for help at any point in the case, and will receive context-specific feedback. Research Questions We evaluated (1) the performance of our natural language system, (2) the effect of the system on learning (3) the effect of feedback timing on learning gains and (4) the effect of ReportTutor on performance to self-assessment correlations. Methods The study uses a crossover 2×2 factorial design. We recruited 20 subjects from 4 academic programs. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions - two conditions for the immediate interface, and two for the delayed interface. An expert dermatopathologist created a reference standard and 2 board certified AP/CP pathology fellows manually coded the residents' assessment reports. Subjects were given the opportunity to self grade their performance and we used a survey to determine student response to both interfaces. Results Our results show a highly significant improvement in report writing after one tutoring session with 4-fold increase in the learning gains with both interfaces but no effect of feedback timing on performance gains. Residents who used the immediate feedback interface first experienced a feature learning gain that is correlated with the number of cases they viewed. There was no correlation between performance and self-assessment in either condition. PMID:17934789

Natural language processing systems for capturing and standardizing unstructured clinical information: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreimeyer, Kory; Foster, Matthew; Pandey, Abhishek; Arya, Nina; Halford, Gwendolyn; Jones, Sandra F; Forshee, Richard; Walderhaug, Mark; Botsis, Taxiarchis

2017-09-01

We followed a systematic approach based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses to identify existing clinical natural language processing (NLP) systems that generate structured information from unstructured free text. Seven literature databases were searched with a query combining the concepts of natural language processing and structured data capture. Two reviewers screened all records for relevance during two screening phases, and information about clinical NLP systems was collected from the final set of papers. A total of 7149 records (after removing duplicates) were retrieved and screened, and 86 were determined to fit the review criteria. These papers contained information about 71 different clinical NLP systems, which were then analyzed. The NLP systems address a wide variety of important clinical and research tasks. Certain tasks are well addressed by the existing systems, while others remain as open challenges that only a small number of systems attempt, such as extraction of temporal information or normalization of concepts to standard terminologies. This review has identified many NLP systems capable of processing clinical free text and generating structured output, and the information collected and evaluated here will be important for prioritizing development of new approaches for clinical NLP. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Natural circulation in water cooled nuclear power plants: Phenomena, models, and methodology for system reliability assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-11-01

In recent years it has been recognized that the application of passive safety systems (i.e. those whose operation takes advantage of natural forces such as convection and gravity), can contribute to simplification and potentially to improved economics of new nuclear power plant designs. Further, the IAEA Conference on The Safety of Nuclear Power: Strategy for the Future which was convened in 1991 noted that for new plants 'the use of passive safety features is a desirable method of achieving simplification and increasing the reliability of the performance of essential safety functions, and should be used wherever appropriate'. Considering the weak driving forces of passive systems based on natural circulation, careful design and analysis methods must be employed to assure that the systems perform their intended functions. To support the development of advanced water cooled reactor designs with passive systems, investigations of natural circulation are an ongoing activity in several IAEA Member States. Some new designs also utilize natural circulation as a means to remove core power during normal operation. In response to the motivating factors discussed above, and to foster international collaboration on the enabling technology of passive systems that utilize natural circulation, an IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on Natural Circulation Phenomena, Modelling and Reliability of Passive Systems that Utilize Natural Circulation was started in early 2004. Building on the shared expertise within the CRP, this publication presents extensive information on natural circulation phenomena, models, predictive tools and experiments that currently support design and analyses of natural circulation systems and highlights areas where additional research is needed. Therefore, this publication serves both to provide a description of the present state of knowledge on natural circulation in water cooled nuclear power plants and to guide the planning and conduct of the CRP in

A Discussion about Upgrading the Quick Script Platform to Create Natural Language based IoT Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khanna, Anirudh; Das, Bhagwan; Pandey, Bishwajeet

2016-01-01

With the advent of AI and IoT, the idea of incorporating smart things/appliances in our day to day life is converting into a reality. The paper discusses the possibilities and potential of designing IoT systems which can be controlled via natural language, with help of Quick Script as a development...

AIED 2009 Workshops Proceeedings Volume 10: Natural Language Processing in Support of Learning: Metrics, Feedback and Connectivity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dessus, Philippe; Trausan-Matu, Stefan; Van Rosmalen, Peter; Wild, Fridolin

2009-01-01

Dessus, P., Trausan-Matu, S., Van Rosmalen, P., & Wild, F. (Eds.) (2009). AIED 2009 Workshops Proceedings Volume 10 Natural Language Processing in Support of Learning: Metrics, Feedback and Connectivity. In S. D. Craig & D. Dicheva (Eds.), AIED 2009: 14th International Conference in Artificial

Essential Building Blocks of Human Nature

CERN Document Server

Frey, Ulrich J; Willführ, Kai P

2011-01-01

To understand why we humans are as we are, it is necessary to look at the essential building blocks that comprise our nature. The foundations of this structure are our evolutionary origins as primates and our social roots. Upon these rest features such as our emotions, language and aesthetic preferences, with our self-perceptions, self-deceptions and thirst for knowledge right at the top. The unifying force holding these blocks together is evolutionary theory. Evolution provides a deeper understanding of human nature and, in particular, of the common roots of these different perspectives. To build a reliable and coherent model of man, leading authors from fields as diverse as primatology, anthropology, neurobiology and philosophy have joined forces to present essays  each describing their own expert perspective. Together they provide a convincing and complete picture of our own human nature.

Pattern Recognition and Natural Language Processing: State of the Art

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirjana Kocaleva

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Development of information technologies is growing steadily. With the latest software technologies development and application of the methods of artificial intelligence and machine learning intelligence embededs in computers, the expectations are that in near future computers will be able to solve problems themselves like people do. Artificial intelligence emulates human behavior on computers. Rather than executing instructions one by one, as theyare programmed, machine learning employs prior experience/data that is used in the process of system’s training. In this state of the art paper, common methods in AI, such as machine learning, pattern recognition and the natural language processing (NLP are discussed. Also are given standard architecture of NLP processing system and the level thatisneeded for understanding NLP. Lastly the statistical NLP processing and multi-word expressions are described.

Deficits in narrative abilities in child British Sign Language users with specific language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Herman, Ros; Rowley, Katherine; Mason, Kathryn; Morgan, Gary

2014-01-01

This study details the first ever investigation of narrative skills in a group of 17 deaf signing children who have been diagnosed with disorders in their British Sign Language development compared with a control group of 17 deaf child signers matched for age, gender, education, quantity, and quality of language exposure and non-verbal intelligence. Children were asked to generate a narrative based on events in a language free video. Narratives were analysed for global structure, information content and local level grammatical devices, especially verb morphology. The language-impaired group produced shorter, less structured and grammatically simpler narratives than controls, with verb morphology particularly impaired. Despite major differences in how sign and spoken languages are articulated, narrative is shown to be a reliable marker of language impairment across the modality boundaries. © 2014 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

First Language Acquisition and Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena

2011-01-01

"First language acquisition" commonly means the acquisition of a single language in childhood, regardless of the number of languages in a child's natural environment. Language acquisition is variously viewed as predetermined, wondrous, a source of concern, and as developing through formal processes. "First language teaching" concerns schooling in…

Context Analysis of Customer Requests using a Hybrid Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System and Hidden Markov Models in the Natural Language Call Routing Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Rustamov, Samir; Mustafayev, Elshan; Clements, Mark A.

2018-04-01

The context analysis of customer requests in a natural language call routing problem is investigated in the paper. One of the most significant problems in natural language call routing is a comprehension of client request. With the aim of finding a solution to this issue, the Hybrid HMM and ANFIS models become a subject to an examination. Combining different types of models (ANFIS and HMM) can prevent misunderstanding by the system for identification of user intention in dialogue system. Based on these models, the hybrid system may be employed in various language and call routing domains due to nonusage of lexical or syntactic analysis in classification process.

Context Analysis of Customer Requests using a Hybrid Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System and Hidden Markov Models in the Natural Language Call Routing Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rustamov Samir

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The context analysis of customer requests in a natural language call routing problem is investigated in the paper. One of the most significant problems in natural language call routing is a comprehension of client request. With the aim of finding a solution to this issue, the Hybrid HMM and ANFIS models become a subject to an examination. Combining different types of models (ANFIS and HMM can prevent misunderstanding by the system for identification of user intention in dialogue system. Based on these models, the hybrid system may be employed in various language and call routing domains due to nonusage of lexical or syntactic analysis in classification process.

Redefining reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paulson, S.L.

1995-01-01

Want to buy some reliability? The question would have been unthinkable in some markets served by the natural gas business even a few years ago, but in the new gas marketplace, industrial, commercial and even some residential customers have the opportunity to choose from among an array of options about the kind of natural gas service they need--and are willing to pay for. The complexities of this brave new world of restructuring and competition have sent the industry scrambling to find ways to educate and inform its customers about the increased responsibility they will have in determining the level of gas reliability they choose. This article discusses the new options and the new responsibilities of customers, the needed for continuous education, and MidAmerican Energy Company's experiment in direct marketing of natural gas

Human reliability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embrey, D.E.

1987-01-01

Concepts and techniques of human reliability have been developed and are used mostly in probabilistic risk assessment. For this, the major application of human reliability assessment has been to identify the human errors which have a significant effect on the overall safety of the system and to quantify the probability of their occurrence. Some of the major issues within human reliability studies are reviewed and it is shown how these are applied to the assessment of human failures in systems. This is done under the following headings; models of human performance used in human reliability assessment, the nature of human error, classification of errors in man-machine systems, practical aspects, human reliability modelling in complex situations, quantification and examination of human reliability, judgement based approaches, holistic techniques and decision analytic approaches. (UK)

Sentence Repetition in Deaf Children with Specific Language Impairment in British Sign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Marshall, Chloë; Mason, Kathryn; Rowley, Katherine; Herman, Rosalind; Atkinson, Joanna; Woll, Bencie; Morgan, Gary

2015-01-01

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) perform poorly on sentence repetition tasks across different spoken languages, but until now, this methodology has not been investigated in children who have SLI in a signed language. Users of a natural sign language encode different sentence meanings through their choice of signs and by altering…

Computing Accurate Grammatical Feedback in a Virtual Writing Conference for German-Speaking Elementary-School Children: An Approach Based on Natural Language Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Harbusch, Karin; Itsova, Gergana; Koch, Ulrich; Kuhner, Christine

2009-01-01

We built a natural language processing (NLP) system implementing a "virtual writing conference" for elementary-school children, with German as the target language. Currently, state-of-the-art computer support for writing tasks is restricted to multiple-choice questions or quizzes because automatic parsing of the often ambiguous and fragmentary…

Prediction During Natural Language Comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Willems, Roel M; Frank, Stefan L; Nijhof, Annabel D; Hagoort, Peter; van den Bosch, Antal

2016-06-01

The notion of prediction is studied in cognitive neuroscience with increasing intensity. We investigated the neural basis of 2 distinct aspects of word prediction, derived from information theory, during story comprehension. We assessed the effect of entropy of next-word probability distributions as well as surprisal A computational model determined entropy and surprisal for each word in 3 literary stories. Twenty-four healthy participants listened to the same 3 stories while their brain activation was measured using fMRI. Reversed speech fragments were presented as a control condition. Brain areas sensitive to entropy were left ventral premotor cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and left supplementary motor area. Areas sensitive to surprisal were left inferior temporal sulcus ("visual word form area"), bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right amygdala, bilateral anterior temporal poles, and right inferior frontal sulcus. We conclude that prediction during language comprehension can occur at several levels of processing, including at the level of word form. Our study exemplifies the power of combining computational linguistics with cognitive neuroscience, and additionally underlines the feasibility of studying continuous spoken language materials with fMRI. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Medical subdomain classification of clinical notes using a machine learning-based natural language processing approach

OpenAIRE

Weng, Wei-Hung; Wagholikar, Kavishwar B.; McCray, Alexa T.; Szolovits, Peter; Chueh, Henry C.

2017-01-01

Background The medical subdomain of a clinical note, such as cardiology or neurology, is useful content-derived metadata for developing machine learning downstream applications. To classify the medical subdomain of a note accurately, we have constructed a machine learning-based natural language processing (NLP) pipeline and developed medical subdomain classifiers based on the content of the note. Methods We constructed the pipeline using the clinical ...

A UMLS-based spell checker for natural language processing in vaccine safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Fang

2007-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Institute of Medicine has identified patient safety as a key goal for health care in the United States. Detecting vaccine adverse events is an important public health activity that contributes to patient safety. Reports about adverse events following immunization (AEFI from surveillance systems contain free-text components that can be analyzed using natural language processing. To extract Unified Medical Language System (UMLS concepts from free text and classify AEFI reports based on concepts they contain, we first needed to clean the text by expanding abbreviations and shortcuts and correcting spelling errors. Our objective in this paper was to create a UMLS-based spelling error correction tool as a first step in the natural language processing (NLP pipeline for AEFI reports. Methods We developed spell checking algorithms using open source tools. We used de-identified AEFI surveillance reports to create free-text data sets for analysis. After expansion of abbreviated clinical terms and shortcuts, we performed spelling correction in four steps: (1 error detection, (2 word list generation, (3 word list disambiguation and (4 error correction. We then measured the performance of the resulting spell checker by comparing it to manual correction. Results We used 12,056 words to train the spell checker and tested its performance on 8,131 words. During testing, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV for the spell checker were 74% (95% CI: 74–75, 100% (95% CI: 100–100, and 47% (95% CI: 46%–48%, respectively. Conclusion We created a prototype spell checker that can be used to process AEFI reports. We used the UMLS Specialist Lexicon as the primary source of dictionary terms and the WordNet lexicon as a secondary source. We used the UMLS as a domain-specific source of dictionary terms to compare potentially misspelled words in the corpus. The prototype sensitivity was comparable to currently available

Natural language metaphors covertly influence reasoning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul H Thibodeau

Full Text Available Metaphors pervade discussions of social issues like climate change, the economy, and crime. We ask how natural language metaphors shape the way people reason about such social issues. In previous work, we showed that describing crime metaphorically as a beast or a virus, led people to generate different solutions to a city's crime problem. In the current series of studies, instead of asking people to generate a solution on their own, we provided them with a selection of possible solutions and asked them to choose the best ones. We found that metaphors influenced people's reasoning even when they had a set of options available to compare and select among. These findings suggest that metaphors can influence not just what solution comes to mind first, but also which solution people think is best, even when given the opportunity to explicitly compare alternatives. Further, we tested whether participants were aware of the metaphor. We found that very few participants thought the metaphor played an important part in their decision. Further, participants who had no explicit memory of the metaphor were just as much affected by the metaphor as participants who were able to remember the metaphorical frame. These findings suggest that metaphors can act covertly in reasoning. Finally, we examined the role of political affiliation on reasoning about crime. The results confirm our previous findings that Republicans are more likely to generate enforcement and punishment solutions for dealing with crime, and are less swayed by metaphor than are Democrats or Independents.

Automated assessment of patients' self-narratives for posttraumatic stress disorder screening using natural language processing and text mining

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, Qiwei; Veldkamp, Bernard P.; Glas, Cornelis A.W.; de Vries, Theo

2017-01-01

Patients’ narratives about traumatic experiences and symptoms are useful in clinical screening and diagnostic procedures. In this study, we presented an automated assessment system to screen patients for posttraumatic stress disorder via a natural language processing and text-mining approach. Four

Prediction of Emergency Department Hospital Admission Based on Natural Language Processing and Neural Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xingyu; Kim, Joyce; Patzer, Rachel E; Pitts, Stephen R; Patzer, Aaron; Schrager, Justin D

2017-10-26

To describe and compare logistic regression and neural network modeling strategies to predict hospital admission or transfer following initial presentation to Emergency Department (ED) triage with and without the addition of natural language processing elements. Using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), a cross-sectional probability sample of United States EDs from 2012 and 2013 survey years, we developed several predictive models with the outcome being admission to the hospital or transfer vs. discharge home. We included patient characteristics immediately available after the patient has presented to the ED and undergone a triage process. We used this information to construct logistic regression (LR) and multilayer neural network models (MLNN) which included natural language processing (NLP) and principal component analysis from the patient's reason for visit. Ten-fold cross validation was used to test the predictive capacity of each model and receiver operating curves (AUC) were then calculated for each model. Of the 47,200 ED visits from 642 hospitals, 6,335 (13.42%) resulted in hospital admission (or transfer). A total of 48 principal components were extracted by NLP from the reason for visit fields, which explained 75% of the overall variance for hospitalization. In the model including only structured variables, the AUC was 0.824 (95% CI 0.818-0.830) for logistic regression and 0.823 (95% CI 0.817-0.829) for MLNN. Models including only free-text information generated AUC of 0.742 (95% CI 0.731- 0.753) for logistic regression and 0.753 (95% CI 0.742-0.764) for MLNN. When both structured variables and free text variables were included, the AUC reached 0.846 (95% CI 0.839-0.853) for logistic regression and 0.844 (95% CI 0.836-0.852) for MLNN. The predictive accuracy of hospital admission or transfer for patients who presented to ED triage overall was good, and was improved with the inclusion of free text data from a patient

Simplexity, languages and human languaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cowley, Stephen; Gahrn-Andersen, Rasmus

2018-01-01

Building on a distributed perspective, the Special Issue develops Alain Berthoz's concept of simplexity. By so doing, neurophysiology is used to reach beyond observable and, specifically, 1st-order languaging. While simplexity clarifies how language uses perception/action, a community's ‘lexicon......’ (a linguistic 2nd order) also shapes human powers. People use global constraints to make and construe wordings and bring a social/individual duality to human living. Within a field of perception-action-language, the phenomenology of ‘words’ and ‘things’ drives people to sustain their own experience....... Simplex tricks used in building bodies co-function with action that grants humans access to en-natured culture where, together, they build human knowing....

NPTool: Towards Scalability and Reliability of Business Process Management

Science.gov (United States)

Braghetto, Kelly Rosa; Ferreira, João Eduardo; Pu, Calton

Currently one important challenge in business process management is provide at the same time scalability and reliability of business process executions. This difficulty becomes more accentuated when the execution control assumes complex countless business processes. This work presents NavigationPlanTool (NPTool), a tool to control the execution of business processes. NPTool is supported by Navigation Plan Definition Language (NPDL), a language for business processes specification that uses process algebra as formal foundation. NPTool implements the NPDL language as a SQL extension. The main contribution of this paper is a description of the NPTool showing how the process algebra features combined with a relational database model can be used to provide a scalable and reliable control in the execution of business processes. The next steps of NPTool include reuse of control-flow patterns and support to data flow management.

Designing Second Language Performance Assessments. Technical Report.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, John M.; Brown, James Dean; Hudson, Thom; Yoshioka, Jim

This technical report focuses on the decision-making potential provided by second language performance assessments. First, performance assessment is situated within the broader discussion of alternatives in language assessment and in educational assessment in general. Next, issues in performance assessment design, implementation, reliability, and…

Querying Natural Logic Knowledge Bases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Troels; Bulskov, Henrik; Jensen, Per Anker

2017-01-01

This paper describes the principles of a system applying natural logic as a knowledge base language. Natural logics are regimented fragments of natural language employing high level inference rules. We advocate the use of natural logic for knowledge bases dealing with querying of classes...... in ontologies and class-relationships such as are common in life-science descriptions. The paper adopts a version of natural logic with recursive restrictive clauses such as relative clauses and adnominal prepositional phrases. It includes passive as well as active voice sentences. We outline a prototype...... for partial translation of natural language into natural logic, featuring further querying and conceptual path finding in natural logic knowledge bases....

Descriptive Metaphysics, Natural Language Metaphysics, Sapir-Whorf, and All That Stuff: Evidence from the Mass-Count Distinction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francis Jeffry Pelletier

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Strawson (1959 described ‘descriptive metaphysics’, Bach (1986a described ‘natural language metaphysics’, Sapir (1929 and Whorf (1940a,b, 1941 describe, well, Sapir-Whorfianism. And there are other views concerning the relation between correct semantic analysis of linguistic phenomena and the “reality” that is supposed to be thereby described. I think some considerations from the analyses of the mass-count distinction can shed some light on that very dark topic.ReferencesBach, Emmon. 1986a. ‘Natural Language Metaphysics’. In Ruth Barcan Marcus, G.J.W. Dorn & Paul Weingartner (eds. ‘Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, VII’, 573–595. Amsterdam: North Holland.Bach, Emmon. 1986b. ‘The Algebra of Events’. Linguistics and Philosophy 9: 5–16.Berger, Peter & Luckmann, Thomas. 1966. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Doubleday.Boroditsky, Lera, Schmidt, Lauren & Phillips, Webb. 2003. ‘Sex, Syntax, and Semantics’. In Dedre Gentner & Susan Goldin-Meadow (eds. ‘Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Cognition’, 59–80. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Cheng, L. & Sybesma, R. 1999. ‘Bare and Not-So-Bare Nouns and the structure of NP’. Linguistic Inquiry 30: 509–542.http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/002438999554192Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998a. ‘Reference to Kinds across Languages’. Natural Language Semantics 6: 339–405.http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008324218506Chierchia, Gennaro. 1998b. ‘Plurality of Mass Nouns and the Notion of ‘Semantic Parameter’ ’. In S. Rothstein (ed. ‘Events and Grammar’, 53–103. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Chierchia, Gennaro. 2010. ‘Mass Nouns, Vagueness and Semantic Variation’. Synthèse 174: 99–149.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11229-009-9686-6Doetjes, Jenny. 1997. Quantifiers and Selection: On the Distribution of Quantifying Expressions in French, Dutch and English. Ph.D. thesis, University of Leiden, Holland

CLAMP - a toolkit for efficiently building customized clinical natural language processing pipelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Soysal, Ergin; Wang, Jingqi; Jiang, Min; Wu, Yonghui; Pakhomov, Serguei; Liu, Hongfang; Xu, Hua

2017-11-24

Existing general clinical natural language processing (NLP) systems such as MetaMap and Clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System have been successfully applied to information extraction from clinical text. However, end users often have to customize existing systems for their individual tasks, which can require substantial NLP skills. Here we present CLAMP (Clinical Language Annotation, Modeling, and Processing), a newly developed clinical NLP toolkit that provides not only state-of-the-art NLP components, but also a user-friendly graphic user interface that can help users quickly build customized NLP pipelines for their individual applications. Our evaluation shows that the CLAMP default pipeline achieved good performance on named entity recognition and concept encoding. We also demonstrate the efficiency of the CLAMP graphic user interface in building customized, high-performance NLP pipelines with 2 use cases, extracting smoking status and lab test values. CLAMP is publicly available for research use, and we believe it is a unique asset for the clinical NLP community. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Computer-Assisted Language Learning : proceedings of the seventh Twente Workshop on Language Technology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Appelo, L.; de Jong, Franciska M.G.

1994-01-01

TWLT is an acronym of Twente Workshop(s) on Language Technology. These workshops on natural language theory and technology are organised bij Project Parlevink (sometimes with the help of others) a language theory and technology project conducted at the Department of Computer Science of the

AMSTERDAM-NIJMEGEN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE TEST - CONSTRUCTION, RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BLOMERT, L; KEAN, ML; KOSTER, C; SCHOKKER, J

1994-01-01

The Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (ANELT) is designed to measure, first, the level of verbal communicative abilities of aphasic patients and, second, changes in these abilities over time. The level of communicative effectiveness is determined by the adequacy of bringing a message across.

Intelligent Performance Analysis with a Natural Language Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Juuso, Esko K.

2017-09-01

Performance improvement is taken as the primary goal in the asset management. Advanced data analysis is needed to efficiently integrate condition monitoring data into the operation and maintenance. Intelligent stress and condition indices have been developed for control and condition monitoring by combining generalized norms with efficient nonlinear scaling. These nonlinear scaling methodologies can also be used to handle performance measures used for management since management oriented indicators can be presented in the same scale as intelligent condition and stress indices. Performance indicators are responses of the process, machine or system to the stress contributions analyzed from process and condition monitoring data. Scaled values are directly used in intelligent temporal analysis to calculate fluctuations and trends. All these methodologies can be used in prognostics and fatigue prediction. The meanings of the variables are beneficial in extracting expert knowledge and representing information in natural language. The idea of dividing the problems into the variable specific meanings and the directions of interactions provides various improvements for performance monitoring and decision making. The integrated temporal analysis and uncertainty processing facilitates the efficient use of domain expertise. Measurements can be monitored with generalized statistical process control (GSPC) based on the same scaling functions.

Evolution: Language Use and the Evolution of Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Croft, William

Language change can be understood as an evolutionary process. Language change occurs at two different timescales, corresponding to the two steps of the evolutionary process. The first timescale is very short, namely, the production of an utterance: this is where linguistic structures are replicated and language variation is generated. The second timescale is (or can be) very long, namely, the propagation of linguistic variants in the speech community: this is where certain variants are selected over others. At both timescales, the evolutionary process is driven by social interaction and the role language plays in it. An understanding of social interaction at the micro-level—face-to-face interactions—and at the macro-level—the structure of speech communities—gives us the basis for understanding the generation and propagation of language structures, and understanding the nature of language itself.

Knowledge-based machine indexing from natural language text: Knowledge base design, development, and maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Genuardi, Michael T.

1993-01-01

One strategy for machine-aided indexing (MAI) is to provide a concept-level analysis of the textual elements of documents or document abstracts. In such systems, natural-language phrases are analyzed in order to identify and classify concepts related to a particular subject domain. The overall performance of these MAI systems is largely dependent on the quality and comprehensiveness of their knowledge bases. These knowledge bases function to (1) define the relations between a controlled indexing vocabulary and natural language expressions; (2) provide a simple mechanism for disambiguation and the determination of relevancy; and (3) allow the extension of concept-hierarchical structure to all elements of the knowledge file. After a brief description of the NASA Machine-Aided Indexing system, concerns related to the development and maintenance of MAI knowledge bases are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to statistically-based text analysis tools designed to aid the knowledge base developer. One such tool, the Knowledge Base Building (KBB) program, presents the domain expert with a well-filtered list of synonyms and conceptually-related phrases for each thesaurus concept. Another tool, the Knowledge Base Maintenance (KBM) program, functions to identify areas of the knowledge base affected by changes in the conceptual domain (for example, the addition of a new thesaurus term). An alternate use of the KBM as an aid in thesaurus construction is also discussed.

Visualizing Patient Journals by Combining Vital Signs Monitoring and Natural Language Processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vilic, Adnan; Petersen, John Asger; Hoppe, Karsten

2016-01-01

This paper presents a data-driven approach to graphically presenting text-based patient journals while still maintaining all textual information. The system first creates a timeline representation of a patients’ physiological condition during an admission, which is assessed by electronically...... monitoring vital signs and then combining these into Early Warning Scores (EWS). Hereafter, techniques from Natural Language Processing (NLP) are applied on the existing patient journal to extract all entries. Finally, the two methods are combined into an interactive timeline featuring the ability to see...... drastic changes in the patients’ health, and thereby enabling staff to see where in the journal critical events have taken place....

Next Generation Systems Languages

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Morrisett, Greg

2006-01-01

The goal of this work is to explore techniques for making today's software, which is largely written in type-unsafe, low-level languages such as C, as reliable and trustworthy as code written in type...

LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS FOR THE BELARUSIAN CORPUS WITH THE APPLICATION OF NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. S. Hetsevich

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on the problems existing in text-to-speech synthesis. Different morphological, lexical and syntactical elements were localized with the help of the Belarusian unit of NooJ program. Those types of errors, which occur in Belarusian texts, were analyzed and corrected. Language model and part of speech tagging model were built. The natural language processing of Belarusian corpus with the help of developed algorithm using machine learning was carried out. The precision of developed models of machine learning has been 80–90 %. The dictionary was enriched with new words for the further using it in the systems of Belarusian speech synthesis.

Computers and Languages: Theory and Practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

A global introduction to language technology and the areas of computer science where language technology plays a role. Surveyed in this volume are issueas related to the parsing problem in the fields of natural languages, programming languages, and formal languages. Throughout the book attention is

The Tao of Whole Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Zola, Meguido

1989-01-01

Uses the philosophy of Taoism as a metaphor in describing the whole language approach to language arts instruction. The discussion covers the key principles that inform the whole language approach, the resulting holistic nature of language programs, and the role of the teacher in this approach. (16 references) (CLB)

Toward a Common Language for Measuring Patient Mobility in the Hospital: Reliability and Construct Validity of Interprofessional Mobility Measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoyer, Erik H; Young, Daniel L; Klein, Lisa M; Kreif, Julie; Shumock, Kara; Hiser, Stephanie; Friedman, Michael; Lavezza, Annette; Jette, Alan; Chan, Kitty S; Needham, Dale M

2018-02-01

The lack of common language among interprofessional inpatient clinical teams is an important barrier to achieving inpatient mobilization. In The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC) Inpatient Mobility Short Form (IMSF), also called "6-Clicks," and the Johns Hopkins Highest Level of Mobility (JH-HLM) are part of routine clinical practice. The measurement characteristics of these tools when used by both nurses and physical therapists for interprofessional communication or assessment are unknown. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the reliability and minimal detectable change of AM-PAC IMSF and JH-HLM when completed by nurses and physical therapists and to evaluate the construct validity of both measures when used by nurses. A prospective evaluation of a convenience sample was used. The test-retest reliability and the interrater reliability of AM-PAC IMSF and JH-HLM for inpatients in the neuroscience department (n = 118) of an academic medical center were evaluated. Each participant was independently scored twice by a team of 2 nurses and 1 physical therapist; a total of 4 physical therapists and 8 nurses participated in reliability testing. In a separate inpatient study protocol (n = 69), construct validity was evaluated via an assessment of convergent validity with other measures of function (grip strength, Katz Activities of Daily Living Scale, 2-minute walk test, 5-times sit-to-stand test) used by 5 nurses. The test-retest reliability values (intraclass correlation coefficients) for physical therapists and nurses were 0.91 and 0.97, respectively, for AM-PAC IMSF and 0.94 and 0.95, respectively, for JH-HLM. The interrater reliability values (intraclass correlation coefficients) between physical therapists and nurses were 0.96 for AM-PAC IMSF and 0.99 for JH-HLM. Construct validity (Spearman correlations) ranged from 0.25 between JH-HLM and right-hand grip strength to 0.80 between AM-PAC IMSF and the Katz Activities of

RLL-1: A Representation Language Language

Science.gov (United States)

1980-10-01

adaptable organisms over those which contain, built-in optimized features. Compare the extinct dinosaur , unable to adapt to new situations, with two of...natural language understandirq for KRL [Bobrow & Winograd] and OWL [Szolovits, et alD. For this reason , his language is ofL.:n inadequate for any...for no particular reason , switch the organ into its Oboe state. That is, the sequence which triggers a change to the organ is a Punction of the organ’s

How many kinds of reasoning? Inference, probability, and natural language semantics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lassiter, Daniel; Goodman, Noah D

2015-03-01

The "new paradigm" unifying deductive and inductive reasoning in a Bayesian framework (Oaksford & Chater, 2007; Over, 2009) has been claimed to be falsified by results which show sharp differences between reasoning about necessity vs. plausibility (Heit & Rotello, 2010; Rips, 2001; Rotello & Heit, 2009). We provide a probabilistic model of reasoning with modal expressions such as "necessary" and "plausible" informed by recent work in formal semantics of natural language, and show that it predicts the possibility of non-linear response patterns which have been claimed to be problematic. Our model also makes a strong monotonicity prediction, while two-dimensional theories predict the possibility of reversals in argument strength depending on the modal word chosen. Predictions were tested using a novel experimental paradigm that replicates the previously-reported response patterns with a minimal manipulation, changing only one word of the stimulus between conditions. We found a spectrum of reasoning "modes" corresponding to different modal words, and strong support for our model's monotonicity prediction. This indicates that probabilistic approaches to reasoning can account in a clear and parsimonious way for data previously argued to falsify them, as well as new, more fine-grained, data. It also illustrates the importance of careful attention to the semantics of language employed in reasoning experiments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dialogue-Games: Meta-Communication Structures for Natural Language Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

1977-01-01

analogy from Wittgenstein’s term "language game" ( Wittgenstein , 1958). However, Dialogue-games represent knowledge people have about language as used to...and memory of narrative discourse. CoRtiiiive PsycholoRy, 1977, 9, 77-110. Wittgenstein , L. Philosophical inve-ÜRalions (3rd ed.). New York

Gendered Language in Interactive Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Hussey, Karen A.; Katz, Albert N.; Leith, Scott A.

2015-01-01

Over two studies, we examined the nature of gendered language in interactive discourse. In the first study, we analyzed gendered language from a chat corpus to see whether tokens of gendered language proposed in the gender-as-culture hypothesis (Maltz and Borker in "Language and social identity." Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp…

Automatic Lung-RADS™ classification with a natural language processing system.

Science.gov (United States)

Beyer, Sebastian E; McKee, Brady J; Regis, Shawn M; McKee, Andrea B; Flacke, Sebastian; El Saadawi, Gilan; Wald, Christoph

2017-09-01

Our aim was to train a natural language processing (NLP) algorithm to capture imaging characteristics of lung nodules reported in a structured CT report and suggest the applicable Lung-RADS™ (LR) category. Our study included structured, clinical reports of consecutive CT lung screening (CTLS) exams performed from 08/2014 to 08/2015 at an ACR accredited Lung Cancer Screening Center. All patients screened were at high-risk for lung cancer according to the NCCN Guidelines ® . All exams were interpreted by one of three radiologists credentialed to read CTLS exams using LR using a standard reporting template. Training and test sets consisted of consecutive exams. Lung screening exams were divided into two groups: three training sets (500, 120, and 383 reports each) and one final evaluation set (498 reports). NLP algorithm results were compared with the gold standard of LR category assigned by the radiologist. The sensitivity/specificity of the NLP algorithm to correctly assign LR categories for suspicious nodules (LR 4) and positive nodules (LR 3/4) were 74.1%/98.6% and 75.0%/98.8% respectively. The majority of mismatches occurred in cases where pulmonary findings were present not currently addressed by LR. Misclassifications also resulted from the failure to identify exams as follow-up and the failure to completely characterize part-solid nodules. In a sub-group analysis among structured reports with standardized language, the sensitivity and specificity to detect LR 4 nodules were 87.0% and 99.5%, respectively. An NLP system can accurately suggest the appropriate LR category from CTLS exam findings when standardized reporting is used.

What baboons can (not) tell us about natural language grammars.

Science.gov (United States)

Poletiek, Fenna H; Fitz, Hartmut; Bocanegra, Bruno R

2016-06-01

Rey et al. (2012) present data from a study with baboons that they interpret in support of the idea that center-embedded structures in human language have their origin in low level memory mechanisms and associative learning. Critically, the authors claim that the baboons showed a behavioral preference that is consistent with center-embedded sequences over other types of sequences. We argue that the baboons' response patterns suggest that two mechanisms are involved: first, they can be trained to associate a particular response with a particular stimulus, and, second, when faced with two conditioned stimuli in a row, they respond to the most recent one first, copying behavior they had been rewarded for during training. Although Rey et al. (2012) 'experiment shows that the baboons' behavior is driven by low level mechanisms, it is not clear how the animal behavior reported, bears on the phenomenon of Center Embedded structures in human syntax. Hence, (1) natural language syntax may indeed have been shaped by low level mechanisms, and (2) the baboons' behavior is driven by low level stimulus response learning, as Rey et al. propose. But is the second evidence for the first? We will discuss in what ways this study can and cannot give evidential value for explaining the origin of Center Embedded recursion in human grammar. More generally, their study provokes an interesting reflection on the use of animal studies in order to understand features of the human linguistic system. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Some areas of reliability technique which have been neglected to some extent - maintainability - human reliability - mechanical reliability - repairable systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akersten, P.A.

1985-01-01

The present thesis consists of four papers, three of which are of a expositary nature and one more theoretical. The first two papers have a natural coupling to the man-machine interface. The first paper is devoted to the concept of maintainability and the role of man as maintenance technician. The second paper discusses aspects of human reliability, mainly studying man as operator. However, maintenance tasks can be studied in the same manner. The third paper concerns reliability prediction for mechanical components. This is an area of vital importance for the reliability practitioner, who needs realistic and easy-to-use mathematical models for different failure modes. The fourth paper discusses mathematical models for repairable systems, especially the problem of testing whether a constant event intensity model is adequate or not. (author)

Factors Influencing Sensitivity to Lexical Tone in an Artificial Language: Implications for Second Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L.; Lancaster, Alia; Ladd, D. Robert; Dediu, Dan; Christiansen, Morten H.

2015-01-01

This study examined whether musical training, ethnicity, and experience with a natural tone language influenced sensitivity to tone while listening to an artificial tone language. The language was designed with three tones, modeled after level-tone African languages. Participants listened to a 15-min random concatenation of six 3-syllable words.…

Storytelling, behavior planning, and language evolution in context.

Science.gov (United States)

McBride, Glen

2014-01-01

An attempt is made to specify the structure of the hominin bands that began steps to language. Storytelling could evolve without need for language yet be strongly subject to natural selection and could provide a major feedback process in evolving language. A storytelling model is examined, including its effects on the evolution of consciousness and the possible timing of language evolution. Behavior planning is presented as a model of language evolution from storytelling. The behavior programming mechanism in both directions provide a model of creating and understanding behavior and language. Culture began with societies, then family evolution, family life in troops, but storytelling created a culture of experiences, a final step in the long process of achieving experienced adults by natural selection. Most language evolution occurred in conversations where evolving non-verbal feedback ensured mutual agreements on understanding. Natural language evolved in conversations with feedback providing understanding of changes.

International English Language Testing: A Critical Response

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Graham

2010-01-01

Uysal's article provides a research agenda for IELTS and lists numerous issues concerning the test's reliability and validity. She asks useful questions, but her analysis ignores the uncertainties inherent in all language test development and the wider social and political context of international high-stakes language testing. In this response, I…

Arabic text preprocessing for the natural language processing applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Awajan, A.

2007-01-01

A new approach for processing vowelized and unvowelized Arabic texts in order to prepare them for Natural Language Processing (NLP) purposes is described. The developed approach is rule-based and made up of four phases: text tokenization, word light stemming, word's morphological analysis and text annotation. The first phase preprocesses the input text in order to isolate the words and represent them in a formal way. The second phase applies a light stemmer in order to extract the stem of each word by eliminating the prefixes and suffixes. The third phase is a rule-based morphological analyzer that determines the root and the morphological pattern for each extracted stem. The last phase produces an annotated text where each word is tagged with its morphological attributes. The preprocessor presented in this paper is capable of dealing with vowelized and unvowelized words, and provides the input words along with relevant linguistics information needed by different applications. It is designed to be used with different NLP applications such as machine translation text summarization, text correction, information retrieval and automatic vowelization of Arabic Text. (author)

Language Ideologies in a Danish Company with English as a Corporate Language

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lønsmann, Dorte

2015-01-01

with Danish. While previous studies of English as an international language have tended to focus on the consequences for the local language, this article also includes a discussion of the role of English in relation to other international languages. English is constructed as the international language......With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local...... language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as the natural language in Denmark, but as unimportant compared to English on the other hand. English is constructed as prestigious and powerful in contrast...

Reliability parameters of distribution networks components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gono, R.; Kratky, M.; Rusek, S.; Kral, V. [Technical Univ. of Ostrava (Czech Republic)

2009-03-11

This paper presented a framework for the retrieval of parameters from various heterogenous power system databases. The framework was designed to transform the heterogenous outage data in a common relational scheme. The framework was used to retrieve outage data parameters from the Czech and Slovak republics in order to demonstrate the scalability of the framework. A reliability computation of the system was computed in 2 phases representing the retrieval of component reliability parameters and the reliability computation. Reliability rates were determined using component reliability and global reliability indices. Input data for the reliability was retrieved from data on equipment operating under similar conditions, while the probability of failure-free operations was evaluated by determining component status. Anomalies in distribution outage data were described as scheme, attribute, and term differences. Input types consisted of input relations; transformation programs; codebooks; and translation tables. The system was used to successfully retrieve data from 7 distributors in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic between 2000-2007. The database included 301,555 records. Data were queried using SQL language. 29 refs., 2 tabs., 2 figs.

The Language Teaching Methods Scale: Reliability and Validity Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Okmen, Burcu; Kilic, Abdurrahman

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is to develop a scale to determine the language teaching methods used by English teachers. The research sample consisted of 300 English teachers who taught at Duzce University and in primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in the Provincial Management of National Education in the city of Duzce in 2013-2014…

Storytelling, behavior planning and language evolution in context.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glen eMcbride

2014-10-01

Full Text Available An attempt is made to specify the structure of the hominin bands that began steps to language. 8 Storytelling could evolve without need for language yet be strongly subject to natural selection 9 and could provide a major feedback process in evolving language. A storytelling model is 10 examined, including its effects on the evolution of consciousness and the possible timing of 11 language evolution. Behavior planning is presented as a model of language evolution from 12 storytelling. The behavior programming mechanism in both directions provide a model of 13 creating and understanding behavior and language. Culture began with societies, then family 14 evolution, family life in troops, but storytelling created a culture of experiences, a final step in 15 the long process of achieving experienced adults by natural selection. Most language evolution 16 occurred in conversations where evolving non-verbal feedback ensured mutual agreements on 17 understanding. Natural language evolved in conversations with feedback providing 18 understanding of changes.

Positivity of the English Language

Science.gov (United States)

Kloumann, Isabel M.; Danforth, Christopher M.; Harris, Kameron Decker; Bliss, Catherine A.; Dodds, Peter Sheridan

2012-01-01

Over the last million years, human language has emerged and evolved as a fundamental instrument of social communication and semiotic representation. People use language in part to convey emotional information, leading to the central and contingent questions: (1) What is the emotional spectrum of natural language? and (2) Are natural languages neutrally, positively, or negatively biased? Here, we report that the human-perceived positivity of over 10,000 of the most frequently used English words exhibits a clear positive bias. More deeply, we characterize and quantify distributions of word positivity for four large and distinct corpora, demonstrating that their form is broadly invariant with respect to frequency of word use. PMID:22247779

Positivity of the English language.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabel M Kloumann

Full Text Available Over the last million years, human language has emerged and evolved as a fundamental instrument of social communication and semiotic representation. People use language in part to convey emotional information, leading to the central and contingent questions: (1 What is the emotional spectrum of natural language? and (2 Are natural languages neutrally, positively, or negatively biased? Here, we report that the human-perceived positivity of over 10,000 of the most frequently used English words exhibits a clear positive bias. More deeply, we characterize and quantify distributions of word positivity for four large and distinct corpora, demonstrating that their form is broadly invariant with respect to frequency of word use.

Attitudes and Language. Multilingual Matters: 83.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Colin

This book examines language attitudes, focusing on individual attitudes toward majority and minority languages and bilingualism. Special emphasis is placed on research conducted on language attitudes in Wales toward the Welsh and English languages. Six chapters address the following: (1) the nature, definition, and measurement of language…

A reliability analysis of a natural-gas pressure-regulating installation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerbec, Marko

2010-01-01

A case study involving analyses of the operability, reliability and availability was made for a selected, typical, high-pressure, natural-gas, pressure-regulating installation (PRI). The study was commissioned by the national operator of the natural-gas, transmission-pipeline network for the purpose of validating the existing operability and maintenance practices and policies. The study involved a failure-risk analysis (HAZOP) of the selected typical installation, retrieval and analysis of the available corrective maintenance data for the PRI's equipment at the network level in order to obtain the failure rates followed by an elaboration of the quantitative fault trees. Thus, both operator-specific and generic literature data on equipment failure rates were used. The results obtained show that two failure scenarios need to be considered: the first is related to the PRI's failure to provide gas to the consumer(s) due to a low-pressure state and the second is related to a failure of the gas pre-heating at the high-pressure reduction stage, leading to a low temperature (a non-critical, but unfavorable, PRI state). Related to the first scenario, the most important cause of failure was found to be a transient pressure disturbance back from the consumer side. The network's average PRI failure frequency was assessed to be about once per 32 years, and the average unavailability to be about 4 minutes per year (the confidence intervals were also assessed). Based on the results obtained, some improvements to the monitoring of the PRI are proposed.

A reliability analysis of a natural-gas pressure-regulating installation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerbec, Marko, E-mail: marko.gerbec@ijs.s [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2010-11-15

A case study involving analyses of the operability, reliability and availability was made for a selected, typical, high-pressure, natural-gas, pressure-regulating installation (PRI). The study was commissioned by the national operator of the natural-gas, transmission-pipeline network for the purpose of validating the existing operability and maintenance practices and policies. The study involved a failure-risk analysis (HAZOP) of the selected typical installation, retrieval and analysis of the available corrective maintenance data for the PRI's equipment at the network level in order to obtain the failure rates followed by an elaboration of the quantitative fault trees. Thus, both operator-specific and generic literature data on equipment failure rates were used. The results obtained show that two failure scenarios need to be considered: the first is related to the PRI's failure to provide gas to the consumer(s) due to a low-pressure state and the second is related to a failure of the gas pre-heating at the high-pressure reduction stage, leading to a low temperature (a non-critical, but unfavorable, PRI state). Related to the first scenario, the most important cause of failure was found to be a transient pressure disturbance back from the consumer side. The network's average PRI failure frequency was assessed to be about once per 32 years, and the average unavailability to be about 4 minutes per year (the confidence intervals were also assessed). Based on the results obtained, some improvements to the monitoring of the PRI are proposed.

Language and Social Identity Construction: A Study of a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian School

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Ekaterina Leonidovna

2012-01-01

Grounded in discourse analytic and language socialization paradigms, this dissertation examines issues of language and social identity construction in children attending a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian Saturday School in California. By conducting micro-analysis of naturally-occurring talk-in-interaction combined with longitudinal…

Generation of Natural-Language Textual Summaries from Longitudinal Clinical Records.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Ayelet; Shahar, Yuval

2015-01-01

Physicians are required to interpret, abstract and present in free-text large amounts of clinical data in their daily tasks. This is especially true for chronic-disease domains, but holds also in other clinical domains. We have recently developed a prototype system, CliniText, which, given a time-oriented clinical database, and appropriate formal abstraction and summarization knowledge, combines the computational mechanisms of knowledge-based temporal data abstraction, textual summarization, abduction, and natural-language generation techniques, to generate an intelligent textual summary of longitudinal clinical data. We demonstrate our methodology, and the feasibility of providing a free-text summary of longitudinal electronic patient records, by generating summaries in two very different domains - Diabetes Management and Cardiothoracic surgery. In particular, we explain the process of generating a discharge summary of a patient who had undergone a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft operation, and a brief summary of the treatment of a diabetes patient for five years.

Naturalizing language: human appraisal and (quasi) technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cowley, Stephen

2013-01-01

Using contemporary science, the paper builds on Wittgenstein’s views of human language. Rather than ascribing reality to inscription-like entities, it links embodiment with distributed cognition. The verbal or (quasi) technological aspect of language is traced to not action, but human specific...... interactivity. This species-specific form of sense-making sustains, among other things, using texts, making/construing phonetic gestures and thinking. Human action is thus grounded in appraisals or sense-saturated coordination. To illustrate interactivity at work, the paper focuses on a case study. Over 11 s......, a crime scene investigator infers that she is probably dealing with an inside job: she uses not words, but intelligent gaze. This connects professional expertise to circumstances and the feeling of thinking. It is suggested that, as for other species, human appraisal is based in synergies. However, since...

An initial reliability and validity study of the Interaction, Communication, and Literacy Skills Audit.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Choueifati, Nisrine; Purcell, Alison; McCabe, Patricia; Heard, Robert; Munro, Natalie

2014-06-01

Early childhood educators (ECEs) have an important role in promoting positive outcomes for children's language and literacy development. This paper reports the development of a new tool, The Interaction Communication and Literacy (ICL) Skills Audit, and pilots its reliability and validity. Intra- and inter-rater reliability was examined by three speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Five skill areas relating to ECE language and literacy practice were rated. The face and content validity of the ICL Skills Audit was examined by expert SLPs (n = 8) and expert ECEs (n = 4) via questionnaire. The overall intra-rater reliability for the ICL Skills Audit was excellent with percentage close agreement (PCA) of 91-94. Inter-rater agreement was PCA 68-80. Expert SLPs and ECEs agreed that the content was comprehensive and practical. Based on this preliminary study, the ICL Skills Audit appears to be a promising tool that can be used by SLPs and ECEs in collaboration to measure the skills of ECEs in the areas of language and literacy support. Future psychometric and outcome research on the revised ICL Skills Audit is warranted.

A corpus of full-text journal articles is a robust evaluation tool for revealing differences in performance of biomedical natural language processing tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Verspoor, Karin; Cohen, Kevin Bretonnel; Lanfranchi, Arrick; Warner, Colin; Johnson, Helen L; Roeder, Christophe; Choi, Jinho D; Funk, Christopher; Malenkiy, Yuriy; Eckert, Miriam; Xue, Nianwen; Baumgartner, William A; Bada, Michael; Palmer, Martha; Hunter, Lawrence E

2012-08-17

We introduce the linguistic annotation of a corpus of 97 full-text biomedical publications, known as the Colorado Richly Annotated Full Text (CRAFT) corpus. We further assess the performance of existing tools for performing sentence splitting, tokenization, syntactic parsing, and named entity recognition on this corpus. Many biomedical natural language processing systems demonstrated large differences between their previously published results and their performance on the CRAFT corpus when tested with the publicly available models or rule sets. Trainable systems differed widely with respect to their ability to build high-performing models based on this data. The finding that some systems were able to train high-performing models based on this corpus is additional evidence, beyond high inter-annotator agreement, that the quality of the CRAFT corpus is high. The overall poor performance of various systems indicates that considerable work needs to be done to enable natural language processing systems to work well when the input is full-text journal articles. The CRAFT corpus provides a valuable resource to the biomedical natural language processing community for evaluation and training of new models for biomedical full text publications.

Reliability of electronic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roca, Jose L.

2001-01-01

Reliability techniques have been developed subsequently as a need of the diverse engineering disciplines, nevertheless they are not few those that think they have been work a lot on reliability before the same word was used in the current context. Military, space and nuclear industries were the first ones that have been involved in this topic, however not only in these environments it is that it has been carried out this small great revolution in benefit of the increase of the reliability figures of the products of those industries, but rather it has extended to the whole industry. The fact of the massive production, characteristic of the current industries, drove four decades ago, to the fall of the reliability of its products, on one hand, because the massively itself and, for other, to the recently discovered and even not stabilized industrial techniques. Industry should be changed according to those two new requirements, creating products of medium complexity and assuring an enough reliability appropriated to production costs and controls. Reliability began to be integral part of the manufactured product. Facing this philosophy, the book describes reliability techniques applied to electronics systems and provides a coherent and rigorous framework for these diverse activities providing a unifying scientific basis for the entire subject. It consists of eight chapters plus a lot of statistical tables and an extensive annotated bibliography. Chapters embrace the following topics: 1- Introduction to Reliability; 2- Basic Mathematical Concepts; 3- Catastrophic Failure Models; 4-Parametric Failure Models; 5- Systems Reliability; 6- Reliability in Design and Project; 7- Reliability Tests; 8- Software Reliability. This book is in Spanish language and has a potentially diverse audience as a text book from academic to industrial courses. (author)

The Nature of the Language Faculty and Its Implications for Evolution of Language (Reply to Fitch, Hauser, and Chomsky)

Science.gov (United States)

Jackendoff, Ray; Pinker, Steven

2005-01-01

In a continuation of the conversation with Fitch, Chomsky, and Hauser on the evolution of language, we examine their defense of the claim that the uniquely human, language-specific part of the language faculty (the ''narrow language faculty'') consists only of recursion, and that this part cannot be considered an adaptation to communication. We…

The Meta-Language of Advertising in a Synergetic Vision of the World (in English Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aila E. Zhumabekova

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The relevance of this article is determined by necessity of consideration of the metalanguage, which is considered a language that expresses the hidden meaning of advertising through natural language, from the point of view of linguistic analysis in the synergy aspect as a main tool used by the metalanguage in the process of representation created in the framework of this direction terminology. The article creates a lexical reservoir used on the respective orientation, which detects the connection with the language phenomena and the facts in our case in advertising. Formed the language of "second order", which is the object of the natural language in all its manifestations. The new synergetic way of thinking in the meta-language of advertising is nonlinear, and evolutionary. This is the current stage of development of linguistics as an attempt of system description meta-language of advertising and its effects on customers are different segments of the population, that is, a synergistic perception of the content of advertising texts in English and their components.

The cognitive functions of language.

Science.gov (United States)

Carruthers, Peter

2002-12-01

This paper explores a variety of different versions of the thesis that natural language is involved in human thinking. It distinguishes amongst strong and weak forms of this thesis, dismissing some as implausibly strong and others as uninterestingly weak. Strong forms dismissed include the view that language is conceptually necessary for thought (endorsed by many philosophers) and the view that language is de facto the medium of all human conceptual thinking (endorsed by many philosophers and social scientists). Weak forms include the view that language is necessary for the acquisition of many human concepts and the view that language can serve to scaffold human thought processes. The paper also discusses the thesis that language may be the medium of conscious propositional thinking, but argues that this cannot be its most fundamental cognitive role. The idea is then proposed that natural language is the medium for nondomain-specific thinking, serving to integrate the outputs of a variety of domain-specific conceptual faculties (or central-cognitive "quasimodules"). Recent experimental evidence in support of this idea is reviewed and the implications of the idea are discussed, especially for our conception of the architecture of human cognition. Finally, some further kinds of evidence which might serve to corroborate or refute the hypothesis are mentioned. The overall goal of the paper is to review a wide variety of accounts of the cognitive function of natural language, integrating a number of different kinds of evidence and theoretical consideration in order to propose and elaborate the most plausible candidate.

Automated identification of wound information in clinical notes of patients with heart diseases: Developing and validating a natural language processing application.

Science.gov (United States)

Topaz, Maxim; Lai, Kenneth; Dowding, Dawn; Lei, Victor J; Zisberg, Anna; Bowles, Kathryn H; Zhou, Li

2016-12-01

Electronic health records are being increasingly used by nurses with up to 80% of the health data recorded as free text. However, only a few studies have developed nursing-relevant tools that help busy clinicians to identify information they need at the point of care. This study developed and validated one of the first automated natural language processing applications to extract wound information (wound type, pressure ulcer stage, wound size, anatomic location, and wound treatment) from free text clinical notes. First, two human annotators manually reviewed a purposeful training sample (n=360) and random test sample (n=1100) of clinical notes (including 50% discharge summaries and 50% outpatient notes), identified wound cases, and created a gold standard dataset. We then trained and tested our natural language processing system (known as MTERMS) to process the wound information. Finally, we assessed our automated approach by comparing system-generated findings against the gold standard. We also compared the prevalence of wound cases identified from free-text data with coded diagnoses in the structured data. The testing dataset included 101 notes (9.2%) with wound information. The overall system performance was good (F-measure is a compiled measure of system's accuracy=92.7%), with best results for wound treatment (F-measure=95.7%) and poorest results for wound size (F-measure=81.9%). Only 46.5% of wound notes had a structured code for a wound diagnosis. The natural language processing system achieved good performance on a subset of randomly selected discharge summaries and outpatient notes. In more than half of the wound notes, there were no coded wound diagnoses, which highlight the significance of using natural language processing to enrich clinical decision making. Our future steps will include expansion of the application's information coverage to other relevant wound factors and validation of the model with external data. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All

Reliability of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS)

Science.gov (United States)

Mailend, Marja-Liisa; Plante, Elena; Anderson, Michele A.; Applegate, E. Brooks; Nelson, Nickola W.

2016-01-01

Background: As new standardized tests become commercially available, it is critical that clinicians have access to the information about a test's psychometric properties, including aspects of reliability. Aims: The purpose of the three studies reported in this article was to investigate the reliability of a new test, the Test of Integrated…

Dual Sticky Hierarchical Dirichlet Process Hidden Markov Model and Its Application to Natural Language Description of Motions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Weiming; Tian, Guodong; Kang, Yongxin; Yuan, Chunfeng; Maybank, Stephen

2017-09-25

In this paper, a new nonparametric Bayesian model called the dual sticky hierarchical Dirichlet process hidden Markov model (HDP-HMM) is proposed for mining activities from a collection of time series data such as trajectories. All the time series data are clustered. Each cluster of time series data, corresponding to a motion pattern, is modeled by an HMM. Our model postulates a set of HMMs that share a common set of states (topics in an analogy with topic models for document processing), but have unique transition distributions. For the application to motion trajectory modeling, topics correspond to motion activities. The learnt topics are clustered into atomic activities which are assigned predicates. We propose a Bayesian inference method to decompose a given trajectory into a sequence of atomic activities. On combining the learnt sources and sinks, semantic motion regions, and the learnt sequence of atomic activities, the action represented by the trajectory can be described in natural language in as automatic a way as possible. The effectiveness of our dual sticky HDP-HMM is validated on several trajectory datasets. The effectiveness of the natural language descriptions for motions is demonstrated on the vehicle trajectories extracted from a traffic scene.

im4Things: An Ontology-Based Natural Language Interface for Controlling Devices in the Internet of Things

KAUST Repository

Noguera-Arnaldos, José Ángel

2017-03-14

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers opportunities for new applications and services that enable users to access and control their working and home environment from local and remote locations, aiming to perform daily life activities in an easy way. However, the IoT also introduces new challenges, some of which arise from the large range of devices currently available and the heterogeneous interfaces provided for their control. The control and management of this variety of devices and interfaces represent a new challenge for non-expert users, instead of making their life easier. Based on this understanding, in this work we present a natural language interface for the IoT, which takes advantage of Semantic Web technologies to allow non-expert users to control their home environment through an instant messaging application in an easy and intuitive way. We conducted several experiments with a group of end users aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach to control home appliances by means of natural language instructions. The evaluation results proved that without the need for technicalities, the user was able to control the home appliances in an efficient way.

Validity and Reliability of the Arabic Token Test for Children

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhamra, Rana A.; Al-Jazi, Aya B.

2016-01-01

Background: The Token Test for Children (2nd edition) (TTFC) is a measure for assessing receptive language. In this study we describe the translation process, validity and reliability of the Arabic Token Test for Children (A-TTFC). Aims: The aim of this study is to translate, validate and establish the reliability of the Arabic Token Test for…

The Linguistic Interpretation for Language Union – Language Family

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E.A. Balalykina

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper is dedicated to the problem of determination of the essence of language union and language family in modern linguistics, which is considered important, because these terms are often used as absolute synonyms. The research is relevant due to the need to distinguish the features of languages that are inherited during their functioning within either language union or language family when these languages are compared. The research has been carried out in order to present the historical background of the problem and to justify the need for differentiation of language facts that allow relating languages to particular language union or language family. In order to fulfill the goal of this work, descriptive, comparative, and historical methods have been used. A range of examples has been provided to prove that some languages, mainly Slavonic and Baltic languages, form a language family rather than a language union, because a whole number of features in their systems are the heritage of their common Indo-European past. Firstly, it is necessary to take into account changes having either common or different nature in the system of particular languages; secondly, one must have a precise idea of what features in the phonetic and morphological systems of compared languages allow to relate them to language union or language family; thirdly, it must be determined whether the changes in compared languages are regular or of any other type. On the basis of the obtained results, the following conclusions have been drawn: language union and language family are two different types of relations between modern languages; they allow identifying both degree of similarity of these languages and causes of differences between them. It is most important that one should distinguish and describe the specific features of two basic groups of languages forming language family or language union. The results obtained during the analysis are very important for linguistics

Natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity as a reliability factor in the Brazilian electric sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes, E.; Oliveira, J.C.S. de; de Oliveira, P.R.; Alonso, P.S.R.

2008-01-01

The introduction of natural-gas-powered thermoelectricity into the Brazilian generation sector can be considered as a very complex energy, economic, regulatory and institutional revision. Brazil is a country with very specific characteristics in electricity generation, as approximately 80% of the generating capacity is based on hydroelectricity, showing strong dependency on rain and management of water reservoirs. A low rate of investment in the Brazilian Electricity Industry in the period of 1995-2000, associated with periods of low rainfall, led to a dramatic lowering of the water stocks in the reservoirs. With this scenario and the growing supply of natural gas, both from within Brazil and imported, natural gas thermal electric plants became a good option to diversify the electrical supply system. In spite of the Brazilian Government's efforts to install such plants, the country was faced with severe electricity rationing in 2001. The objective of this work is to show the need to continue with the implementation of natural gas thermal electricity projects, in a manner that allows flexibility and guarantees greater working reliability for the entire Brazilian electricity sector. Taking into account the world trend towards renewable energy, the perspectives of usage of biofuels in the Brazilian Energy Matrix and in electrical energy generation are also analyzed. The very issue of electrical power efficiency in Brazil and its challenges and strategic proposals from the standpoint of Government Programs and results provided so far are presented. The technological constraints in order to put on stream the thermal electric plants are also analyzed. The article concludes with a positive perspective of the usage of natural gas as to be the third pillar in the Brazilian Energy Matrix for the years to come

Sociolinguistic Typology and Sign Languages

OpenAIRE

Adam Schembri; Jordan Fenlon; Kearsy Cormier; Trevor Johnston

2018-01-01

This paper examines the possible relationship between proposed social determinants of morphological ‘complexity’ and how this contributes to linguistic diversity, specifically via the typological nature of the sign languages of deaf communities. We sketch how the notion of morphological complexity, as defined by Trudgill (2011), applies to sign languages. Using these criteria, sign languages appear to be languages with low to moderate levels of morphological complexity. This may partly reflec...

A Large-Scale Analysis of Variance in Written Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Johns, Brendan T; Jamieson, Randall K

2018-01-22

The collection of very large text sources has revolutionized the study of natural language, leading to the development of several models of language learning and distributional semantics that extract sophisticated semantic representations of words based on the statistical redundancies contained within natural language (e.g., Griffiths, Steyvers, & Tenenbaum, ; Jones & Mewhort, ; Landauer & Dumais, ; Mikolov, Sutskever, Chen, Corrado, & Dean, ). The models treat knowledge as an interaction of processing mechanisms and the structure of language experience. But language experience is often treated agnostically. We report a distributional semantic analysis that shows written language in fiction books varies appreciably between books from the different genres, books from the same genre, and even books written by the same author. Given that current theories assume that word knowledge reflects an interaction between processing mechanisms and the language environment, the analysis shows the need for the field to engage in a more deliberate consideration and curation of the corpora used in computational studies of natural language processing. Copyright © 2018 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Knowledge acquisition from natural language for expert systems based on classification problem-solving methods

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Fernando

1989-01-01

It is shown how certain kinds of domain independent expert systems based on classification problem-solving methods can be constructed directly from natural language descriptions by a human expert. The expert knowledge is not translated into production rules. Rather, it is mapped into conceptual structures which are integrated into long-term memory (LTM). The resulting system is one in which problem-solving, retrieval and memory organization are integrated processes. In other words, the same algorithm and knowledge representation structures are shared by these processes. As a result of this, the system can answer questions, solve problems or reorganize LTM.

Voice-enabled Knowledge Engine using Flood Ontology and Natural Language Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Sermet, M. Y.; Demir, I.; Krajewski, W. F.

2015-12-01

The Iowa Flood Information System (IFIS) is a web-based platform developed by the Iowa Flood Center (IFC) to provide access to flood inundation maps, real-time flood conditions, flood forecasts, flood-related data, information and interactive visualizations for communities in Iowa. The IFIS is designed for use by general public, often people with no domain knowledge and limited general science background. To improve effective communication with such audience, we have introduced a voice-enabled knowledge engine on flood related issues in IFIS. Instead of navigating within many features and interfaces of the information system and web-based sources, the system provides dynamic computations based on a collection of built-in data, analysis, and methods. The IFIS Knowledge Engine connects to real-time stream gauges, in-house data sources, analysis and visualization tools to answer natural language questions. Our goal is the systematization of data and modeling results on flood related issues in Iowa, and to provide an interface for definitive answers to factual queries. The goal of the knowledge engine is to make all flood related knowledge in Iowa easily accessible to everyone, and support voice-enabled natural language input. We aim to integrate and curate all flood related data, implement analytical and visualization tools, and make it possible to compute answers from questions. The IFIS explicitly implements analytical methods and models, as algorithms, and curates all flood related data and resources so that all these resources are computable. The IFIS Knowledge Engine computes the answer by deriving it from its computational knowledge base. The knowledge engine processes the statement, access data warehouse, run complex database queries on the server-side and return outputs in various formats. This presentation provides an overview of IFIS Knowledge Engine, its unique information interface and functionality as an educational tool, and discusses the future plans

Child first language and adult second language are both tied to general-purpose learning systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamrick, Phillip; Lum, Jarrad A G; Ullman, Michael T

2018-02-13

Do the mechanisms underlying language in fact serve general-purpose functions that preexist this uniquely human capacity? To address this contentious and empirically challenging issue, we systematically tested the predictions of a well-studied neurocognitive theory of language motivated by evolutionary principles. Multiple metaanalyses were performed to examine predicted links between language and two general-purpose learning systems, declarative and procedural memory. The results tied lexical abilities to learning only in declarative memory, while grammar was linked to learning in both systems in both child first language and adult second language, in specific ways. In second language learners, grammar was associated with only declarative memory at lower language experience, but with only procedural memory at higher experience. The findings yielded large effect sizes and held consistently across languages, language families, linguistic structures, and tasks, underscoring their reliability and validity. The results, which met the predicted pattern, provide comprehensive evidence that language is tied to general-purpose systems both in children acquiring their native language and adults learning an additional language. Crucially, if language learning relies on these systems, then our extensive knowledge of the systems from animal and human studies may also apply to this domain, leading to predictions that might be unwarranted in the more circumscribed study of language. Thus, by demonstrating a role for these systems in language, the findings simultaneously lay a foundation for potentially important advances in the study of this critical domain.

Towards multilingual access to textual databases in natural language

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radwan, Khaled

1994-01-01

The Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval system (CLIR) or Multilingual Information Retrieval (MIR) has become the key issue in electronic documents management systems in a multinational environment. We propose here a multilingual information retrieval system consisting of a morpho-syntactic analyser, a transfer system from source language to target language and an information retrieval system. A thorough investigation into the system architecture and the transfer mechanisms is proposed in that report, using two different performance evaluation methods. (author) [fr

Language-Centered Social Studies: A Natural Integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrera, Rosalinda B.; Aleman, Magdalena

1983-01-01

Described is a newspaper project in which elementary students report life as it was in the Middle Ages. Students are involved in a variety of language-centered activities. For example, they gather and evaluate information about medieval times and write, edit, and proofread articles for the newspaper. (RM)

Ensuring Reliable Natural Gas-Fired Generation with Fuel Contracts and Storage - DOE/NETL-2017/1816

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myles, Paul T. [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Labarbara, Kirk A. [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Logan, Cecilia Elise [National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)

2017-11-17

This report finds that natural gas-fired power plants purchase fuel both on the spot market and through firm supply contracts; there do not appear to be clear drivers propelling power plants toward one or the other type. Most natural gas-fired power generators are located near major natural gas transmission pipelines, and most natural gas contracts are currently procured on the spot market. Although there is some regional variation in the type of contract used, a strong regional pattern does not emerge. Whether gas prices are higher with spot or firm contracts varies by both region and year. Natural gas prices that push the generators higher in the supply curve would make them less likely to dispatch. Most of the natural gas generators discussed in this report would be unlikely to enter firm contracts if the agreed price would decrease their dispatch frequency. The price points at which these generators would be unlikely to enter a firm contract depends upon the region that the generator is in, and how dependent that region is on natural gas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is more dependent on natural gas than either Eastern Interconnection or Western Interconnection. This report shows that above-ground storage is prohibitively expensive with respect to providing storage for an extended operational fuel reserve comparable to the amount of on-site fuel storage used for coal-fired plants. Further, both pressurized and atmospheric tanks require a significant amount of land for storage, even to support one day’s operation at full output. Underground storage offers the only viable option for 30-day operational storage of natural gas, and that is limited by the location of suitable geologic formations and depleted fields.

Word-length algorithm for language identification of under-resourced languages

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Ali Selamat

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Language identification is widely used in machine learning, text mining, information retrieval, and speech processing. Available techniques for solving the problem of language identification do require large amount of training text that are not available for under-resourced languages which form the bulk of the World’s languages. The primary objective of this study is to propose a lexicon based algorithm which is able to perform language identification using minimal training data. Because language identification is often the first step in many natural language processing tasks, it is necessary to explore techniques that will perform language identification in the shortest possible time. Hence, the second objective of this research is to study the effect of the proposed algorithm on the run-time performance of language identification. Precision, recall, and F1 measures were used to determine the effectiveness of the proposed word length algorithm using datasets drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Act in 15 languages. The experimental results show good accuracy on language identification at the document level and at the sentence level based on the available dataset. The improved algorithm also showed significant improvement in run time performance compared with the spelling checker approach.

The ulam Programming Language for Artificial Life.

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Ackley, David H; Ackley, Elena S

2016-01-01

Traditional digital computing demands perfectly reliable memory and processing, so programs can build structures once then use them forever-but such deterministic execution is becoming ever more costly in large-scale systems. By contrast, living systems, viewed as computations, naturally tolerate fallible hardware by repairing and rebuilding structures even while in use-and suggest ways to compute using massive amounts of unreliable, merely best-effort hardware. However, we currently know little about programming without deterministic execution, in architectures where traditional models of computation-and deterministic ALife models such as the Game of Life-need not apply. This expanded article presents ulam, a language designed to balance concurrency and programmability upon best-effort hardware, using lifelike strategies to achieve robust and scalable computations. The article reviews challenges for traditional architecture, introduces the active-media computational model for which ulam is designed, and then presents the language itself, touching on its nomenclature and surface appearance as well as some broader aspects of robust software engineering. Several ulam examples are presented; then the article concludes with a brief consideration of the couplings between a computational model and its physical implementation.

Some Implications of Research in Second Language Acquisition for Foreign Language Teaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Lombardo, Linda

On the continuum along which theories of first and second language acquisition are located, the two extremes represent the classic controversy of nature (nativist) vs. nurture (environmentalist), while those in the middle view language acquisition as a result of a more or less balanced interaction between innate capacities and linguistic…

Surmounting the Tower of Babel: Monolingual and bilingual 2-year-olds' understanding of the nature of foreign language words.

Science.gov (United States)

Byers-Heinlein, Krista; Chen, Ke Heng; Xu, Fei

2014-03-01

Languages function as independent and distinct conventional systems, and so each language uses different words to label the same objects. This study investigated whether 2-year-old children recognize that speakers of their native language and speakers of a foreign language do not share the same knowledge. Two groups of children unfamiliar with Mandarin were tested: monolingual English-learning children (n=24) and bilingual children learning English and another language (n=24). An English speaker taught children the novel label fep. On English mutual exclusivity trials, the speaker asked for the referent of a novel label (wug) in the presence of the fep and a novel object. Both monolingual and bilingual children disambiguated the reference of the novel word using a mutual exclusivity strategy, choosing the novel object rather than the fep. On similar trials with a Mandarin speaker, children were asked to find the referent of a novel Mandarin label kuò. Monolinguals again chose the novel object rather than the object with the English label fep, even though the Mandarin speaker had no access to conventional English words. Bilinguals did not respond systematically to the Mandarin speaker, suggesting that they had enhanced understanding of the Mandarin speaker's ignorance of English words. The results indicate that monolingual children initially expect words to be conventionally shared across all speakers-native and foreign. Early bilingual experience facilitates children's discovery of the nature of foreign language words. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short message service (SMS language and written language skills: educators' perspectives

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Salomé Geertsema

2011-01-01

Full Text Available SMS language is English language slang, used as a means of mobile phone text messaging. This practice may impact on the written language skills of learners at school. The main aim of this study was to determine the perspectives of Grade 8 and 9 English (as Home Language educators in Gauteng regarding the possible influence of SMS language on certain aspects of learners' written language skills. If an influence was perceived by the educators, their perceptions regarding the degree and nature of the influence were also explored. A quantitative research design, utilising a questionnaire, was employed. The sample of participants comprised 22 educators employed at independent secondaryschools within Gauteng, South Africa. The results indicated that the majority of educators viewed SMS language as having a negative influence on the written language skills of Grade 8 and 9 learners. The influence was perceived as occurring in the learners' spelling, punctuation, and sentence length. A further finding was that the majority of educators address the negative influences of SMS language when encountered in written tasks.

Crowdsourcing and curation: perspectives from biology and natural language processing.

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Hirschman, Lynette; Fort, Karën; Boué, Stéphanie; Kyrpides, Nikos; Islamaj Doğan, Rezarta; Cohen, Kevin Bretonnel

2016-01-01

Crowdsourcing is increasingly utilized for performing tasks in both natural language processing and biocuration. Although there have been many applications of crowdsourcing in these fields, there have been fewer high-level discussions of the methodology and its applicability to biocuration. This paper explores crowdsourcing for biocuration through several case studies that highlight different ways of leveraging 'the crowd'; these raise issues about the kind(s) of expertise needed, the motivations of participants, and questions related to feasibility, cost and quality. The paper is an outgrowth of a panel session held at BioCreative V (Seville, September 9-11, 2015). The session consisted of four short talks, followed by a discussion. In their talks, the panelists explored the role of expertise and the potential to improve crowd performance by training; the challenge of decomposing tasks to make them amenable to crowdsourcing; and the capture of biological data and metadata through community editing.Database URL: http://www.mitre.org/publications/technical-papers/crowdsourcing-and-curation-perspectives. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Document Categorization with Modified Statistical Language Models for Agglutinative Languages

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Tantug

2010-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the document categorization task with statistical language models. Our study mainly focuses on categorization of documents in agglutinative languages. Due to the productive morphology of agglutinative languages, the number of word forms encountered in naturally occurring text is very large. From the language modeling perspective, a large vocabulary results in serious data sparseness problems. In order to cope with this drawback, previous studies in various application areas suggest modified language models based on different morphological units. It is reported that performance improvements can be achieved with these modified language models. In our document categorization experiments, we use standard word form based language models as well as other modified language models based on root words, root words and part-of-speech information, truncated word forms and character sequences. Additionally, to find an optimum parameter set, multiple tests are carried out with different language model orders and smoothing methods. Similar to previous studies on other tasks, our experimental results on categorization of Turkish documents reveal that applying linguistic preprocessing steps for language modeling provides improvements over standard language models to some extent. However, it is also observed that similar level of performance improvements can also be acquired by simpler character level or truncated word form models which are language independent.

Legal acceptance of contingent valuation to determine natural resource damages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, G.J.

1993-01-01

In enacting the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, Congress endorsed contingent valuation (CV) as an appropriate ''advanced technique'' to assess damages to natural resources resulting from oil and hazardous substance releases. Citing Ohio v. Department of Interior, 880 F.2d 432 (D.C.Cir. 1989), Congress stressed that ''forests are more than just board feed of lumbar,'' and rejected statutory language intended to prevent recovery of damages calculated using ''non-use'' or ''passive'' values of natural resources. Consequently, the key question is whether CV is a useful and rational means to determine non-use values when implementing statutory mandates to recover natural resource damages, not whether CV meets tests of statistical reliability. Because Congress intended that damages be calculated using non-use as well as use values, less precision in calculating non-use values is acceptable so the statutory right to full recovery is not rendered meaningless. While such damages might not be determined with the same precision as damages from a contract breach, a technique which yields results ''with as much or more certainty and accuracy as a jury determining damages for pain and suffering or mental anguish'' is adequate. No methodology except CV calculates non-use values. When designed and implemented conservatively, CV is sufficiently reliable to be used by natural resource trustees

THE USE OF 2ND LIFE IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

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Saziye YAMAN

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Approaches and methods are often based on the assumptions that the process of language learning is complex in nature, non linear, and active. Learners are getting more in need of communication with a second/foreign language both inside and outside the classroom while instructions are witnessing a major paradigm shift within language teaching in our century. Virtual worlds have the potential to dramatically change the traditional nature of language teaching through 3D spaces, information and communication technologies, etc… Second Life (SL Virtual World, as supplementing language instruction, has begun to shape both teachers and learners’ interaction with language. Learners are facilitated with 3D spaces in their own reality and environment, allowing them to interpret and apply a variety of experiences and tasks. SL offers rich sources and dimensions, facilitating the changing nature of learning experience.

The gastro-esophageal reflux disease questionnaire using Indonesian language: A language validation survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcellus Simadibrata

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Background: The aims of this study were to test the usefulness of the Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire (GERDQ in the diagnosis of GERD, to validate the GERDQ written in Indonesian language, and to evaluate the reliability of the GERDQ for use in Indonesian-speaking GERD patients (Virginia study.Methods: This was a prospective survey of 40 patients diagnosed with GERD, based on an endoscopic examination, in 3 cities in Indonesia (Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya from 15 January to 15 May 2009. Patients were asked to complete the GERDQ, and the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed.Results: The percentages of respondents who reported symptoms lasting 4–7 days were as follows: 68% had a burning sensation behind the breastbone (heartburn; 65% had stomach content (fluid move upwards to the throat or mouth (regurgitation; 70% had a pain in the centre of the upper abdomen; 58% had nausea; 63% had difficulty sleeping because of the heartburn and/or regurgitation; and 63% took additional medication for heartburn and/or regurgitation. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.83, indicating that all of the questions in the Indonesian-language GERDQ are valid and reliable for Indonesian GERD patients.Conclusions: This study achieved the primary objectives and showed that the GERDQ is valid and reliable for use with Indonesian-speaking GERD patients. The results were consistent with those of the DIAMOND study, which showed that the GERDQ can be used to diagnose GERD on the basis of the reported symptoms. (Med J Indones 2011; 20:125-30Keyword: GERD, GERDQ, Reliability test, Validity test, Virginia study

Understanding Student Language: An Unsupervised Dialogue Act Classification Approach

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Ezen-Can, Aysu; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth

2015-01-01

Within the landscape of educational data, textual natural language is an increasingly vast source of learning-centered interactions. In natural language dialogue, student contributions hold important information about knowledge and goals. Automatically modeling the dialogue act of these student utterances is crucial for scaling natural language…

A Categorical Instrument for Scoring Second Language Writing Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, James Dean; Bailey, Kathleen M.

1984-01-01

Discusses a study of the reliability of a categorical instrument for evaluating compositions written by upper intermediate university English as a second language students. The instrument tests organization, logical development of ideas, grammar, mechanics, and style. Results indicate that the scoring instrument is moderately reliable. (SED)

Bilingual Language Switching in the Laboratory versus in the Wild: The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Adaptive Language Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco-Elorrieta, Esti; Pylkkänen, Liina

2017-09-13

For a bilingual human, every utterance requires a choice about which language to use. This choice is commonly regarded as part of general executive control, engaging prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices similarly to many types of effortful task switching. However, although language control within artificial switching paradigms has been heavily studied, the neurobiology of natural switching within socially cued situations has not been characterized. Additionally, although theoretical models address how language control mechanisms adapt to the distinct demands of different interactional contexts, these predictions have not been empirically tested. We used MEG (RRID: NIFINV:nlx_inv_090918) to investigate language switching in multiple contexts ranging from completely artificial to the comprehension of a fully natural bilingual conversation recorded "in the wild." Our results showed less anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex involvement for more natural switching. In production, voluntary switching did not engage the prefrontal cortex or elicit behavioral switch costs. In comprehension, while laboratory switches recruited executive control areas, fully natural switching within a conversation only engaged auditory cortices. Multivariate pattern analyses revealed that, in production, interlocutor identity was represented in a sustained fashion throughout the different stages of language planning until speech onset. In comprehension, however, a biphasic pattern was observed: interlocutor identity was first represented at the presentation of the interlocutor and then again at the presentation of the auditory word. In all, our findings underscore the importance of ecologically valid experimental paradigms and offer the first neurophysiological characterization of language control in a range of situations simulating real life to various degrees. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Bilingualism is an inherently social phenomenon, interactional context fully determining language

Treating conduct disorder: An effectiveness and natural language analysis study of a new family-centred intervention program.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Kimberly A; Ronan, Prof Kevin; Davies, Gene

2017-05-01

This paper reports on a new family-centred, feedback-informed intervention focused on evaluating therapeutic outcomes and language changes across treatment for conduct disorder (CD). The study included 26 youth and families from a larger randomised, controlled trial (Ronan et al., in preparation). Outcome measures reflected family functioning/youth compliance, delinquency, and family goal attainment. First- and last-treatment session audio files were transcribed into more than 286,000 words and evaluated through the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Analysis program (Pennebaker et al., 2007). Significant outcomes across family functioning/youth compliance, delinquency, goal attainment and word usage reflected moderate-strong effect sizes. Benchmarking findings also revealed reduced time of treatment delivery compared to a gold standard approach. Linguistic analysis revealed specific language changes across treatment. For caregivers, increased first person, action-oriented, present tense, and assent type words and decreased sadness words were found; for youth, significant reduction in use of leisure words. This study is the first using lexical analyses of natural language to assess change across treatment for conduct disordered youth and families. Such findings provided strong support for program tenets; others, more speculative support. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A natural language-based presentation of cognitive stimulation to people with dementia in assistive technology: A pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dethlefs, Nina; Milders, Maarten; Cuayáhuitl, Heriberto; Al-Salkini, Turkey; Douglas, Lorraine

2017-12-01

Currently, an estimated 36 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. In the absence of a cure, non-pharmacological interventions, such as cognitive stimulation, which slow down the rate of deterioration can benefit people with dementia and their caregivers. Such interventions have shown to improve well-being and slow down the rate of cognitive decline. It has further been shown that cognitive stimulation in interaction with a computer is as effective as with a human. However, the need to operate a computer often represents a difficulty for the elderly and stands in the way of widespread adoption. A possible solution to this obstacle is to provide a spoken natural language interface that allows people with dementia to interact with the cognitive stimulation software in the same way as they would interact with a human caregiver. This makes the assistive technology accessible to users regardless of their technical skills and provides a fully intuitive user experience. This article describes a pilot study that evaluated the feasibility of computer-based cognitive stimulation through a spoken natural language interface. Prototype software was evaluated with 23 users, including healthy elderly people and people with dementia. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

Natural Language Processing in Serious Games: A state of the art.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davide Picca

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the last decades, Natural Language Processing (NLP has obtained a high level of success. Interactions between NLP and Serious Games have started and some of them already include NLP techniques. The objectives of this paper are twofold: on the one hand, providing a simple framework to enable analysis of potential uses of NLP in Serious Games and, on the other hand, applying the NLP framework to existing Serious Games and giving an overview of the use of NLP in pedagogical Serious Games. In this paper we present 11 serious games exploiting NLP techniques. We present them systematically, according to the following structure:  first, we highlight possible uses of NLP techniques in Serious Games, second, we describe the type of NLP implemented in the each specific Serious Game and, third, we provide a link to possible purposes of use for the different actors interacting in the Serious Game.

A common type system for clinical natural language processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Stephen T; Kaggal, Vinod C; Dligach, Dmitriy; Masanz, James J; Chen, Pei; Becker, Lee; Chapman, Wendy W; Savova, Guergana K; Liu, Hongfang; Chute, Christopher G

2013-01-03

One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP) plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs), thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System) versions 2.0 and later. We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types.

Language Technologies for Lifelong Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Greller, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

Greller, W. (2010). Language Technologies for Lifelong Learning. In S. Trausan-Matu & P. Dessus (Eds.), Proceedings of the Natural Language Processing in Support of Learning: Metrics, Feedback and Connectivity. Second Internationl Workshop - NLPSL 2010 (pp. 6-8). September, 14, 2010, Bucharest,

Static Analysis of Dynamic Languages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Magnus

Dynamic programming languages are highly popular and widely used. Java- Script is often called the lingua franca of the web and it is the de facto standard for client-side web programming. On the server-side the PHP, Python and Ruby languages are prevalent. What these languages have in common...... with static type systems, such as Java and C# , but the same features are rarely available for dynamic languages such as JavaScript. The aim of this thesis is to investigate techniques for improving the tool- support for dynamic programming languages without imposing any artificial restrictions...... of new dataflow analysis techniques to tackle the nature of dynamic programming languages....

Of Substance: The Nature of Language Effects on Entity Construal

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peggy; Dunham, Yarrow; Carey, Susan

2009-01-01

Shown an entity (e.g., a plastic whisk) labeled by a novel noun in neutral syntax, speakers of Japanese, a classifier language, are more likely to assume the noun refers to the substance (plastic) than are speakers of English, a count/mass language, who are instead more likely to assume it refers to the object kind [whisk; Imai, M., & Gentner, D.…

Unpacking Big Systems -- Natural Language Processing Meets Network Analysis. A Study of Smart Grid Development in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jurowetzki, Roman

and contained technological trajectories on a national level using a combination of methods from statistical natural language processing, vector space modelling and network analysis. The proposed approach does not aim at replacing the researcher or expert but rather offers the possibility to algorithmically...... in Denmark. Results show that in the explored case it is not mainly new technologies and applications that are driving change but innovative re-combinations of old and new technologies....

Children's attention to task-relevant information accounts for relations between language and spatial cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Hilary E; Simmering, Vanessa R

2018-08-01

Children's spatial language reliably predicts their spatial skills, but the nature of this relation is a source of debate. This investigation examined whether the mechanisms accounting for such relations are specific to language use or reflect a domain-general mechanism of selective attention. Experiment 1 examined whether 4-year-olds' spatial skills were predicted by their selective attention or their adaptive language use. Children completed (a) an attention task assessing attention to task-relevant color, size, and location cues; (b) a description task assessing adaptive language use to describe scenes varying in color, size, and location; and (c) three spatial tasks. There was correspondence between the cue types that children attended to and produced across description and attention tasks. Adaptive language use was predicted by both children's attention and task-related language production, suggesting that selective attention underlies skills in using language adaptively. After controlling for age, gender, receptive vocabulary, and adaptive language use, spatial skills were predicted by children's selective attention. The attention score predicted variance in spatial performance previously accounted for by adaptive language use. Experiment 2 followed up on the attention task (Experiment 2a) and description task (Experiment 2b) from Experiment 1 to assess whether performance in the tasks related to selective attention or task-specific demands. Performance in Experiments 2a and 2b paralleled that in Experiment 1, suggesting that the effects in Experiment 1 reflected children's selective attention skills. These findings show that selective attention is a central factor supporting spatial skill development that could account for many effects previously attributed to children's language use. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Structural Reliability Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager; Madsen, H. O.

The structural reliability methods quantitatively treat the uncertainty of predicting the behaviour and properties of a structure given the uncertain properties of its geometry, materials, and the actions it is supposed to withstand. This book addresses the probabilistic methods for evaluation...... of structural reliability, including the theoretical basis for these methods. Partial safety factor codes under current practice are briefly introduced and discussed. A probabilistic code format for obtaining a formal reliability evaluation system that catches the most essential features of the nature...... of the uncertainties and their interplay is the developed, step-by-step. The concepts presented are illustrated by numerous examples throughout the text....

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation

Science.gov (United States)

Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language. This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’. PMID:27872370

Language learning, language use and the evolution of linguistic variation.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kenny; Perfors, Amy; Fehér, Olga; Samara, Anna; Swoboda, Kate; Wonnacott, Elizabeth

2017-01-05

Linguistic universals arise from the interaction between the processes of language learning and language use. A test case for the relationship between these factors is linguistic variation, which tends to be conditioned on linguistic or sociolinguistic criteria. How can we explain the scarcity of unpredictable variation in natural language, and to what extent is this property of language a straightforward reflection of biases in statistical learning? We review three strands of experimental work exploring these questions, and introduce a Bayesian model of the learning and transmission of linguistic variation along with a closely matched artificial language learning experiment with adult participants. Our results show that while the biases of language learners can potentially play a role in shaping linguistic systems, the relationship between biases of learners and the structure of languages is not straightforward. Weak biases can have strong effects on language structure as they accumulate over repeated transmission. But the opposite can also be true: strong biases can have weak or no effects. Furthermore, the use of language during interaction can reshape linguistic systems. Combining data and insights from studies of learning, transmission and use is therefore essential if we are to understand how biases in statistical learning interact with language transmission and language use to shape the structural properties of language.This article is part of the themed issue 'New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'. © 2016 The Authors.

Methodological and Theoretical Issues in the Adaptation of Sign Language Tests: An Example from the Adaptation of a Test to German Sign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Haug, Tobias

2012-01-01

Despite the current need for reliable and valid test instruments in different countries in order to monitor the sign language acquisition of deaf children, very few tests are commercially available that offer strong evidence for their psychometric properties. This mirrors the current state of affairs for many sign languages, where very little…

Principles of parametric estimation in modeling language competition.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Menghan; Gong, Tao

2013-06-11

It is generally difficult to define reasonable parameters and interpret their values in mathematical models of social phenomena. Rather than directly fitting abstract parameters against empirical data, we should define some concrete parameters to denote the sociocultural factors relevant for particular phenomena, and compute the values of these parameters based upon the corresponding empirical data. Taking the example of modeling studies of language competition, we propose a language diffusion principle and two language inheritance principles to compute two critical parameters, namely the impacts and inheritance rates of competing languages, in our language competition model derived from the Lotka-Volterra competition model in evolutionary biology. These principles assign explicit sociolinguistic meanings to those parameters and calculate their values from the relevant data of population censuses and language surveys. Using four examples of language competition, we illustrate that our language competition model with thus-estimated parameter values can reliably replicate and predict the dynamics of language competition, and it is especially useful in cases lacking direct competition data.

The English Language and Communicability: The Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nigeria is blessed with many indigenous languages that are mainly used in communication, including English as her second language. These languages had never remained static; they develop simultaneously with the developing nature of Nigeria. Communication therefore dominates the various functions performed by ...

How to do language policy with dictionaries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergenholtz, Henning

2006-01-01

participate in the implementation of language policy. It is indicated that lexicographers make ever so many decisions of a language political nature. In this regard the lexicographic influence of issues like linguistic hegemony and language purism are discussed. Suggestions are also made...

The Natural History of Human Language: Bridging the Gaps without Magic

Science.gov (United States)

Merker, Bjorn; Okanoya, Kazuo

Human languages are quintessentially historical phenomena. Every known aspect of linguistic form and content is subject to change in historical time (Lehmann, 1995; Bybee, 2004). Many facts of language, syntactic no less than semantic, find their explanation in the historical processes that generated them. If adpositions were once verbs, then the fact that they tend to occur on the same side of their arguments as do verbs ("cross-category harmony": Hawkins, 1983) is a matter of historical contingency rather than a reflection of inherent structural constraints on human language (Delancey, 1993).

Natural Circulation in Water Cooled Nuclear Power Plants Phenomena, models, and methodology for system reliability assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jose Reyes

2005-01-01

In recent years it has been recognized that the application of passive safety systems (i.e., those whose operation takes advantage of natural forces such as convection and gravity), can contribute to simplification and potentially to improved economics of new nuclear power plant designs. In 1991 the IAEA Conference on ''The Safety of Nuclear Power: Strategy for the Future'' noted that for new plants the use of passive safety features is a desirable method of achieving simplification and increasing the reliability of the performance of essential safety functions, and should be used wherever appropriate''

The rating reliability calculator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solomon David J

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rating scales form an important means of gathering evaluation data. Since important decisions are often based on these evaluations, determining the reliability of rating data can be critical. Most commonly used methods of estimating reliability require a complete set of ratings i.e. every subject being rated must be rated by each judge. Over fifty years ago Ebel described an algorithm for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data. While his article has been widely cited over the years, software based on the algorithm is not readily available. This paper describes an easy-to-use Web-based utility for estimating the reliability of ratings based on incomplete data using Ebel's algorithm. Methods The program is available public use on our server and the source code is freely available under GNU General Public License. The utility is written in PHP, a common open source imbedded scripting language. The rating data can be entered in a convenient format on the user's personal computer that the program will upload to the server for calculating the reliability and other statistics describing the ratings. Results When the program is run it displays the reliability, number of subject rated, harmonic mean number of judges rating each subject, the mean and standard deviation of the averaged ratings per subject. The program also displays the mean, standard deviation and number of ratings for each subject rated. Additionally the program will estimate the reliability of an average of a number of ratings for each subject via the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. Conclusion This simple web-based program provides a convenient means of estimating the reliability of rating data without the need to conduct special studies in order to provide complete rating data. I would welcome other researchers revising and enhancing the program.

The relationship between mathematics and language: academic implications for children with specific language impairment and English language learners.

Science.gov (United States)

Alt, Mary; Arizmendi, Genesis D; Beal, Carole R

2014-07-01

The present study examined the relationship between mathematics and language to better understand the nature of the deficit and the academic implications associated with specific language impairment (SLI) and academic implications for English language learners (ELLs). School-age children (N = 61; 20 SLI, 20 ELL, 21 native monolingual English [NE]) were assessed using a norm-referenced mathematics instrument and 3 experimental computer-based mathematics games that varied in language demands. Group means were compared with analyses of variance. The ELL group was less accurate than the NE group only when tasks were language heavy. In contrast, the group with SLI was less accurate than the groups with NE and ELLs on language-heavy tasks and some language-light tasks. Specifically, the group with SLI was less accurate on tasks that involved comparing numerical symbols and using visual working memory for patterns. However, there were no group differences between children with SLI and peers without SLI on language-light mathematics tasks that involved visual working memory for numerical symbols. Mathematical difficulties of children who are ELLs appear to be related to the language demands of mathematics tasks. In contrast, children with SLI appear to have difficulty with mathematics tasks because of linguistic as well as nonlinguistic processing constraints.

Self-Regulation in Language Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Wen-Ta; Liu, Heidi; Nix, John-Michael L

2017-04-01

Self-regulated learning has been a widely researched subject for decades in educational psychology. Different instruments have been developed to understand learners' self-regulated learning in a specific subject domain. This study developed a measurement scale to assess English-as-a-foreign-language learners' self-regulatory capacity in English language learning and further examined the effects of gender on English-as-a-foreign-language learners' self-regulatory capacity. A series of psychometric analyses including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and full structural equation modeling were undertaken to answer the research questions raised. The findings suggest that the scale can attain high reliability and strong validity in two different samplings, and the underlying construct of self-regulation in English language learning is shown to be multidimensional with a significant impact by gender. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are further put forward in light of the research findings.

Dichotic listening performance predicts language comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Asbjørnsen, Arve E; Helland, Turid

2006-05-01

Dichotic listening performance is considered a reliable and valid procedure for the assessment of language lateralisation in the brain. However, the documentation of a relationship between language functions and dichotic listening performance is sparse, although it is accepted that dichotic listening measures language perception. In particular, language comprehension should show close correspondence to perception of language stimuli. In the present study, we tested samples of reading-impaired and normally achieving children between 10 and 13 years of age with tests of reading skills, language comprehension, and dichotic listening to consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. A high correlation between the language scores and the dichotic listening performance was expected. However, since the left ear score is believed to be an error when assessing language laterality, covariation was expected for the right ear scores only. In addition, directing attention to one ear input was believed to reduce the influence of random factors, and thus show a more concise estimate of left hemisphere language capacity. Thus, a stronger correlation between language comprehension skills and the dichotic listening performance when attending to the right ear was expected. The analyses yielded a positive correlation between the right ear score in DL and language comprehension, an effect that was stronger when attending to the right ear. The present results confirm the assumption that dichotic listening with CV syllables measures an aspect of language perception and language skills that is related to general language comprehension.

ACOUSTIC SPEECH RECOGNITION FOR MARATHI LANGUAGE USING SPHINX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aman Ankit

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Speech recognition or speech to text processing, is a process of recognizing human speech by the computer and converting into text. In speech recognition, transcripts are created by taking recordings of speech as audio and their text transcriptions. Speech based applications which include Natural Language Processing (NLP techniques are popular and an active area of research. Input to such applications is in natural language and output is obtained in natural language. Speech recognition mostly revolves around three approaches namely Acoustic phonetic approach, Pattern recognition approach and Artificial intelligence approach. Creation of acoustic model requires a large database of speech and training algorithms. The output of an ASR system is recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers and computerized devices. ASR today finds enormous application in tasks that require human machine interfaces like, voice dialing, and etc. Our key contribution in this paper is to create corpora for Marathi language and explore the use of Sphinx engine for automatic speech recognition

Adaptation of the Oswestry Disability Index to Kannada Language and Evaluation of Its Validity and Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Venkatdeep; G S, Prashanth; Meravanigi, Gururaja; N, Rajagopalan; Yerramshetty, Janardhan

2016-06-01

A translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation study. The aim of this study was to translate, adapt cross-culturally, and validate the Kannada version of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Low back pain is recognized as an important public health problem. Self-administered condition-specific questionnaires are important tools for assessing a patient. For low backache, the ODI is used widely. Preferred language of a region can have an effect on interpretation of questions and thus scoring. A search of literature showed no previously validated Kannada version of the ODI. Cross-cultural adaptation and translation was carried out according to previously set guidelines. Patients were recruited from the orthopedic outpatient department. They filled out a booklet containing the Kannada version of the ODI, Kannada version of the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), and a 10-point visual analog scale for pain (VASpain). The Kannada ODI was answered by 91 patients and retested in 35 patients. After removing questionnaires with stray or ambiguous markings causing difficulty in computation of scores, 76 test questionnaires and 32 retest questionnaires were available for statistical analysis. The Kannada version showed an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92). The Kannada version of the ODI showed good correlation with the RMDQ (r = 0.72) and moderate correlation with VASpain (r = 0.58). It also showed an excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.96). Standard error of measurement (SEM) was also low (4.08) and a difference of 11 points is the "Minimum Detectable Change (MDC)." The Kannada version of the ODI that was developed showed consistency and reliability. It can be used for assessment of low back pain and treatment outcomes in Kannada-speaking populations. However, in view of a smaller sample size, it will benefit from verification at multiple centers and with more patients. 3.

Whorfian effects on colour memory are not reliable.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Oliver; Davies, Ian R L; Franklin, Anna

2015-01-01

The Whorfian hypothesis suggests that differences between languages cause differences in cognitive processes. Support for this idea comes from studies that find that patterns of colour memory errors made by speakers of different languages align with differences in colour lexicons. The current study provides a large-scale investigation of the relationship between colour language and colour memory, adopting a cross-linguistic and developmental approach. Colour memory on a delayed matching-to-sample (XAB) task was investigated in 2 language groups with differing colour lexicons, for 3 developmental stages and 2 regions of colour space. Analyses used a Bayesian technique to provide simultaneous assessment of two competing hypotheses (H1-Whorfian effect present, H0-Whorfian effect absent). Results of the analyses consistently favoured H0. The findings suggest that Whorfian effects on colour memory are not reliable and that the importance of such effects should not be overestimated.

The Communication Function Classification System: cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of the Farsi version for patients with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Soleymani, Zahra; Joveini, Ghodsiye; Baghestani, Ahmad Reza

2015-03-01

This study developed a Farsi language Communication Function Classification System and then tested its reliability and validity. Communication Function Classification System is designed to classify the communication functions of individuals with cerebral palsy. Up until now, there has been no instrument for assessment of this communication function in Iran. The English Communication Function Classification System was translated into Farsi and cross-culturally modified by a panel of experts. Professionals and parents then assessed the content validity of the modified version. A backtranslation of the Farsi version was confirmed by the developer of the English Communication Function Classification System. Face validity was assessed by therapists and parents of 10 patients. The Farsi Communication Function Classification System was administered to 152 individuals with cerebral palsy (age, 2 to 18 years; median age, 10 years; mean age, 9.9 years; standard deviation, 4.3 years). Inter-rater reliability was analyzed between parents, occupational therapists, and speech and language pathologists. The test-retest reliability was assessed for 75 patients with a 14 day interval between tests. The inter-rater reliability of the Communication Function Classification System was 0.81 between speech and language pathologists and occupational therapists, 0.74 between parents and occupational therapists, and 0.88 between parents and speech and language pathologists. The test-retest reliability was 0.96 for occupational therapists, 0.98 for speech and language pathologists, and 0.94 for parents. The findings suggest that the Farsi version of Communication Function Classification System is a reliable and valid measure that can be used in clinical settings to assess communication function in patients with cerebral palsy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of a Russian-language version of the Foot Functional Index (FFI) questionnaire

OpenAIRE

E. V. Orlova; A. V. Surnov; D. E. Karateev; V. N. Amirdzhanova

2016-01-01

The Foot Functional Index (FFI) questionnaire most completely reflects the functional status of patients with joint diseases of the feet.Objective: to study the psychometric properties of a Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire.Patients and methods. The reliability, sensitivity, and validity of the Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire were assessed in 55 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators checked the reliability by assessing the internal consis...

The influence of the visual modality on language structure and conventionalization: insights from sign language and gesture.

Science.gov (United States)

Perniss, Pamela; Özyürek, Asli; Morgan, Gary

2015-01-01

For humans, the ability to communicate and use language is instantiated not only in the vocal modality but also in the visual modality. The main examples of this are sign languages and (co-speech) gestures. Sign languages, the natural languages of Deaf communities, use systematic and conventionalized movements of the hands, face, and body for linguistic expression. Co-speech gestures, though non-linguistic, are produced in tight semantic and temporal integration with speech and constitute an integral part of language together with speech. The articles in this issue explore and document how gestures and sign languages are similar or different and how communicative expression in the visual modality can change from being gestural to grammatical in nature through processes of conventionalization. As such, this issue contributes to our understanding of how the visual modality shapes language and the emergence of linguistic structure in newly developing systems. Studying the relationship between signs and gestures provides a new window onto the human ability to recruit multiple levels of representation (e.g., categorical, gradient, iconic, abstract) in the service of using or creating conventionalized communicative systems. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Building an ontology of pulmonary diseases with natural language processing tools using textual corpora.

Science.gov (United States)

Baneyx, Audrey; Charlet, Jean; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

2007-01-01

Pathologies and acts are classified in thesauri to help physicians to code their activity. In practice, the use of thesauri is not sufficient to reduce variability in coding and thesauri are not suitable for computer processing. We think the automation of the coding task requires a conceptual modeling of medical items: an ontology. Our task is to help lung specialists code acts and diagnoses with software that represents medical knowledge of this concerned specialty by an ontology. The objective of the reported work was to build an ontology of pulmonary diseases dedicated to the coding process. To carry out this objective, we develop a precise methodological process for the knowledge engineer in order to build various types of medical ontologies. This process is based on the need to express precisely in natural language the meaning of each concept using differential semantics principles. A differential ontology is a hierarchy of concepts and relationships organized according to their similarities and differences. Our main research hypothesis is to apply natural language processing tools to corpora to develop the resources needed to build the ontology. We consider two corpora, one composed of patient discharge summaries and the other being a teaching book. We propose to combine two approaches to enrich the ontology building: (i) a method which consists of building terminological resources through distributional analysis and (ii) a method based on the observation of corpus sequences in order to reveal semantic relationships. Our ontology currently includes 1550 concepts and the software implementing the coding process is still under development. Results show that the proposed approach is operational and indicates that the combination of these methods and the comparison of the resulting terminological structures give interesting clues to a knowledge engineer for the building of an ontology.

Assessment Measures for Specific Contexts of Language Use.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalhoub-Deville, Micheline; Tarone, Elaine

A discussion of second language testing focuses on the need for collaboration among researchers in second language learning, teaching, and testing concerning development of context-appropriate language tests. It is argued that the nature of the proficiency construct in language is not constant, but that different linguistic, functional, and…

Screening Bilingual Preschoolers for Language Difficulties: Utility of Teacher and Parent Reports

Science.gov (United States)

Pua, Emmanuel Peng Kiat; Lee, Mary Lay Choo; Rickard Liow, Susan J.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The utility of parent and teacher reports for screening 3 types of bilingual preschoolers (English-first language [L1]/Mandarin-second language[L2], Mandarin-L1/English-L2, or Malay-L1/English-L2) for language difficulty was investigated in Singapore with reference to measures of reliability, validity, sensitivity, and specificity in an…

Psychometric properties of a sign language version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI).

Science.gov (United States)

Øhre, Beate; Saltnes, Hege; von Tetzchner, Stephen; Falkum, Erik

2014-05-22

There is a need for psychiatric assessment instruments that enable reliable diagnoses in persons with hearing loss who have sign language as their primary language. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Norwegian Sign Language (NSL) version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The MINI was translated into NSL. Forty-one signing patients consecutively referred to two specialised psychiatric units were assessed with a diagnostic interview by clinical experts and with the MINI. Inter-rater reliability was assessed with Cohen's kappa and "observed agreement". There was 65% agreement between MINI diagnoses and clinical expert diagnoses. Kappa values indicated fair to moderate agreement, and observed agreement was above 76% for all diagnoses. The MINI diagnosed more co-morbid conditions than did the clinical expert interview (mean diagnoses: 1.9 versus 1.2). Kappa values indicated moderate to substantial agreement, and "observed agreement" was above 88%. The NSL version performs similarly to other MINI versions and demonstrates adequate reliability and validity as a diagnostic instrument for assessing mental disorders in persons who have sign language as their primary and preferred language.

Psychometric properties of a sign language version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background There is a need for psychiatric assessment instruments that enable reliable diagnoses in persons with hearing loss who have sign language as their primary language. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Norwegian Sign Language (NSL) version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Methods The MINI was translated into NSL. Forty-one signing patients consecutively referred to two specialised psychiatric units were assessed with a diagnostic interview by clinical experts and with the MINI. Inter-rater reliability was assessed with Cohen’s kappa and “observed agreement”. Results There was 65% agreement between MINI diagnoses and clinical expert diagnoses. Kappa values indicated fair to moderate agreement, and observed agreement was above 76% for all diagnoses. The MINI diagnosed more co-morbid conditions than did the clinical expert interview (mean diagnoses: 1.9 versus 1.2). Kappa values indicated moderate to substantial agreement, and “observed agreement” was above 88%. Conclusion The NSL version performs similarly to other MINI versions and demonstrates adequate reliability and validity as a diagnostic instrument for assessing mental disorders in persons who have sign language as their primary and preferred language. PMID:24886297

From Imitation to Prediction, Data Compression vs Recurrent Neural Networks for Natural Language Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Andres Laura

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In recent studies Recurrent Neural Networks were used for generative processes and their surprising performance can be explained by their ability to create good predictions. In addition, Data Compression is also based on prediction. What the problem comes down to is whether a data compressor could be used to perform as well as recurrent neural networks in the natural language processing tasks of sentiment analysis and automatic text generation. If this is possible, then the problem comes down to determining if a compression algorithm is even more intelligent than a neural network in such tasks. In our journey, a fundamental difference between a Data Compression Algorithm and Recurrent Neural Networks has been discovered.

Creation of a simple natural language processing tool to support an imaging utilization quality dashboard.

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Jordan; Koziatek, Christian; Theobald, Jason; Smith, Silas; Iturrate, Eduardo

2017-05-01

Testing for venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with cost and risk to patients (e.g. radiation). To assess the appropriateness of imaging utilization at the provider level, it is important to know that provider's diagnostic yield (percentage of tests positive for the diagnostic entity of interest). However, determining diagnostic yield typically requires either time-consuming, manual review of radiology reports or the use of complex and/or proprietary natural language processing software. The objectives of this study were twofold: 1) to develop and implement a simple, user-configurable, and open-source natural language processing tool to classify radiology reports with high accuracy and 2) to use the results of the tool to design a provider-specific VTE imaging dashboard, consisting of both utilization rate and diagnostic yield. Two physicians reviewed a training set of 400 lower extremity ultrasound (UTZ) and computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) reports to understand the language used in VTE-positive and VTE-negative reports. The insights from this review informed the arguments to the five modifiable parameters of the NLP tool. A validation set of 2,000 studies was then independently classified by the reviewers and by the tool; the classifications were compared and the performance of the tool was calculated. The tool was highly accurate in classifying the presence and absence of VTE for both the UTZ (sensitivity 95.7%; 95% CI 91.5-99.8, specificity 100%; 95% CI 100-100) and CTPA reports (sensitivity 97.1%; 95% CI 94.3-99.9, specificity 98.6%; 95% CI 97.8-99.4). The diagnostic yield was then calculated at the individual provider level and the imaging dashboard was created. We have created a novel NLP tool designed for users without a background in computer programming, which has been used to classify venous thromboembolism reports with a high degree of accuracy. The tool is open-source and available for download at http

Through the Window of Language: Assessing the Influence of Language Diversity on Thought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A. LUCY

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Historically, researchers divided over whether the diverse representations of reality across languages were natural or conventional, but all tacitly assumed an optimal fit between language and reality. Twentieth century anthropological linguists interested in linguistic relativity have questioned this assumption and sought to characterize "reality" without it by using domain- or structure-centered approaches.

The Relationship between Artificial and Second Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ettlinger, Marc; Morgan-Short, Kara; Faretta-Stutenberg, Mandy; Wong, Patrick C. M.

2016-01-01

Artificial language learning (ALL) experiments have become an important tool in exploring principles of language and language learning. A persistent question in all of this work, however, is whether ALL engages the linguistic system and whether ALL studies are ecologically valid assessments of natural language ability. In the present study, we…

Reducing the Language Content in ToM Tests: A Developmental Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Burnel, Morgane; Perrone-Bertolotti, Marcela; Reboul, Anne; Baciu, Monica; Durrleman, Stephanie

2018-01-01

The goal of the current study was to statistically evaluate the reliable scalability of a set of tasks designed to assess Theory of Mind (ToM) without language as a confounding variable. This tool might be useful to study ToM in populations where language is impaired or to study links between language and ToM. Low verbal versions of the ToM tasks…

INTEGRATING CORPUS-BASED RESOURCES AND NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING TOOLS INTO CALL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pascual Cantos Gomez

2002-06-01

Full Text Available This paper ainis at presenting a survey of computational linguistic tools presently available but whose potential has been neither fully considered not exploited to its full in modern CALL. It starts with a discussion on the rationale of DDL to language learning, presenting typical DDL-activities. DDL-software and potential extensions of non-typical DDL-software (electronic dictionaries and electronic dictionary facilities to DDL . An extended section is devoted to describe NLP-technology and how it can be integrated into CALL, within already existing software or as stand alone resources. A range of NLP-tools is presentcd (MT programs, taggers, lemn~atizersp, arsers and speech technologies with special emphasis on tagged concordancing. The paper finishes with a number of reflections and ideas on how language technologies can be used efficiently within the language learning context and how extensive exploration and integration of these technologies might change and extend both modern CAI,I, and the present language learning paradigiii..

On application of image analysis and natural language processing for music search

Science.gov (United States)

Gwardys, Grzegorz

2013-10-01

In this paper, I investigate a problem of finding most similar music tracks using, popular in Natural Language Processing, techniques like: TF-IDF and LDA. I de ned document as music track. Each music track is transformed to spectrogram, thanks that, I can use well known techniques to get words from images. I used SURF operation to detect characteristic points and novel approach for their description. The standard kmeans was used for clusterization. Clusterization is here identical with dictionary making, so after that I can transform spectrograms to text documents and perform TF-IDF and LDA. At the final, I can make a query in an obtained vector space. The research was done on 16 music tracks for training and 336 for testing, that are splitted in four categories: Hiphop, Jazz, Metal and Pop. Although used technique is completely unsupervised, results are satisfactory and encouraging to further research.

Mirror neurons, language, and embodied cognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Perlovsky, Leonid I; Ilin, Roman

2013-05-01

Basic mechanisms of the mind, cognition, language, its semantic and emotional mechanisms are modeled using dynamic logic (DL). This cognitively and mathematically motivated model leads to a dual-model hypothesis of language and cognition. The paper emphasizes that abstract cognition cannot evolve without language. The developed model is consistent with a joint emergence of language and cognition from a mirror neuron system. The dual language-cognition model leads to the dual mental hierarchy. The nature of cognition embodiment in the hierarchy is analyzed. Future theoretical and experimental research is discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Software: Evaluation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Evaluating the nature and extent of the influence of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on the quality of language learning is highly problematic. This is owing to the number and complexity of interacting variables involved in setting the items for teaching and learning languages. This paper identified and ...

Database Capture of Natural Language Echocardiographic Reports: A Unified Medical Language System Approach

OpenAIRE

Canfield, K.; Bray, B.; Huff, S.; Warner, H.

1989-01-01

We describe a prototype system for semi-automatic database capture of free-text echocardiography reports. The system is very simple and uses a Unified Medical Language System compatible architecture. We use this system and a large body of texts to create a patient database and develop a comprehensive hierarchical dictionary for echocardiography.

A common type system for clinical natural language processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Stephen T

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One challenge in reusing clinical data stored in electronic medical records is that these data are heterogenous. Clinical Natural Language Processing (NLP plays an important role in transforming information in clinical text to a standard representation that is comparable and interoperable. Information may be processed and shared when a type system specifies the allowable data structures. Therefore, we aim to define a common type system for clinical NLP that enables interoperability between structured and unstructured data generated in different clinical settings. Results We describe a common type system for clinical NLP that has an end target of deep semantics based on Clinical Element Models (CEMs, thus interoperating with structured data and accommodating diverse NLP approaches. The type system has been implemented in UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture and is fully functional in a popular open-source clinical NLP system, cTAKES (clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System versions 2.0 and later. Conclusions We have created a type system that targets deep semantics, thereby allowing for NLP systems to encapsulate knowledge from text and share it alongside heterogenous clinical data sources. Rather than surface semantics that are typically the end product of NLP algorithms, CEM-based semantics explicitly build in deep clinical semantics as the point of interoperability with more structured data types.

Exact reliability quantification of highly reliable systems with maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bris, Radim, E-mail: radim.bris@vsb.c [VSB-Technical University Ostrava, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Applied Mathematics, 17. listopadu 15, 70833 Ostrava-Poruba (Czech Republic)

2010-12-15

When a system is composed of highly reliable elements, exact reliability quantification may be problematic, because computer accuracy is limited. Inaccuracy can be due to different aspects. For example, an error may be made when subtracting two numbers that are very close to each other, or at the process of summation of many very different numbers, etc. The basic objective of this paper is to find a procedure, which eliminates errors made by PC when calculations close to an error limit are executed. Highly reliable system is represented by the use of directed acyclic graph which is composed from terminal nodes, i.e. highly reliable input elements, internal nodes representing subsystems and edges that bind all of these nodes. Three admissible unavailability models of terminal nodes are introduced, including both corrective and preventive maintenance. The algorithm for exact unavailability calculation of terminal nodes is based on merits of a high-performance language for technical computing MATLAB. System unavailability quantification procedure applied to a graph structure, which considers both independent and dependent (i.e. repeatedly occurring) terminal nodes is based on combinatorial principle. This principle requires summation of a lot of very different non-negative numbers, which may be a source of an inaccuracy. That is why another algorithm for exact summation of such numbers is designed in the paper. The summation procedure uses benefits from a special number system with the base represented by the value 2{sup 32}. Computational efficiency of the new computing methodology is compared with advanced simulation software. Various calculations on systems from references are performed to emphasize merits of the methodology.

Classifying a Person's Degree of Accessibility From Natural Body Language During Social Human-Robot Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

McColl, Derek; Jiang, Chuan; Nejat, Goldie

2017-02-01

For social robots to be successfully integrated and accepted within society, they need to be able to interpret human social cues that are displayed through natural modes of communication. In particular, a key challenge in the design of social robots is developing the robot's ability to recognize a person's affective states (emotions, moods, and attitudes) in order to respond appropriately during social human-robot interactions (HRIs). In this paper, we present and discuss social HRI experiments we have conducted to investigate the development of an accessibility-aware social robot able to autonomously determine a person's degree of accessibility (rapport, openness) toward the robot based on the person's natural static body language. In particular, we present two one-on-one HRI experiments to: 1) determine the performance of our automated system in being able to recognize and classify a person's accessibility levels and 2) investigate how people interact with an accessibility-aware robot which determines its own behaviors based on a person's speech and accessibility levels.

Intrasubject reproducibility of presurgical language lateralization and mapping using fMRI.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernandez, G.S.E.; Specht, K.; Weis, S.; Tendolkar, I.; Reuber, M.; Fell, J.; Klaver, P.; Ruhlmann, J.; Reul, J.; Elger, C.E.

2003-01-01

BACKGROUND: fMRI is becoming a standard tool for the presurgical lateralization and mapping of brain areas involved in language processing. However, its within-subject reproducibility has yet to be fully explored. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate within-test and test-retest reliability of language fMRI in

Analysis and recommendations for a reliable programming of software based safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nunez McLeod, J.; Nunez McLeod, J.E.; Rivera, S.S.

1997-01-01

The present paper summarizes the results of several studies performed for the development of high software on i486 microprocessors, towards its utilization for control and safety systems for nuclear power plants. The work is based on software programmed in C language. Several recommendations oriented to high reliability software are analyzed, relating the requirements on high level language to its influence on assembler level. Several metrics are implemented, that allow for the quantification of the results achieved. New metrics were developed and other were adapted, in order to obtain more efficient indexes for the software description. Such metrics are helpful to visualize the adaptation of the software under development to the quality rules under use. A specific program developed to assist the reliability analyst on this quantification is also present in the paper. It performs the analysis of an executable program written in C language, disassembling it and evaluating its inter al structures. (author)

Language shift, bilingualism and the future of Britain's Celtic languages.

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Kandler, Anne; Unger, Roman; Steele, James

2010-12-12

'Language shift' is the process whereby members of a community in which more than one language is spoken abandon their original vernacular language in favour of another. The historical shifts to English by Celtic language speakers of Britain and Ireland are particularly well-studied examples for which good census data exist for the most recent 100-120 years in many areas where Celtic languages were once the prevailing vernaculars. We model the dynamics of language shift as a competition process in which the numbers of speakers of each language (both monolingual and bilingual) vary as a function both of internal recruitment (as the net outcome of birth, death, immigration and emigration rates of native speakers), and of gains and losses owing to language shift. We examine two models: a basic model in which bilingualism is simply the transitional state for households moving between alternative monolingual states, and a diglossia model in which there is an additional demand for the endangered language as the preferred medium of communication in some restricted sociolinguistic domain, superimposed on the basic shift dynamics. Fitting our models to census data, we successfully reproduce the demographic trajectories of both languages over the past century. We estimate the rates of recruitment of new Scottish Gaelic speakers that would be required each year (for instance, through school education) to counteract the 'natural wastage' as households with one or more Gaelic speakers fail to transmit the language to the next generation informally, for different rates of loss during informal intergenerational transmission.

Language shift, bilingualism and the future of Britain's Celtic languages

Science.gov (United States)

Kandler, Anne; Unger, Roman; Steele, James

2010-01-01

‘Language shift’ is the process whereby members of a community in which more than one language is spoken abandon their original vernacular language in favour of another. The historical shifts to English by Celtic language speakers of Britain and Ireland are particularly well-studied examples for which good census data exist for the most recent 100–120 years in many areas where Celtic languages were once the prevailing vernaculars. We model the dynamics of language shift as a competition process in which the numbers of speakers of each language (both monolingual and bilingual) vary as a function both of internal recruitment (as the net outcome of birth, death, immigration and emigration rates of native speakers), and of gains and losses owing to language shift. We examine two models: a basic model in which bilingualism is simply the transitional state for households moving between alternative monolingual states, and a diglossia model in which there is an additional demand for the endangered language as the preferred medium of communication in some restricted sociolinguistic domain, superimposed on the basic shift dynamics. Fitting our models to census data, we successfully reproduce the demographic trajectories of both languages over the past century. We estimate the rates of recruitment of new Scottish Gaelic speakers that would be required each year (for instance, through school education) to counteract the ‘natural wastage’ as households with one or more Gaelic speakers fail to transmit the language to the next generation informally, for different rates of loss during informal intergenerational transmission. PMID:21041210

Concreteness and Psychological Distance in Natural Language Use.

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Snefjella, Bryor; Kuperman, Victor

2015-09-01

Existing evidence shows that more abstract mental representations are formed and more abstract language is used to characterize phenomena that are more distant from the self. Yet the precise form of the functional relationship between distance and linguistic abstractness is unknown. In four studies, we tested whether more abstract language is used in textual references to more geographically distant cities (Study 1), time points further into the past or future (Study 2), references to more socially distant people (Study 3), and references to a specific topic (Study 4). Using millions of linguistic productions from thousands of social-media users, we determined that linguistic concreteness is a curvilinear function of the logarithm of distance, and we discuss psychological underpinnings of the mathematical properties of this relationship. We also demonstrated that gradient curvilinear effects of geographic and temporal distance on concreteness are nearly identical, which suggests uniformity in representation of abstractness along multiple dimensions. © The Author(s) 2015.

User's guide to the Reliability Estimation System Testbed (REST)

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