Search results for "reading"

On the limits to the long-period method in classical economics. A note

2001

On a first reading of Theory of Production, Kurz & Salvadori (1995) appear to confine the empirical domain of the long-period models of the classical theory of value and distribution to stationary economies with non-constant returns to scale and to growing economies with constant returns to scale. Such a reading is shown to be untenable since it merges the two levels of exploring the extension of a model and of testing a theoretical hypothesis. Conversely, the way Kurz & Salvadori tackle the problems of price dynamics and returns to scale in growing economies is shown to be compatible with what appears to be Sraffa's (implicit) strategy of research.

Sequencing and analysis of the gene encoding the α-toxin of Clostridium novyi proves its homology to toxins A and B of Clostridium difficile

1995

A library of total Clostridium novyi DNA was established and screened for the alpha-toxin gene (tcn alpha) by hybridization with oligonucleotides derived from a partial N-terminal sequence and by using specific antisera. Overlapping subgenic tcn alpha fragments were isolated and subsequently the total sequence of tcn alpha was determined. The 6534 nucleotide open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of M(r) 250,166 and pI 5.9. The N-terminal alpha-toxin (Tcn alpha) sequence MLITREQLMKIASIP determined by Edman degradation confirmed the identity of the reading frame and the assignment of the translation start point. The toxin is not modified posttranslationally at its N-terminus nor does it co…

GenClust: A genetic algorithm for clustering gene expression data

2005

Abstract Background Clustering is a key step in the analysis of gene expression data, and in fact, many classical clustering algorithms are used, or more innovative ones have been designed and validated for the task. Despite the widespread use of artificial intelligence techniques in bioinformatics and, more generally, data analysis, there are very few clustering algorithms based on the genetic paradigm, yet that paradigm has great potential in finding good heuristic solutions to a difficult optimization problem such as clustering. Results GenClust is a new genetic algorithm for clustering gene expression data. It has two key features: (a) a novel coding of the search space that is simple, …

Cortical plasticity associated with Braille learning

1998

Blind subjects who learn to read Braille must acquire the ability to extract spatial information from subtle tactile stimuli. In order to accomplish this, neuroplastic changes appear to take place. During Braille learning, the sensorimotor cortical area devoted to the representation of the reading finger enlarges. This enlargement follows a two-step process that can be demonstrated with transcranial magnetic stimulation mapping and suggests initial unmasking of existing connections and eventual establishment of more stable structural changes. In addition, Braille learning appears to be associated with the recruitment of parts of the occipital, formerly `visual', cortex (V1 and V2) for tacti…

Prediction of the difficulty level in a standardized reading comprehension test: contributions from cognitive psychology and psychometrics

2013

This research seeks to identify possible predictors of the difficulty level of reading comprehension items used in a standardized psychometric test for university admission. Several potential predictors of difficulty were proposed, namely, propositional density, negations, grammatical structure, vocabulary difficulty, presence of enhancement elements (words highlighted typographically), item abstraction level and degree of similarity between correct option and relevant text to resolve the item. By Linear Logistic Test Model (Fisher, 1973) it was found that the number of propositions, the syntactic structure, and fundamentally, the presence of difficult words contributed to the prediction of…

Between Composition and Emergentness: A Cognitive Semantics Re-Reading of the Way-Construction

2016

This study re-analyzes the English way-construction by having recourse to diverse concepts and tools of Talmy’s cognitive semantics. Drawing on his theory of recombinance and its relevance for conceptualizing the construction, the article implements Talmy’s theory of event integration, categorizes the way-construction as an instantiation of the open path event frame, considers link-ups of the schematic systems of force dynamics and attention as they become instantiated in the construction, and probes into its motion-aspect patterning, grounded in a conformation of space and time and resulting in a strategy that is called de-conflation. Further, it will recruit Talmy’s types of semantic conf…

Understanding and Integrating Multiple Science Texts: Summary Tasks are Sometimes Better Than Argument Tasks

2010

One of the major challenges of a knowledge society is that students as well as other citizens must learn to understand and integrate information from multiple textual sources. Still, task and reader characteristics that may facilitate or constrain such intertextual processes are not well understood by researchers. In this study, we compare the effects of summary and argument essay tasks when undergraduates read seven different texts on a particular scientific topic, finding that an instruction to write summaries may lead to better understanding and integration than an instruction to write argument essays. We discuss several possible explanations for this result. We also found that beliefs a…

The neural prerequisites of reading

2012

A musical reading of a contemporary installation and back: mathematical investigations of patterns in Qwalala

2021

Mathematical music theory helps us investigate musical compositions in mathematical terms. Some hints can be extended towards the visual arts. Mathematical approaches can also help formalize a "translation" from the visual domain to the auditory one and vice versa. Thus, a visual artwork can be mathematically investigated, then translated into music. The final, refined musical rendition can be compared to the initial visual idea. Can an artistic idea be preserved through these changes of media? Can a non-trivial pattern be envisaged in an artwork, and then still be identified after the change of medium? Here, we consider a contemporary installation and an ensemble musical piece derived from…

Writing, Learning And The Development Of Expertise In Higher Education

2001

This chapter combines the issue of writing to learn with recent views of the development of prerequisites of professional expertise during higher education. The knowledge-intensive or symbolicanalytic work characteristic of today's professional jobs challenges educationalists to develop instructional methods that integrate domain-content learning with practising the general skills needed in today’s working life. It is argued here that constructivist and social constructivist views of learning offer promising starting points for developing instruction of this kind. Different traditional and novel fonns of writing are discussed from the viewpoint of these constructivist approaches and experti…