Usage Events Research Articles

Speech-gesture constructions in cognitive grammar: The case of beats and points

AbstractThe current study uses principles from Cognitive Grammar to better account for the symbolic integration of gesture and speech. Drawing on data collected from language use, we examine the use of two attention-directing strategies that are expressed through gesture, beats and pointing. It has been claimed that beats convey no semantic information. We propose that beat gestures are symbolic structures. It has also been noted that beats are often overlaid on other gestures. To date, however, no detailed explanation has been offered to account for the conceptual and phonological integration of beats with other co-expressed gestures. In this paper, we explore the integration of beats and pointing gestures as complex gestural expressions. We find that simple beat gestures, as well as beat gestures co-expressed with pointing gestures, are used to direct attention to meanings in speech that are associated with salient components of stancetaking acts. Our account further reveals a symbolic motivation for the apparent “superimposing” of beats onto pointing gestures. By closely examining actual usage events, we take an initial step toward demonstrating how the symbolic elements of both beats and points are integrated in multimodal constructions.

Friending someone into submission: Verbal cues for understanding

This paper takes a usage-based, Construction Grammar perspective to consider how people interpret linguistic utterances containing novel converted denominal verbs in the pattern NP + V + NP + PP. As a novel expression, such verbs are not (yet) conventional signs, and their meanings must be constructed from prompts in the usage event. Candidates of these are i) their base nouns, ii) the context, that is, the surrounding words and phrases and the situation, and iii) the syntactic arrangement of the material used. A quantitative analysis of usage data suggests that these constructions are part of a speaker's linguistic knowledge and can, hence, be taken as available for the identification of the general scene the novel verb will name. The data also reveal strong associations between verbs and prepositions.

Structural dynamics of a gyrocopter: numerical approach in some emergency cases

PurposeThis paper aims to present the assumptions, analysis and sample results of numerical modeling and analysis of dynamic events encountered in emergency cases during deployment of parachute rescue system (PRS) and hard landing of a small gyrocopter. The optimal design requires knowledge of structural loads and structural response – the information obtained often from experiment. Numerical simulation is presented as an alternative tool for estimating these data.Design/methodology/approachStructural analyses were performed using MSC.Nastran. Multibody simulations were done using MADYMO system.FindingsInitial design parameters were evaluated and verified in numerical simulations. Some of the resulting conclusions were proven during the test flights.Practical implicationsSome chosen results of simulation of dynamic problems are presented. They can be useful as reference values for similar cases for light aircraft analysis.Originality/valueThe paper presents an alternative way of assessing structural response parameters in the case of emergency dynamic events of usage of PRS. The results can be used in other projects.

Optimal Phonology: The Very Idea

The epistemology, theoretical constructs and production mechanism in optimality-theoretic approaches to phonology are examined and critiqued in terms of the phenomenology of speech sounds. An understanding has been arrived at that phonological optimality is construed too narrowly. A linguistic form is optimal in that it invokes in the hearer the meaning intended by the speaker. Its occurrences in different usage events form a cloud, in which phonological abstractions take place. Phonology is thus an inventory of both concrete and abstract exemplars, with the latter immanent in the former. Due to its emphasis on constructions, Cognitive Grammar provides the means for the flesh-out of a comprehensive model for optimality-theoretical approach to phonology.

Adverse events of rivaroxaban usage in cancer patients

Adverse events of rivaroxaban usage in cancer patients

The effects of alternative splicing on miRNA binding sites in bladder cancer.

Eukaryotic organisms have developed a variety of mechanisms to regulate translation post-transcriptionally, including but not limited to the use of miRNA silencing in many species. One method of post-transcriptional regulation is through miRNAs that bind to the 3′ UTRs to regulate mRNA abundance and influence protein expression. Therefore, the diversity of mRNA 3′ UTRs mediating miRNA binding sites influence miRNA-mediated regulation. Alternative polyadenylation, by shortening mRNA isoforms, increases the diversity of 3′ UTRs; moreover, short mRNA isoforms elude miRNA-medicated repression. Because no current prediction methods for putative miRNA target sites consider whether or not 1) splicing-informed miRNA binding sites and/or 2) the use of 3′ UTRs provide higher resolution or functionality, we sought to identify not only the genome-wide impact of using exons in mRNA 3′ UTRs but also their functional connection to miRNA regulation and clinical outcomes in cancer. With a genome-wide expression of mRNA and miRNA quantified by 395 bladder cancer cases from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we 1) demonstrate the diversity of 3′ UTRs affecting miRNA efficiency and 2) identify a set of genes clinically associated with mRNA expression in bladder cancer. Knowledge of 3′ UTR diversity will not only be a useful addition to current miRNA target prediction algorithms but also enhance the clinical utility of mRNA isoforms in the expression of mRNA in cancer. Thus, variability among cancer patient’s variability in molecular signatures based on these exon usage events in 3′ UTR along with miRNAs in bladder cancer may lead to better prognostic/treatment strategies for improved precision medicine.

СЕМИОТИКА ЖЕСТОВ В КОГНИТИВНОЙ ЛИНГВИСТИКЕ: ДОСТИЖЕНИЯ И АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ

The present study addresses some of the fundamental issues and challenges of the semiotics of gestures in cognitive linguistics. Showing that cognitive linguists have contributed to the study of gesture forms and functions in various areas of research, the authors indicate that the questions of whether gestures are signs and whether they make a semiotic system still cause much debate. In line with the previous studies, especially with Kendon's continuum, the authors show that gestures differ in terms of conventionality, but other semiotic parameters of gestures should be taken into account as well. Relying on a broad understanding of semiosis, the authors argue that gestures should be considered as proper signs and analyzed in terms of a multi-vector model. Unlike language signs, gestures are characterized by highly variable semiotic profiles that are shaped in multimodal usage events, and they form a fluid system with unique qualities.

A Computationally Inexpensive Energy Model for Horizontal Electric Water Heaters With Scheduling

Electric water heaters (EWHs) remain one of the main contributors to energy consumption in countries where they are used. EWH models serve as a step toward achieving optimized control, and can also be used to inform users of expected savings due to changes if the model is energy-based. Various models have been proposed, but none of them include more than half of the six key features that the model presented in this paper supports horizontal orientation, schedule control, low computational complexity, validation of the model, multinodal stratification, and multinodal standing losses. The presented model is validated against six datasets, four comprising 900 h with multiple water usage events and two with only standing losses. The results show that the model estimates energy consumption over ten days including usage with an error of less than 2% and 5% for schedule control and thermostat control, respectively. The simulation model is simple enough to execute ten days of simulation in less than 100 ms on a standard desktop machine, 150 times faster than a prominent model from literature, making it also suitable for large scale simulations or for use on mobile devices.

QoS-Aware Orchestration of Network Intensive Software Utilities within Software Defined Data Centres

Although the cloud computing domain is progressing rapidly, the deployment of various network intensive software utilities in the cloud is still a challenging task. The Quality of Service (QoS) for various gaming, simulations, videoconferencing, video streaming or even file uploading tasks may be significantly affected by the quality and geolocation of the selected underlying computing resources, which are available only when the specific functionality is required. This study presents a new architecture for geographic orchestration of network intensive software components which is designed for high QoS. Key elements of this architecture are a Global Cluster Manager operating within Software-Defined Data Centres (SDDCs), a runtime QoS Monitoring System, and a QoS Modeller and Decision Maker for automated orchestration of software utilities. The implemented system automatically selects the best geographically available computing resource within the SDDC according to the developed QoS model of the software component. This architecture is event-driven as the services are deployed and destroyed in real-time for every usage event. The utility of the implemented orchestration technology is verified qualitatively and in relation to the potential gains of selected QoS metrics by using two network intensive software utilities implemented as containers: an HTTP(S) File Upload service and a Jitsi Meet videoconferencing service. The study shows potential for QoS improvements in comparison to existing orchestration systems.

Genome-wide characterization of differential transcript usage in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Alternative splicing and the usage of alternate transcription start- or stop sites allows a single gene to produce multiple transcript isoforms. Most plant genes express certain isoforms at a significantly higher level than others, but under specific conditions this expression dominance can change, resulting in a different set of dominant isoforms. These events of differential transcript usage (DTU) have been observed for thousands of Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays and Vitis vinifera genes, and have been linked to development and stress response. However, neither the characteristics of these genes, nor the implications of DTU on their protein coding sequences or functions, are currently well understood. Here we present a dataset of isoform dominance and DTU for all genes in the AtRTD2 reference transcriptome based on a protocol that was benchmarked on simulated data and validated through comparison with a published reverse transciptase-polymerase chain reaction panel. We report DTU events for 8148 genes across 206 public RNA-Seq samples, and find that protein sequences are affected in 22% of the cases. The observed DTU events show high consistency across replicates, and reveal reproducible patterns in response to treatment and development. We also demonstrate that genes with different evolutionary ages, expression breadths and functions show large differences in the frequency at which they undergo DTU, and in the effect that these events have on their protein sequences. Finally, we showcase how the generated dataset can be used to explore DTU events for genes of interest or to find genes with specific DTU in samples of interest.

Residential adaptive comfort in a humid subtropical climate—Sydney Australia

The aim of this study was to apply new technological survey capabilities to a field setting that is underrepresented in the thermal comfort research literature, namely the residential setting. Indoor temperature readings from autonomous datalogging devices (iButtons) were combined with simultaneous and contiguous subjective thermal comfort assessments via personal smartphones. Householders’ spatio-temporal patterns of A/C usage, indoor and outdoor thermal environmental parameters, right-here-right-now thermal comfort perceptions and adaptive comfort behaviours were recorded. The longitudinal research design included a sample of 42 homes who were polled intermittently across a two-year monitoring period in which a total of 4867 A/C usage events and 1525 online comfort questionnaires were logged. Based on the right-here-right-now thermal sensation votes, the householder samples’ neutral residential temperature was estimated to be about two degrees lower than that predicted by the ASHRAE Standard 55′s adaptive model for office occupancies. Despite the lower-than-expected neutrality, comfort zone widths for 80% acceptability were found to be 9K in the Sydney residential setting, which is 2K wider than prescribed in the adaptive model for office occupants. These findings suggest that people in their homes are more adaptive and tolerant of significantly wider temperature variations than their counterparts in office settings. An adaptive model that can be used for the assessment of residential thermal comfort is proposed.

Possible Factors Promoting Car Evacuation in the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami Revealed by Analysing a Large-Scale Questionnaire Survey in Kesennuma City

Excessive car evacuation can cause severe traffic jams that can lead to large numbers of casualties during tsunami disasters. Investigating the possible factors that lead to unnecessary car evacuation can ensure smoother tsunami evacuations and mitigate casualty damages in future tsunami events. In this study, we quantitatively investigated the possible factors that promote car evacuation, including both necessary and unnecessary usages, by statistically analysing a large amount of data on actual tsunami evacuation behaviours surveyed in Kesennuma, where devastating damage occurred during the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami. A straightforward statistical analysis revealed a high percentage of car evacuations (approx. 50%); however, this fraction includes a high number of unnecessary usage events that were distinguished based on mode choice reasons. In addition, a binary logistic regression was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the effects of several factors and to identify the dominant factor that affected evacuation mode choice. The regression results suggested that the evacuation distance was the dominant factor for choosing car evacuation relative to other factors, such as age and sex. The cross-validation test of the regression model demonstrated that the considered factors were useful for decision making and the prediction of evacuation mode choice in the target area.

Long-term Patterns of Patient Portal Use for Pediatric Patients at an Academic Medical Center.

Patient portal adoption has increased over the last two decades. Most research about patient portals has focused on adult populations in the primary care and medical specialty settings. We describe initial and long-term portal use by pediatric patients and their caregivers in a broadly deployed patient portal at an academic medical center. We analyzed portal usage for pediatric patients and their caregivers from 2008 to 2014. We recorded usage events with time stamps; user role defined as self, surrogate (i.e., parent or guardian), or delegate; and functions accessed. Usage events were grouped into sessions to calculate descriptive statistics by patient age, user role, and active use over time. From 2008 to 2014, the number of portal accounts increased from 633 to 17,128. 15.9% of pediatric patients had their own account; 93.6%, a surrogate account; and 2.2% a delegate account. During the study period, 15,711 unique users initiated 493,753 sessions and accessed 1,491,237 functions. Most commonly used functions were secure messaging (accessed in 309,204 sessions; 62.6%); test results (174,239; 35.3%) and appointments (104,830; 21.2%). Function usage was greatest for patients ages 0-2 years (136,245 functions accessed; 23.1%) and 15-17 years (109,241;18.5%). Surrogate users conducted 83.2% of logins for adolescent patients. Portal accounts were actively used for < 1 year for 9,551 patients (55.8%), 1-2 years for 2,826 patients (16.5%), 2-3 years for 1,968 patients (11.5%) and over 3 years for 2,783 patients (16.3%). Pediatric patients and caregivers have avidly used messaging, test result, and appointment functions. The majority of access was done by surrogates. Adolescent portal usage increased with age. Most accounts for pediatric patients were only used actively for a few years, with peak usage for patients in early childhood and late adolescence.

Multimodal existential constructions in German: Manual actions of giving as experiential substrate for grammatical and gestural patterns

AbstractTaking an Emergent Grammar (Hopper 1998) approach to multimodal usage events in face-to-face interaction, this paper suggests that basic scenes of experience tend to motivate entrenched patterns in both language and gesture (Fillmore 1977; Goldberg 1998; Langacker 1987). Manual actions and interactions with the material and social world, such as giving or holding, have been shown to serve as substrate for prototypical ditransitive and transitive constructions in language (Goldberg 1995). It is proposed here that they may also underpin multimodal instantiations of existential construsctions in German discourse, namely, instances of the es gibt ‘it gives’ (there is/are) construction (Newman 1998) that co-occur with schematic gestural enactments of giving or holding something. Analyses show that gestural existential markers tend to combine referential and pragmatic functions. They exhibit a muted degree of indexicality, pointing to the existence of absent or abstract discourse contents that are central to the speaker’s subjective expressivity. Furthermore, gestural existential markers show characteristics of grammaticalization processes in spoken and signed languages (Bybee 2013; Givón 1985; Haiman 1994; Hopper and Traugott 2003). A multimodal construction grammar needs to account for how linguistic constructions combine with gestural patterns into commonly used cross-modal clusters in different languages and contexts of use.

The Design and Implementation of Smart Trash Bin

This paper presents a cost-effective design of an intelligent waste container for small-scale cases. This system is based on Arduino Nano board and an ultrasonic sensor to monitor the fullness level of the container and give SMS alerts using a GSM module. The system is powered by lithium battery power bank supported by solar cell panel. The system provides an option of charging external portable devices using the power bank. Moreover, the system will store usage events, recorded by PIR sensor, and fullness events on a memory card, which is also used to play audio message using a speaker, when the bin is being used. Finally, the system is implemented successfully with an acceptable overall cost for the intended application. The system performance was found satisfactory according to the obtained test results.

Becoming multilingual: The macro and the micro time perspective

AbstractPotential multilingualism is a characteristic property of human language. This paper adopts a usage-based, complex-systems approach in discussing two different but interrelated perspectives on how multilingualism takes shape in individuals: the development of a linguistic repertoire over time (macro time perspective) and the processes of language use and acquisition in specific situations (micro time perspective). The concept of L3 has a role at the micro time level, in the situations of language use. A variable model of the situation of language use and acquisition in micro time is proposed. It adopts a factor approach which is inspired by Hufeisen’s Factor Model, but extends that model so as to be applicable to more variable stages and forms of linguistic repertoires. The connection between dynamic processes in micro and macro time is illustrated by data from a longitudinal test of phonological production which exposes both specific usage events and an evolving pattern.

Working toward a synthesis

AbstractAlthough Cognitive Linguistics represents a recontextualization with respect to prior tradition, internally it has been diverse and grounded from the outset. In design and principle, this holds for Cognitive Grammar, which seeks a comprehensive yet unified account of structure and use. It foreshadowed the “social turn” by claiming that the speaker-hearer interaction is inherent in linguistic units, which are abstracted from usage events; and also the “quantitative turn”, by its usage-based nature and the view that structure resides in processing activity. There is no single way of describing a language, just as there is no single way of describing a biological organism. Linguistics is thus a vast, multifaceted enterprise embracing a wide range of objectives, methods, and expertise. A number of points are made in this regard. (i) While corpus analysis is essential for many purposes, elicited and introspective data also have their place. (ii) With no inconsistency, language is validly characterized as both a cognitive/mental phenomenon and a social/interactive one. (iii) The fact that language resides in processing activity does not entail the absence of discreteness or the non-existence of complex structures. (iv) The importance of quantitative methods does not obviate the central role of structural analysis and description, which have equal claim to being empirical.

Comparison of Visual Analog Scale for Pain with the Overall Benefit of Analgesia Score and the Brief Pain Inventory with Narcotic Usage and Opioid-Related Adverse Events

Comparison of Visual Analog Scale for Pain with the Overall Benefit of Analgesia Score and the Brief Pain Inventory with Narcotic Usage and Opioid-Related Adverse Events

Antibiotic prophylaxis in gynecological surgery. A literature review

Gynecological surgical procedures are associated with significant morbidity, and a major impact on the quality of life. The antibiotic prophylaxis should minimize the risk of postoperative infections complications, preventing in the same time the adverse effects of long-term antibiotic usage. The aim of this paper is to detail the current recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis in gynecological surgical procedures performed by open abdominal or laparoscopic approach. We have performed a review of the English language literature from the PubMed/Medline database using the following search details: (“Antibiotic Prophylaxis”[Mesh]) AND “Gynecologic Surgical Procedures”[Mesh]. We used the similar articles function to find additional secondary resources. Antibiotic prophylaxis should not be performed in elective laparoscopic gynecological procedures without the opening of the uterus or vagina. During hysterectomy for benign or malignant disease, the first dose of antibiotic prophylaxis should be infused one hour prior to skin incision, excepting Vancomycin and Fluoroquinolone that should be started two hours before. The antibiotic should be repeated if the duration of the surgery lasts more than two half-lives of the drug or the intraoperative bleeding is greater than 1500 mL. The antibiotic prophylaxis should be discontinued within the first 24 hours after surgery. Timely administration of adequate antibiotics and a meticulous surgical technique are mandatory for effectively decreasing the risk of postoperative infectious complications. Thorough adherence to international recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis discontinuation within 24 hours should minimize the adverse events of antibiotic usage.

Healthcare Resource Utilisation Associated with Herpes Zoster in a Prospective Cohort of Older Australian Adults.

BackgroundHerpes zoster (HZ) is a common condition that increases in incidence with older age but vaccines are available to prevent the disease. However, there are limited data estimating the health system burden attributable to herpes zoster by age.MethodsIn this study, we quantified excess healthcare resource usage associated with HZ during the acute/sub-acute period of disease (21days before to 90 days after onset) in 5952 cases and an equal number of controls matched on age, sex, and prior healthcare resource usage. Estimates were adjusted for potential confounders in multivariable regression models. Using population-based estimates of HZ incidence, we calculated the age-specific excess number of health service usage events attributable to HZ in the population.ResultsPer HZ case, there was an average of 0.06 (95% CI 0.04–0.08) excess hospitalisations, 1.61 (95% CI 1.51–1.69) excess general practitioner visits, 1.96 (95% CI 1.86–2.15) excess prescriptions filled and 0.11 (95% CI 0.09–0.13) excess emergency department visits. The average number of healthcare resource use events, and the estimated excess per 100,000 population increased with increasing age but were similar for men and women, except for higher rates of hospitalisation in men. The excess annual HZ associated burden of hospitalisations was highest in adults ≥80 years (N = 2244, 95%CI 1719–2767); GP visits was highest in those 60–69 years (N = 50567, 95%CI 39958–61105), prescriptions and ED visits were highest in 70–79 years (N = 50524, 95%CI 40634–60471 and N = 2891, 95%CI 2319–3449 respectively).ConclusionsThis study provides important data to establish the healthcare utilisation associated with HZ against which detailed cost-effectiveness analyses of HZ immunisation in older adults can be conducted.