An exploratory study into automated précis grading

Automated writing evaluation is a popular research field, but the main focus has been on evaluating argumentative essays. In this paper, we consider a different genre, namely précis texts. A précis is a written text that provides a coherent summary of main points of a spoken or written text. We present a corpus of English précis texts which all received a grade assigned by a highly-experienced English language teacher and were subsequently annotated following an exhaustive error typology. With this corpus we trained a machine learning model which relies on a number of linguistic, automatic summarization and AWE features. Our results reveal that this model is able to predict the grade of précis texts with only a moderate error margin

Characteristics of the Effective Online Teaching Faculty: Perspectives of Online University Administrators

The purpose of this explorative qualitative case study was to identify the characteristics online administrators reveal as existing in their most effective, and ineffective online teaching faculty (OTF). By identifying the characteristics of effective OTF, online administrators can develop practices to reduce and avoid the negative effects associated with ineffective OTF. Negative effects include increased transactional distance and student attrition. Analyzed were personal interviews of ten online administrators from eight different universities, a year of student surveys from six courses, and faculty handbooks. Interview questions sought the best approach to online facilitation, recommendations for retention of students, factors related to course facilitation that bring positive or negative results and what attributes were found in both effective and ineffective OTF. The data collected and literature reviewed revealed an Online Student Hierarchy of Needs pyramid with four progressive levels satisfied by the Facilitation, Cognitive and Social Presences\u27 of the effective OTF

Medical management with interventional therapy versus medical management alone for unruptured brain arteriovenous malformations (ARUBA):final follow-up of a multicentre, non-blinded, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: In A Randomized trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous malformations (ARUBA), randomisation was halted at a mean follow-up of 33·3 months after a prespecified interim analysis showed that medical management alone was superior to the combination of medical management and interventional therapy in preventing symptomatic stroke or death. We aimed to study whether these differences persisted through 5-years' follow-up. METHODS: ARUBA was a non-blinded, randomised trial done at 39 clinical centres in nine countries. Adults (age ≥18 years) diagnosed with an unruptured brain arteriovenous malformation, who had never undergone interventional therapy, and were considered by participating clinical centres to be suitable for intervention to eradicate the lesion, were eligible for inclusion. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) by a web-based data collection system, stratified by clinical centre in a random permuted block design with block sizes of two, four, and six, to medical management alone or with interventional therapy (neurosurgery, embolisation, or stereotactic radiotherapy, alone or in any combination, sequence, or number). Although patients and investigators at a given centre were not masked to treatment assignment, investigators at other centres and those in the clinical coordinating centre were not informed of assignment or outcomes at any of the centres. The primary outcome was time to death or symptomatic stroke confirmed by imaging, assessed by a neurologist at each centre not involved in the management of participants' care, and monitored by an independent committee using an adaptive approach with interim analyses. Enrolment began on April 4, 2007, and was halted on April 15, 2013, after which follow-up continued until July 15, 2015. All analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00389181. FINDINGS: Of 1740 patients screened, 226 were randomly assigned to medical management alone (n=110) or medical management plus interventional therapy (n=116). During a mean follow-up of 50·4 months (SD 22·9), the incidence of death or symptomatic stroke was lower with medical management alone (15 of 110, 3·39 per 100 patient-years) than with medical management with interventional therapy (41 of 116, 12·32 per 100 patient-years; hazard ratio 0·31, 95% CI 0·17 to 0·56). Two patients in the medical management group and four in the interventional therapy group (two attributed to intervention) died during follow-up. Adverse events were observed less often in patients allocated to medical management compared with interventional therapy (283 vs 369; 58·97 vs 78·73 per 100 patient-years; risk difference -19·76, 95% CI -30·33 to -9·19). INTERPRETATION: After extended follow-up, ARUBA showed that medical management alone remained superior to interventional therapy for the prevention of death or symptomatic stroke in patients with an unruptured brain arteriovenous malformation. The data concerning the disparity in outcomes should affect standard specialist practice and the information presented to patients. The even longer-term risks and differences between the two therapeutic approaches remains uncertain. FUNDING: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for the randomisation phase and Vital Projects Fund for the follow-up phase

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Knowledge management within a multinational knowledge led company

The semiconductor industry relies on knowledge sharing and collaboration between its employees and amongst subsidiary companies to remain competitive in an ever changing, market driven environment. Practise has changed from workers supplying labour to workers supplying knowledge. Technology improvements and investment in automation have provided companies the platform to generate, codify, harness and exploit knowledge as a means of improving organisational performance. This research explores knowledge dynamics in the organisation and specifically looks at knowledge sharing within a subsidiary and among subsidiaries in a multinational corporation. The corporation in question operates its manufacturing facilities as competing business units. The purpose of the research was to establish if this method of organising business units provides the overall corporation with a competitive advantage, or if competing business units inhibits performance preventing or restricting the potential for a competitive advantage for the corporation. To determine how knowledge is shared within the organisation a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted. Senior managers and professional staff across a number of disciplines were interviewed. Knowledge sharing within functional area departments, collaboration between functional area departments, knowledge systems and compliance to knowledge systems were used as determinants to establish the extent of the knowledge dynamic in the subsidiary. The relationship between knowledge sharing and how it impacted the “bottom line” performance of the subsidiary was also considered in an attempt to quantify the impact knowledge sharing has on performance. To determine how knowledge is shared between subsidiaries, two case studies were conducted. The first case study involved a benchmarking visit to allow two of the corporation’s subsidiaries to compare best practice cost systems with multi-disciplines involved. The second case study involved a cross functional team of technical staff to define a manufacturing facility technical yield roadmap. Significant cost, productivity and yield improvement at the site was attributed to the success of collaborative units established at site. Establishing collaborative units was a precursor to setting up a network within the site to promote knowledge sharing in the organisation. The site was cognisant of the impact of effective knowledge sharing and receptive to sharing knowledge on an informal or formal basis. The site put great stock in codified knowledge and invested heavily in automating knowledge based systems. Many barriers to knowledge sharing were identified including compliance to codified procedures, departmental conflicts, viewing knowledge sharing as a burden, variation across automated systems, conflicts caused by the internet as a knowledge source and logistics due to geographical dispersion. Knowledge-led teams overcame many of these barriers. Success bred success to the extent knowledge sharing has become a business process in the organisation. Knowledge sharing is a two way process. It can be a vehicle for trust, respect and improvement. This research has shown knowledge sharing even within competing business units can produce a competitive advantage. An organisation is an accumulation of knowledge. A knowledge-led collaborative approach provides many benefits: it will advance the company, engage staff at all levels and favourably impact the “bottom line”. Knowledge management differentiated the local site from other corporate subsidiaries with the local site demonstrating “best in class” results on its key performance indicators. Encouragingly, there is ample opportunity to improve performance further once knowledge management is fully embedded as a business process across the organisation

Recueil : Newsletters uTOP-Inria

Document compilant les 32 Newsletters produites de 2013 à 2016 dans le cadre du sous-projet uTOP-Inria “Valorisation de la recherche par la formation”Ce document est un recueil de 32 newsletters parues de février 2013 à décembre 2016 dans le cadre du sous-projet uTOP-Inria “Valorisation de la recherche par la formation”. uTOP (Université de Technologie Ouverte Pluripartenaire) était une réponse à l’appel à projets Initiatives d’excellence en formations innovantes IDEFI coordonnée par la Fondation UNIT. Il s’agissait d’un démonstrateur, en 4 ans, d’université de technologie ouverte française pour la formation à distance des ingénieurs et techniciens supérieurs opéré par des établissements d’enseignement supérieur. Il comportait trois sous-projets démonstrateurs dont celui dirigé par Inria. Le sous-projet uTOP-Inria visait à réaliser un démonstrateur de valorisation des résultats de la recherche publique sur des secteurs de haute technologie. Inria a proposé des sujets de cours et des auteurs, et produit, par le biais de son Learning Lab (ancien Mooc Lab Inria) dix MOOCs sur la plateforme FUN (France Université Numérique), facilitant ainsi le transfert dans l'industrie de méthodes nouvelles et d’outils innovants issus de ses recherches. Ce projet pilote a été conçu, en coordination avec la Fondation UNIT, par fuscia, le partenariat Inria - Universités numériques. Les newsletters présentées dans ce document sont issues de la veille réalisée par Mia Ogouchi dans le cadre de ce sous-projet. Cette veille portait notamment sur les usages et technologies innovants en e-learning. Elle a été réalisée de janvier 2013 à décembre 2016

Recueil : Newsletters uTOP-Inria

Document compilant les 32 Newsletters produites de 2013 à 2016 dans le cadre du sous-projet uTOP-Inria “Valorisation de la recherche par la formation”Ce document est un recueil de 32 newsletters parues de février 2013 à décembre 2016 dans le cadre du sous-projet uTOP-Inria “Valorisation de la recherche par la formation”. uTOP (Université de Technologie Ouverte Pluripartenaire) était une réponse à l’appel à projets Initiatives d’excellence en formations innovantes IDEFI coordonnée par la Fondation UNIT. Il s’agissait d’un démonstrateur, en 4 ans, d’université de technologie ouverte française pour la formation à distance des ingénieurs et techniciens supérieurs opéré par des établissements d’enseignement supérieur. Il comportait trois sous-projets démonstrateurs dont celui dirigé par Inria. Le sous-projet uTOP-Inria visait à réaliser un démonstrateur de valorisation des résultats de la recherche publique sur des secteurs de haute technologie. Inria a proposé des sujets de cours et des auteurs, et produit, par le biais de son Learning Lab (ancien Mooc Lab Inria) dix MOOCs sur la plateforme FUN (France Université Numérique), facilitant ainsi le transfert dans l'industrie de méthodes nouvelles et d’outils innovants issus de ses recherches. Ce projet pilote a été conçu, en coordination avec la Fondation UNIT, par fuscia, le partenariat Inria - Universités numériques. Les newsletters présentées dans ce document sont issues de la veille réalisée par Mia Ogouchi dans le cadre de ce sous-projet. Cette veille portait notamment sur les usages et technologies innovants en e-learning. Elle a été réalisée de janvier 2013 à décembre 2016

Les Pratiques et défis de l'évaluation en ligne

Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 17 fév. 2012). URL externe corrigée le 16 mars 2017.Document préparé pour le Réseau d'enseignement francophone à distance du CanadaCe projet a été rendu possible grâce à un financement du Ministère du Patrimoine canadie

The linguistic and cognitive mechanisms underlying language tests in healthy adults : a principal component analysis

Pour un processus d’évaluation linguistique plus précis et rapide, il est important d’identifier les mécanismes cognitifs qui soutiennent des tâches langagières couramment utilisées. Une façon de mieux comprendre ses mécanismes est d’explorer la variance partagée entre les tâches linguistiques en utilisant l’analyse factorielle exploratoire. Peu d’études ont employé cette méthode pour étudier ces mécanismes dans le fonctionnement normal du langage. Par conséquent, notre objectif principal est d’explorer comment un ensemble de tâches linguistiques se regroupent afin d’étudier les mécanismes cognitifs sous-jacents de ses tâches. Nous avons évalué 201 participants en bonne santé âgés entre 18 et 75 ans (moyenne=45,29, écart-type= 15,06) et avec une scolarité entre 5 et 23 ans (moyenne=11,10, écart-type=4,68), parmi ceux-ci, 62,87% étaient des femmes. Nous avons employé deux batteries linguistiques : le Protocole d’examen linguistique de l’aphasie Montréal-Toulouse et Protocole Montréal d’Évaluation de la Communication – version abrégé. Utilisant l’analyse en composantes principales avec une rotation Direct-oblimin, nous avons découvert quatre composantes du langage : la sémantique picturale (tâches de compréhension orale, dénomination orale et dénomination écrite), l'exécutif linguistique (tâches d’évocation lexicale - critères sémantique, orthographique et libre), le transcodage et la sémantique (tâches de lecture, dictée et de jugement sémantique) et la pragmatique (tâches d'interprétation d'actes de parole indirecte et d'interprétation de métaphores). Ces quatre composantes expliquent 59,64 % de la variance totale. Deuxièmement, nous avons vérifié l'association entre ces composantes et deux mesures des fonctions exécutives dans un sous-ensemble de 33 participants. La performance de la flexibilité cognitive a été évaluée en soustrayant le - temps A au temps B du Trail Making Test et celle de la mémoire de travail en prenant le total des réponses correctes au test du n-back. La composante exécutive linguistique était associée à une meilleure flexibilité cognitive (r=-0,355) et la composante transcodage et sémantique à une meilleure performance de mémoire de travail (r=.0,397). Nos résultats confirment l’hétérogénéité des processus sous-jacent aux tâches langagières et leur relation intrinsèque avec d'autres composantes cognitives, tels que les fonctions exécutives.To a more accurate and time-efficient language assessment process, it is important to identify the cognitive mechanisms that sustain commonly used language tasks. One way to do so is to explore the shared variance across language tasks using the technique of principal components analysis. Few studies applied this technique to investigate these mechanisms in normal language functioning. Therefore, our main goal is to explore how a set of language tasks are going to group to investigate the underlying cognitive mechanisms of commonly used tasks. We assessed 201 healthy participants aged between 18 and 75 years old (mean = 45.29, SD = 15.06) and with a formal education between 5 and 23 years (mean = 11.10, SD =4.68), of these 62.87% were female. We used two language batteries: the Montreal-Toulouse language assessment battery and the Montreal Communication Evaluation Battery – brief version. Using a Principal Component Analysis with a Direct-oblimin rotation, we discovered four language components: pictorial semantics (auditory comprehension, naming and writing naming tasks), language-executive (unconstrained, semantic, and phonological verbal fluency tasks), transcoding and semantics (reading, dictation, and semantic judgment tasks), and pragmatics (indirect speech acts interpretation and metaphors interpretation tasks). These four components explained 59.64% of the total variance. Secondarily, we sought to verify the association between these components with two executive measures in a subset of 33 participants. Cognitive flexibility was assessed by the time B-time A score of the Trail Making Test and working memory by the total of correct answers on the n-back test. The language-executive component was associated with a better cognitive flexibility score (r=-.355) and the transcoding and semantics one with a better working memory performance (r=.397). Our findings confirm the heterogeneity process underlying language tasks and their intrinsic relationship to other cognitive components, such as executive functions

Apport de l'assistance par ordinateur lors de la pose d'endoprothèse aortique

The development of endovascular aortic procedures is growing. These mini-invasive techniques allow a reduction of surgical trauma, usually important in conventional open surgery. The technical limitations of endovascular repair are pushed to special aortic localizations which were in the past decade indication for open repair. Success and efficiency of such procedures are based on the development and the implementation of decision-making tools. This work aims to improve endovascular procedures thanks to a better utilization of pre and intraoperative imaging. This approach is in the line with the framework of computer-assisted surgery whose concepts are applied to vascular surgery. The optimization of endograft deployment is considered in three steps. The first part is dedicated to preoperative imaging analysis and shows the limits of the current sizing tools. The accuracy of a new measurement criterion is assessed (outer curvature length). The second part deals with intraoperative imaging and shows the contribution of augmented reality in endovascular aortic repair. In the last part, image guided surgery on soft tissues is addressed, especially the arterial deformations occurring during endovascular procedures which disprove rigid registration in fusion imaging. The use of finite element simulation to deal with this issue is presented. We report an original approach based on a predictive model of deformations using finite element simulation with geometrical and anatomo-mechanical patient specific parameters extracted from the preoperative CT-scan.Les techniques endovasculaires, particulièrement pour l’aorte, sont en plein essor en chirurgie vasculaire. Ces techniques mini-invasives permettent de diminuer l’agression chirurgicale habituellement importante lors de la chirurgie conventionnelle. Les limites techniques sont repoussées à certaines localisations de l’aorte qui étaient il y a encore peu de temps inaccessibles aux endoprothèses. Le succès et l’efficience de ces interventions reposent en partie sur l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre de nouveaux outils d'aide à la décision. Ce travail entend contribuer à l’amélioration des procédures interventionnelles aortiques grâce à une meilleure exploitation de l’imagerie pré et peropératoire. Cette démarche s’inscrit dans le cadre plus général des Gestes Médico-Chirurgicaux Assistés par Ordinateur, dont les concepts sont revisités pour les transposer au domaine de la chirurgie endovasculaire. Trois axes sont développés afin de sécuriser et optimiser la pose d'endoprothèse. Le premier est focalisé sur l’analyse préopératoire du scanner (sizing) et montre les limites des outils de mesure actuels et évalue la précision d’un nouveau critère de mesure des longueurs de l’aorte (courbure externe). Le deuxième axe se positionne sur le versant peropératoire et montre la contribution de la réalité augmentée dans la pose d’une endoprothèse aortique. Le troisième axe s’intéresse au problème plus général des interventions sur les tissus mous et particulièrement aux déformations artérielles qui surviennent au cours des procédures interventionnelles qui mettent en défaut le recalage rigide lors de la fusion d’images. Nous présentons une approche originale basée sur un modèle numérique de prédiction des déformations qui utilise la simulation par éléments finis en y intégrant des paramètres géométriques et anatomo-mécaniques spécifique-patient extraits du scanner préopératoire