Comparing the writing style of real and artificial papers

Recent years have witnessed the increase of competition in science. While promoting the quality of research in many cases, an intense competition among scientists can also trigger unethical scientific behaviors. To increase the total number of published papers, some authors even resort to software tools that are able to produce grammatical, but meaningless scientific manuscripts. Because automatically generated papers can be misunderstood as real papers, it becomes of paramount importance to develop means to identify these scientific frauds. In this paper, I devise a methodology to distinguish real manuscripts from those generated with SCIGen, an automatic paper generator. Upon modeling texts as complex networks (CN), it was possible to discriminate real from fake papers with at least 89\% of accuracy. A systematic analysis of features relevance revealed that the accessibility and betweenness were useful in particular cases, even though the relevance depended upon the dataset. The successful application of the methods described here show, as a proof of principle, that network features can be used to identify scientific gibberish papers. In addition, the CN-based approach can be combined in a straightforward fashion with traditional statistical language processing methods to improve the performance in identifying artificially generated papers.Comment: To appear in Scientometrics (2015

Reading practices of first year natural science students: the case of Bonga college of teachers education

The main objective of this study is to examine students' classroom reading practices in relation to the theoretical framework of the reading practices. Hence, a descriptive survey method with both qualitative and quantitative design was made use of The study was conducted at Bonga College of Teachers' Education. The subjects of the study were first year natural science stream students and teachers who offered them the course Communicative English skills-I. In the study104 students and four (4) teachers were involved. The selection of students was made random using simple random sampling technique in order to give equal chance for all participants to be selected. For teachers, purposive sampling technique was employed. To collect the necessary information from the subjects, two data collection instruments: Classroom observation and questionnaire were used. The findings showed that most students employed word level meaning processing as they read the text. In other words, they didn't use strategy based processing including reading for gist, reading for specific information, and guessing meanings from context and the like. In addition, students' limited linguistic knowledge and lack of commitment from teachers' side were the major problems that hampered students' effective reading practices. Among the challenges that influenced the teaching of reading was the tradition of teaching and learning reading in which students passed through and lack of awareness about contemporary theories and practices of reading. Based on the findings, it was concluded that students reading practices appear to be inconsistent with the theoretical framework of reading practices suggested by experts. Subjects of the study did not employ approaches, procedures and strategies suggested by scholars and researchers of reading. Thus, it is suggested that inability to employ inputs from research findings may lead to failure unless the actual practices should be harmonious with theoretical assumption and framework of teaching and learning reading.Jimma Universit

The pilgrim's progress across time: Medievalism and modernity on the road to Santiago

This paper offers a reading of recent accounts of journeys on one of the great Christian pilgrimage routes, to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. It focuses on the common narrative strategy of a disrupted sense of time expressed by the pilgrim-authors, and argues that this trope is intrinsic to texts that suggest that time has been ‘crossed’ and that the author has undertaken a ‘medieval’ experience. It is argued that this trope of crossing time is closely linked to two central themes of contemporary Santiago texts: the construction of the author as an authentic pilgrim, and the experience of forms of community that are outside the norm in the pilgrim's everyday life. These common themes in Santiago pilgrim narratives are said to be reflective of the authors’ distrust of modernity

Place and lifestyle migration: the discursive construction of ‘glocal’ place-identity

International lifestyle migration is a rapidly growing worldwide phenomenon. Within Europe, increasingly large numbers of northern Europeans are moving south in search of what they perceive as a better quality of life. The typical representation of this form of migration suggests that it is consumption-led, tourism-related and leisure-based; it is to be located within late modern, global, elitist, borderless and highly mobile social practices. The question arises as to the role of local place in this type of migration process and in the construction of individual and collective social identities. Using data from advertising texts produced by a residential-tourism resort and from in-depth interviews with British residents in the Golden Triangle area of the Algarve, Portugal, this article explores the relationships between discourse, identity, g/local place and lifestyle migration

Winthrop University Undergraduate Scholarship & Creative Activity 2018

University College and Winthrop University proudly present Undergraduate Scholarship and Creative Activity 2018. This seventh annual University-wide compilation of undergraduate work chronicles the accomplishments of students and faculty mentors from at least 32 academic departments and programs, spanning all five colleges of the university: College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), College of Business Administration (CBA), College of Education (COE), College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) and University College (UC).https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/undergradresearch_abstractbooks/1016/thumbnail.jp

Evidence being disseminated

The aim of this thesis was to examine racism in order to participate in the development of anti-racist strategies. For this reason it investigated two central features of racism - the philosophical and the political. In connection with the philosophical feature it examined racism in relation to the constitution of identity. In particular, it focused on the way identity is hound to the relationship between self and 'other'. In connection with the political feature, it explored racism as a defence of a system from which advantage is derived on the basis of culture. In order to pursue different aspects of that defence they were examined in relation to the 'Pauline Hanson Controversy' in Australia. Anti-racist movements often fail to keep pace with changes in racist ideologies and practice. This can have serious consequences during the current time of globalisation, especially as racist ideologies seem to he shifting from biological to cultural principles. A key area within anti-racist strategies in Australia has been the essentialist and social constructivist debates. A central question within these debates has concerned the representation of Aboriginal identity. This is because notions of fluid subjectivities can challenge racisms based on fixed notions of identity; however, in this instance it could undermine the possibility of campaign. In an attempt to explore the impasse between the essentialists and social constructivists, my thesis examines notions of identity and difference. In particular, it focuses on Jacques Derrida's device of differ (a)nce, Edmund Husserl's strategy for reducing prejudice, and Martin Heidegger's notion of authenticity. In order to focus on the cultural aspect of racism, this thesis examines issues related to the 'United Nations Draft Declaration On the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' in connection with Fukuyama 's essay about the 'End of History'. A fter evaluating the philosophical and political aspects of racism, I will claim that there are certain aspects of Edmund Husserl's work, which could challenge essentialist based racist ideologies in such a way that does not undermine the possibility of campaign

Experiential Perspectives on Sound and Music for Virtual Reality Technologies

This thesis examines the intersection of sound, music, and virtuality within current and next-generation virtual reality technologies, with a specific focus on exploring the experiential perspectives of users and participants within virtual experiences. The first half of the thesis constructs a new theoretical model for examining intersections of sound and virtual experience. In Chapter 1, a new framework for virtual experience is constructed consisting of three key elements: virtual hardware (e.g., displays, speakers); virtual software (e.g., rules and systems of interaction); and virtual externalities (i.e., physical spaces used for engaging in virtual experiences). Through using and applying this new model, methodical examinations of complex virtual experiences are possible. Chapter 2 examines the second axis of the thesis through constructing an understanding of how sound is designed, implemented, and received within virtual reality. The concept of soundscapes is explored in the context of experiential perspectives, serving as a useful approach for describing received auditory phenomena. Auditory environments are proposed as a new model for exploring how auditory phenomena can be broadcast to audiences. Chapter 3 explores how inauthenticity within sound can impact users in virtual experience and uses authenticity to critically examine challenges surrounding sound in virtual reality. Constructions of authenticity in music performance are used to illustrate how authenticity is constructed within virtual experience. Chapter 4 integrates music into the understanding of auditory phenomena constructed throughout the thesis: music is rarely part of the created world in a virtual experience. Rather, it is typically something which only the audience – as external observers of the created world – can hear. Therefore, music within immersive virtual reality may be challenging as the audience is placed within the created world.The second half of this thesis uses this theoretical model to consider contemporary and future approaches to virtual experiences. Chapter 5 constructs a series of case studies to demonstrate the use of the framework as a trans-medial and intra/inter-contextual tool of analysis. Through use of the framework, varying approaches to implementation of sound and music in virtual reality technologies are considered, which reveals trans-medial commonalities of immersion and engagement with virtual experiences through sound. Chapter 6 examines near-future technologies, including brain-computer interfaces and other full-immersion technologies, to identify key issues in the design and implementation of future virtual experiences and suggest how interdisciplinary collaboration may help to develop solutions to these issues. Chapter 7 considers how the proposed model for virtuality might allow for methodical examination of similar issues within other fields, such as acoustics and architecture, and examines the ethical considerations that may become relevant as virtual technology develops within the 21st Century.This research explores and rationalises theoretical models of virtuality and sound. This permits designers and developers to improve the implementation of sound and music in virtual experiences for the purpose of improving user outcomes.<br/

The Middle Ages in Modern Culture

This open access book brings together an international team of experts, The Middle Ages in Modern Culture considers the use of medieval models across a variety of contemporary media – ranging from television and film to architecture – and the significance of deploying an authentic medieval world to these representations. Rooted in this question of authenticity, this interdisciplinary study addresses three connected themes. Firstly, how does historical accuracy relate to authenticity, and whose version of authenticity is accepted? Secondly, how are the middle ages presented in modern media and why do inaccuracies emerge and persist in these works? Thirdly, how do creators of modern content attempt to produce authentic medieval environments, and what are the benefits and pitfalls of accurate portrayals? The result is nuanced study of medieval culture which sheds new light on the use (and misuse) of medieval history in modern media

Multimedia Forensics

This book is open access. Media forensics has never been more relevant to societal life. Not only media content represents an ever-increasing share of the data traveling on the net and the preferred communications means for most users, it has also become integral part of most innovative applications in the digital information ecosystem that serves various sectors of society, from the entertainment, to journalism, to politics. Undoubtedly, the advances in deep learning and computational imaging contributed significantly to this outcome. The underlying technologies that drive this trend, however, also pose a profound challenge in establishing trust in what we see, hear, and read, and make media content the preferred target of malicious attacks. In this new threat landscape powered by innovative imaging technologies and sophisticated tools, based on autoencoders and generative adversarial networks, this book fills an important gap. It presents a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art forensics capabilities that relate to media attribution, integrity and authenticity verification, and counter forensics. Its content is developed to provide practitioners, researchers, photo and video enthusiasts, and students a holistic view of the field