Factoring out the parallelism effect in ellipsis: An interactional approach?

Traditionally, there have been three standard assumptions made about the Parallelism Effect on VP-ellipsis, namely that the effect is categorical, that it applies asymmetrically and that it is uniquely due to syntactic factors. Based on the results of a series of experiments involving online and offline tasks, it will be argued that the Parallelism Effect is instead noncategorical and interactional. The factors investigated include construction type, conceptual and morpho-syntactic recoverability, finiteness and anaphor type (to test VP-anaphora). The results show that parallelism is gradient rather than categorical, effects both VP-ellipsis and anaphora, and is influenced by both structural and non-structural factors

ON THE STRUCTURE AND ACQUISITION OF TELICITY AND UNACCUSATIVITY IN VIETNAMESE

In this paper, we investigate Chinese L2 learners' knowledge of two grammatical constraints in Vietnamese: the first, a constraint on the aspectual interpretation of accomplishment predicates, the second pertaining to alternations in the position of embedded subjects in mono-clausal lam causatives. Whereas the former constraint is shared by Vietnamese and Chinese, the two languages differ with respect to the latter. The results of three judgment tasks provide statistically reliable support for the idea that L2 interlanguage grammars are not ultimately limited by Ll patterns; given the absence of explicit teaching and only limited exposure to relevant structures, it is suggested that learners' performance may be guided by UG information

Exponential Upper Bounds via Martingales for Multiplexers with Markovian Arrivals.

We obtain explicit upper bounds in closed form for the queue length in a slotted time FCFS queue in which the service requirement is a sum of independent Markov processes on the state space {O, 1}, with integral service rate. The bound is of the form P[queue length ≥ b] ≤ cy^(-b) for any b ≥ 1 where c 1 are given explicitly in terms of the parameters of the model. The model can be viewed as an approximation for the burst-level component of the queue in an ATM multiplexer. We obtain heavy traffic bounds for the mean queue length and show that for typical parameters this far exceeds the mean queue length for independent arrivals at the same load. We compare our results on the mean queue length with an analytic expression for the case of unit service rate, and compare our results on the full distribution with computer simulations

Large deviations and overflow probabilities for the general single-server queue, with applications

We consider from a thermodynamic viewpoint queueing systems where the workload process is assumed to have an associated large deviation principle with arbitrary scaling: there exist increasing scaling functions (a_t, v_t, t ϵ R_+) and a rate function I such that if (W_t, t ϵ R_+) denotes the workload process, then lim_(t→∞) (v_t)^(-1)logP(W_t/a_t > w) = -I(w) on the continuity set of I. In the case that a_t = v_t = t it has been argued heuristically, and recently proved in a fairly general context (for discrete time models) by Glynn and Whitt [8], that the queue-length distribution (that is, the distribution of supremum of the workload process Q = sup_(t≥0) W_t) decays exponentially: P(Q > b) ~ e^(-δb) and the decay rate δ is directly related to the rate function I. We establish conditions for a more general result to hold, where the scaling functions are not necessarily linear in t: we find that the queue-length distribution has an exponential tail only if lim_(t→∞) a_t/v_t is finite and strictly positive; otherwise, provided our conditions are satisfied, the tail probabilities decay like P(Q > b) ~ e^(-δv(a^(-1)(b))). We apply our results to a range of workload processes, including fractional Brownian motion (a model that has been proposed in the literature (see, for example, Leland et al [10] and Norros [13]) to account for self-similarity and long range dependence) and, more generally, Gaussian processes with stationary increments. We also show that the martingale upper bound estimates obtained by Daley and Duffield [5], when the workload is modelled as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck position process, are asymptotically correct

Patient transfers in Australia: Implications for nursing workload and patient outcomes

Aim To discuss the impact of patient transfers on patient outcomes and nursing workload. Background Many patient transfers are essential and occur in response to patients' clinical changes. However, increasingly within Australia transfers are performed in response to reductions in bed numbers, resulting in 'bed block'. Evaluation A discussion of the literature related to inpatient transfers, nursing workload and patient safety. Key issues Measures to increase patient flow such as short-stay units may result in an increase in patient transfers and nursing workload. Frequent patient transfers may also increase the risk of medication incidents, health-care acquired infections and patient falls. Conclusions The continuing demand for health care has led to a reactionary bed management system that, in an attempt to accommodate patients, has resulted in increased transfers between wards. This can have a negative effect on nursing workload and affect patient outcomes. Implications for nursing management High nursing workload is cited as one reason for nurses leaving the profession. Reductions in non-essential transfers may reduce nurse workload, improve patient outcomes and enhance continuity of patient care. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Acceptable ungrammaticality in sentence matching

This paper presents results from a new set of experiments using the sentence matching paradigm (Forster, Kenneth (1979), Freedman & Forster (1985), also Bley-Vroman & Masterson (1989), investigating native-speakers’ and L2 learners’ knowledge of constraints on clitic placement in French.1 Our purpose is three-fold: (i) to shed more light on the contrasts between native-speakers and L2 learners observed in previous experiments, especially Duffield & White (1999), and Duffield, White, Bruhn de Garavito, Montrul & Prévost (2002); (ii), to address specific criticisms of the sentence-matching paradigm leveled by Gass (2001); (iii), to provide a firm empirical basis for follow-up experiments with L2 learner

Bounds and comparisons of the loss ratio in queues driven by an M/M/∞ source.

We obtain upper bounds for the loss probability in a queue driven by an M/M/∞ source. The bound is compared with exact numerical results, and with bounds for two related arrivals models: superposed two state Markov fluids, and the Ornstein—Uhlenbeck process. The bounds are shown to behave continuously through approximation procedures relating the models