Ambiguous keyboards for AAC

Purpose – “Ambiguous keyboards” and “disambiguation processes” are becoming universally recognised through the popularisation of “predictive text messaging” on mobile phones. As this paper shows, although originating in the AT and AAC fields, these terms and techniques no longer appear to be widely understood or adopted by practitioners or users. The purpose of this paper is to introduce these techniques, discussing the research and theory around them, and to suggest them as AT and AAC strategies to be considered by practitioners and users. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that describes the use of ambiguous keyboards and disambiguation. The hypothesis of the paper is that ambiguous keyboards and disambiguation processes offer potential to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of AAC and should thus be considered further in research and practice. Findings – The two broad methods for removing the ambiguity from the output of an ambiguous keyboard are presented. A summary of the literature around the use of disambiguation processes provided and the use of disambiguation processes for AAC discussed. Originality/value – This paper suggests that ambiguity should be adopted as a characteristic of an AAC keyboard as should the method of removing ambiguity – namely either coding or a disambiguation process

A comparison of the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Aleutian Islands large marine ecosystems through food web modeling / by K. Aydin ... [et al.]

Detailed mass balance food web models were constructed to compare ecosystem characteristics for three Alaska regions: the eastern Bering Sea (EBS), the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), and the Aleutian Islands (AI). This paper documents the methods and data used to construct the models and compares ecosystem structure and indicators across models. The common modeling framework, including biomass pool and fishery definitions, resulted in comparable food webs for the three ecosystems which showed that they all have the same apex predator—the Pacific halibut longline fishery. However, despite the similar methods used to construct the models, the data from each system included in the analysis clearly define differences in food web structure which may be important considerations for fishery management in Alaska ecosystems. The results showed that the EBS ecosystem has a much larger benthic influence in its food web than either the GOA or the AI. Conversely, the AI ecosystem has the strongest pelagic influence in its food web relative to the other two systems. The GOA ecosystem appears balanced between benthic and pelagic pathways, but is notable in having a smaller fisheries catch relative to the other two systems, and a high biomass of fish predators above trophic level (TL) 4, arrowtooth flounder and halibut. The patterns visible in aggregated food webs were confirmed in additional more detailed analyses of biomass and consumption in each ecosystem, using both the single species and whole ecosystem indicators developed here

Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: An Empirical Investigation

Economic growth is said to be pro-poor if the poverty measure adopted falls with increased growth rate. Poverty researchers have investigated this phenomenon mainly in the context of income poverty. The fact that poverty goes beyond income has received little attention. This study appreciates the multidimensional nature of poverty. It sees poverty in its non-income dimension, highlights the concept of pro-poor growth, and also empirically analyzes if economic growth in Nigeria is, or could be, pro-poor. In our empirical analysis a vector autoregressive model was formulated and estimated within an error correction framework. Within this framework, we have analyzed annual time series data to capture, quantitatively, the effects on human-capital poverty of economic growth and other control variables, both in the short- and long-term. Results showed that in the medium-to-long term, agricultural development raised human capital poverty, while developing the other sectors of the economy reduced it. In the short-term, public capital expenditure on social services, including credit to the agricultural sector, and agricultural development generally, showed a potential to reduce poverty. Public capital expenditure on economic services, growth in the non-agricultural sector of the economy, and increased urbanization intensified the incidence of human capital poverty. These results indicate that government expenditures on human capital development through the social services sector tend to reduce human-capital poverty. They underscore the desirability of adequate capital expenditures on education and health; and also suggest the need for enhancing the pace of rural transportation with a view to creating non-agricultural employment opportunities and minimize the rate of urban growth. Key words: Economic growth, Pro-poor growth, Human-capital poverty, Public expenditure, Urbanization

Culture and Attitude as Predictors of People’s Participation in Rural Development in Edo South Senatorial District

This study examines culture and attitude as predictors of peoples participation in rural development in Edo south senatorial district A sample of 350 respondents were used for the study. A structured questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. The study employed the simple survey research design. The findings revealed that the people's participation in rural development in Edo south senatorial district is marginal. Secondly, the people's belief system influences their level of participation in rural development activities. It was also discovered that people's norms also influence the people's participation in rural development activities. The paper recommended that there is need to ensure that rural development activities when initiated are culture compliant, the people need to be educated on the need to support  rural development activities by helping to identify those cultural practices that are inimical to changes and progress and the people must also be involved in the initiation and evaluation of rural development activitie

Lady Gaga as (dis)simulacrum of monstrosity

Lady Gaga’s celebrity DNA revolves around the notion of monstrosity, an extensively researched concept in postmodern cultural studies. The analysis that is offered in this paper is largely informed by Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of monstrosity, as well as by their approach to the study of sign-systems that was deployed in A Thousand Plateaus. By drawing on biographical and archival visual data, with a focus on the relatively underexplored live show, an elucidation is afforded of what is really monstrous about Lady Gaga. The main argument put forward is that monstrosity as sign seeks to appropriate the horizon of unlimited semiosis as radical alterity and openness to signifying possibilities. In this context it is held that Gaga effectively delimits her unique semioscape; however, any claims to monstrosity are undercut by the inherent limits of a representationalist approach in sufficiently engulfing this concept. Gaga is monstrous for her community insofar as she demands of her fans to project their semiosic horizon onto her as a simulacrum of infinite semiosis. However, this simulacrum may only be evinced in a feigned manner as a (dis)simulacrum. The analysis of imagery from seminal live shows during 2011–2012 shows that Gaga’s presumed monstrosity is more akin to hyperdifferentiation as simultaneous employment of heterogeneous and potentially dissonant inter pares cultural representations. The article concludes with a problematisation of audience effects in the light of Gaga’s adoption of a schematic and post-representationalist strategy in the event of her strategy’s emulation by competitive artists