Providing controlled exposure to target vocabulary through the screening and arranging of texts

This article considers the problem of how to bring foreign language students with a limited vocabulary knowledge, consisting mainly of high-frequency words, to the point where they are able to adequately comprehend authentic texts in a target domain or genre. It proposes bridging the vocabulary gap by first determining which word families account for 95 % of the target domain's running words, and then having students learn these word families by reading texts in an order that allows for the incremental introduction of target vocabulary. This is made possible by a recently developed computer program that sorts through a collection of texts and a) finds texts with a suitably high proportion of target words, b) ensures that over the course of these texts, most or all target words are encountered five or more times, and c) creates an order for reading these texts, such that each new text contains a reasonably small number of new target words and a maximum number of familiar words. A computer-based study, involving the sorting of 293 Voice of America news texts, resulted in the finding that a) the introduction of new target vocabulary in each text could be kept to a reasonably small amount for the majority o

Application de l’analyse de l’hétérogénéité aux indices comparatifs d’incidence et de mortalité par cancer de l‘estomac au Québec, 1984-1988.

Cet article présente l'analyse d'hétérogénéité selon la méthode développée par Gail (1978). Elle examine si les rapports de mortalité (local/national) dans les différents groupes d'âges sont identiques, ceci étant une condition nécessaire pour que les indices comparatifs de mortalité décrivent valablement les données. De plus, comme cette méthode est analogue à l'analyse de variance, la population peut être partitionnée selon une hypothèse à tester. Nous l'avons appliquée à l'incidence et à la mortalité par cancer de l'estomac au Québec de 1984 à 1988.This article presents the heterogeneity analysis according to the method developped by Gail (1978). This method was used to assess if mortality data (local/national) are similar among different age groups, this latter being one of the conditions for comparative mortality ratings describe the data with validity. Moreover, this method being comparable to the variance analysis, the population may be split up according to some hypothesis to be tested. We have applied it to the incidence and mortality of stomach cancer in Québec from 1984 to 1988

An exploratory study examining the factors associated with the survival of underground education in an oppressive environment

The Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) in Iran is a university developed by the Baha'i community to provide access to post-secondary education for Iranian Baha'i students not allowed entry into mainstream universities within the country. The Baha'i Faith, a religion founded in Iran in 1844, numbers 300,000 adherents within that nation and has the second-largest number of religious followers, after Islam. Baha'is within the country have been continually discriminated against, with a notable increase in discrimination since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Operating since 1987, the university has repeatedly been attacked by the government and continues to face ongoing episodes of harassment. The current study explores what factors have allowed this educational endeavour to survive, and what challenges it continues to face, by gathering qualitative . data from twelve former BIHE students, now residing in North America. Extracts from writings of the Baha'i Faith are used in conjunction with illustrative citations from interviews to investigate themes that contribute to the endurance of BIHE in Iran. The findings indicate that international support, community sacrifices, and individual resiliency represent several factors that have played a role in the continued life of the university

Energy dissipation in porous media for equilibrium and nonequilibrium translational motions

In the modelling of translational motion, the concepts of frequency-dependent (of the angular fluctuations of the velocity field) self-diffusion and the dispersion tensor are commonly used in its characterisation. Both of these parameters are related to velocity autocorrelation. An alternative means of modelling translational motion is via the equilibrium and nonequilibrium fluctuation-dissipation theorem in classical statistical mechanics. This alternative approach provides further insight into the molecular level processes occurring in the system. Here both of these theoretical fluctuation-dissipation approaches are employed to determine expressions for energy dissipation in simple equilibrium systems exhibiting asymptotic and preasymptotic diffusion and dispersion phenomena and also in a nonequilibrium preasymptotic system involving dispersion within and beyond the upper limit of heterogeneity of an isotropic porous medium. As an example the permeability of porous media due to diffusion and dispersion are studied and it is shown how a frequency-dependent permeability can be treated as a phasor

Effects of Diode and Nd:YAG Laser Irradiation on Friction Forces Between Two Types of Ceramic Brackets and Rhodium-Coated Archwires

Introduction: Ceramic brackets have gained increasing popularity among dental clinicians and orthodontic patients but friction is a major concern when using them. This study sought to assess the effects of diode and Nd: YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) laser irradiation on friction forces between two types of ceramic brackets and rhodium-coated esthetic archwires.Methods: Thirty polycrystalline and 30 poly-sapphire brackets were divided into 6 groups (n=10) as follows: (I) control polycrystalline brackets (no laser irradiation), (II) polycrystalline brackets subjected to diode laser irradiation, (III) polycrystalline brackets subjected to Nd: YAG laser irradiation, (IV) control poly-sapphire brackets (no laser irradiation), (V) poly-sapphire brackets subjected to diode laser irradiation, and (VI) poly-sapphire brackets subjected to Nd: YAG laser irradiation. The bracket slots were laser-irradiated on a custom-made table. Sixty 5-cm pieces of rhodium-coated archwires were used for the friction test in a universal testing machine at a speed of 10 mm/min. Ten brackets from the six groups underwent scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).Results: The frictional resistance value of polycrystalline brackets was significantly higher than that of poly-sapphire brackets, irrespective of laser type (P < 0.05). Irradiation of diode and Nd: YAG lasers, compared with the control group, had no significant effect on friction, irrespective of bracket type (P> 0.05).Conclusion: It appears that diode and Nd: YAG laser irradiation cannot significantly decrease friction. Future studies are warranted on different laser types with variable exposure. DOI: 10.34172/jlms.2021.1