Cross-language frame semantics transfer in bilingual corpora

Abstract. Recent work on the transfer of semantic information across languages has been recently applied to the development of resources annotated with Frame information for different non-English European languages. These works are based on the assumption that parallel corpora annotated for English can be used to transfer the semantic information to the other target languages. In this paper, a robust method based on a statistical machine translation step augmented with simple rule-based post-processing is presented. It alleviates problems related to preprocessing errors and the complex optimization required by syntax-dependent models of the cross-lingual mapping. Different alignment strategies are here in-vestigated against the Europarl corpus. Results suggest that the quality of the de-rived annotations is surprisingly good and well suited for training semantic role labeling systems.

GeneLink: a database to facilitate genetic studies of complex traits

BACKGROUND: In contrast to gene-mapping studies of simple Mendelian disorders, genetic analyses of complex traits are far more challenging, and high quality data management systems are often critical to the success of these projects. To minimize the difficulties inherent in complex trait studies, we have developed GeneLink, a Web-accessible, password-protected Sybase database. RESULTS: GeneLink is a powerful tool for complex trait mapping, enabling genotypic data to be easily merged with pedigree and extensive phenotypic data. Specifically designed to facilitate large-scale (multi-center) genetic linkage or association studies, GeneLink securely and efficiently handles large amounts of data and provides additional features to facilitate data analysis by existing software packages and quality control. These include the ability to download chromosome-specific data files containing marker data in map order in various formats appropriate for downstream analyses (e.g., GAS and LINKAGE). Furthermore, an unlimited number of phenotypes (either qualitative or quantitative) can be stored and analyzed. Finally, GeneLink generates several quality assurance reports, including genotyping success rates of specified DNA samples or success and heterozygosity rates for specified markers. CONCLUSIONS: GeneLink has already proven an invaluable tool for complex trait mapping studies and is discussed primarily in the context of our large, multi-center study of hereditary prostate cancer (HPC). GeneLink is freely available at

Exploiting Lexical Conceptual Structure for paraphrase generation

Abstract. Lexical Conceptual Structure (LCS) represents verbs as semantic structures with a limited number of semantic predicates. This paper attempts to exploit how LCS can be used to explain the regularities underlying lexical and syntactic paraphrases, such as verb alternation, compound word decomposition, and lexical derivation. We propose a paraphrase generation model which transforms LCSs of verbs, and then conduct an empirical experiment taking the paraphrasing of Japanese light-verb constructions as an example. Experimental results justify that syntactic and semantic properties of verbs encoded in LCS are useful to semantically constrain the syntactic transformation in paraphrase generation.

The And of Modernism: On New Periodizations

The study of literary modernism is in the ascendant in the academy. From alternate modernisms, to neomodernisms, to metamodernism and global modernisms, modernism scholarship has evolved through a configuration of modernism into a cross-cultural and inter-generational aesthetic practice. This article critically examines the periodizing logic implicit in this new modernism scholarship, specifically as it pertains to the study of what is loosely called ‘neomodernism’, which we suggest presents a notable development in literary history for accounts of contemporary fiction and postmodern culture. We are principally interested in a recent trend we observe in modernism literary criticism concerning the futurization of the object (literary modernism), and of critical work thereupon. This work, which specifically addresses developments in contemporary Western Anglophone literature, seeks to extend the project of modernism (sometimes called its ‘promise’) into the present, understanding it as the principal agency in literary distinction and merit. We examine this criticism through a series of case studies, and discern three interconnecting strands in neomodernist criticism – three ways of futurizing modernism, and of self-futurizing modernism criticism

Variation in use of the 2-week referral pathway for suspected cancer: cross-sectional analysis

Background: A 2-Week Wait (2WW) referral pathway for earlier diagnosis of suspected cancer was introduced in England in 2000. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of patients with cancer are diagnosed by other routes (detection rate), only a small proportion of 2WW referrals have cancer (conversion rate) and there is considerable between-practice variation. Aim: This study examined use by practices of the 2WW referral in relation to all cancer diagnoses. Design and setting: A cross-sectional analysis of data extracted from the Cancer Waiting Times Database for all 2WW referrals in 2009 and for all patients receiving a first definitive treatment in the same year. Method: The age standardised referral ratio, conversion rate, and detection rate were calculated for all practices in England and the correlation coefficient for each pair of measures. The median detection rate was calculated for each decile of practices ranked by conversion rate and vice versa, performing nonparametric tests for trend in each case. Results: Data for 8049 practices, 865 494 referrals, and 224 984 cancers were analysed. There were significant correlations between referral ratio and conversion rate (inverse) and detection rate (direct). There was also a direct correlation between conversion and detection rates. There was a significant trend in conversion rate for deciles of detection rate, and vice versa, with a marked difference between the lowest and higher deciles. Conclusion: There is a consistent relationship between 2WW referral conversion rate and detection rate that can be interpreted as representing quality of clinical practice. The 2WW referral rate should not be a measure of quality of clinical care

Early programming of the oocyte epigenome temporally controls late prophase I transcription and chromatin remodelling

Oocytes are arrested for long periods of time in the prophase of the first meiotic division (prophase I). As chromosome condensation poses significant constraints to gene expression, the mechanisms regulating transcriptional activity in the prophase I-arrested oocyte are still not entirely understood. We hypothesized that gene expression during the prophase I arrest is primarily epigenetically regulated. Here we comprehensively define the Drosophila female germ line epigenome throughout oogenesis and show that the oocyte has a unique, dynamic and remarkably diversified epigenome characterized by the presence of both euchromatic and heterochromatic marks. We observed that the perturbation of the oocyte's epigenome in early oogenesis, through depletion of the dKDM5 histone demethylase, results in the temporal deregulation of meiotic transcription and affects female fertility. Taken together, our results indicate that the early programming of the oocyte epigenome primes meiotic chromatin for subsequent functions in late prophase I

Characterising the volume and variation of multiple urgent suspected cancer referrals in England, April 2013–March 2018: a national cohort study

Objectives: To establish a methodology to categorise urgent suspected cancer (USC) referrals in England and use these categories to understand individual patient referral patterns by demographic characteristics, financial year and referral pathway. Design: Cross-sectional population-based cohort study. Setting: From Cancer Waiting Times data, linked to demographic information held by the National Disease Registration Service, referral-level data on all USC referrals in England between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2018. Participants: After restricting records to those with an English postcode at referral and with complete demographic information, 9 524 435 referrals were identified for 7 542 592 patients. Primary and secondary outcome measures: USC referrals were categorised into first and subsequent USC referrals, based primarily on intervals between referral dates. Our primary outcome was to describe the distribution of referral categories by financial year, suspected cancer referral type and four demographic variables. Our secondary aim was to understand which suspected cancer referral types were found in combination within the first 4 months. Results: During the study period, 7.5 million people had an USC referral, with one in five having more than one referral, with 9.5 million referrals in total. Referrals were categorised as first (91.1%) and subsequent (8.9%) USC referrals. The relative increase in the number of referrals across the study period was largest (78.2%) for subsequent USC referrals. Subsequent referrals were most common in the gynaecological (10%), lung (10%) and haematological cancer pathways (12%). Suspected lower gastrointestinal referrals were most frequently included in a pair of USC referrals; it was one of the five most common pairings for 14 out of 16 referral type pathways, contributing to 30% of upper gastrointestinal USC referral pairings. Conclusion: Multiple USC referrals increased in the study period, particularly within a year of the first referral. Common referral pairings suggest opportunities for pathway reorganisation where common non-specific symptoms result in multiple USC referrals

The Rise and Fall of "Respectable" Spanish Liberalism, 1808-1923: An Explanatory Framework

The article focuses on the reasons behind both the consolidation of what I have termed “respectable” liberalism between the 1830s and the 1840s and its subsequent decline and fall between 1900 and 1923. In understanding both processes I study the links established between “respectable” liberals and propertied elites, the monarchy, and the Church. In the first phase these links served to consolidate the liberal polity. However, they also meant that many tenets of liberal ideology were compromised. Free elections were undermined by the operation of caciquismo, monarchs established a powerful position, and despite the Church hierarchy working with liberalism, the doctrine espoused by much of the Church was still shaped by the Counter-Reformation. Hence, “respectable” liberalism failed to achieve a popular social base. And the liberal order was increasingly denigrated as part of the corrupt “oligarchy” that ruled Spain. Worse still, between 1916 and 1923 the Church, monarch, and the propertied elite increasingly abandoned the liberal Monarchist Restoration. Hence when General Primo de Rivera launched his coup the rug was pulled from under the liberals’ feet and there was no one to cushion the fall

Using Depleted Uranium to Shield Vitrified High-Level Waste Packages

The underlying report for this paper evaluates options for using depleted uranium as shielding materials for transport systems for disposal of vitrified high-level waste (VHLW). In addition, economic analyses are presented to compare costs associated with these options to costs, associated with existing and proposed storage, transport, and diposal capabilities. A more detailed evaluation is provided elsewhere. (Yoshimura et al. 1995.