Words from the wizarding world: fictional words, context and domain knowledge

The influence of domain knowledge on reading behavior has received limited investigation compared to the influence of, for example, context and/or word frequency. The current study tested participants with and without domain knowledge of the Harry Potter (HP) universe. Fans and non-fans read sentences containing HP, high-frequency (HF), or low-frequency target-words. Targets were presented in contexts that were supportive or unsupportive within a 2 (group: fans, non-fans) × 3 (context: HP, HF, LF) × 3 (word type: HP, HF, LF) mixed design. Thirty-two fans and 22 non-fans read 72 two-sentence experimental items while eye-movement behavior was recorded: Initial sentences established context; second sentences contained target-words. Fans processed HP words faster than non-fans. No group difference was observed on HF or LF processing durations, suggesting equivalent reading capabilities. In HP contexts, HP and LF targets were processed equivalently. Processing of HF and LF words was facilitated by their supportive context as expected. Non-fans made more regressions into the target region in HP contexts and regressed more into HP targets than other targets; fans regressed into target word regions equivalently across all context and word types. Results suggest that domain knowledge influences early but not immediate lexical access, while the processing effect of novelty was seen in regressive eye movements. These results are more supportive of modular accounts of linguistic processing and serial models of eye movement control. Words without grounding in reality, or true embodiment, were integrated into fans’ mental lexicons

Testing Modeling Assumptions in the West Africa Ebola Outbreak

The Ebola virus in West Africa has infected almost 30,000 and killed over 11,000 people. Recent models of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) have often made assumptions about how the disease spreads, such as uniform transmissibility and homogeneous mixing within a population. In this paper, we test whether these assumptions are necessarily correct, and offer simple solutions that may improve disease model accuracy. First, we use data and models of West African migration to show that EVD does not homogeneously mix, but spreads in a predictable manner. Next, we estimate the initial growth rate of EVD within country administrative divisions and find that it significantly decreases with population density. Finally, we test whether EVD strains have uniform transmissibility through a novel statistical test, and find that certain strains appear more often than expected by chance.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure

Challenges regarding the internationalisation of universities from Scotland, within the Brexit landscape

The international labour market of 2018 can be characterized as very competition driven and for anyone who aspires at a professional evolution, international knowledge and skills have become required and indispensable for success. Universities emerged as the essential centre of the internationalisation strategies of governments in many countries of the world because they represent key providers of the afore-mentioned knowledge and skills. The process of internationalisation of higher education clearly has certain advantages for the students and academic staff of the undergraduate and graduate schools, but also for the national economy, and the international community. Yet in each country there is a different degree of importance given to each of these multiple benefits. The objectives of this research had two principal focuses: 1) to identify the benefits of the internationalisation process of higher education in Scotland and 2) to investigate which measures are most effective for accomplishing these benefits given the background of an uncertain climate influenced by Brexit. A questionnaire was used to obtain the views of representatives of all 19 Scottish universities of Scotland, as to the current situation in their country. The results reveal the range of approaches taken by these universities when advocating the process of establishing an international basis to higher education, but, also in their respective internationalisation strategies. Securing the respondents was possible within the Erasmus+ project developed in 2017, titled “University Study Visit: Youth and Community Work in Scotland”. During this project academics and experts were consulted regarding their views on ways to improve the cooperation between Scottish universities and those of the European Union having as a background an economic, social and political context permeated with Brexit concerns. Their suggestions were included in the study as recommendations for strengthening the ties between the EU and Scottish universitie