Linguistically informed and corpus informed morphological analysis of Arabic

Standard English PoS-taggers generally involve tag-assignment (via dictionary-lookup etc) followed by tag-disambiguation (via a context model, e.g. PoS-ngrams or Brill transformations). We want to PoS-tag our Arabic Corpus, but evaluation of existing PoS-taggers has highlighted shortcomings; in particular, about a quarter of all word tokens are not assigned a fully correct morphological analysis. Tag-assignment is significantly more complex for Arabic. An Arabic lemmatiser program can extract the stem or root, but this is not enough for full PoS-tagging; words should be decomposed into five parts: proclitics, prefixes, stem or root, suffixes and postclitics. The morphological analyser should then add the appropriate linguistic information to each of these parts of the word; in effect, instead of a tag for a word, we need a subtag for each part (and possibly multiple subtags if there are multiple proclitics, prefixes, suffixes and postclitics). Many challenges face the implementation of Arabic morphology, the rich “root-and-pattern” nonconcatenative (or nonlinear) morphology and the highly complex word formation process of root and patterns, especially if one or two long vowels are part of the root letters. Moreover, the orthographic issues of Arabic such as short vowels ( َ ُ ِ ), Hamzah (ء أ إ ؤ ئ), Taa’ Marboutah ( ة ) and Ha’ ( ه ), Ya’ ( ي ) and Alif Maksorah( ى ) , Shaddah ( ّ ) or gemination, and Maddah ( آ ) or extension which is a compound letter of Hamzah and Alif ( أا ). Our morphological analyzer uses linguistic knowledge of the language as well as corpora to verify the linguistic information. To understand the problem, we started by analyzing fifteen established Arabic language dictionaries, to build a broad-coverage lexicon which contains not only roots and single words but also multi-word expressions, idioms, collocations requiring special part-of-speech assignment, and words with special part-of-speech tags. The next stage of research was a detailed analysis and classification of Arabic language roots to address the “tail” of hard cases for existing morphological analyzers, and analysis of the roots, word-root combinations and the coverage of each root category of the Qur’an and the word-root information stored in our lexicon. From authoritative Arabic grammar books, we extracted and generated comprehensive lists of affixes, clitics and patterns. These lists were then cross-checked by analyzing words of three corpora: the Qur’an, the Corpus of Contemporary Arabic and Penn Arabic Treebank (as well as our Lexicon, considered as a fourth cross-check corpus). We also developed a novel algorithm that generates the correct pattern of the words, which deals with the orthographic issues of the Arabic language and other word derivation issues, such as the elimination or substitution of root letters

Characterization of Hospitalized Ischemic Stroke Patients in Palestine

Objective: Stroke is a major health problem, yet no studies on stroke have been reported from Palestine. This one-year, hospital-based study was conducted to determine the prevalence of risk factors and the in-hospital mortality rate in patients with ischemic stroke. Method: All patients admitted to Al-Watani government hospital and diagnosed with ischemic stroke between September 2006 and August 2007 were included in the study. Data were obtained by retrospective review of medical charts. Pearson Chi-square and independent t test were used in the univariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent predictors of in-hospital mortality rates among the patients. Statistical testing and graphics were carried out using SPSS 15. Results: We identified 153 ischemic stroke patients (83 females and 70 males) of whom 92 were having a first-ever stroke (FES). Patients had several prevalent modifiable risk factors such as hypertension (HTN) (66%), diabetes mellitus (DM) (45.8%), and renal reduced renal function (crcl < 60 ml/ min) (33.9%). Twenty-six (17%) of the patients died during hospitalization. Four variables were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality: history of previous stroke (P= 0.004), crcl at admission (P = 0.004), number of post-stroke complications (P = 0.001), and age (P = 0.043). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the number of post-stroke complications (P= 0.001) and previous stroke (P = 0.03) were significant independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Conclusion: Screening and better control of risk factors, especially HTN, DM and renal dysfunction, are required to decrease the incidence and in-hospital mortality among patients with ischemic stroke

Effect of telomerase on proliferation and differentiation of a cell line derived from Dupuytren's contracture

Dupuytren's disease is a fibroproliferative disorder that affects the hand's palm and eventually leads to loss of hand function. It is characterized by shortening of the palmar fascia and an increased myofibroblast percentage excised from Dupuytren's contracture surgery. Transforming growth factor-beta enhances the formation of structural elements and elevated expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin in myofibroblasts. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of the immortalized myofibroblast to differentiate as expected in response to transforming growth factor-beta to provide unlimited supply to investigate further the causes and treatments for Dupuytren's disease. A 3-dimensional collagen lattice was used to study tension generation and contraction using an immortalized cell line derived from Dupuytren's disease (DP147+hTERT). In addition, it was compared to its parental cell line derived from Dupuytren's contracture (DP147). We determined tension generation and contraction by measuring the decrease in the surface area of the collagen lattice over time for both cell line types. It was followed by immunostaining to calculate the percentage of myofibroblasts and proliferation. In addition, cells were plated on coverslips then immunostained to determine differences in differentiation and proliferation between DP147 and DP147+hTERT. The results were encouraging for using the immortalized cell line for future studies on Dupuytren's disease; both cell lines showed increased myofibroblast differentiation in response to TGF-beta. Still, further investigations are required to understand differences in proliferation between DP147 and DP147+hTERT and its effect on the reliability of the immortalized cell line

The Effects Of Teaching Exponential Functions Using Authentic Problem Solving On Students’ Achievement And Attitude

Most of the current mathematics education focuses on procedures and pays very little attention to conceptual understanding in many classrooms. NCTM (2000) called for improving students’ understanding to help improve their achievement. To help prepare students for the future, they need to be taught to value mathematics and realize that it is relevant to their lives. Students need to use their mathematical knowledge to solve real life problems. This can’t be achieved by focusing only on the procedures and expecting students to understand how to apply it to real life. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of using authentic problem solving on students’ achievement and attitude while studying exponential functions. In order to achieve this purpose, a mixed design was used in the study. Two groups of Algebra 1 students from two different schools were part of the study; one group was taught exponential functions using the traditional method, while the other group used authentic problem solving to learn the unit. Pre- and post-tests, quizzes, entry tickets, mathematical reflections, and pre- and post-attitude surveys were used to obtain quantitative data; students’ reflections, observations, and interviews were used to obtain qualitative data. The quantitative data revealed that, before the unit, there was no significant difference between the two groups, and after the study, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group. The qualitative data revealed that the students in the experimental group were more positively affected by the teaching method than the students in the control group. Student attitude was significantly higher in before and after the study in favor of the control group, but the mean improvement in the experimental group was higher than the control group. The qualitative data also revealed that students in the experimental group improved their attitude more than those in the control group. Using authentic problem solving helped students achieve more than the traditional teaching method did. Students’ attitudes were positively affected by using authentic problem solving. Further research is recommended to determine the impact of using authentic problem solving to teach other mathematics topics

Effect of Accretion Sand on Radiation Properties of Microstrip Antenna at Microwave Frequencies

Radiation properties of microstrip antenna embedded under the sand bed of grain size (120-180) microns are observed experimentally at 10 GHz frequency. Effect of surface waves on radiation properties is observed by changing the thickness of sand over the radiator. Keywords: Sand, Microstrip Antenna, Microwave

Jordanian paediatric nurses' views on compliance with Standard Precautions : a qualitative study

INTRODUCTIONCompliance with evidence-based Standard Precautions Guidelines (SPGs) among healthcare practitioners is essential to combat Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI). However, it is widely understood that non-compliance with these precautions remains a common problem in paediatric nursing practice. Most existing studies into this problem have used quantitative methods. However, these studies have failed to explain noncompliant behaviour or address the issues that are specific to paediatric clinical areas.AIMThis study is designed to investigate paediatric nurses' perceptions and experiences of infection control measures and to achieve a better understanding of the factors that influence nurses’ compliance with SPGs.METHODSThis qualitative study used an adapted constructivist grounded theory approach. The study was conducted in five Jordanian hospitals. Thirty one (n=31) qualified paediatric nurses from different paediatric areas were reccruited to the study. Data were gathered using face-to-face semi-structured audio-taped interviews, which were transcribed and coded through constant comparative analysis.RESULTSThis study identified causes of enduring failure by nurses to comply fully with SPGs. Four themes emerged (Children are different; Nurses are human first; Limited professional status; The challenges of the working environment). Paediatric nurses claim to be willing to comply with SPGs, but sometimes fail to achieve this. Risk of exposure to microorganisms was perceived as a major factor in compliance. Paediatric nursing practice was seen as different to adult practice and nurses construed the need for SPGs differently.DISCUSSIONA key issue is the fact that nurses were reluctant to see themselves as change-agents to improve practice. This resulted in problems with SPGs being well understood but not acted on. Nurse’s prioritised compliance with the nursing culture in their specific clinical area, over more general principles of care, such as SPGs. Nurses did appreciate that compliance with SPGs was suboptimal and did sometimes criticise this situation. However, most nurses had a value system, which militated against the proper use of Standard Precautions and which served to diminish the influence of them.IMPLICATIONThe chief implication of this study is that infection control is unlikely to improve further until nurses feel empowered to initiate change. Nursing in this area of the world is essentially semi-professional in nature. Nursing needs to develop to become fully professional in its orientation so that nurses take full responsibility for their actions. Only when nurses see their actions and behaviour as fully their responsibility, will nursing issues such as this be properly addressed. Until this occurs, the imposition of rules and guidelines, documentation and policies, will not be sufficient to progress care in this important area of practice

The social construction of professional elite Jordanian women's gendered identity as honourable women

This is an explorative study about single and married professional elite Jordanian women's (PEJW's) lives during the first two years of the reign of King Abdullah II (1999-2001). Professional elite women are a recent addition to the paid labour force. PEJW arc situated precariously within three contradictory discourses: liberal-secular, conservative and Islamist. Each discourse wants to assert its notion of modernity, its brand of socio-politico-economic development, and its ideals of social morality. These discourses place differing demands on PEJW. Furthermore, each discourse manipulates the concepts of Islam, Arab nationalism, Arab-Islamic identity, cultural authenticity, family honour, and women's position in society as they vie for superiority. This study examines the delicate balance single and married women have to maintain as they act on their own self-interests while navigating between their home and work life. The study underscores the point that women remain mindful of their connective status in relation to their family, and that, by virtue of their gender, they personify honour. Drawing on theoretical approaches that attempt to resolve the agency structure debate, this study examines women's agentic action as they stretch the boundaries of local notions of honour in order to maintain an honourable positioning within society. This means PEJW shape and are shaped by the discourse of honour, and in the process they define for themselves what it means to be honourable modern professional Jordanian women. The study concludes that when examining the agentic action of Jordanian women, agency should not be based on the liberal concept of the autonomous individual, but rather on an alternative model of individualism that considers women's connectivity with their kinship group

The fatigue properties of pressure diecast zinc-aluminium based alloys

The fatigue behaviour of the cold chamber pressure-die-cast alloys: Mazak3, ZA8, ZA27, M3K, ZA8K, ZA27K, K1, K2 and K3 was investigated at temperature of 20°C. The alloys M3K, ZA8K and ZA27K were also examined at temperatures of 50 and 100°C. The ratio between fatigue strength and tensile strength was established at 20°C at 107 cycles. The fatigue life prediction of the alloys M3K, ZA8K and ZA27K was formulated at 20, 50 and 100°C. The prediction formulae were found to be reasonably accurate. All of the experimental alloys were heterogeneous and contained large but varying amounts of pores. These pores were a major contribution and dominated the alloys fatigue failure. Their effect, however, on tensile failure was negligible. The ZA27K possessed the highest tensile strength but the lowest fatigue strength. The relationship between the fracture topography and the microstructure was also determined by the use of a mixed signal of a secondary electron and a back-scattered electron on the SEM. The tensile strength of the experimental alloys was directly proportional to the aluminium content within the alloys. The effect of copper content was also investigated within the alloys K1, K2, ZA8K and K3 which contained 0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% respectively. It was determined that the fatigue and tensile strengths improved with higher copper contents. Upon ageing the alloys Mazak3, ZA8 and ZA27 at an ambient temperature for 5 years, copper was also found to influence and maintain the metastable Zn-Al (αm) phase. The copper free Mazak3 upon ageing lost this metastable phase. The 1.0% copper ZA8 alloy had lost almost 50% of its metastable phase. Finally the 2.0% copper ZA27 had merely lost 10% of its metastable phase. The cph zinc contained a limited number of slip systems, therefore twinning deformation was unavoidable in both fatigue and tensile testing

Polylactide microcapsules and films: preparation and properties

This thesis aims at preparation of hollow polylactide (PLA) microcapsules for use as ultrasound contrast agents with controlled size, structure and mechanical and thermal properties. The microcapsules were prepared with multistage premix membrane emulsification. The mechanical and thermal properties of the microcapsules, and of films that were prepared under similar conditions, were highly dependent on the non-solvent and the liquid used as a template for the hollow core of the microcapsule. The size and size distribution of the microcapsules could, amongst others, be controlled through the process conditions that were applied during preparation. The main conclusion of this thesis was that the nonsolvent properties and the template liquid, highly affect the solidification process of the polymer; and through these parameters, the properties of PLA microcapsules and films can be effectively fine-tuned for various applications