Bilingual Lexicon Construction Using Large Corpora

This paper introduces a method for learning bilingual term and sentence level alignments for the purpose of building lexicons. Combining statistical techniques with linguistic knowledge, a general algorithm is developed for learning term and sentence alignments from large bilingual corpora with high accuracy. This is achieved through the use of filtered linguistic feedback between term and sentence alignment processes. An implementation of this algorithm, TAG-ALIGN, is evaluated against approaches similar to [Brown et al. 1993] that apply Bayesian techniques for term alignment, and [Gale and Church 1991] a dynamic programming method for aligning sentences. The ultimate goal is to produce large bilingual lexicons with a high degree of accuracy from potentially noisy corpora. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-97-50

The Evolution of Copulation Frequency and the Mechanisms of Reproduction in Male Anolis Lizards

The evolution of many morphological structures is associated with the behavioral context of their use, particularly for structures involved in copulation. Yet, few studies have considered evolutionary relationships among the integrated suite of structures associated with male reproduction. In this study, we examined nine species of lizards in the genus Anolis to determine whether larger copulatory morphologies and higher potential for copulatory muscle performance evolved in association with higher copulation rates. In 10–12 adult males of each species, we measured the size of the hemipenes and related muscles, the seminiferous tubules in the testes, and the renal sex segments in the kidneys, and we assessed the fiber type composition of the muscles associated with copulation. In a series of phylogenetically-informed analyses, we used field behavioral data to determine whether observed rates of copulation were associated with these morphologies.We found that species with larger hemipenes had larger fibers in the RPM (the retractor penis magnus, a muscle that controls hemipenis movement), and that the evolution of larger hemipenes and RPM fibers is associated with the evolution of higher rates of copulatory behavior. However, the sizes of the seminiferous tubules and renal sex segments, and the muscle fiber composition of the RPM, were not associated with copulation rates. Further, body size was not associated with the size of any of the reproductive structures investigated. The results of this study suggest that peripheral morphologies involved in the transfer of ejaculate may be more evolutionarily labile than internal structures involved in ejaculate production

Effect of home telemonitoring on glycemic and blood pressure control in primary care clinic patients with diabetes

Objective: Patient self-management support may be augmented by using home-based technologies that generate data points that providers can potentially use to make more timely changes in the patients' care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of short-term targeted use of remote data transmission on treatment outcomes in patients with diabetes who had either out-of-range hemoglobin A1c (A1c) and/or blood pressure (BP) measurements. Materials and Methods: A single-center randomized controlled clinical trial design compared in-home monitoring (n=55) and usual care (n=53) in patients with type 2 diabetes and hypertension being treated in primary care clinics. Primary outcomes were A1c and systolic BP after a 12-week intervention. Results: There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups on either A1c or systolic BP following the intervention. Conclusions: The addition of technology alone is unlikely to lead to improvements in outcomes. Practices need to be selective in their use of telemonitoring with patients, limiting it to patients who have motivation or a significant change in care, such as starting insulin. Attention to the need for effective and responsive clinic processes to optimize the use of the additional data is also important when implementing these types of technology

Musicology, Diplomacy, and International Networks at the Turn of the 20th Century. Discourses, Practices, Events

The birth of musicology as a theoretical discipline coincided with the professionalization of international academic bodies, most famously in natural and social sciences, but also in the humanities. While presenting an important example of transnational exchange, such trend in academic research was directly affected by intergovernmental relations. The intersections between the beginnings of musicology as a theoretical discipline and diplomatic relations will be the object of this round table. The birth of musicology was closely related also to the formation of modern nation states in an age of increased global exchanges, with important implications for the internationalization of the musical repertoire and the music industry. World fairs and exhibitions, and international political-commercial initiatives shaped these experiences. Musicologists felt compelled to compare and put order into a previously unknown multitude of musical practices. Without overlooking the power dynamics underlying processes of canon-building, traditionally expressed with the North-South dichotomy, this round table will contemplate an extended approach to comparativism. We will introduce an East-West dialectic, conceived both as a geographical framing – including Europe, Musicology, Diplomacy, and International Networks at the Turn of the 20th Century Discourses, Practices, Events Prof. Axel Körner, Chair Prof. Bonnie C. Wade, Respondent Dr. Ferran Escrivá-Llorca Dr. María Cáceres-Piñuel Dr. Vincenzina C. Ottomano Dr. Christiane Sibille Prof. Dr. Cristina Urchueguía, Team Leader MA Alberto Napoli, Coordinator 3 Asia, America – and a “longitudinal” exchange among different but equally empowered agents, who evaded fixed hierarchies and learned or profited from one another, continuously questioning the concept of a dominating “center.” Reflecting the complexity of the subject, our panel will include varied topics and disciplinary perspectives. Considering that the transnational flow of music theory and practice serving power relations has been studied in scholarship from Europe outward, in the first presentation Wade will address the adoption of Western theory and practice as a technology for modern nation-building by the Japanese government in late 19th century. Ottomano will explore the impact of the early dissemination of Russian music in Paris, focusing on the very close relationship between music, culture and political interests in the diplomatic exchanges between France and Russia after the Alliance franco-russe (1894). Focusing on international organizations dealing with musical questions in the early 20th century, Sibille will analyze their publications and conferences showing the experts’ efforts to gain political relevance, especially by the standardization of their methodological tools. Escrivà-Llorca will then retrace the turn-of-the-century establishment of music divisions in several important European and American institutional libraries, analyzing the diplomatic and philanthropic actions of specific patrons and curators which constituted their pre-Baroque holdings. Urchueguía will present a case of direct interaction between politics and musicology, discussing the influence of the Spanish regent María Cristina in the preparation of Spanish contributions to the 1892 International Music and Theater Exhibition in Vienna. Cáceres-Piñuel will then assess the role of Guido Adler in the organization of the same event, and its influence on subsequent discourses about music, particularly those referring to ‘national idioms.’ Finally, analyzing musical events at international exhibitions in fin-de-siècle Italy, Napoli will illustrate that consequent musicological writings reflected negotiations between nationalist narratives and local cosmopolitan aspirations. Körner will lead the following discussion, as a transnational historian particularly interested in the exchange of knowledge and the role of culture in international relations

‘It Takes Two Hands to Clap’: How Gaddi Shepherds in the Indian Himalayas Negotiate Access to Grazing

This article examines the effects of state intervention on the workings of informal institutions that coordinate the communal use and management of natural resources. Specifically it focuses on the case of the nomadic Gaddi shepherds and official attempts to regulate their access to grazing pastures in the Indian Himalayas. It is often predicted that the increased presence of the modern state critically undermines locally appropriate and community-based resource management arrangements. Drawing on the work of Pauline Peters and Francis Cleaver, I identify key instances of socially embedded ‘common’ management institutions and explain the evolution of these arrangements through dynamic interactions between individuals, communities and the agents of the state. Through describing the ‘living space’ of Gaddi shepherds across the annual cycle of nomadic migration with their flocks I explore the ways in which they have been able to creatively reinterpret external interventions, and suggest how contemporary arrangements for accessing pasture at different moments of the annual cycle involve complex combinations of the formal and the informal, the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern’

Multi-dimensional predictors of first drinking initiation and regular drinking onset in adolescence: A prospective longitudinal study

Early adolescent drinking onset is linked to myriad negative consequences. Using the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) baseline to year 8 data, this study (1) leveraged best subsets selection and Cox Proportional Hazards regressions to identify the most robust predictors of adolescent first and regular drinking onset, and (2) examined the clinical utility of drinking onset in forecasting later binge drinking and withdrawal effects. Baseline predictors included youth psychodevelopmental characteristics, cognition, brain structure, family, peer, and neighborhood domains. Participants (N=538) were alcohol-naïve at baseline. The strongest predictors of first and regular drinking onset were positive alcohol expectancies (Hazard Ratios [HRs]=1.67-1.87), easy home alcohol access (HRs=1.62-1.67), more parental solicitation (e.g., inquiring about activities; HRs=1.72-1.76), and less parental control and knowledge (HRs=.72-.73). Robust linear regressions showed earlier first and regular drinking onset predicted earlier transition into binge and regular binge drinking (βs=0.57-0.95). Zero-inflated Poisson regressions revealed that delayed first and regular drinking increased the likelihood (Incidence Rate Ratios [IRR]=1.62 and IRR=1.29, respectively) of never experiencing withdrawal. Findings identified behavioral and environmental factors predicting temporal paths to youthful drinking, dissociated first from regular drinking initiation, and revealed adverse sequelae of younger drinking initiation, supporting efforts to delay drinking onset

Recommendations for the use of common outcome measures in pediatric traumatic brain injury research

This article addresses the need for age-relevant outcome measures for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and summarizes the recommendations by the inter-agency Pediatric TBI Outcomes Workgroup. The Pediatric Workgroup\u27s recommendations address primary clinical research objectives including characterizing course of recovery from TBI, prediction of later outcome, measurement of treatment effects, and comparison of outcomes across studies. Consistent with other Common Data Elements (CDE) Workgroups, the Pediatric TBI Outcomes Workgroup adopted the standard three-tier system in its selection of measures. In the first tier, core measures included valid, robust, and widely applicable outcome measures with proven utility in pediatric TBI from each identified domain including academics, adaptive and daily living skills, family and environment, global outcome, health-related quality of life, infant and toddler measures, language and communication, neuropsychological impairment, physical functioning, psychiatric and psychological functioning, recovery of consciousness, social role participation and social competence, social cognition, and TBI-related symptoms. In the second tier, supplemental measures were recommended for consideration in TBI research focusing on specific topics or populations. In the third tier, emerging measures included important instruments currently under development, in the process of validation, or nearing the point of published findings that have significant potential to be superior to measures in the core and supplemental lists and may eventually replace them as evidence for their utility emerges

Correspondence Between Perceived Pubertal Development and Hormone Levels in 9-10 Year-Olds From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

Aim: To examine individual variability between perceived physical features and hormones of pubertal maturation in 9-10-year-old children as a function of sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional metrics of puberty were utilized from the baseline assessment of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study—a multi-site sample of 9–10 year-olds (n = 11,875)—and included perceived physical features via the pubertal development scale (PDS) and child salivary hormone levels (dehydroepiandrosterone and testosterone in all, and estradiol in females). Multi-level models examined the relationships among sociodemographic measures, physical features, and hormone levels. A group factor analysis (GFA) was implemented to extract latent variables of pubertal maturation that integrated both measures of perceived physical features and hormone levels. Results: PDS summary scores indicated more males (70%) than females (31%) were prepubertal. Perceived physical features and hormone levels were significantly associated with child\u27s weight status and income, such that more mature scores were observed among children that were overweight/obese or from households with low-income. Results from the GFA identified two latent factors that described individual differences in pubertal maturation among both females and males, with factor 1 driven by higher hormone levels, and factor 2 driven by perceived physical maturation. The correspondence between latent factor 1 scores (hormones) and latent factor 2 scores (perceived physical maturation) revealed synchronous and asynchronous relationships between hormones and concomitant physical features in this large young adolescent sample. Conclusions: Sociodemographic measures were associated with both objective hormone and self-report physical measures of pubertal maturation in a large, diverse sample of 9-10 year-olds. The latent variables of pubertal maturation described a complex interplay between perceived physical changes and hormone levels that hallmark sexual maturation, which future studies can examine in relation to trajectories of brain maturation, risk/resilience to substance use, and other mental health outcomes

Long-term cellular immunity of vaccines for Zaire Ebola Virus Diseases

Recent Ebola outbreaks underscore the importance of continuous prevention and disease control efforts. Authorized vaccines include Merck’s Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) and Johnson & Johnson’s two-dose combination (Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo). Here, in a five-year follow-up of the PREVAC randomized trial (NCT02876328), we report the results of the immunology ancillary study of the trial. The primary endpoint is to evaluate long-term memory T-cell responses induced by three vaccine regimens: Ad26–MVA, rVSV, and rVSV–booster. Polyfunctional EBOV-specific CD4+ T-cell responses increase after Ad26 priming and are further boosted by MVA, whereas minimal responses are observed in the rVSV groups, declining after one year. In-vitro expansion for eight days show sustained EBOV-specific T-cell responses for up to 60 months post-prime vaccination with both Ad26-MVA and rVSV, with no decline. Cytokine production analysis identify shared biomarkers between the Ad26-MVA and rVSV groups. In secondary endpoint, we observed an elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines at Day 7 in the rVSV group. Finally, we establish a correlation between EBOV-specific T-cell responses and anti-EBOV IgG responses. Our findings can guide booster vaccination recommendations and help identify populations likely to benefit from revaccination