Figure of Speech Detection and Generation as a Service in IDN Authoring Support

IDN authoring is a complex and creative endeavour. This paper provides the basis for a collaborative text-based authoring tool to support the work with figures of speech, such as metaphors, similes and metonymies. Several models have been tested and BERT, as best performing, has been used for creating functions to predict a figure of speech and, using an embedding of the custom database, return figures of speeches that are closest to the input, and generating new figures of speech. The implemented functions were validated using writers active in different fields. All the code, the databases and the models can be found in this GitHub: link to GitHub.</p

Poder y escritura : el Príncipe, la biblioteca y la dedicatoria (siglos XV-XVII)

Se muestra cómo la lectura y la escritura son actos sociales perfectamente normativizados en la cultura de la Edad Moderna. Se exponen los ejemplos de la biblioteca, una institución en la que tan importante como el material que conserva son las relaciones sociales que se establecen entorno a ella (así en las "bibliotecas reales" como en las particulares), y de la dedicatoria de libros, en la que los autores desarrollan un lenguage muy sutil que les permitía relacionarse de forma especial con el destinatario.Roger Chartier shows how reading and writing were perfectly normativized social acts in the culture of Modern Age. As a demonstration of his assertions, he sets two examples: the first concerning libraries, institutions where materials preserved there were as important as social relationship established round it (both in regal libraries and in private ones), the second about the dedications written in books, through which their authors developed a very subtle language that allowed them to set up a kind of especial relation with their final addressees

Estimations of electron-positron pair production at high-intensity laser interaction with high-Z targets

Electron-positron pairs' generation occuring in the interaction of $10^{18}$-$10^{20}$~W/cm$^2$ laser radiation with high-Z targets are examined. Computational results are presented for the pair production and the positron yield from the target with allowance for the contribution of pair production processes due to electrons and bremsstrahlung photons. Monte-Carlo simulations using the PRIZMA code confirm the estimates obtained. The possible positron yield from high-Z targets irradiated by picosecond lasers of power $10^2$-$10^3$~TW is estimated to be $10^9$-$10^{11}$

Seeing and seeking relevance in the challenges of a STEM school–university partnership

School–university partnerships can be fertile environments for collaboration by educators and researchers. So far, studies of these partnerships have mostly focused on identifying partnership challenges and presenting them as difficulties to be prevented or solved. In this case study, we examine challenges in relation to the partnership’s future directions, using a boundary-crossing perspective. We pose that some challenges, experienced by partners as discontinuities in perspectives and/or practices, are connected to envisioned opportunities for boundary crossing, and thus hold potential for partnership advancement. We provide proof of concept by analysing the challenges and opportunities of a STEM school–university partnership between 48 high schools and two universities (one research university and one applied sciences university) that offers an enrichment program for secondary school students and teachers. Data involved partnership documents, 12 semi-structured interviews, and 42 survey responses from partners of schools and universities. By presenting this case study, we show that partnership challenges are connected to expansive opportunities posed by partners, and this connection is relevant to the advancement of the program and the collaboration between partners, as well as the emergence of new purposes

Colistin dry powder inhalation with the Twincer (TM):An effective and more patient friendly alternative to nebulization

BACKGROUND: Nebulization of antimicrobial drugs such as tobramycin and colistin is a cornerstone in the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, nebulization has a high treatment burden. The Twincer™ is a dry powder inhaler specifically developed for the inhalation of antibiotics such as colistin. The aim of this study was to compare patient outcomes and experience with colistin dry powder by the Twincer with nebulization of colistin or tobramycin in adult CF patients in a real-life setting. METHODS: This was a retrospective study from 01-01-2015 until 01-07-2018. Effectiveness was evaluated by comparing FEV1 decline and exacerbation rate during a mean of 4.1 years of nebulization therapy prior to the initiation of the Twincer against the same values during a mean of 1.7 years of treatment with the Twincer. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients were evaluated, of whom twelve could be included in the effectiveness analysis, with a total of twenty patient years. Of all patients 71.4% preferred therapy with the Twincer over nebulization. Twincer use resulted in high treatment adherence with an average adherence rate of 92.5%. There was no significant difference in annual decline in FEV1%pred prior to and after start changing from nebulization to the use of the Twincer powder inhaler (median decline -1.56 [-5.57-5.31] and 1.35 [-8.45-6.36]) respectively, p = 0.45 (linear mixed effect model)). No significant difference was found in the number of intravenous or combined total intravenous and oral antibiotic courses during Twincer therapy compared to when using nebulization (1.68 and 2.49 courses during Twincer therapy versus 1.51 and 2.94 courses during nebulization, p = 0.88 and p = 0.63). CONCLUSION: Colistin dry powder inhalation with the Twincer is a more patient friendly alternative to nebulization, and we did not observe significant differences in the clinical outcome, regarding lung function and exacerbation rates

Developing the role concept for computer-supported collaborative learning

The role concept has attracted a lot of attention as a construct for facilitating and analysing interactions in the context of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). So far much of this research has been carried out in isolation and the focus on roles lacks cohesion. In this article we present a conceptual framework to synthesise the contemporary conceptualisation of roles, by discerning three levels of the role concept: micro (role as task), meso (role as pattern) and macro (role as stance). As a first step to further conceptualise ‘role as a stance’, we present a framework of eight participative stances defined along three dimensions: group size, orientation and effort. The participative stances – Captain, Over-rider, Free-rider, Ghost, Pillar, Generator, Hanger-on and Lurker – were scrutinised on two data sets using qualitative analysis. The stances aim to facilitate meaningful description of student behaviour, stimulate both teacher and student awareness of roles at the macro-level in terms of participative stances, and evaluate or possibly change the participation to collaborative learning on all levels

Cluster-based density-functional approach to quantum transport through molecular and atomic contacts

We present a cluster-based density-functional approach to model charge transport through molecular and atomic contacts. The electronic structure of the contacts is determined in the framework of density functional theory, and the parameters needed to describe transport are extracted from finite clusters. A similar procedure, restricted to nearest-neighbor interactions in the electrodes, has been presented by Damle et al. [Chem. Phys. 281, 171 (2002)]. Here, we show how to systematically improve the description of the electrodes by extracting bulk parameters from sufficiently large metal clusters. In this way we avoid problems arising from the use of nonorthogonal basis functions. For demonstration we apply our method to electron transport through Au contacts with various atomic-chain configurations and to a single-atom contact of Al.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure

Monte Carlo simulation of kilovolt electron transport in solids

A Monte Carlo procedure to simulate the penetration and energy loss of low¿energy electron beams through solids is presented. Elastic collisions are described by using the method of partial waves for the screened Coulomb field of the nucleus. The atomic charge density is approximated by an analytical expression with parameters determined from the Dirac¿Hartree¿Fock¿Slater self¿consistent density obtained under Wigner¿Seitz boundary conditions in order to account for solid¿state effects; exchange effects are also accounted for by an energy¿dependent local correction. Elastic differential cross sections are then easily computed by combining the WKB and Born approximations to evaluate the phase shifts. Inelastic collisions are treated on the basis of a generalized oscillator strength model which gives inelastic mean free paths and stopping powers in good agreement with experimental data. This scattering model is accurate in the energy range from a few hundred eV up to about 50 keV. The reliability of the simulation method is analyzed by comparing simulation results and experimental data from backscattering and transmission measurements