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Kinds of Input Terms modified by Input Selected AbstractsCONSTRAINING HEAT INPUT BY TRAJECTORY OPTIMIZATION FOR MINIMUM-FUEL HYPERSONIC CRUISEASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 4 2006M. Wächter ABSTRACT Unsteady heat input effects are considered for the range cruise of a future hypersonic vehicle equipped with a turbo/ram jet engines combination. A realistic mathematical model for describing the unsteady heat effects has been developed. It is coupled to the model for the dynamics of the vehicle. To compute the heat load in hypersonic flight, several points on the vehicle surface are treated simultaneously. A two-step technique consisting of an efficient optimization algorithm and an ordinary differential equations (ODE) solver is applied to generate a solution. The results show that the heat load can be significantly reduced, with only a small increase in fuel consumption. [source] H2 -OPTIMAL SAMPLED-DATA CONTROL FOR PLANTS WITH MULTIPLE INPUT AND OUTPUT DELAYSASIAN JOURNAL OF CONTROL, Issue 2 2006Konstantin Yu. ABSTRACT The sampled-data H2 -optimization problem for plants with multiple input and output delays is considered. An equivalent discrete-time system is constructed and numerical algorithm for computing matrices of its state-space realization is presented. It is proved that stability of this system is equivalent to stability of original sampled-data system. The proposed method can be applied to a wide class of digital control problems for continuous-time plants with multiple input and output delays. [source] INPUTS OF COPPER-BASED CROP PROTECTANTS TO COASTAL CREEKS FROM PASTICULTURE RUNOFF,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 2 2001Andrea M. Dietrich ABSTRACT: Inputs of copper-based crop protectants from tomato fields grown under plastic mulch agriculture (plasticulture) to an estuarine creek were investigated. Copper was measured in runoff from diverse land-uses including conventional agriculture, plasticulture, residences, and natural areas. Water column and sediment copper concentrations were measured in plasticulture and control (nonagriculture) watersheds. Copper concentrations in plasticulture-impacted creeks exceeded background levels episodically. High concentrations occurred during or immediately after runoff-producing rains. Concentrations of 263 ,g/L total copper and 126 ,g/L dissolved copper were measured in a tidal creek affected by plasticulture; concentrations exceeded the shellfish LC50 values and the water quality criteria of 2.9 ,g/L dissolved copper. Control watersheds indicated background water column levels of , 4 ,g/L dissolved copper with similar copper levels during periods with and without rain. The copper concentrations in tomato plasticulture field runoff itself contained up to 238 ,g/L dissolved copper. Copper concentrations in runoff from other land-uses were less than 5 ,g/L dissolved copper. Creek sediment samples adjacent to a plasticulture field contained significantly higher copper concentrations than sediments taken from nonplasticulture watersheds. [source] Rendering: Input and OutputCOMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2001H. Rushmeier Rendering is the process of creating an image from numerical input data. In the past few years our ideas about methods for acquiring the input data and the form of the output have expanded. The availability of inexpensive cameras and scanners has influenced how we can obtain data needed for rendering. Input for rendering ranges from sets of images to complex geometric descriptions with detailed BRDF data. The images that are rendered may be simply arrays of RGB images, or they may be arrays with vectors or matrices of data defined for each pixel. The rendered images may not be intended for direct display, but may be textures for geometries that are to be transmitted to be rendered on another system. A broader range of parameters now need to be taken into account to render images that are perceptually consistent across displays that range from CAVEs to personal digital assistants. This presentation will give an overview of how new hardware and new applications have changed traditional ideas of rendering input and output. [source] Identification of Time-Variant Modal Parameters Using Time-Varying Autoregressive with Exogenous Input and Low-Order Polynomial FunctionCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 7 2009C. S. Huang By developing the equivalent relations between the equation of motion of a time-varying structural system and the TVARX model, this work proves that instantaneous modal parameters of a time-varying system can be directly estimated from the TVARX model coefficients established from displacement responses. A moving least-squares technique incorporating polynomial basis functions is adopted to approximate the coefficient functions of the TVARX model. The coefficient functions of the TVARX model are represented by polynomials having time-dependent coefficients, instead of constant coefficients as in traditional basis function expansion approaches, so that only low orders of polynomial basis functions are needed. Numerical studies are carried out to investigate the effects of parameters in the proposed approach on accurately determining instantaneous modal parameters. Numerical analyses also demonstrate that the proposed approach is superior to some published techniques (i.e., recursive technique with a forgetting factor, traditional basis function expansion approach, and weighted basis function expansion approach) in accurately estimating instantaneous modal parameters of a structure. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to process measured data for a frame specimen subjected to a series of base excitations in shaking table tests. The specimen was damaged during testing. The identified instantaneous modal parameters are consistent with observed physical phenomena. [source] Ground motion duration effects on nonlinear seismic responseEARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS, Issue 1 2006Iunio Iervolino Abstract The study presented in this paper addresses the question of which nonlinear demand measures are sensitive to ground motion duration by statistical analyses of several case studies. A number of single degree of freedom (SDOF) structures were selected considering: (1) four oscillation periods; (2) three evolutionary and non-evolutionary hysteretic behaviours; (3) two target ductility levels. Effects of duration are investigated, by nonlinear dynamic analysis, with respect to six different demand indices ranging from displacement ductility ratio to equivalent number of cycles. Input is made of six real accelerogram sets representing three specific duration scenarios (small, moderate and large duration). For all considered demand quantities time-history results are formally compared by statistical hypothesis test to asses the difference, if any, in the demand concerning different scenarios. Incremental dynamic analysis curves are used to evaluate duration effect as function of ground motion intensity (e.g. spectral acceleration corresponding to the SDOF's oscillation period). Duration impact on structural failure probability is evaluated by fragility curves. The results lead to the conclusion that duration content of ground motion is statistically insignificant to displacement ductility and cyclic ductility demand. The conclusions hold regardless of SDOF's period and hysteretic relationship investigated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Justice in River Management: Community Perceptions from the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, AustraliaGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2005Mick Hillman Abstract Dealing with differing and sometimes conflicting criteria for priority-setting is an essential part of sustainable natural resource management. However, all too often, these ethical and political considerations are neglected within a planning regime based upon apparently ,objective' biophysical assessment techniques. Input into associated decision-making processes is also frequently restricted to a narrow range of ,stakes' based upon historical and geographic circumstances. This paper reports on the findings of interviews and discussion groups in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, which aimed to canvass the diversity of perceptions of distributive and procedural justice in river rehabilitation. A range of biophysical and social criteria for setting priorities in rehabilitation work was identified. Participants also had differing ideas on the composition of decision-making bodies and on decision-making processes. The key implications of these findings are that sustainable river management policy needs to openly address differing conceptions of justice and that rehabilitation practice should be holistic, transdisciplinary and concerned with both outcome and process. [source] Design for usability on supply chain management systems implementationHUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS IN MANUFACTURING & SERVICE INDUSTRIES, Issue 5 2009Chao-Hsien Lin Supply chain management (SCM) systems implementation has become a fashion due to advances in information technology and pressures of market competition. Unfortunately, successful implementation was rare. In this article, the concept of usability was extended in an explorative case study to crystallize design for usability (DFU) principles in a large-scale SCM systems implementation project at a leading semiconductor manufacturing company in Taiwan. Proposed was a holistic usability framework to guide the analysis of DFU as well as the compilation of an evidence database composed of design documentation, post hoc evaluation, semistructured interviews, and participant observation. This research revealed a set of usability needs and coping strategies found throughout a series of systems design and redesign processes at the case company. As a result, an emergent usability framework in the form of ICOM (Input, Control, Output, and Mechanism) dimensions was proposed to guide the implementation of SCM systems. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Influence of Labels, Non-Labeling Sounds, and Source of Auditory Input on 9- and 15-Month-Olds' Object CategorizationINFANCY, Issue 3 2003Anne L. Fulkerson This experiment examines the joint influence of auditory and social cues on infants' basic-level and global categorization. Nine- and fifteen-month-olds were familiarized to a series of category exemplars in an object-examining task. Objects were introduced with a labeling phrase, a non-labeling sound, or no sound, and auditory input was presented orally by the experimenter or played on a hidden voice recorder. Novel objects from the familiarized category and a contrasting category were then presented. Results of analyses performed on novelty preference scores indicated that infants demonstrated basic-level categorization in all conditions. However, infants at both age levels only demonstrated global categorization when labeling phrases were introduced. In addition, labels led to global categorization in 9-month-olds regardless of the source of those labels; however, labels only led to global categorization in 15-month-olds when the labels were presented orally by the experimenter. [source] Nonlinear reference tracking control of a gas turbine with load torque estimationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADAPTIVE CONTROL AND SIGNAL PROCESSING, Issue 8 2008B. Pongrácz Abstract Input,output linearization-based adaptive reference tracking control of a low-power gas turbine model is presented in this paper. The gas turbine is described by a third-order nonlinear input-affine state-space model, where the manipulable input is the fuel mass flowrate and the controlled output is the rotational speed. The stability of the one-dimensional zero dynamics of the controlled plant is investigated via phase diagrams. The input,output linearizing feedback is extended with a load torque estimator algorithm resulting in an adaptive feedback scheme. The tuning of controller parameters is performed considering three main design goals: appropriate settling time, robustness against environmental disturbances and model parameter uncertainties, and avoiding the saturation of the actuator. Simulations show that the closed-loop system is robust with respect to the variations in uncertain model and environ-mental parameters and its performance satisfies the defined requirements. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Fast ping-pong arbitration for input,output queued packet switchesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 7 2001H. Jonathan Chao Abstract Input,output queued switches have been widely considered as the most feasible solution for large capacity packet switches and IP routers. In this paper, we propose a ping-pong arbitration scheme (PPA) for output contention resolution in input,output queued switches. The challenge is to develop a high speed and cost-effective arbitration scheme in order to maximize the switch throughput and delay performance for supporting multimedia services with various quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. The basic idea is to divide the inputs into groups and apply arbitration recursively. Our recursive arbiter is hierarchically structured, consisting of multiple small-size arbiters at each layer. The arbitration time of an n -input switch is proportional to log4,n/2, when we group every two inputs or every two input groups at each layer. We present a 256×256 terabit crossbar multicast packet switch using the PPA. The design shows that our scheme can reduce the arbitration time of the 256×256 switch to 11 gates delay, demonstrating the arbitration is no longer the bottleneck limiting the switch capacity. The priority handling in arbitration is also addressed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A hybrid neural network for input that is both categorical and quantitativeINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 10 2004Roelof K. Brouwer The data on which a MLP (multilayer perceptron) is normally trained to approximate a continuous function may include inputs that are categorical in addition to the numeric or quantitative inputs. Examples of categorical variables are gender, race, and so on. An approach examined in this article is to train a hybrid network consisting of a MLP and an encoder with multiple output units; that is, a separate output unit for each of the various combinations of values of the categorical variables. Input to the feed forward subnetwork of the hybrid network is then restricted to truly numerical quantities. A MLP with connection matrices that multiply input values and sigmoid functions that further transform values represents a continuous mapping in all input variables. A MLP therefore requires that all inputs correspond to numeric, continuously valued variables and represents a continuous function in all input variables. A categorical variable, on the other hand, produces a discontinuous relationship between an input variable and the output. The way that this problem is often dealt with is to replace the categorical values by numeric ones and treat them as if they were continuously valued. However there is no meaningful correspondence between the continuous quantities generated this way and the original categorical values. The basic difficulty with using these variables is that they define a metric for the categories that may not be reasonable. This suggests that the categorical inputs should be segregated from the continuous inputs as explained above. Results show that the method utilizing a hybrid network and separating numerical from quantitative input, as discussed here, is quite effective. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 19: 979,1001, 2004. [source] Behaviours of Medicago truncatula,Sinorhizobium meliloti Symbioses Under Osmotic Stress in Relation with the Symbiotic Partner Input: Effects on Nodule Functioning and ProtectionJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 3 2009H. Mhadhbi Abstract Three genotypes of the model legume Medicago truncatula were assessed for symbiotic effectiveness in cross inoculation with two strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti under mannitol-mediated osmotic stress. Symbioses showed different tolerance levels revealed on plant growth, nitrogen-fixing capacity and indices of nodule functioning and protection. The variability of stress response was essentially correlated with performance at non-stressful conditions. Symbiosis attitude depended on bacterial partner, host-plant genotype and their interaction. Plant genotype manifested the highest contribution to symbiotic efficiency indices under osmotic stress, even for nodulation and nitrogen fixation where the bacterial strain effect is highly pronounced. Contrasting (tolerant/sensitive) associations were identified for tolerance behaviours, involving the same plant genotype with different rhizobial strains and vice versa. In nodules, osmotic stress leads to accumulation of oxidized lipids and decrease in total protein and leghaemoglobin contents. Antioxidant responses were manifested as induction of guaiacol peroxidase (POX, E.C. 1.11.1.7) and superoxide dismutase (E.C. 1.15.1.1). POX induction was higher in tolerant symbioses and both enzymes were suggested as contributors to the protection of nodule integrity and functioning under osmotic stress. In conclusion, symbiotic efficiency in M. truncatula,S. meliloti combinations under osmotic stress is determined by each symbiont's input as well as the plant,microbe genotype interaction, and POX induction could prove a sensitive marker of tolerant symbioses. [source] Fibronectin, integrins, and growth controlJOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2001Erik H.J. Danen Cell proliferation is controlled not only by soluble mitogens but also by components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) such as fibronectin, to which cells adhere via the integrin family of transmembrane receptors. Input from both growth factor receptors and integrins is required to stimulate progression through the G1 phase of the cell cycle, via induction of G1 cyclins and suppression of inhibitors of the G1 cyclin-dependent kinases. Extensive crosstalk takes place between integrin and growth factor receptor signaling pathways, and mitogenic signaling is weak and transient in the absence of integrin-mediated cell adhesion. In normal untransformed cells, all of the important mitogenic signal transduction cascades, namely those downstream of the Ras and Rho family small GTPases and the phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase-PKB/Akt pathway, are regulated by integrin-mediated cell adhesion. As a result, these cells are anchorage-dependent for growth. In contrast, constitutive activity of each of these pathways has been reported in cancer cells, which not only reduces their mitogen dependence but also allows these cells to grow in an anchorage-independent fashion. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Analyzing Polyvinyl Chloride in Japan With the Waste Input,Output Material Flow Analysis ModelJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2009Shinichiro Nakamura Summary Effective life cycle management of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) calls for the separation of end-of-life PVC products at the time of collection not only from other wastes but among different PVC types as well. Information about the flow of PVC products in the economy is important for this purpose. Within the framework of the Japanese input,output (IO) table for the year 2000, with around 400 industry sectors, the flow of PVC is captured in terms of six PVC-embodying products and in terms of three PVC types, (1) flexible PVC (soft PVC), (2) rigid PVC (hard PVC), and (3) others. The degree of resolution; the consideration of different PVC types, which are seldom performed in the material flow analysis (MFA) literature; and the use of waste input,output material flow analysis (WIO-MFA) represent distinguishing features of our study. The use of WIO-MFA methodology enables one to convert a monetary input,output table into a physical interindustry flow table involving an arbitrary number of materials under full consideration of the mass balance. The results indicate that 40% of the PVC produced in Japan is exported (as resins and as products such as passenger motor cars), and the rest is accumulated mostly as capital stock. The largest share of accumulation goes to public construction in the form of plates, pipes, and bars, which are mostly hard-PVC products. [source] Monetary Policy in a Forward-Looking Input,Output EconomyJOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING, Issue 4 2009BRAD E. STRUM inflation targeting; price-level targeting; intermediate goods This paper examines the implications for monetary policy of sticky prices in both final and intermediate goods in a New Keynesian model. Both optimal policy under commitment and discretionary policy under simple loss functions are studied. Household utility losses under alternative loss functions are compared; additionally, the robustness of policy performance to model and shock misperceptions and parameter uncertainty is examined. Targeting inflation in both consumer and intermediate goods performs better than targeting inflation in one sector; targeting price levels of both final and intermediate goods performs significantly better. Moreover, targeting price levels in both sectors yields superior robustness properties. [source] Noradrenergic Nuclei that Receive Sensory Input During Mating and Project to the Ventromedial Hypothalamus Play a Role in Mating-Induced Pseudopregnancy in the Female RatJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 10 2010L. E. Northrop In female rats, vaginal-cervical stimulation (VCS) received during mating induces bicircadian prolactin surges that are required for the maintenance of pregnancy or pseudopregnancy (PSP). The neural circuits that transmit VCS inputs to the brain have not been fully described, although mating stimulation is known to activate medullary noradrenergic cell groups that project to the forebrain. In response to VCS, these neurones release noradrenaline within the ventrolateral division of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMHvl) and the posterodorsal medial amygdala (MePD), two forebrain sites that are implicated in the initiation of PSP. Noradrenaline receptor activation within the VMHvl is both necessary and sufficient for PSP induction, suggesting that noradrenaline acting within the VMHvl is particularly important in mediating the effects of VCS towards the establishment of PSP. We therefore investigated whether or not endogenous, VCS-induced noradrenaline release within the VMHvl is involved in PSP induction in the rat. Before the receipt of sufficient mating stimulation to induce PSP, a retrograde neurotoxin, dopamine-,-hydroxylase-saporin (DBH-SAP), was infused bilaterally into the either the VMHvl or the MePD to selectively destroy afferent noradrenergic nuclei in the brainstem. DBH-SAP infusions into the VMHvl lesioned mating-responsive noradrenergic neurones in A1 and A2 medullary nuclei and reduced the incidence of PSP by 50%. Infusions of DBH-SAP into the MePD had no effect on the subsequent induction of PSP. These results suggest that VCS is conveyed to mating-responsive forebrain areas by brainstem noradrenergic neurones, and that the activity of noradrenergic cells projecting to the VMHvl is involved in the induction of PSP. [source] Morphological Substrate of the Catecholaminergic Input of the Vasopressin Neuronal System in HumansJOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 12 2006B. Dudás It has been postulated that the stress response is associated with water balance via regulating vasopressin release. Nausea, surgical stress and insulin-induced hypoglycaemia were shown to stimulate vasopressin secretion in humans. Increased vasopressin release in turn induces water resorption through the kidneys. Although the mechanism of the stress-mediated vasopressin release is not entirely understood, it is generally accepted that catecholamines play a crucial role in influencing water balance by modulating the secretion of vasopressin. However, the morphological substrate of this modulation has not yet been established. The present study utilised double-label immunohistochemistry to reveal putative juxtapositions between tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunoreactive (IR) catecholaminergic system and the vasopressin systems in the human hypothalamus. In the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei, numerous vasopressin-IR neurones received TH-IR axon varicosities. Analysis of these juxtapositions with high magnification combined with oil immersion did not reveal any gaps between the contacted elements. In conclusion, the intimate associations between the TH-IR and vasopressin-IR elements may be functional synapses and may represent the morphological basis of vasopressin release modulated by stressors. Because certain vasopressin-IR perikarya receive no detectable TH innervations, it is possible that additional mechanisms may participate in the stress-influenced vasopressin release. [source] Pricing Access to a Monopoly InputJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 4 2004David S. Sibley What price should downstream entrants pay a vertically integrated incumbent monopoly for use of its assets? Courts, legislators, and regulators have at times mandated that incumbent monopolies lease assets required for the production of a retail service to entrants in efforts to increase the competitiveness of retail markets. This paper compares two rules for pricing such monopoly inputs: marginal cost pricing (MCP) and generalized efficient component pricing rule (GECPR). The GECPR is not a fixed price, but is a rule that determines the input price to be paid by the entrant from the entrant's retail price. Comparing the retail market equilibrium under MCP and GECPR, the GECPR leads to lower equilibrium retail prices. If the incumbent is less efficient than the entrant, the GECPR also leads to lower production costs than does the MCP rule. If the incumbent is more efficient than the entrant, however, conditions may exist in which MCP leads to lower production costs than does the GECPR. The analysis is carried out assuming either Bertrand competition, quantity competition, or monopolistic competition between the incumbent and entrant in the downstream market. [source] A Study of the Role of Regionalization in the Generation of Aggregation Error in Regional Input ,Output ModelsJOURNAL OF REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2002Michael L. Lahr Although the need for aggregation in input ,output modelling has diminished with the increases in computing power, an alarming number of regional studies continue to use the procedure. The rationales for doing so typically are grounded in data problems at the regional level. As a result many regional analysts use aggregated national input ,output models and trade ,adjust them at this aggregated level. In this paper, we point out why this approach can be inappropriate. We do so by noting that it creates a possible source of model misapplication (i.e., a direct effect could appear for a sector where one does not exist) and also by finding that a large amount of error (on the order of 100 percent) can be induced into the impact results as a result of improper aggregation. In simulations, we find that average aggregation error tends to peak at 81 sectors after rising from 492 to 365 sectors. Perversely, error then diminishes somewhat as the model size decreases further to 11 and 6 sectors. We also find that while region , and sector ,specific attributes influence aggregation error in a statistically significantly manner, their influence on the amount of error generally does not appear to be large. [source] Minimizing Pathogen Transmission at Primate Ecotourism Destinations: The Need for Input from Travel MedicineJOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 4 2009Michael P. Muehlenbein PhD, MsPH First page of article [source] Input and SLA: Adults' Sensitivity to Different Sorts of Cues to French GenderLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue S1 2005Susanne E. Carroll All second language (L2) learning theories presuppose that learners learn the target language from the speech signal (or written material, when learners are reading), so an understanding of learners' ability to detect and represent novel patterns in linguistic stimuli will constitute a major building block in an adequate theory of second language acquisition (SLA) input. Pattern detection, a mainstay of current connectionist modeling of language learning, presupposes a sensitivity to particular properties of the signal. Learning abstract grammatical knowledge from the signal presupposes, as well, the capacity to map phonetic properties of the signal onto properties of another type (segments and syllables, morpheme categories, and so on). Thus, even seemingly "simple" grammatical phenomena may embody complex structural knowledge and be instantiated by a plethora of diverse cues. Moreover, cues have no a priori status; a phenomenon of a given sort takes on a value as a cue when acquisition of the grammatical system reveals it to be useful. My study deals with initial sensitivity to cues to gender attribution in French. Andersen (1984) asked: "What's gender good for anyway?" One answer comes from a number of studies, done mostly in the last 20 years, of gender processing by both monolingual and bilingual speakers (among many others, Bates, Devescovi, Hernandez, & Pizzamiglio, 1996; Bates & Liu, 1997; Friederici & Jacobsen, 1990; Grosjean, Dommergues, Cornu, Guillemon, & Besson, 1994; Guillemon & Grosjean, 2001; Taft & Meunier, 1998). These studies provide evidence that in monolinguals and early (but not late) L2 learners, prenominal morphosyntactic exponents of gender prime noun activation and speed up noun recognition. Over the same period, a growing number of studies detailing the course of L2 gender acquisition for a variety of different target languages and learner types (e.g., Bartning, 2000; Chini, 1995; Dewaele & Véronique, 2000; Granfeldt, 2003; Hawkins & Franceschina, 2004) have provided support for the hypothesis that developmental paths differ for early and later learners of gender. Yet despite its obvious importance to SLA theorizing, few studies have dealt directly with adult learners' ability to detect and analyze potential cues to gender at the initial stage of exposure to the L2 (and this despite considerable discussion in recent years of the nature of the "initial state" of L2 learning). The study reported on in this article, which was actually conducted in the late 1980s, was an attempt to shed some light on what the beginning learner can do with the gender attribution problem. This study was, at that time, and is even now, an anomaly; most research dealing with "input" provided descriptions of what people say to learners, not what learners can perceive and represent. Indeed, most studies that shed light on the initial analytical capacities of absolute beginners were concerned with "perceptual" learning, that is, with the acquisition of phonetic or phonological distinctions (e.g., Broselow, Hurtig, & Ringen's [1987] study of tone learning or various studies on the perception of the /r/ vs. /l/ phonemes in American English by Japanese speakers). In this update, it is therefore worth mentioning Rast's (2003) dissertation and Rast and Dommergues (2003), which is based on it, which examined the results of the first 8 hr of instructed learning of Polish by francophone adults. My study asked if anglophone adults, with little or no prior exposure to French, given auditory stimuli, were equally sensitive to phonological, morphosyntactic, or semantic cues to French gender classes. The issue of what learners can detect in the signal and encode is an empirical one. I presented 88 adult English speakers with highly patterned data in list form, namely, auditory sequences of [Det + N]French + translation equivalentEnglish forms. The patterns, all true generalizations, were drawn from linguistic descriptions of French. These cues are believed by grammarians of the language to be "psychologically real" to native speakers. I then measured in 3 different ways what my participants had acquired. Given the extreme limitations on the input (no visual supports to identify referents of names), the participants performed pretty well. Moreover, they proved to be highly sensitive to "natural" semantic and morphological patterns and could generalize accurately from learned instances to novel exemplars. These patterns, however, are not directly instantiated in the speech signal; they are abstractions imposed on the stimuli by human linguistic cognition. Moreover, although it would be inaccurate to describe the learning patterns as "transfer"(because English nouns have no gender feature), prior knowledge seemed to be implicated in the results. Above all, these Anglophones appear to perceive the gender learning problem as a semantic one and to make use of "top-down" information in solving it. It follows that the pattern detection that they can do when listening to speech is clearly biased by what they already know. These results, therefore, provide support for hypotheses that the initial state is to be defined in terms of the transfer of first language (L1) grammatical knowledge and/or the transfer of L1-based processing procedures. [source] Interactional Input and The Incorporation of Feedback: An Exploration of NS,NNS and NNS,NNS Adult and Child DyadsLANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 1 2003Alison Mackey Given the documented benefits of participation in communicative interaction (e.g., Gass & varonis, 1994; Mackey, 1999), the present study investigated the effects of interlocutor type on the provision and incorporation of feedback in task,based interaction. The interactions of 48 dyads, evenly divided among adults and children, and native speaker,nonnative speaker and nonnative speaker,native speaker, were analyzed to assess the effect of interlocutor on (1) amount of feedback, (2) opportunities for modified output, and (3) immediate incorporation of feedback. In all dyed types, at least 30% of errors resulted in feedback, much of which led to modified output. Analyses also revealed significant differences for amount, nature, and response to feedback according to dyad type. [source] Input and Second Language Acquisition: The Roles of Frequency, Form, and Function Introduction to the Special IssueMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009NICK ELLIS The articles in this special issue explore how the acquisition of linguistic constructions as form,function mappings is affected by the distribution and saliency of forms in oral input, by their functional interpretations, and by the reliabilities of their form,function mappings. They consider the psycholinguistics of language learning following general cognitive principles of category learning, with schematic constructions emerging from usage. They analyze how learning is driven by the frequency and frequency distribution of exemplars within construction, the salience of their form, the significance of their functional interpretation, the match of their meaning to the construction prototype, and the reliability of their mappings. These investigations address a range of morphological and syntactic constructions in instructed, uninstructed, and laboratory settings. They include both experimental and corpus-based approaches (some conducted longitudinally) and consider the relationship between input and acquisition in the short term and over time, with a particular emphasis on spoken input directed to second and foreign language learners. [source] Some Input on the Easy/Difficult Grammar Question: An Empirical StudyMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009LAURA COLLINS The purpose of this study was to determine whether it is possible to distinguish between "difficult" and "easy" constructions for second language (L2) learners by examining characteristics of the structures as they occur in aural input. In a multidimensional analysis of 3 English structures with different acquisition profiles,the simple past, possessive determiners,his/her, and the progressive aspect,we examined the phonological, morphosyntactic, and lexicosemantic characteristics of the forms as they occurred in a 110,000-word corpus of instructional talk to L2 learners. We analyzed the type/token distributions of the forms, their lexical properties, and their perceptual salience. Our findings revealed key input factors that distinguished between the early-acquired progressive, on the one hand, and the later-acquired past and,his/her,determiners, on the other hand. These results lend support to theoretical accounts of the input,acquisition relationship and also generate hypotheses for manipulating instructional input to increase the salience of opaque constructions. [source] The Role of Public Input in State Welfare PolicymakingPOLICY STUDIES JOURNAL, Issue 4 2000Greg M. Shaw This article reports findings from a survey of 257 state officials involved in public assistance policymaking in the American states during the early to mid-1990s. Respondents were asked to comment on the impetus for welfare reform, on methods employed to gauge public preferences, and on sources of policy ideas. These officials, including state legislators, social service agency directors, and senior advisors to governors, revealed a variety of forums for gathering public input. Although few respondents affiliated with elective office reported significant direct electoral challenges on welfare issues, they often cited constituent contacts regarding welfare reform. [source] Policy Development and New Immigrant Communities: A Case Study of Citizen Input in Defining Transit ProblemsPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 5 2005Hindy Lauer Schachter This case study explores an attempt to get input from people with limited English proficiency in a state department of transportation project to improve their transit access. Adding community voices to expert discourse can increase an agency's ability to respond effectively in a technical field. The article yields insights into the benefits of using deliberative groups rather than questionnaires as a technique for involving citizens in problem definition. [source] Input,output organization of jaw movement-related areas in monkey frontal cortexTHE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 4 2005Nobuhiko Hatanaka Abstract The brain mechanisms underlying mastication are not fully understood. To address this issue, we analyzed the distribution patterns of cortico,striatal and cortico,brainstem axon terminals and the origin of thalamocortical and intracortical fibers by injecting anterograde/retrograde tracers into physiologically and morphologically defined jaw movement-related cortical areas. Four areas were identified in the macaque monkey: the primary and supplementary orofacial motor areas (MIoro and SMAoro) and the principal and deep parts of the cortical masticatory area (CMaAp and CMaAd), where intracortical microstimulation produced single twitch-like or rhythmic jaw movements, respectively. Tracer injections into these areas labeled terminals in the ipsilateral putamen in a topographic fashion (MIoro vs. SMAoro and CMaAp vs. CMaAd), in the lateral reticular formation and trigeminal sensory nuclei contralaterally (MIoro and CMaAp) or bilaterally (SMAoro) in a complex manner of segregation vs. overlap, and in the medial parabranchial and Kölliker-Fuse nuclei contralaterally (CMaAd). The MIoro and CMaAp received thalamic projections from the ventrolateral and ventroposterolateral nuclei, the SMAoro from the ventroanterior and ventrolateral nuclei, and the CMaAd from the ventroposteromedial nucleus. The MIoro, SMAoro, CMaAp, and CMaAd received intracortical projections from the ventral premotor cortex and primary somatosensory cortex, the ventral premotor cortex and rostral cingulate motor area, the ventral premotor cortex and area 7b, and various sensory areas. In addition, the MIoro and CMaAp received projections from the three other jaw movement-related areas. Our results suggest that the four jaw movement-related cortical areas may play important roles in the formation of distinctive masticatory patterns. J. Comp. Neurol. 492:401,425, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Complementing Mass Customization Toolkits with User Communities: How Peer Input Improves Customer Self-Design,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2008Nikolaus Franke In this paper, the authors propose that the canonical customer,toolkit dyad in mass customization (MC) should be complemented with user communities. Many companies in various industries have begun to offer their customers the opportunity to design their own products online. The companies provide Web-based MC toolkits that allow customers who prefer individualized products to tailor items such as sneakers, personal computers (PCs), cars, kitchens, cereals, or skis to their specific preferences. Most existing MC toolkits are based on the underlying concept of an isolated, dyadic interaction process between the individual customer and the MC toolkit. Information from external sources is not provided. As a result, most academic research on MC toolkits has focused on this dyadic perspective. The main premise of this paper is that novice MC toolkit users in particular might largely benefit from information given by other customers. Pioneering research shows that customers in the computer gaming and digital music instruments industries are willing to support each other for the sake of efficient toolkit use (e.g., how certain toolkit functions work). Expanding on their work, the present paper provides evidence that peer assistance appears also extremely useful in the two other major phases of the customer's individual self-design process, namely, the development of an initial idea and the evaluation of a preliminary design solution. Two controlled experiments were conducted in which 191 subjects used an MC toolkit to design their own individual skis. The authors found that during the phase of developing an initial idea, having access to other users' designs as potential starting points stimulates the integration of existing solution chunks into the problem-solving process, which indicates more systematic problem-solving behavior. Peer customer input also turned out to have positive effects on the evaluation of preliminary design solutions. Providing other customers' opinions on interim design solutions stimulated favorable problem-solving behavior, namely, the integration of external feedback. The use of these two problem-solving heuristics in turn leads to an improved process outcome,that is, self-designed products that meet the preferences of the customers more effectively (measured in terms of perceived preference fit, purchase intention, and willingness to pay). These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications. [source] Variance of Vestibular-Evoked Myogenic Potentials,THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 3 2001Kentaro Ochi MD Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis Vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) has been thought to originate from sacculus. The variance of this potential and the effectiveness of the adjustments of pInII amplitudes using average muscle tonus of ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle were evaluated. In addition, clinical application of VEMP was examined in patients with acoustic tumors (ATs) and vestibular neurolabyrinthitis (VNL). Study Design Prospective evaluation of the VEMP in 18 normal volunteers and 6 patients. Methods Variance and left,right difference of each parameter, including pI latency, nII latency, pInII amplitude, and threshold, was analyzed. Input, output function of pInII amplitude was evaluated. Average muscle tonus was calculated in 20 ears and applied for adjustment of pInII amplitude. Sensitivity of each parameter of VEMP was examined in 3 patients with ATs and 3 patients with VNL. Results VEMP was present in all 36 ears of 18 control subjects. Thresholds of VEMP for normal subjects were 80 to 95 dB normal hearing level (nHL). The muscle tonus affected pInII amplitude significantly; however, no statistically significant improvement was observed in test,retest investigation after adjustment using muscle tonus. The threshold of the affected side was elevated compared with the non-affected side in all patients with ATs, whereas 2 of 3 patients showed normal pInII-ratio. One patient with VNL presented normal VEMP, whereas 2 patients presented no VEMP to the highest stimulus intensity. Conclusions Interaural difference of thresholds might be the most useful parameters. Adjustment using average muscle tonus is not necessary when the subject is able to get sufficient muscle tonus. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||