A speech act lexicon: an alternative use of speech act theory in information systems

Abstract. Speech act theory focuses on pragmatic language qualities of making assertions, directions, promises, declarations and expressions. However, assigning speech acts to one of a few categories is not without controversy. The process is context dependent and, hence, individuals with divergent contextual views may categorize speech acts differently. Different categories, in turn, imply different speech act interpretations. The difficulty of disparate speech act interpretations can often be resolved by, for example, a process of negotiation. Nonetheless, it is easy to envisage situations in which agreement by negotiation is not possible. Such would be the case when a researcher studies transcribed speech act performances. We propose that Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's (1981) speech at classification method, which relies on an extensive speech act verb lexicon with sequencing and contextual information, can reduce disagreement among individuals who singly or together analyse and ascribe meaning to speech acts. We base this proposition on the results of exploratory research involving alternative knowledge acquisition methods. Our exploratory results suggest that Ballmer and Brennenstuhl's lexicon provides several promising future research directions of speech act use in information systems.     

Performance improvement of optical wireless communication through fog with a decision feedback equalizer

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems use the atmosphere as a propagation medium. However, a common problem is that from time to time moderate cloud and fog emerge between the receiver and the transmitter. These adverse weather conditions impose temporal broadening and power loss on the optical signal, which reduces the digital signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR), produces significant intersymbol interference (ISI), and degrades the communication system's bit error rate (BER) and throughput. We propose and investigate the use of a combined adaptive bandwidth mechanism and decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to mitigate these atmospheric multipath effects. Based on theoretical analysis and simulations of DSNR penalties, BER, and optimum system bandwidths, we show that a DFE improves the outdoor OWC system immunity to ISI in foggy weather while maintaining high throughput and desired low BER.     

Quantitative analysis and molecular identification of bifidobacteria strains in probiotic milk products

The aim of the present study was to evaluate an agar medium for the quantitative analysis of bifidobacteria in probiotic milk products on the market, and to investigate the identities of active strains. For this purpose, three sour milk products and a soft cheese brand were each analysed ten times with Wilkins-Chalgren agar (WCA) supplemented with mupirocin, and with MRS agar supplemented with dicloxacillin at two different concentrations. By statistical analysis of the bacterial counts obtained, WCA was shown to have the best detection rate. All the sour milk products examined conformed to Swiss food legislation and contained more than 10⁶ cfu of bifidobacteria per gram of living bifidobacteria. All the samples of soft cheese analysed revealed counts that were clearly (approximately 2 logs) below this minimum requirement. Isolated bifidobacteria strains were all identical with reference strains from producer companies shown by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiling. According to the labels, the three brands of sour milk examined contained different strains of bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium lactis Bb 12, Bifidobacterium animalis DN 173010 and Bifidobacterium species 420). However, all the strains revealed repeatedly identical PFGE-patterns, thus showing a close relationship. These findings show that a better taxonomical definition of commercially used bifidobacteria strains is needed.     

Formulation for the preparation of a beta scintillating plastic device

A new technique for the preparation of a beta scintillating plastic from a resin doped with fluorescent material is presented. The making of the plastic is easy, quick, and does not require any special laboratory equipment. This formulation for a polymerization kit enables to obtain a beta ternary plastic scintillator device with the shape and the size required by the user. The plastic can be either cast into a mould or machined to obtain a device, ready to be used as a nuclear detector in experiments involving beta emitters. It can be used for making radiochromatography cells, capillary electrophoresis devices, etc. The capability of the plastic has been tested in a diffusion experiment: the self-diffusion coefficient of labelled chloride ³⁶Cl⁻ in an aqueous electrolyte solution of 0.1 M sodium chloride has been measured by the closed capillary technique. The result is in good agreement with published values.     

A PDP approach to set size effects within the Stroop task: Reply to Kanne, Balota, Spieler, and Faust (1998).

In this reply, the authors point out that the simulations reported by S. M. Kanne, D. A. Balota, D. H. Spieler, and M. E. Faust (1998) did not incorporate mechanisms proposed to explain set size effects in J. D. Cohen, K. Dunbar, and J. L. McClelland (1990). The authors report a new simulation that incorporates these mechanisms and more accurately simulates S. M. Kanne et al.'s empirical data. The authors then point to other factors that could be explored in a more complete test of their model. The use of feed-forward rather than recurrent inhibition is discussed as a potentially important limitation of their original model, and recent work addressing this issue is described. The authors also discuss possible differences between word reading and color naming in the Stroop task. Although such differences may exist, the authors retain their earlier view that such differences do not reflect a dichotomy between automatic and controlled processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The determination of the three-dimensional structure of barley serine proteinase inhibitor 2 by nuclear magnetic resonance, distance geometry and restrained molecular dynamics

The solution structure of the 64 residue structured domain (residues20–83) of barley serine proteinase inhibitor 2 (BSPI-2)is determined on the basis of 403 interproton distance, 34 øbackbone torsion angle and 26 hydrogen bonding restraints derivedfrom n.m.r. measurements. A total of 11 converged structureswere computed using a metric matrix distance geometry algorithmand refined by restrained molecular dynamics. The average rmsdifference between the final 11 structures and the mean structureobtained by averaging their coordinates is 1.4±0.2 Åfor the backbone atoms and 2.1±0.1 A for all atoms. Theoverall structure, which is almost identical to that found byX-ray crystallography, is disc shaped and consists of a centralfour component mixed parallel and antiparallel ß-sheetflanked by a 13 residue helix on one side and the reactivesite loop on the other.     

Alternate method for the determination of unsaponifiable matter

A method is described for the determination of unsaponifiable matter in fatty acids and mixtures of fatty and rosin acids by the use of a mixed bed ion-exchange resin.     

Modelling creep and shrinkage of concrete by means of effective stresses

A novel model of mechanical performance of concrete at early ages and beyond, and in particular, evolution of its strength properties (aging) and deformations (shrinkage and creep strains), described in terms of effective stress is briefly presented. This model reproduces such? phenomena known from experiments like drying creep or some additional strains, as compared to pure shrinkage, which appear during autogenous deformations of a maturing, sealed concrete sample. Creep is described by means of the modified microprestress-solidification theory with some modifications to take into account the effects of temperature and relative humidity on concrete aging. Shrinkage strains are modelled by using effective stresses giving a good agreement with experimental data also for low values of relative humidity. Results of four numerical examples based on the real experimental tests are solved to validate the model. They demonstrate its possibilities to analyze both autogenous deformations in maturing concrete, and creep and shrinkage phenomena, including drying creep, in concrete elements of different age, sealed or drying, exposed to external load or without any load.     

Combining Software and Hardware Verification Techniques

Combining verification methods developed separately for software and hardware is motivated by the industry's need for a technology that would make formal verification of realistic software/hardware co-designs practical. We focus on techniques that have proved successful in each of the two domains: BDD-based symbolic model checking for hardware verification and partial order reduction for the verification of concurrent software programs. In this paper, we first suggest a modification of partial order reduction, allowing its combination with any BDD-based verification tool, and then describe a co-verification methodology developed using these techniques jointly. Our experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of this combined verification technique, and suggest that for moderate–size systems the method is ready for industrial application.