Simple-english for data base communication

Three classes of the so-called natural languages for communication with data bases are defined:English-like, pseudo-English, andsimple-English. It is argued that English-like and pseudo-English languages are normally more difficult to learn and use than artificial programming languages with no overt claim to English likeness. Simple-English is presented as a family of languages in which many restrictions (which hamper learning) are removed through interaction with, and drawing inferences from, the data base and the underlying system. It is concluded, however, that English likeness and ease of learning may be contradictory notions.     

运用空间叙事营造场景的地下空间研究

空间叙事体系藉由时空空间梳理、叙事框架的建构、主题的表达,能让空间形成秩序与逻辑,并强化用户对于空间的认知。本文以我国台湾地区大安森林公园站的地下空间开发项目为例,分析其如何从空间叙事主题构建、叙事要素选取、核心区的场景塑造、空间叙事的场景分布、叙事路径组织、延伸至外部的叙事强化等6个方面将空间叙事应用在地下空间的场景营造。同时,归纳出此方式能让大安森林公园站具有主题更为明确突出、形成与其他空间的逻辑与联系性、形成与城市要素的一体化发展等三方面与其他轨道站不同的优势,并能提供生活圈一个全天候活动的公共空间。最后指出,空间叙事营造场景会是我国地下空间设计的一种新选项。     

Birth Weight and Cognitive Ability in Childhood: A Systematic Review.

Individual differences in cognitive ability may in part have prenatal origins. In high-risk (low birth weight/premature) babies, birth weight correlates positively with cognitive test scores in childhood, but it is unclear whether this holds for those with birth weights in the normal range. The authors systematically reviewed literature on the relationship between normal birth weight (more than 2,500 g) and childhood intelligence in term (37-42-week gestation) deliveries. Six studies met the inclusion criteria, and the authors present a comprehensive narrative review of these studies. There was a small, consistent, positive association between birth weight and childhood cognitive ability, even when corrected for confounders. Parental social class accounted for a larger proportion of the variance than birth weight, and these 2 variables were largely independent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Babies, bathwater and the study of literature

Although many scholars in literature currently seem mainly interested in theory, the focus on literary texts is what defines literature studies. Computer technology and the statistical methods it fosters are applicable to both the theoretical and to the interpretative issues which scholars of literature habitually address. Genette's distinction between the homodiegetic and the autodiegetic perspective in first-person narrative can be confirmed statistically. Roquentin's loneliness inLa nausée can be shown to be a formal characteristic of the type of novel he narrates, thus validating his commentary on his society. The computer can be used to deal with standard literary questions in a principled fashion, and a new orientation of literature studies on a cultural history model, which Mark Olsen recommends, is not necessary.Paul A. Fortier is Distinguished Professor of French at the University of Manitoba and Vice-President of the Association for Computers and the Humanities. He has published extensively on the twentieth century French novel and on the use of computers and statistics for the study of literature.     

Adventures in remediation: the making of Echo

Echo is a twenty-minute interactive multi-screen research drama which addresses the question of how we can overcome narcissism in a hypermediated age. This article outlines the search for the appropriate form for the final art work using the concept of remediation to explore how the piece developed for multi-platform distribution and exhibition, as an online screen media drama and as a work for gallery installation. In outlining the process of production, the article explores the poetics of multi-screen immersive gallery drama and split-screen drama, and discusses the new and remediated possibilities for these forms.     

Flexible media: producing character-based reconfigurable drama

From Spring 2002 to Summer 2003 the Flexible media project and prototype experiment ran at Cambridge University Moving Image Studio (CUMIS) and BTexact Technologies, Adastral Park UK. This pilot project aimed to explore and formulate new storyforms using reconfigurable digital media, and to develop new methods and best practice for producing and publishing them, focusing on digital video, both documentary and fiction. Original material was produced in student workshops at CUMIS (MPhil) and the Norwegian Film School, where the Flexible media toolkit was tested and developed to incorporate the needs of creative content production. This paper describes the project and experiment in some detail, identifying the restrictions within traditional media production processes, and the opportunities offered by a more flexible approach. It then presents a case study of the experimentation undertaken to develop new flexible media forms. The paper concludes that collaborative practice-based research is successfully providing creative professionals with new modes of expression and engagement with their audience.