bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Varieties of rudeness
Authors: Kienpointner Manfred
Published: November 2010

Standard theories of politeness (Lakoff 1975, Leech 1983, Brown and Levinson 1987) face a number of problems. To mention but a few, it can be doubted that these theories have managed to establish truly universal concepts and classifications of (im)polite behavior; they exaggerate the relative importance of indirectness; they do not treat situational and societal constraints sufficiently; finally, they do not deal with rudeness in enough detail.
Therefore, it does not seem to be possible to describe rudeness simply as a deviation from or violation of rules and maxims of cooperative/polite communication. Starting from suggestions made by Kasper (1990) and Culpeper (1996), I will try to refine standard definitions of politeness and rudeness. Moreover, examples of rude utterances (mostly taken from spoken and written English and German dialogues) will be used to establish a typology of communicative rudeness. Several subtypes of cooperative (e.g. ritual insults, reactive rudeness, sociable rudeness) and non-cooperative (e.g. strategic rudeness in public institutions) rudeness are distinguished.
Design history and the visual language of design
Authors: Smith Bryan
Published: November 2010

This paper surveys attitudes to design history, the case study method and the role of design history and theory in visual education. A suggested common ground for case studies is the social context, the techniques that were used and the way that design processes, products and services affect people. The question of whether there is an 'assumed theory' in designing and design history is discussed in the light of a need to establish discipline linkages in a broader study of form ' in contemporary visual communication.
The quality control of document design
Authors: Wright Patricia
Published: November 2010

Behavioural research offers a number of different techniques for use during the design of written materials. This paper explores the pros and cons of four of these; in relation to a three-stage quality-control programme. The three stages involve checks on the content, the presentation and usability of documents. The complexities of design problems are such that the research literature will seldom be able to provide instant solutions. Nevertheless, research techniques provide ways of guiding and validating the decisions of writers and designers.
The visual rhetoric of propaganda
Authors: Margolin Victor
Published: November 2010

This paper reviews the history of propaganda from classical Greece to the present day. Three levels of political propaganda are proposed — myth, ideology and action — and their interaction described. The prevalence of propaganda techniques is identified in numerous regimes — both wartime and peace-time, and both totalitarian and democratic
Diagramming complex systems
Authors: Marcus Susan
Published: November 2010

Computer graphics systems existing today allow for the manipulation of increasingly complex visual displays. The visualisation of information in a computer-based medium suggests solutions to two critical problems: first, the overabundance of alphanumeric information routinely generated by information systems and second, the expression complexity in situations that face the business and research communities.
Graphic designers accustomed to handling complex scientific and technical information in a systematic and structural way offer a resource for the development of more effective presentations of computer-generated material. Certain graphic designers who specialise in informational graphics are interested in beginning a conversation with the people developing computer graphics software and firmware. The outcome of these dialogues would be the articulation and utilisation of the principles and elements of effective visual design.
Computer designed letters
Authors: Wiseman Neil
Published: November 2010

Recent technical developments in photosetting could potentially release the designer from many constraints imposed by mechanical composition methods. Engineers, though, in an effort to imitate the characteristics of the old technology, have failed to capitalise on these new freedoms. The author lists three essential criteria of design quality, and describes a computer-aided type design system that attempts to restore some of the flexibility and richness of calligraphy to mechanised character generation.
The graph as a victim of adverse discrimination and segregation
Authors: Biderman Albert D.
Published: November 2010

Constraints of typography have led to the physical segregation of diagrammatic treatments of information from the linear alphanumerics that have dominated scientific communication. Information Design Journal reflects these constraints. The segregated and subordinated status of graphics is metaphorically compared here to the cultural roles of women and minorities. Aspects of graphics treated include the retardation of their intellectual development and influence; their relegation to relatively tangential, simplistic and ornamental functions; and prevalent suspicions regarding their deceptiveness. However, technology now makes it possible to reintegrate graphics into the mainstream of intellectual communication.
An investigation of the success of redesigned supplementary benefit documents
Authors: Firth Diane
Published: November 2010

The research described in this article formed part of a larger project concerned with re-designing a number of Supplementary Benefit documents. Five forms and letters from the original sample are discussed here. These documents, at present in national use, are compared with five re-designed versions which were put into use for a limited period. A comparison between the 'old' and 'new' documents was carried out using both in-use and non use testing techniques. The results indicate the relative success of the different versions and highlight areas of concern f or future studies of a similar nature.
Informed consent
Authors: Janik Carol J. , Swaney Joyce Hannah , Bond Sandra J. , Hayes John R.
Published: November 2010

Examination of consent forms being used by major hospitals in Pittsburgh suggested that there was considerable room for improvement. Thus, the major goal of this study was to produce a better consent form. Our revision focused on three major areas of concern: (1) meeting the needs of the people who use consent forms; (2) deciding how explicit to make the information in the form; and (3) designing the form so that it will be used correctly. We then evaluated our revision using a number of techniques, including readability scores, tests of comprehension, and interviews. Our study suggests a number of points relevant to designing consent forms, as well as to document design in general.
Evaluating the effects of document design principles
Authors: Redish Janice C. , Felker Daniel B. , Rose Andrew M.
Published: November 2010

The authors present a model of the process of designing documents. The model can he used as a joh aid for writers and as a framework for testing document design principles. The final step in this model is evaluation — testing how easily readers can understand and use the document. They then describe an audience-centered evaluation in which a traditional bureaucratic document was compared with a shortened,reorganized, and rewritten version. Subjects using the revised document answered more questions correctly, were significantly better in identifying the correct section, took less time to answer questions, and rated the revised document as much easier to use.
Plain English document design
Authors: Shilling Dana
Published: November 2010

A plain English document must look simple as well as be written in simple language. To produce this effect, the designer should: leave adequate white space; use a fairly expanded, not too delicate typeface with a large x-height; use bold and italic type faces judiciously; provide for adequate leading; balance the conflicting needs of those who read and fill in the document, and those who process it.
The perception of semantic quality in type
Authors: Bartram David
Published: November 2010

Two groups of people (design students and university students) rated twelve different typefaces on a number of semantic rating scales. Analysis of the data revealed four major semantic dimensions. Comparisons between the factor scores for the two groups of people revealed both general similarities of pattern and marked discrepancies on certain factors for most of the typefaces. It was concluded that designers must be aware of the fact that their audience may perceive the semantic qualities of typefaces differently to themselves. These differences may have significant effects on the perceived appropriateness of a typeface for a given design function.
Describing verbal graphic language
Authors: Walker Sue
Published: November 2010

This paper describes part of continuing research which is concerned with description of visual organization of verbal graphic language. There are no recognized descriptive techniques for studying spatial and graphic articulation of VGL, and the method proposed here is suggested as a prerequisite for such work. The VGL of lay people is considered to be an especially important area of investigation in order to learn more about how language is used and the factors which affect this. Λ study of letterwriting has therefore been used as a starting point for working out a method.
The implicity of simplicity
Authors: Plevnik Danko
Published: November 2010

Simplicity has become a generally accepted criterion of text quality. Putting forward philosophical, linguistic, social, historical and other implications while defining this term, the author points out that the past predominance of authorimposed simplicity must, in the technological future, give way to a simplicity depending on the users' needs.
Media graphics as an interventionist strategy
Authors: Tomaselli Keyan G. , Tomaselli Ruth
Published: November 2010

Media graphics (graphics that combine a range of communication techniques) are increasingly used to communicate to semi-literate readers. This paper describes the design and evaluation of health education graphics in a black township in South Africa. The authors stress the use of media graphics to identify the underlying political and economic sources of health problems as well as ad hoc responses to immediate problems.
Semiotics and designing
Authors: Kinross Robin
Published: November 2010

Theories of design may inform practice or aid understanding, though this is not an absolute distinction. Semiotics promises benefits to design theory in recognizing the semantic dimension (ignored by information theory), but in extrapolating from an α-historical linguistics it has no means of dealing with the material activity of designing; either as aid to practice or to understanding. The proposal of a visual/verbal rhetoric promises to link theory and practice, and to recognize designing as a social activity. But designing will remain obstinately out of reach of any formal theory.
Learning to use electronic text
Authors: Kerr Stephen T.
Published: November 2010

Increasingly available electronic information systems raise questions about the comparability of print presented on a page and on a screen. Research is needed on how users learn to cope with three aspects of such systems. Studies in typography could profitably focus on the appropriate density for electronic text, and on the perceptions of younger users. Research on interactive graphics might examine how users learn to manipulate images along with text. And there needs to be further investigation of how people 'navigate' in electronic information; the success of various kinds of cues and help systems are worthy subjects for study. Understanding the use of electronic text needs closer ties between human f actors and learning research.
Predicting the appropriateness of a typeface on the basis of its multi-modal features
Authors: Walker Peter , Smith Sylvia , Livingston Alan
Published: November 2010

It is proposed that the appropriateness of a typeface is partly determined by the extent to which it shares multi-modal features with the concept that it represents. Exploring a number of professions as the concepts to be represented, we offer evidence to support this hypothesis. We demonstrate that n on-specialists discriminate a variety of display typefaces and professions in terms of a common set of multimodal features. In addition, on the basis of the extent to which each typeface shares multi-modal features with each profession, we successfully predict the judged appropriateness of various typefaces to represent each profession.
Graphic design for a collaborative workstation: columns for commenting and annotation
Authors: Cavalier Todd , Chandhok Ravinder
Published: November 2010

One challenge for graphic designers is to provide visual structures that efficiently organize what is seen on the computer screen when many users work on the same display. This paper reports work on such a project.
The visual interface we describe is a part of the Prep Editor, an experimental environment for collaborative writing. We show how a graphic interface with a simple organizing structure can help collaboration by reducing screen clutter and focusing end-user tasks efficiently. The Prep Editor uses the metaphor of a column to support a variety of collaborative tasks. We believe that a columnar visual structure provides a comprehensible interaction mechanism to support collaborations in general, beyond the limited intent of this project.
Graphic design for the Prep Editor is influenced by methods of page layout that have supported collaborations in the past, seen in a type of medieval manuscript known as a glossed bible. Glosses promoted orderly access to complex information and provided tools for scholars to organize, annotate, and cross-refer between different kinds of information, working alone or in concert with others.
Presenting visual iformation orally
Authors: Hartley James
Published: November 2010

In this article the author first outlines how difficulties in the design, layout, and oral presentation of tabular and diagrammatic materials on tape may interact with the experience and ability of the listener to form sources of difficulty in the comprehension of such information by the visually handicapped, and then provides some suggestions concerning the presentation of such features in tape-recorded materials.
Conversation with Erik Spiekermann
Authors: Kinross Robin , Spiekermann Erik
Published: November 2010

This conversation was recorded in Berlin in April 1992, in time snatched from a hectic working day. Erik Spiekermann is a German graphic designer, who has specialized in information design and typeface design. He worked in London in the 1970s, and since 1981 has worked in Berlin, as a partner in MetaDesign. In 1989, the practice expanded to become 'MetaDesign plus'. Spiekermann is also a partner in FontShop, established in 1989 as a retailer of typeface software, with branches in Europe and North America.
The main topic of this conversation is the work being undertaken by MetaDesign for the transport authority in Berlin - the BVG. Other issues discussed are recent debates over typography and legibility, and the critical discussion of typography. In the course of the exchange, the real processes of design are exposed - in a way that more formal discourse cannot do. The text given here has been transcribed from the tape-recording, with minimum editing.
Information design and manipulation
Authors: Beattie Vivien , Jones Michael John
Published: November 2010

We discuss the results of an investigation into the graphic reporting practices used by 240 leading UK companies in their 1989 corporate annual reports. Our main findings are that 79 per cent of companies used graphs and that 64 per cent of all graphs were bar/ column graphs. Many of these were poorly designed and constructed. There was evidence of biasing in graphic choices, with the use of graphic presentation being contingent upon 'good' rather than 'bad' financial performance. Companies were three times more likely to include graphs in their annual report which exaggerated, rather than understated, favourable time series trends in key performance variables. There was also evidence of the use of certain design and construction techniques intended to create a favourable visual impression. There is a need for more studies of graphic practices in other domains, and for guidelines to raise the standards and fidelity of financial graphs.
The contradictions of food labelling policy
Authors: Lang Tim
Published: November 2010

A variety of food labelling issues are reviewed: information about manufacturers' names, quality standards and quality marks, nutritional information, health claims, advertising, additives, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, organic foods, eco-labelling and animal welfare. Some of these issues are reasonably fully reflected in food labels and others not at all. There are different possible explanations for this variation in coverage.
There is little consistency of approach to labelling, and there are grounds for questioning whether food labelling is working to the benefit of consumers. Market theory requires consumers to be fully informed for the market to work. But theory and reality are ill-matched because food labelling has itself become a battleground, rather than a tool to enable the market to work. Market theory either needs to be applied or to be changed. Food labelling is not the answer to getting better food, better food production, or even better flows of information. At best, the struggle for more honest labelling can be an educational process in itself.
Speakable Australian Acts
Authors: Berry Duncan
Published: November 2010

Parliamentary counsel have long been criticised for the style of legislative texts, with readers claiming (often with some justification) that Acts of Parliament are difficult to read and understand. Parliamentary counsel in Australia have recognised the difficulties faced by users of Acts and, during the past seven or eight years, have by various means endeavoured to lessen those difficulties. This article outlines some of the initiatives that have been taken in Australia, and in particular in New South Wales, to make legislation more comprehensible to readers.
Structural defects
Authors: Clark Malcolm
Published: November 2010

Electronic publishers can be simply but plausibly divided into 'stylists' and 'structuralists'. Structured document formatting systems are used widely. Implicitly, they present a particular and potentially attractive view of documents, where form and content are divorced. This view also suggests that authors simply write, while the formatting software does the work of rendering he structured text into a suitable visual form.
This paper informally examines some of the forces which encouraged the development of such systems (in particular TeX/LaTeX), and of such a view. Examples are cited which contest the view that form and content can be separated completely, and which suggest that the world of documents and formatting is altogether more demanding.
What graphic designers say they do
Authors: Nini Paul J.
Published: November 2010

This paper reports the results of a survey of 1500 US graphic designers. Respondents provided information about their levels of involvement with project-related information gathering and analysis, planning, and end-user evaluation. While there are significant levels of involvement in some of these activities, comments made by respondents reveal that involvement with information gathering and analysis, planning, and end-user evaluation is mostly informal. That is, they are often conducted without a formal methodology, and are often not mentioned in project proposals and other related documents.
This suggests an opportunity for graphic designers to adopt a formal method for incorporating information gathering and analysis, planning, and end-user evaluation in their design processes. This could allow graphic designers to construct a process comparable to more respected professions, and should promote design solutions geared more closely to the needs of audiences. There is still much room for improvement in the areas of information gathering and analysis, planning, and end-user evaluation in the practice of graphic design.
Outside the whale
Authors: Burnhill Peter
Published: November 2010

In the 1960s, design education in the United Kingdom was in a state of flux. It was changing from a more or less egalitarian system, first established in the 1830s, to one which sought to separate the sheep from the goats on academic lines at a time when a more comprehensive system was being developed in schools of general education.
This account tells of a design course in the 'vocational' sector of the new system which made typography its central design discipline.
Pictorial information design for schools
Authors: Lowe Richard K.
Published: November 2010

A pictorial approach for introducing children to fundamental ideas about information design may present fewer problems for teachers than a verbal approach. In education generally, pictures have become a more pervasive feature of instructional strategies and resources. This article considers how information design might be approached in the classroom by having children develop original explanatory pictures. Such an approach would require both a reconcep-tualisation of the purposes of children's classroom drawing and the development of teaching strategies that sensitise children to the needs of information users.
Lectures manuscrites
Authors: Twyman Michael
Published: November 2010

This paper provides evidence for an approach to the teaching of reading in the mid nineteenth century that gave children practice in reading handwritten texts. It focuses on two French readers that were originally published in Paris around 1840. In both publications passages of text appear in different forms of writing and become progressively more cursive and less legible. The intention was to introduce children to the varied forms of handwriting they would meet in real-life situations, particularly in commerce. The technical developments that made it practicable to produce such books, especially transfer lithography, are discussed, as are the publications themselves. It is suggested that there might be value in adopting a similar approach to teaching reading by introducing children to material set in the wide range of types and with the varied spacing commonly found today.
Disenfranchised by design
Authors: King Roth Susan
Published: November 2010

Two studies on voting systems and the ballot interface explore issues related to information design and usability as they impact access to the election process and the accuracy of election results. While considerable research has been conducted on voting behavior from a political, historical, and social perspective, few studies can be found on the effectiveness of the ballot for communicating information that governs decision-making, or system design and the correspondence between voters' intentions and recorded decisions. The use of voting equipment and voters' perceptions of the voting experience have been largely overlooked. Findings from recent research studies address these issues.
Books and libraries
Authors: Macdonald-Ross Michael
Published: November 2010

University libraries are facing the farce of NICT (New Information and Communication Technologies). Libraries are ancient indeed - they date from the third century BC. Their staff are, as a rule, not well equipped to judge the impact of technological change (who is?). Instead of being too conservative, they are often naïvely accepting of technological overclaims. As a result, librarians plan to reduce access to print in favour of text on screen. Here I counter-attack, arguing that the day of the printed book is far from over.
The Empty Lexicon
Authors: Sinclair John McH.
Published: November 2010

This paper1 contrasts two views on the analysis of language. In one view, language is primarily seen as a carrier of messages in sentences whose propo-sitional content can be retrieved, and symbolised in a knowledge base. In the other, language is seen as a means of communication that deals in much more complex matters than just carrying messages.
In relation to vocabulary and the design of lexicons, the model of terminology suits the first position, while in the other the lexicon is considered empty at the start and is gradually filled with the evidence of usage.
Similar contrasts are made in other areas relevant to natural language processing. In one approach, the expectation is of tidiness and conformity to rules; the other stresses the inherently provisional nature of the organisation of language and, therefore, the meanings.
As these two approaches encounter the vast amount of evidence stored in today's corpora, their methods and responses contrast in interesting ways.
Matching Corpus Translations with Dictionary Senses
Authors: Geyken Alexander
Published: November 2010

This paper addresses the question to what extent translations in bilingual parallel corpora match with dictionary senses. Automatic matching of corpus translation with dictionary senses depends on the quality of the lexicographic knowledge used, the quality of corpus processing, the impact of statistics to filter relevant entries from the corpora, and finally the quality of the translations in the multilingual corpora. We focus on the influence that the latter variable has on the performance of the automatic matching. Similarly to previous approaches, we relied on Machine Readable Dictionaries (MRDs), a part-of-speech tagger, and bilingual aligned corpora. Additionally, we used a shallow sentence parser for syntactic matching. Two case studies with two different corpora from different domains were conducted. Our test set was the intersection of 500 French communication verbs within the corpora. The results confirm that the performance of the automatic matching varies considerably with the translation quality of the parallel texts.
Social Differentiation in the Use of English Vocabulary
Authors: Rayson Paul , Leech Geoffrey N. , Hodges Mary
Published: November 2010

In this article, we undertake selective quantitative analyses of the demographi-cally-sampled spoken English component of the British National Corpus (for brevity, referred to here as the ''Conversational Corpus"). This is a subcorpus of c. 4.5 million words, in which speakers and respondents (see I below) are identified by such factors as gender, age, social group, and geographical region. Using a corpus analysis tool developed at Lancaster, we undertake a comparison of the vocabulary of speakers, highlighting those differences which are marked by a very high X2 value of difference between different sectors of the corpus according to gender, age, and social group. A fourth variable, that of geographical region of the United Kingdom, is not investigated in this article, although it remains a promising subject for future research. (As background we also briefly examine differences between spoken and written material in the British National Corpus [BNC].) This study is illustrative of the potentiality of the Conversational Corpus for future corpus-based research on social differentiation in the use of language. There are evident limitations, including (a) the reliance on vocabulary frequency lists and (b) the simplicity of the transcription system employed for the spoken part of the BNC The conclusion of the article considers future advances in the research paradigm illustrated here.
A Database on English Lexicology
Authors: Fuertes Olivera Pedro A.
Published: November 2010

Corpus linguistics is being used for a wide range of research tasks. A database on English lexicology was compiled on the basis of the semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic information found in the stylistically marked lexical items of the COBUILD 1987. It offers linguistic information on 7981 units annotated as "formal" or "informal" in the COBUILD 1987. This database may be used for quantitative and qualitative analysis and for a critical evaluation of the classifications used in the COBUILD dictionary. The aim of this paper is basically descriptive: (i) some information is given on the linguistic information stored; (ii) some tentative conclusions are drawn. For example, if the COBUILD formality labels were assigned rigorously, it might be concluded that (i) "formality" is a skew system; (ii) that the "formal/informal" scale has an equi distribution; (iii) that emphasising informal adverbs are so numerous because they illustrate a tendency to exaggeration observed in informal, relaxed situations, in which interactants usually struggle for controlling the message.
Combining Corpus and Experimental Data
Authors: de Monnink Inge
Published: November 2010

In this article I argue that, from a methodological point of view, descriptive studies improve considerably if they use a multi-method approach to the data, more specifically, if they use a combination of corpus data and experimental data. In the modern conception of corpus linguistics, intuitive data play an important role. The linguist formulates research hypotheses based on his or her intuitive knowledge. These hypotheses are then tested on the corpus data. I argue that a sound descriptive study should not end with simply stating the results from the corpus study. Instead, the corpus data have to be supplemented. An appropriate way to supplement corpus data is through the use of elicitation techniques. I illustrate the multi-method approach on a case study of floating postmodification in the English noun phrase.
The Role of Corpora in Investigating the Linguistic Behaviour of Professional Translators
Authors: Baker Mona
Published: November 2010

The Translational English Corpus held at the Centre for Translation Studies at UMIST is a computerised collection of authentic, published translations into English from a variety of source languages and by a wide range of professional translators. This resource provides the basis for investigating a range of issues related to the distinctive nature of translated text, the style of individual translators, the impact of individual source languages on the patterning of English, the impact of text type on translation strategies, and other issues of interest to both the translation scholar and the linguist. Most importantly, this concrete resource allows us to develop a framework for investigating the validity of theoretical statements about the nature of translation with reference to actual translation practice.
Teaching consecutive interpreting
Authors: Ilg Gerard , Lambert Sylvie
Published: November 2010

The authors provide two perspectives on the teaching of consecutive interpreting: The pragmatic approach and the cognitive justification. Consecutive interpreting is described as requiring outstanding skills in language comprehension and production; the article provides relevant exercises to enhance these skills and features an overview of CI practice and teaching. It concludes with a list of references of published and non-published sources dealing with the wider aspects of the CI process.
Conscious monitoring of attention during simultaneous interpretation
Authors: Darò Valeria , Lambert Sylvie , Fabbro Franco
Published: November 2010

This study addresses for the first time on an experimental level the question of whether different modalities of conscious monitoring of attention (normal condition, attention focalization on the input, attention focalization on the output, condition with two voices) may affect the number and the type of mistakes made by simultaneous interpreters in different situations. The major results of the study are the following: (i) While the overall number of mistakes is influenced either by the translation direction, or by any of the four tested attention focalization modalities, a particular type of mistakes, i.e. those leading to loss of information, occur more often during active SI (from L1 into L2, i.e. from A to B) of difficult texts; (ii) during passive SI of difficult texts, missing information mistake are less frequent when interpreters listen to the incoming message with their left ear only; (iii) in active SI of difficult texts, attention should not be focussed on the incoming message in particular, so as to avoid so-called added mistakes. These results show that during simultaneous interpretation, conscious attention focalization on the input or on the output does not influence the interpreter's overall performance, however with an important exception: during active interpretation it could be useful for interpreters to focus their attention on the output, since this may help them to reduce in particular false starts, pauses, hesitations, corrections, additions and morphosyntactic mistakes.
Machine interpretation of bilingual dialogue
Authors: LuperFoy Susann
Published: November 2010

This paper examines the role of the dialogue manager component of a machine interpreter. It is a report on one project to design the discourse module for such a voice-to-voice machine translation (MT) system known as the Interpreting Telephone. The theoretical discourse framework that underlies the proposed dialogue manager supports the job of extracting and collecting information from the context, and facilitating human-machine language interaction in a multi-user environment. Empirical support for the dialogue theory and the implementation described herein, comes from an observational study of one human interpreter engaged in a three-way, bilingual telephone conversation. We begin with a brief description of the interpreting telephone research endeavor, then examine the discourse requirements of such a language-processing system, and finally, report on the application of the discourse processing framework to this voice-to-voice machine translation task.
Signs from the void
Authors: Steiner Ben
Published: November 2010

This is a report on a pilot project commissioned by the BBC in conjunction with the author's final MA dissertation for Durham University. The purpose of the research was to investigate British Sign Language (BSL) production on television and its comprehension by the viewing audience. The data analysis could then be used for programme decisions relating to cultural and linguistic specifications. This is especially pertinent in view of the current Broadcasting Act in Great Britain, which stipulates 1% of sign language transmission on all digital and terrestrial television by 1999 and an increase to 5% by 2009.1
In the original research, 70 hours of signed data were recorded. Individual profiles were made for each signer on a sample tape as well as a thorough description of a respondent group.The research focused on a comprehension test.This involved three group categories reflecting two varieties of sign language users, a group whose BSL is most informed (influenced) by English, another whose BSL is dominant, and a hearing (non-signing) group used for comparison. All sample and test responses were analysed and profiled in view of signing production and psychosocial treatment of the language. The use of sign language on television was compared with its wider use among deaf people.This paper summarises and concludes the discussion and recommendations that may be directly referred to by programme makers and translators/interpreters.2
Managing boundaries under pressure: A qualitative study of therapists’ experiences of sexual attraction in therapy
Authors: Martin Carol , Godfrey Mary , Meekums Bonnie , Madill Anna
Published: November 2010

Aim: To identify therapists’ views on sexual boundaries and the strategies they employ to manage them in therapeutic practice. Method: In‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 13 accredited, experienced practitioners of psychotherapy or counselling. A grounded theory approach, informed by principles from Free Association Narrative methodology, was employed, in which team members used debriefing sessions for extending depth of understanding of the interviews. Findings: There is consensus about boundaries at the extremes, but variability about fantasy, flirtation and touch. A core process was generated from accounts of successful management of sexual attraction. We identified four problematic ways of reacting to boundary pressure, each with potential to harm clients and therapy. Discussion: A participant‐observer stance was conceptualised as essential for managing threats to boundaries, consistent with the empathic stance. Minor boundary crossings were viewed by interviewees as both potential precursors of more serious transgressions, and as opportunities for understanding the client's difficulties. Implications for practice: These span training, accrediting organisations, supervision and therapy practice.
Rapid Communication: The effect of mathematics anxiety on the processing of numerical magnitude
Authors: Maloney Erin A. , Ansari Daniel , Fugelsang Jonathan A.
Published: November 2010

In an effort to understand the origins of mathematics anxiety, we investigated the processing of symbolic magnitude by high mathematics-anxious (HMA) and low mathematics-anxious (LMA) individuals by examining their performance on two variants of the symbolic numerical comparison task. In two experiments, a numerical distance by mathematics anxiety (MA) interaction was obtained, demonstrating that the effect of numerical distance on response times was larger for HMA than for LMA individuals. These data support the claim that HMA individuals have less precise representations of numerical magnitude than their LMA peers, suggesting that MA is associated with low-level numerical deficits that compromise the development of higher level mathematical skills.
Getting to know you: From view-dependent to view-invariant repetition priming for unfamiliar faces
Authors: Martin Douglas , Greer Joanna
Published: November 2010

Recent research suggests that repetition priming (RP) for unfamiliar faces is highly view dependent and is eliminated when the viewpoint of target faces changes between study and test. The current research examined whether increased familiarity with novel faces from a single viewpoint at study would support RP from an alternative viewpoint at test. Participants passively viewed novel face images from a single viewpoint at study (i.e., either front or three-quarters), with half of the images seen once and half seen on five occasions. During a sex classification task at test, participants were faster to respond to face images seen from the same view as that at study than they were to previously unseen distractor faces for both single exposure faces and faces seen on five occasions (i.e., standard RP). When, however, face images at test were shown from a different viewpoint from that at study, RP only occurred for faces viewed on five occasions.
METHANE AND NITROGEN ABUNDANCES ON PLUTO AND ERIS
Authors: Tegler S. C. , Cornelison D. M. , Grundy W. M. , Romanishin W. , Abernathy M. R. , Bovyn M. J. , Burt J. A. , Evans D. E. , Maleszewski C. K. , Thompson Z. , Vilas F.
Published: November 2010

We present spectra of Eris from the MMT 6.5 m Telescope and Red Channel Spectrograph (5700–9800 Å, 5 Å pixel−1) on Mt. Hopkins, AZ, and of Pluto from the Steward Observatory 2.3 m Telescope and Boller and Chivens Spectrograph (7100–9400 Å, 2 Å pixel−1) on Kitt Peak, AZ. In addition, we present laboratory transmission spectra of methane–nitrogen and methane–argon ice mixtures. By anchoring our analysis in methane and nitrogen solubilities in one another as expressed in the phase diagram of Prokhvatilov & Yantsevich, and comparing methane bands in our Eris and Pluto spectra and methane bands in our laboratory spectra of methane and nitrogen ice mixtures, we find Eris' bulk methane and nitrogen abundances are ∼10% and ∼90% and Pluto's bulk methane and nitrogen abundances are ∼3% and ∼97%. Such abundances for Pluto are consistent with values reported in the literature. It appears that the bulk volatile composition of Eris is similar to the bulk volatile composition of Pluto. Both objects appear to be dominated by nitrogen ice. Our analysis also suggests, unlike previous work reported in the literature, that the methane and nitrogen stoichiometry is constant with depth into the surface of Eris. Finally, we point out that our Eris spectrum is also consistent with a laboratory ice mixture consisting of 40% methane and 60% argon. Although we cannot rule out an argon-rich surface, it seems more likely that nitrogen is the dominant species on Eris because the nitrogen ice 2.15 μm band is seen in spectra of Pluto and Triton.
Tenting area reflects disease severity and prognosis in patients with non‐ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy and functional mitral regurgitation
Authors: Karaca Oguz , Avci Anil , Guler Gamze B. , Alizade Elnur , Guler Ekrem , Gecmen Cetin , Emiroglu Yunus , Esen Ozlem , Esen Ali M.
Published: November 2010

Aims

To define which echocardiographic parameters are related to the degree of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) and to establish their relationship with clinical status, plasma B‐type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, and prognosis in patients with non‐ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICMP).

Methods and results

Ninety patients (mean age: 50 ± 14, 31% females) with NICMP and FMR were prospectively analysed by echocardiography. Global and local left ventricular remodelling parameters such as ejection fraction and sphericity index, inter‐papillary muscle distance, coaptation to septal distance, and mitral annular area, as well as mitral valve deformation indices such as tenting area (TA) and tenting distance, were measured as indicators of FMR. Patients were defined as having severe FMR [effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA) ≥ 0.2 cm2, n = 41] or non‐severe FMR (EROA < 0.2 cm2, n = 49) and followed for 15 ± 3 months. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that TA had the greatest ability to predict severe FMR at a cut‐off level of 3.4 cm2 with 82% sensitivity and 77% specificity. Patients with higher TA values (>3.4 cm2) had statistically higher BNP levels, worse functional status, more hospitalizations, and higher death rates. The plasma BNP level (P: 0.012) and TA (P: 0.056) were predictors of all‐cause mortality. New York Heart Association class (P < 0.001) and TA (P: 0.005) were predictors of combined death or hospitalization on multivariate Cox's regression analysis.

Conclusion

Tenting area accurately reflects the degree of FMR at a cut‐off value of 3.4 cm2 and has a strong correlation with functional status, plasma BNP, mortality, and hospitalization rates. Tenting area is also an independent predictor of mortality and hospitalizations in patients with NICMP and FMR.
The remarkable squidworm is an example of discoveries that await in deep-pelagic habitats
Authors: Osborn Karen J. , Madin Laurence P. , Rouse Greg W.
Published: November 2010

An intriguing new annelid,
Teuthidodrilus samae
(Annelida, Cirratuliformia) gen. and sp. nov., was observed and collected during deep-water column exploration of the western Celebes Sea. The Celebes Sea is a deep pocket basin, effectively isolated from surrounding deep water, and is part of the Coral Triangle, a focal area for conservation because of its high diversity and unique geological history. Collected specimens reached 94 mm in length and possessed 10 anterior appendages that were as long or longer than the body. Two characters distinguish
T. samae
from other polychaetes: notochaetae forming broad, concavo-convex paddles and six pairs of free-standing, oppositely branched nuchal organs. Phylogenetic analysis of five genes and a 29-character morphological matrix showed that
T. samae
is an acrocirrid (primarily benthic polychaetes) belonging to the morphologically diverse swimming clade. Pelagic animals within primarily benthic clades are of particular interest in evolutionary biology, because their adaptations to life in the water column inform us of the evolutionary possibilities and constraints within the clade and indirectly of the selective pressures at work in this unfamiliar habitat. This new genus illustrates how much we have to learn about even the large, abundant inhabitants of deep-pelagic communities.
Comparison of a poly-l-lactide-co-ɛ-caprolactone and human amniotic membrane for urothelium tissue engineering applications
Authors: Sartoneva Reetta , Haimi Suvi , Miettinen Susanna , Mannerström Bettina , Haaparanta Anne-Marie , Sándor George K. , Kellomäki Minna , Suuronen Riitta , Lahdes-Vasama Tuija
Published: November 2010

The reconstructive surgery of urothelial defects, such as severe hypospadias is susceptible to complications. The major problem is the lack of suitable grafting materials. Therefore, finding alternative treatments such as reconstruction of urethra using tissue engineering is essential. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of naturally derived acellular human amniotic membrane (hAM) to synthetic poly-l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone (PLCL) on human urothelial cell (hUC) viability, proliferation and urothelial differentiation level. The viability of cells was evaluated using live/dead staining and the proliferation was studied using WST-1 measurement. Cytokeratin (CK)7/8 and CK19 were used to confirm that the hUCs maintained their phenotype on different biomaterials. On the PLCL, the cell number significantly increased during the culturing period, in contrast to the hAM, where hUC proliferation was the weakest at 7 and 14 days. In addition, the majority of cells were viable and maintained their phenotype when cultured on PLCL and cell culture plastic, whereas on the hAM, the viability of hUCs decreased with time and the cells did not maintain their phenotype. The PLCL membranes supported the hUC proliferation significantly more than the hAM. These results revealed the significant potential of PLCL membranes in urothelial tissue engineering applications.
Canaries in the coal mine: a cross-species analysis of the plurality of obesity epidemics
Authors: Klimentidis Yann C. , Beasley T. Mark , Lin Hui-Yi , Murati Giulianna , Glass Gregory E. , Guyton Marcus , Newton Wendy , Jorgensen Matthew , Heymsfield Steven B. , Kemnitz Joseph , Fairbanks Lynn , Allison David B.
Published: November 2010

A dramatic rise in obesity has occurred among humans within the last several decades. Little is known about whether similar increases in obesity have occurred in animals inhabiting human-influenced environments. We examined samples collectively consisting of over 20 000 animals from 24 populations (12 divided separately into males and females) of animals representing eight species living with or around humans in industrialized societies. In all populations, the estimated coefficient for the trend of body weight over time was positive (i.e. increasing). The probability of all trends being in the same direction by chance is 1.2 × 10
−7
. Surprisingly, we find that over the past several decades, average mid-life body weights have risen among primates and rodents living in research colonies, as well as among feral rodents and domestic dogs and cats. The consistency of these findings among animals living in varying environments, suggests the intriguing possibility that the aetiology of increasing body weight may involve several as-of-yet unidentified and/or poorly understood factors (e.g. viral pathogens, epigenetic factors). This finding may eventually enhance the discovery and fuller elucidation of other factors that have contributed to the recent rise in obesity rates.