Language Barriers in Health Care Settings: An Annotated Bibliography of Research Literature

Provides an overview of resources related to the prevalence, role, and effects of language barriers and access in health care

Generating natural language specifications from UML class diagrams

Early phases of software development are known to be problematic, difficult to manage and errors occurring during these phases are expensive to correct. Many systems have been developed to aid the transition from informal Natural Language requirements to semistructured or formal specifications. Furthermore, consistency checking is seen by many software engineers as the solution to reduce the number of errors occurring during the software development life cycle and allow early verification and validation of software systems. However, this is confined to the models developed during analysis and design and fails to include the early Natural Language requirements. This excludes proper user involvement and creates a gap between the original requirements and the updated and modified models and implementations of the system. To improve this process, we propose a system that generates Natural Language specifications from UML class diagrams. We first investigate the variation of the input language used in naming the components of a class diagram based on the study of a large number of examples from the literature and then develop rules for removing ambiguities in the subset of Natural Language used within UML. We use WordNet,a linguistic ontology, to disambiguate the lexical structures of the UML string names and generate semantically sound sentences. Our system is developed in Java and is tested on an independent though academic case study

Satellite-based delivery of educational content to geographically isolated communities: A service based approach

Enabling learning for members of geographically isolated communities presents benefits in terms of promoting regional development and cost savings for governments and companies. However, notwithstanding recent advances in e-Learning, from both technological and pedagogical perspectives, there are very few, if any, recognised methodologies for user-led design of satellite-based e-learning infrastructures. In this paper, we present a methodology for designing a satellite and wireless based network infrastructure and learning services to support distance learning for such isolated communities. This methodology entails (a) the involvement of community members in the development of targeted learning services from an early stage, and (b) a service-oriented approach to learning solution deployment. Results show, that, while the technological premises of distance learning can be accommodated by hybrid satellite/wireless infrastructures,this has to be complemented with (a) high-quality audio–visual educational material, and (b) the opportunity for community members to interact with other community members either as groups (common-room oriented scenarios) or individuals (home-based scenarios), thus providing an impetus for learner engagement in both formal and informal activities

MicroRNA-21 promotes survival but not functional maturation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs)

published_or_final_versionThe 16th Medical Resarch Conference (MRC), The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 22 January 2011. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2011, v. 17, suppl. 1, p. 35, abstract no. 5

Molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic analysis of minor HIV-1 subtypes in Hong Kong: Emergence and spread of CRF07_BC and subtype C

Paper Poster Session 3 - HIV/AIDS: PO552OBJECTIVES: HIV-1 subtype B and CRF01_AE are the pre-dominant strains in Hong Kong. A noticeable increase in non-B and non-AE infections has been observed in recent years. This study aimed to conduct a molecular epidemiological and phylogenetic analysis on CRF07_BC and subtype C to illustrate their transmission and spread in our locality. METHODS: HIV-1 partial pol sequences were available from a routine antiretroviral ...postprin

An experimental study of concrete resistivity and the effects of electrode configuration and current frequency on measurement

Electrical resistivity, a measurable parameter of the state of concrete, plays an important role in the assessment of reinforced concrete structures. An experimental study using two-electrode method has been conducted to evaluate the resistivity of Portland cement concrete. Internal and external electrodes were varied in order to understand effect of the electrodes configuration, where carbon fibre (CF) sheets were employed as the internal electrodes and CF and copper sheets were used as external electrodes. Furthermore, frequency of applied current was varied from low to high, to identify the most suitable frequency that can be utilized for stable and reliable results. Optimised internal electrodes configuration and the current frequency of 10,000 Hz were used to measure the resistivity on a series of concrete cubes, which were made using three different water to cement ratios and four different chloride contents

Translating the complexities of flood risk science using KEEPER - a knowledge exchange exploratory tool for professionals in emergency response

Within flood risk management (FRM) decision making, there is a growing interest in participatory approaches to engage and integrate stakeholder expertise. Decision support tools are becoming common features in the FRM ‘toolkit’, yet there is a limited application of participatory methodologies in the construction of such tools. This paper reports on completed FRMRC research (Flood Risk Management Research Consortium, UK http://www.floodrisk.org.uk/) and the construction of a geographic information system-based flood risk assessment tool, KEEPER – a Knowledge Exchange Exploratory tool for Professionals in Emergency Response. An iterative methodology was used to engage emergency professionals throughout the research process, allowing a mixing of scientific and professional expertise in the co-production of KEEPER. KEEPER was both instrumental in facilitating participation and knowledge exchange, and informing recommendations for future tools in practice. This paper argues that participation is both essential for supporting pragmatic flood research and as a means of enhancing communication across traditionally divided communities

Deep-level defects in n-type 6H silicon carbide induced by He implantation

Defects in He-implanted n -type 6H-SiC samples have been studied with deep-level transient spectroscopy. A deep-level defect was identified by an intensity with a logarithmical dependence on the filling pulse width, which is characteristic of dislocation defects. Combined with information extracted from positron-annihilation spectroscopic measurements, this defect was associated with the defect vacancy bound to a dislocation. Defect levels at 0.380.44 eV (E1 E2), 0.50, 0.53, and 0.640.75 eV (Z1 Z2) were also induced by He implantation. Annealing studies on these samples were also performed and the results were compared with those obtained from e- -irradiated (0.3 and 1.7 MeV) and neutron-irradiated n -type 6H-SiC samples. The E1 E2 and the Z1 Z2 signals found in the He-implanted sample are more thermally stable than those found in the electron-irradiated or the neutron-irradiated samples. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.published_or_final_versio