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Making English Grammar Meaningful and Useful Mini Lesson #10
No full textNouns, Singular, Plural, English GrammarThis lesson was developed by John Nelson and Tymofey Wowk, 2012
Making English Grammar Meaningful and Useful
Mini Lesson #10
3 Kinds of Nouns: Counting is Not Always the Issue
The purpose of this lesson is to argue the benefits of presenting ELLs with 3 kinds of nouns,
reflecting how English nouns are used and the difficulties ELLs have in mastering them.
Most approaches to teaching English nouns to ELLs divide nouns into two categories,
Countable and Uncountable. This is done because most English nouns either have singular and
plural forms or they do not, and the countability distinction often helps to decide into which
category a Noun is placed. This has three drawbacks. First, many nouns do not logically fit into
the appropriate category. Second, many English nouns can be both countable and uncountable.
Third, the distinction only addresses two categories of nouns, while their significant grammatical
characteristics fall more logically into three categories of nouns.
It is preferable, therefore, to refer to Common Nouns as being used in 3 forms: SINGULAR,
PLURAL or N-N. Singular means one. Plural means more than one. N-N means Not-singularand-
Not-plural. This is helpful for ELLs because each of the 3 kinds of nouns has a unique set of
significant grammatical requirements.
SINGULAR Nouns require the use of the simple determiner 'a’ or 'an' unless some other
determiner is used instead. Many languages in the world do not require these simple
determiners. ELLs who are native speakers of these languages frequently omit them in places
where they are required. (This is perhaps the biggest structural problem in English for these
ELLs.)
PLURAL Nouns require plural forms. Most Plural Nouns simply have an 's' added to their
singular forms. However, there are several irregular plural forms of English nouns. Plural
Nouns also have their own forms of Determiners. The word ‘some’ is used as a Simple
Determiner for Plural Nouns in the same way that ‘a’ or ‘an’ is used with Singular Nouns,
although it is not always required. When used as subjects of sentences, Plural Nouns often
require plural forms of the verb to establish Subject-Verb Agreement.
N-N Nouns cannot be used with the Simple Determiner ‘a’ or ‘an’ and they do not have a plural
marker. Like plural nouns, however, N-N Nouns do sometimes have the simple determiner
‘some’. They also have their own set of determiners, some of which are used with Plural
Nouns, some of which are used exclusively with N-N Nouns.
In every context when a common noun is used, it must be used as one of these 3 forms. Also, in
most indefinite contexts, the appropriate simple determiner must accompany the noun. The
This lesson was developed by John Nelson and Tymofey Wowk, 2012
problem for ELLs is to know the form of each noun as it is used. Noun Chart - Aspects of 3
Kinds of Nouns shows the 3 kinds of nouns and the considerations that accompany the use of
each kind.
Noun Chart – Aspects of 3 Kinds of Noun
Singular
Nouns
Plural
Nouns
N-N
Nouns
Meanings 1 2 or more no number
Example room rooms room
Simple
Determiner a / an some some
Verb Form is / has are / have is / has
Sample
sentence
A room is free at
the end of the hall.
Some rooms are
small.
There is some room in
the front.
The biggest problem encountered by ELLs with English nouns is knowing which abstract nouns
are nevertheless singular. Examples of such words are ‘an idea’, ‘a suggestion’, ‘a feeling’, ‘an
intention’, ‘a thought’, ‘a problem’, ‘a chance’, ‘a look’. ELLs need to learn that an English
noun is Singular or N-N when they first encounter it. This aspect of the noun is as important as
its pronunciation, its spelling and its meaning.
ELLs face a similar problem in using the plural form with nouns that don’t have specific
numbers. Cook one potato, mash it and add milk and butter. You have mashed potatoes which
you must pluralize even though the mashed potatoes cannot really be counted. The same is true
of mashed tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and skies filled with clouds.
Many English words are N-N Nouns even though they can be counted. ‘Money’, ‘furniture’,
‘bread’, and ‘lettuce’ are examples.
Finally, the count/non-count distinction of many nouns is not as consistent in everyday use as it
used to be. Nouns that were once exclusively uncountable are now frequently referred to in their
singular and plural forms. It is very common today to hear one getting ‘a coffee’ or ‘a beer’.
Good ‘wines’ are produced in California, and Wisconsin produces good ‘cheeses’
Making English Grammar Meaningful and Useful Mini Lesson #13
No full textConnectors, Clause, Phrase, English GrammarThis lesson was developed by John Nelson and Tymofey Wowk, 2012
Making English Grammar Meaningful and Useful
Mini Lesson #13
Connectors: Words that Connect
The purpose of this lesson is to present and contrast the many kinds of words that connect word
groups together. These connecting words are called Connectors.
CONNECTORS are words that connect word groups together. They can connect individual
words. They can connect dependent clauses and phrases to the sentences in which they are
found. They can even connect separate sentences.
Simple Connectors are usually called conjunctions. They are used to connect simple ideas.
These ideas can be expressed in words, phrases or short independent clauses. The most common
Simple Connectors are ‘and’, ‘but’, and ‘or’, but can also include ‘so’, ‘yet’, ‘either’,
‘neither’, and ‘nor’. The following examples show how Simple Connectors can be used:
Connecting words: The man was friendly and generous.
Connecting phrases: The young women either went to work or to school.
Connecting clauses: The fans went to the game early, but they didn’t get good seats.
Sentence Connectors connect complete ideas. These ideas can be joined with a semicolon, but
it is advisable to punctuate them as separate sentences. The Connector is usually used with the
second sentence, and is not always found at the beginning of the sentence. Examples of
Sentence Connectors are ‘therefore’, ‘however’, ‘moreover’, ‘furthermore’, ‘consequently’,
‘as a result’, and ‘finally’ to name a few. The following examples show how Sentence
Connectors are used:
It rained. Therefore, they didn’t go.
The weather was good. They didn’t go out, however.
The test was hard. Furthermore, I didn’t study very much. As a result, I didn’t do well.
Most Dependent Clauses and Phrases are connected to their Main Clauses by words which
have various names in traditional grammar, such as relative pronoun, complex preposition,
subordinate adverb, and subordinate conjunctions. These words all express particular
grammatical functions, but they are more complicated than they need to be. Basically, all of
these words connect their clauses or phrases to the main clause of their sentences. Therefore,
they can be collectively referred to as Clause or Phrase Connectors. They can be further
identified by adding the kind of phrase or clause in their names. For example, an Adverb
Clause Connector is a word that connects an Adverb Clause to the Main Clause. A Noun
Clause Connector connects a Noun Clause to the Main Clause. An Adverb Phrase
Connector connects an Adverb Phrase to the Main Clause.
This lesson was developed by John Nelson and Tymofey Wowk, 2012
ELLs find these Clause and Phrase Connectors confusing because several words can be used
with more than one kind of clause or phrase. For example, the word ‘that’ can be both an
Adjective Clause Connector and a Noun Clause Connector. Most question words such as
‘when’, ‘why’, and ‘where’ can be both Adverb Clause Connectors and Noun Clause
Connectors. Some of the Dependent Clause and Phrase Connectors are presented in the
following chart.
CLAUSE and PHRASE CONNECTORS
Adverb Clause Connectors
(Subordinate Conjunctions)
Adverb Phrase Connectors
(Complex Prepositions)
when, before, while, since
after, because, though,
although, even though,
because of
due to, despite
in spite of
Adjective Clause Connectors
(Relative Pronouns)
Noun Clause Connectors
(Subordinate conjunctions)
who, whom,
which, that,
whose
that, what, why
if, who, when
whether, where
The following sentences illustrate the various Connectors presented in this lesson.
She wanted to attend, but she had too much homework. (Simple Connector)
She had too much homework. Therefore, she didn’t go. (Sentence Connector)
She attended the 1st class before she attended this one. (Adverb Clause Connector)
She’s attending this class because she wants to graduate. (Adverb Clause Connector)
She attended the session that was in the other building. (Adjective Clause Connector)
The session that she attended was very interesting. (Adjective Clause Connector)
Yesterday she said that she would attend that session. (Noun Clause Connector)
That she will attend is not a surprise. (Noun Clause Connector)
She was late to this session because of heavy traffic. (Adverb Phrase Connector)
The session was held outside in spite of the rain (Adverb Phrase Connector
Numerical Integration Techniques For Volume Rendering
No full textMedical image visualization often relies on 3D volume rendering. To enable interaction with 3D rendering of medical scans, improvements in the performance of Volume Rendering Algorithms need significant attention. Real-time visualization of 3D image data set is one of the key tasks of Augmented Reality Systems required by many medical imaging applications. Over past five years the development of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has proved beneficial when it comes to Real Time Volume Rendering. We propose a GPU based volume rendering system for medical images using adaptive integration to improve performance. Our system is able to read and render DICOM images, implementing adaptive integration techniques that increase frame rate for volume rendering with the same quality of output images
Federating Disjoint Wireless Networks Using a Mixof Stationary and Mobile Nodes
No full textIn many applications need arises to connect a set of disjoint nodes or segments. Examples include repairing a partitioned network topology after failure, federating a set of standalone networks to serve an emerging event, and connecting a sparsely located data sources. Contemporary solutions either deploy stationary relay nodes (RN) to form data paths or employ one or multiple mobile data collectors (MDCs) that pick packets from sources and transport them to destinations. In this thesis we investigate the interconnection problem when the number of available RNs is insufficient for forming a stable topology and a mix of RNs and MDCs is to be used. We present two algorithms for determining where the RNs are to be placed and planning optimized travel routes for the MDCs so that the data delivery latency as well as the MDC motion overhead are minimized. The performance of the algorithm is validated through simulation
The Relations of Social Support and Perceived Stress to Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults
No full textQuality of life is of great consequence with an aging population. Prior research has shown that social support and stress can have significant impacts on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), particularly for older adults with chronic illness. The current study advanced the literature by addressing the relations of functional social support and perceived stress to HRQoL in relatively healthy older adults. Participants were 137 community-dwelling, adults with no major, self-reported chronic illness (Mean age = 55 years, 53% male; 84% White). It was hypothesized that both lower levels of self-reported social support and higher levels of self-reported perceived stress would be associated with lower ratings of self-reported mental and physical HRQoL (after accounting for relevant covariates). Stress buffering effects were also explored. Results revealed that there were no significant relations of social support, perceived stress, or their interaction to physical HRQoL. However, lower social support scores and higher perceived stress scores predicted significantly lower ratings of mental HRQoL (p's < .05). There was no significant interaction of perceived stress and overall social support for mental HRQoL. In regards to the four social support subscales: there were no significant findings for belonging support; higher tangible support was associated with significantly better mental HRQoL (p < .05); and the deleterious relations of stress on mental HRQoL were significantly attenuated by appraisal support and self-esteem support (p's < .05). Overall, results indicate that various aspects of social support display important direct and stress-buffering relationships to mental HRQoL. Mechanistic and intervention research is needed to further elucidate these issues through additional longitudinal and experimental designs with a diverse population of older adults. Interventions focused on social relationships and stress management may offer a promising way to enhance quality of life in older adults
DATA INTENSIVE SCIENTIFIC COMPUTE MODEL FOR MULTICORE CLUSTERS
No full textData intensive computing holds the promise of major scientific breakthroughs and discoveries from the exploration and mining of the massive data sets becoming available to the science community. This expectation has led to tremendous increases in data intensive scientific applications. However, data intensive scientific applications still face severe challenges in accessing, managing and analyzing petabytes of data. In particular, workflow systems to support such scientific applications are not as efficient when dealing with thousands and even more of complex tasks within jobs that operate across high performance large multicore clusters with very large amounts of streaming data. Scheduling, it turns out, is an integral workflow component in the execution often of thousands or more tasks within a data intensive scientific application as well as in managing the access and flow of many jobs to the available resource environment. Recently, MapReduce systems such as Hadoop, have proven successful for many business data intensive problems. However, there are still many limitations in the use of MapReduce systems for data-intensive scientific problems mainly because they do not support the characteristics of science such as data formats, specialized data analytic tools (e.g. math libraries), accuracies, and interfaces with non MapReduce components. This thesis addresses some of these limitations by proposing a MapReduce workflow model and its runtime system using Hadoop for orchestrating MapReduce jobs for data intensive scientific workflows. A heuristic based scheduling algorithm is proposed in the workflow system to manage the execution of data intensive scientific applications. This thesis has developed a hybrid-scheduling algorithm based on run time dynamic priorities, proportional resource sharing techniques that reduce delays for variable length concurrent tasks, and takes advantage of data locality. As a result, a new scheduling policy, Balanced Closer to Finish First (BCFF), is proposed as solutions for some problems of scheduling in MapReduce environment. The scheduling algorithm is implemented in Hadoop 1.0.1 framework as a new Hadoop 1.0.1 plug-in Scheduler. The evaluations of the workflow system on the climate data processing and analysis application (several TB dataset) show that it is feasible and significantly improved compared to traditional parallel processing method. The scientific results of the application provide new source of monitoring global climate changes for the near decade 2002-2011
An investigation of the growth and characteristics of a micro-textured titanium alloy surface and the biocompatibility of a micro-textured cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy surface
No full textWear of total joint replacement (TJR) articulating surfaces is a major concern in the orthopaedic community and the improved wear performance of implantable materials is of great interest. The aims of this research were to explore 1) the creation and basic performance of an integrated TiC micro-textured surface on a Ti6Al4V ELI alloy for improved wear performance, and 2) the biocompatibility of the existing LIMB micro-textured CoCrMo-carbide surface. Preliminary investigation results were used to develop a refined microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) processing parameter matrix. The micro-textured surface created from a Ti6Al4V substrate by MPCVD processing was a TiC coating (confirmed by XPS). Each MPCVD processing parameter set resulted in an increase in the surface roughness. Surface Vickers microhardness values ranged from a 10% loss to a 208% gain when compared to polished, as-received Ti. The weight gain of specimens with an improved microhardness was distinctly lower than the weight gain of specimens with little or no improvement in microhardness. Images of cross-sectioned specimens were analyzed to determine that the visible surface layer thickness of the specimen with a 10% loss in HV was 2 times greater than any of the other 6 cross-sectioned specimens. An increase in Vickers microhardness along the depth of the cross-section indicated an overall increase in HV of the bulk material. This study demonstrated that an integrated micro-textured TiC surface layer grown from a Ti6Al4V ELI bulk material has the potential to improve the wear surface of Ti alloy implants. To investigate the biocompatibility of the existing LIMB micro-textured CoCrMo-carbide surface, osteoblast-like MG63 cells were propagated on 4 LIMB CoCrMo-carbide specimen types, polished as-received CoCrMo and control surfaces. The CoCrMo-carbide surface was not cytotoxic to MG63 cells. Cell viability and attachment to the CoCrMo-carbide surfaces was visually confirmed by field emission SEM. Type 1 collagen - as measured by ELISA from the media of cells grown on carbide test surfaces - was at least 40% less than type 1 collagen from polished CoCrMo or polystyrene test surfaces. The experiments in this study encourage further efforts to assess the biocompatibility of the carbide surface
I Have Disappeared To You: Live and Mediated Presence in Performance
No full textThe aim of this thesis is to examine performance through my personal experience as a dancer who has incorporated video technology into my movement practice. To place these ideas in a wider context, I look at the intersection of visual art and dance performance, drawing on a range of theorists from both traditions. This discussion is divided into two groupings of ideas. First, I examine empathy and embodiment through the work of Susan Foster and Amelia Jones. Secondly, I consider media and memory through the work of Peggy Phelan, Philip Auslander and Andr� Lepecki. In I Will Disappear to You, I intertwined live and mediated presence through a constructed space that alternated between being a container for individual performances and an installation presenting the video documentation of these encounters. I constructed this space as an ideal place to develop a life and embodied presence that connects with others and subsequently presents the incomplete memory of those encounters through video. I examine where this artwork fits in within an art historical context by presenting a personal narrative of experiences with works that address embodiment as the site of artistic creation and perception. And finally, I conclude with a reflection on performance re-appearing as rumor and a discussion of the challenges and opportunities for visual artists and dance artists to learn from each other
Semiconductor laser dynamics with opto-electronic feedback
No full textSemiconductor lasers have been one of the major building blocks of fiber-optics based communication systems. For the past two decades, specifications of these lasers have been tailored to particular applications by defining certain performance parameters that do not necessarily overlap from one application to another. In order to commoditize laser sources by increasing volume and reducing cost, the laser performance parameters needed to be generic and not customized. In this simulation work, we modify and enhance essential performance parameters of a simple, low-cost laser with generic specifications and tailor it to specific applications that normally require advanced and complicated laser structures, by using electronic feedback for instantaneous impairment correction, while at the same time maintain a compact size for the laser and the supporting circuitry around it. We essentially use the same laser chip to cover the three distinct applications being analyzed. Maintaining generic laser chip specifications while only modifying the feedback loop circuit design parameters can facilitate photonic hybrid integration. Specific applications targeted are, linear optical-analog transmission for wireless backhauling by reducing the laser relative intensity noise while maintaining and enhancing transmitter linearity, improving laser modulation response and increasing the laser relaxation-oscillation frequency, another application covers laser linewidth reduction to target long haul transmission and coherent detection and finally an application that requires producing a self-pulsating laser for analog to digital conversion sampling application. The performance for all these application is analyzed in both the time and frequency domains. For the analog-signal laser, a laser RIN reduction of 15 dB was realized in the simulation and experiment. For the linewidth-reduction application, the simulation also shows a reduction of linewidth from 2.4 MHz to 24 Hz can be achieved along with simultaneous reduction of 1/f noise at low frequencies, and carrier effect noise at high frequencies to flatten the laser FM response. As for the pulse-generation application, an analysis on controlling the self-pulsation characteristics of semiconductor DFB laser was performed. A detailed analysis of the noise effects on the jitter performance of this system is also carried out. This work also establishes methods to optimize and control a pulsing DFB-laser system for photonic analog-to-digital conversion application by tuning the laser drive current with the potential to replace mode-locked fiber lasers in many applications from RF photonics to chaos communication and optical signal processing
Association Rule Mining based Disease Signatures Discovery
No full textThe focus of this thesis is discovering disease signatures using association rule mining. A disease signature is the common characteristics that may give the disease patients a distinct identity. In this thesis, we are specifically analyzing the dynamic gaits of Parkinson's patients and healthy controls to identify potential disease signatures. This can be useful as such signatures can be considered potential indicators of the disease. Since there is no preemptive test or marker for Parkinson's disease diagnoses, these types of signatures can help physicians be proactive. Currently a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is primarily based on a patient's medical history and some neurological exams which include analysis of movement and balance [1]. Our approach can be generalized to any type of gait analysis. We use association rule mining as a building block to identify signatures. We tested our approach on the dynamic gaits of 15 Parkinson patients and 16 healthy controls. We used Coron [2] and Weka [3] systems in our implementation. The data was obtained from PhysioBank [4], a public source for biomedical data. Our results identified significant signatures for Parkinson's disease in approximately 50% of the data. We also identified some overlap in signatures between Parkinson's patients and healthy controls, indicating that gait speed and height may be important factors in discovering signatures. We validated our results using Pearson correlation and found that correlation increases substantially in Parkinson's patients, indicating that the signatures are valid, especially in Parkinson's patients