1,114 research outputs found
Reading beyond the female: The relationship between perception of author gender and literary quality
No full textThis thesis combines methods from sociology of literature and natural language processing to answer the questions: what is the relationship between author gender and the perceived literary quality of her work? And to what extent can textual qualities be ascribed to author gender? I first assess Dutch female authors’ chances of gaining literary prestige. Even though female authors publish many literary works, they still have a harder time climbing the literary ladder. Results of the 2013 National Reader Survey mirror this skewness. Respondents were asked to supply ratings of literary quality, on a list of 401 recent, bestselling Dutch-language novels in several genres (the Riddle of Literary Quality corpus). Even within genre works by female authors’ are judged to be of lesser quality, and ‘feminine’ novels are seen as the worst; formulaic detectives score better. Female author gender is not a conscious motivation, but analysis of respondents’ motivations shows that instead, the text is associated with ‘femaleness’ – through genre, topics or style. Such associations lead to perception of lower literary quality. I then analyze the text of the novels themselves to examine to which extent such femaleness of text exists. First, computational analysis of the Riddle corpus indicates that author gender is too easily assumed to be the cause of text differences. Moreover, additional visualizations show that gender group differences are often caused by outliers. In the final chapters, I focus on a ‘feminine’ topic, attention to characters’ physical appearance. I show that it is not exclusive to the genre of chick-lit, nor to female authors. In fact, male literary authors write most about physical appearance, in describing female love interests. This novel approach shows that female author gender is connected to the text differently than expected. By reading differently, literary quality can be judged separate from female author gender
Reading beyond the female:The relationship between perception of author gender and literary quality
No full textThis thesis combines methods from sociology of literature and natural language processing to answer the questions: what is the relationship between author gender and the perceived literary quality of her work? And to what extent can textual qualities be ascribed to author gender? I first assess Dutch female authors’ chances of gaining literary prestige. Even though female authors publish many literary works, they still have a harder time climbing the literary ladder. Results of the 2013 National Reader Survey mirror this skewness. Respondents were asked to supply ratings of literary quality, on a list of 401 recent, bestselling Dutch-language novels in several genres (the Riddle of Literary Quality corpus). Even within genre works by female authors’ are judged to be of lesser quality, and ‘feminine’ novels are seen as the worst; formulaic detectives score better. Female author gender is not a conscious motivation, but analysis of respondents’ motivations shows that instead, the text is associated with ‘femaleness’ – through genre, topics or style. Such associations lead to perception of lower literary quality. I then analyze the text of the novels themselves to examine to which extent such femaleness of text exists. First, computational analysis of the Riddle corpus indicates that author gender is too easily assumed to be the cause of text differences. Moreover, additional visualizations show that gender group differences are often caused by outliers. In the final chapters, I focus on a ‘feminine’ topic, attention to characters’ physical appearance. I show that it is not exclusive to the genre of chick-lit, nor to female authors. In fact, male literary authors write most about physical appearance, in describing female love interests. This novel approach shows that female author gender is connected to the text differently than expected. By reading differently, literary quality can be judged separate from female author gender
Deriving Regression Lines Without Calculus
No full textThis article, C.W. Puritz of the Royal Grammar School - High Wycombe, describes a method to calculate the least squares line algebraically. First, the author uses a numeric example, which uses calculus, then describes a simpler algebraic method. This is a great lesson plan for those instructors attempting to teach this method with having students with prior knowledge of calculus. The author uses a step by step approach to help best describe both the technique and subsequent ways to best teach this method
Development and optimisation of a duplex real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR assay targeting the VP7 and NS2 genes of African horse sickness virus
No full textNucleotide sequences of 52 South African isolates of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) collected during 2004–2005 and including viruses of all nine AHSV serotypes, were used to design and develop a duplex real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) assay targeting the VP7 (S8) and NS2 (S9) genes of AHSV. The assay was optimized for detection of AHSV in fresh and frozen blood of naturally infected horses. Assay performance was enhanced using random hexamers rather than gene-specific primers for RT, and with denaturation of double-stranded RNA in the presence of random hexamers. The assay was efficient with a linear range of at least five orders of magnitude. The analytical sensitivity of the assay was 132 copies of the target genes (4125 copies per ml of blood), and the assay was at least 10-fold more sensitive than virus isolation on BHK-21 cells. The assay was also highly specific because it did not detect related orbiviruses, such as bluetongue and equine encephalosis viruses.ID: S0166093410000893; M3: Article; Accession Number: S0166093410000893; Author: M. Quan (a, b, ⁎); Author: C.W. Lourens (a, b); Author: N.J. MacLachlan (c); Author: I.A. Gardner (d); Author: A.J. Guthrie (a); Affiliation: Equine Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Affiliation: Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa; Affiliation: Equine Viral Disease Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Affiliation: Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Keyword: African horse sickness virus; Keyword: Real-time quantitative RT-PCR; Keyword: VP7 gene; Keyword: NS2 gene; Keyword: Duplex; Number of Pages: 8; Language: English
Nota, betreffende berekeningen omtrent rivierverbeteringen: opgemaakt door den ingenieur van den Rijkswaterstaat C.W. Lely
No full textHydraulische basis voor de normalisatiewerken van de grote rivieren. Berekingen van optimale breedte en diepte
Onderzoek naar signaalgeneratie met behulp van fasedraaiers ten behoeve van reflectie-compensatie in een F.M.-C.W. radarsysteem
No full textVoor onderzoek aan de troposfeer wordt gebruik gemaakt van een F.M.-C.W. radarsysteem. Een aspect van het radarsysteem waarnaar nog onderzoek gewenst is, is de onderdrukking van de overspraak van zender naar ontvanger, en van sterke reflecties aan nabije obstakels: deze signalen houden nl. het gevaar in van oversturing van de ontvanger. Dit aspect is met name van belang voor een mogelijk nog te realiseren F.M. -C.V. radarsysteem met één antenne…Applied SciencesElectrotechniekTelecommunicatie- en Verkeersbegeleidingssysteme
A Fourier-Based Valuation Method for Bermudan and Barrier Options under Heston’s Model
No full textWe develop an efficient Fourier-based numerical method for pricing Bermudan and discretely monitored barrier options under the Heston stochastic volatility model. The two-dimensional pricing problem is dealt with by a combination of a Fourier cosine series expansion, as in [F. Fang and C.W. Oosterlee, SIAM J. Sci. Comput., 31 (2008), pp. 826–848, F. Fang and C. W. Oosterlee, Numer. Math., 114 (2009), pp. 27–62], and high-order quadrature rules in the other dimension. Error analysis and experiments confirm a fast error convergence.Delft Institute of Applied MathematicsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Nota betreffende het verband tusschen bodemhelling en kromtestraal bij rivieren, opgemaakt door den ingenieur van den Rijkswaterstaat dr. C.W. Lely
No full textRelatie kromtestraal en dwarshelling van rivieren, bevat data van de Nederlandse rivieren
Mechanical properties of tree roots for soil reinforcement models
No full textEvidence from forestry has shown that part of the forest floor bearing capacity is delivered by tree roots. The beneficial effect however varies and diminishes with increasing number of vehicle passes. Roots potential for reinforcing the soil is known to depend among others on root mechanical properties, distribution, morphology, etc. Rooting intensity and root patterns of forest trees are complicated, but some information is available. The objectives of this study are therefore as follows: (1) addressing the occurrence of field traffic on forest soils, (2) identifying root mechanical properties that play a role in soil reinforcement, (3) measuring root stress-strain relationships, root failure stress and strain and root behaviour under repeated loading and (4) simulating root reinforcement effect using a FEM (Finite Element Method) code capable of accounting for root properties in reinforcement simulations.The repeated loading experiments included repeated loading of tree roots to different loading levels and loading with different loading rates or elongation rates. These studies revealed that tree roots possess stiffness and failure strengths. They show elastic as well as plastic behaviour. They also show fatigue phenomena in repeated loading. Available FEM codes were studied with respect to their capability in dealing with soil reinforcement by roots. PLAXIS which is a commercially available FEM code was used due to its ability to calculate stresses, strains and failure states of soil mechanical problems. It can also cope with unsaturated reinforced soil. The finite element calculations conducted with PLAXIS are intended for soils loaded by forestry vehicles. These involved situations with and without reinforcement by tree roots. The reinforcement effects are, among others, decrease of wheel rut depth and rolling resistance, decrease of damage to soil structure by the wheel load and as a negative effect, physiological damage to the tree root system. The magnitude of these effects depends on a number of parameters: stiffness and strength of the tree roots, soil mechanical properties like cohesion, angle of internal friction, compression index, preconsolidation stress, depth of a hard sublayer (if present), distance between vehicle and tree, rooting patterns, adhesive and frictional properties of the soil-root interface, wheel load and contact surface. The presented simulation results, which are based on realistic input data, show the sensitivity of the reinforcement effect to the listed variables.</p
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