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PubMed2001

A light knowledge model for linguistic applications.

Content extraction from medical texts is achievable today by linguistic applications, in so far as sufficient domain knowledge is available. Such knowledge represents a model of the domain and is hard to collect with sufficient depth and good coverage, despite numerous attempts. To leverage this task is a priority in order to benefit from the awaited linguistic tools. The light model is designed with this goal in mind. Syntactic and lexical information are generally available with large lexicons. A domain model should add the necessary semantic information. The authors have designed a light knowledge model for the collection of semantic information on the basis of the recognized syntactical and lexical attributes. It has been tailored for the acquisition of enough semantic information in order to retrieve terms of a controlled vocabulary from free texts, as for example, to retrieve Mesh terms from patient records.

Information Storage and Retrieval↗
PubMed2002

Ethical orientation, functional linguistics, and the codes of ethics of the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Medical Association.

The literature on codes of ethics suggests that grammatical and linguistic structures as well as the theoretical ethical orientation conveyed in codes of ethics have implications for the manner in which such codes are received by those bound by them. Certain grammatical and linguistic structures, for example, tend to have an authoritarian and disempowering impact while others can be empowering. The authors analyze and compare the codes of ethics of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in terms of their ethical orientation and grammatical/linguistic structures. The results suggest that the two codes differ substantially along these two dimensions. The CNA code contains proportionally more statements that provide a rationale for ethical behaviour; the statements of the CMA code tend to be more dogmatic. Functional grammar analysis suggests that both codes convey a strong deontological tone that does not enhance the addressee's ability to engage in discretionary decision-making. The nurses' code nonetheless implies a collaborative relationship with the client, whereas the medical code implies that the patient is the recipient of medical wisdom. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Canada↗
PubMed2002

Defining medical concepts by linguistic variables with fuzzy Arden Syntax.

Diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in the domain of medicine usually depend on observed or measured data, such as observations made during an examination, or laboratory data. Furthermore, such decisions are often based on abstract domain knowledge. For decision-making, it is necessary to establish relationships between concrete data and abstract knowledge. These relationships can be defined in a formal way by fuzzy set theory. We extended the Arden Syntax for Medical Logic Systems, which can be used for decision support in the medical domain, to include concepts of fuzzy set theory. This paper presents extensions for defining linguistic variables by Arden Syntax, which can formalize different states of an abstract concept, such as different levels of blood glucose. Arden Syntax linguistic variables can be used within conditional expressions in decision rules or within fuzzy control rules for computer-aided diagnosis and therapy.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging in pre-surgical patients: motor, mnemonic and linguistic functions].

AIMS: This paper reviews and describes cases involving useful protocols for pre-surgical evaluation in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the motor, mnemonic and linguistic functions. DEVELOPMENT: The application of fMRI in pre-surgical evaluation allows us to pinpoint the anatomical location of a function in relation to the lesion. This technique therefore appears as an alternative to the classical intraoperative tests, which are more aggressive and costly. The paper describes aspects and considerations of fMRI with regard to the methodology and procedure employed in its application, as well as the control of contaminating variables that can affect results. The language protocols are described in terms of lateralisation and localisation, and are divided into expressive and receptive language protocols, together with linguistic protocols for overall stimulation that allow the localisation of both expressive and receptive areas. Concerning the motor protocols, we describe the procedures for patients with and without difficulties in their movement. Lastly, we review and describe the memory protocols that give rise to bilateral stimulation in the mesial temporal areas, which allows both lateralisation and localisation of the hippocampal and parahippocampal areas that are functionally significant for the patients' memory. Each of the protocols is illustrated with cases carried out by our work team. CONCLUSIONS: The development of new protocols for pre-surgical evaluation must be guided by greater delimitation and consistency in functional stimulation, as well as analysis of the behaviour displayed.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed2003

The Aging Males' Symptoms rating scale: cultural and linguistic validation into Thai.

The interest in clinically investigating the health-related quality of life and symptoms of aging males has increased in recent years. Recently, a couple of validated questionnaires have been proposed for either screening, diagnosing and assessing response to therapy. Among these, the Aging Males' Symptom (AMS) questionnaire has been one of the most accepted questionnaires used in aging male clinics worldwide. The AMS questionnaire was originally developed and standardized in Germany in accordance with psychometric tests, and translated into English. The objective of this study was to develop the Thai AMS questionnaire, which is culturally and linguistically validated, and to present the translation process from English to Thai. The translation for the Thai speaking culture was planned specifically for use in Thailand. The forward translation into Thai was performed independently by two Thai-English translators with clinical experience in the aging male field. Another two Thai-English translators performed the back translation into English. Reconciliation of problematic items or explanations with the investigators was performed point by point to get the final version. The test and retest of Thai AMS questionnaire were performed within the time interval of 14 days by 20 Thai men aged 41-62 who came from different social classes and had various levels of education. The correlation between the first and the second questionnaires was statistically analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient (r). The results of the linguistic and cultural adaptation of the English AMS scale led to a Thai AMS questionnaire. The results of the test and retest reliability demonstrated good correlation and were promising (r = 0.87). Therefore, this scale can be used as a valuable tool for assessing symptoms in the aging males in Thailand.

Aging↗
PubMed2004

Linguistic diversity, global paradigms and taken-for-grantedness.

In the first part of this paper taken-for-granted hypotheses in linguistic diversity are presented. In the second part the two constellations of globalized ideologies are described constituting paradigms that these hypotheses illustrate: competition and solidarity. In the third part, a condensed version of emerging globalized concerns is given. Sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics are disciplines that increasingly theorize and analyze within the solidarity paradigm. It is suggested that a systematic uprooting of competition as taken-for-granted grounding of scientific research should allow for the development of theorization and successful applications of solidarity ideologies. In short, in this paper, our multifaceted taken-for-grantedness is challenged in many ways: (1) competition is ideological and many social movements are unmasking it by articulating solidarity as a basis for ideologies, (2) difference is not necessarily divisive but it is so in pervasive competition, (3) proponents of the Nation-State as a model of social organization have vested interests in competition, (4) competition has not favored the articulation of common human grounds but globalization helps to raise concerns and articulate commonness/solidarity in difference.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed2004

Getting language rights, shifting linguistic traditions.

"Endangerment," "loss," "death," and related terms are increasingly familiar in descriptions of sociolinguistic changes now occurring at an unprecedented scale due to forces of globalization. They can serve both as names for shared concerns of linguists and anthropologists, and as descriptions of otherwise different scenes of social encounter, because they are subject to multiple uses and interpretations. This paper focuses on tacit, enabling assumptions of three distinct strategies for framing and redressing "threats" to marginalized languages and speech communities. Recognition of their ideological grounds helps develop a sharper sense of their different uses, and the different social saliences which linguistic descriptions can have in and for marginalized communities.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed2002

Shallow linguistic analysis of a large corpus of drug prescriptions.

We report on first experiences from linguistic analyses of patient instructions from 19,8404 actual drug prescriptions regarding seven pharmaceutical products frequently prescribed in Sweden. The analysis includes expressions for amount, dose unit, dose interval, mode of administration, purpose and a few further details. Even simple processing seems useful to extract information from these short, rather formal text strings. We estimate the potential for calculation of prescribed dose from this material, and collected material gives a good starting point for more advanced linguistic analyses.

Drug Information Services↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Linguistic and cultural competency.

The U.S. population is becoming more diverse and cultural and linguistic barriers may adversely affect the quality of health care for some individuals. Cultural and linguistic competencies are now a high priority for national health policy. Research commissioned by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists indicates that diversity among patients is a leading health care trend that will have an impact on radiologic technologists in the immediate future.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The linguistic skills of infants under the age of one year].

INTRODUCTION: It is amazing how all normal children, systematically exposed to a natural language, speak using well-formed sentences by the time they are about 3 years old. This is a universally observed fact that is made possible by a series of mechanisms which mostly remain unexplained. This article reviews a series of studies concerning the linguistic capabilities of infants aged up to twelve months, which were evaluated using both behavioural and neuroimaging methods. DEVELOPMENT: Learning a language means learning its sounds, its words and its grammatical rules. During the first year of life this learning is not very apparent, since it is essentially perceptive and seems to occur without the need to make an effort. Yet, acquiring one's native language is no trivial matter because speech does not offer any known physical evidence that systematically indicates the occurrence of sounds, words and/or grammatical rules. A human being starts to process speech just a few hours after birth; nevertheless, this early sensitivity is not enough to 'know' a particular language. In fact, during their early years, children will have to learn the properties that are relevant to their mother tongue, while at the same time ignoring those that are irrelevant. Processing language is accompanied by changes in brain activity which can be explored using safe neuroimaging methods, such as electroencephalogram recordings and optical topography. CONCLUSION: A deeper understanding of the cognitive and neural foundations of the early linguistic skills of children will make a significant contribution to dealing with both normal development and language disorders.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Dissociation of conceptual and linguistic information based on a case study].

INTRODUCTION: Grouping the stimuli that we perceive in abstract categories is basic to understand our surroundings. Research gathered in the last few years with neuroimage techniques and brain damaged patients shows the role of the left temporal area in the organization of the semantic categories. CASE REPORT: A young aphasic patient study is reported who, after a cerebral haemorrhagia in the left temporo-parieto-occipital area, shows significant semantic difficulties. The results of this woman in several linguistic and semantic tasks indicate that her difficulties are conceptual rather than linguistics, since she makes well any task that does not demand access to the meaning of the words, but she fails in those tasks which require to understand the concepts. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this patient show the key role that the left temporal area has in the organization of the semantic categories. As consequence of the injury in that zone, the patient shows an organization of the stimuli based more in associative criteria than taxonomic and guided by the experience and functional adaptation the daily routine.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Effects of acupuncture and continuous multiple points pulse stimulation on linguistic frequency hearing loss in the patient of sensorineural hearing loss].

OBJECTIVE: To explore effective therapeutic methods for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). METHODS: Thirty-four cases of mild and moderate SNHL who were definitely diagnosed with pure tone test and by otologists, including 24 cases of insufficiency of the liver and kidney, 10 cases of excess of liver-fire. They were treated with acupuncture at main points, Ermen (TE 21) or Tinggong (SI 19) or Tinghui (GB 2), and Yifeng (TE 17), Shenting (GV 24), Baihui (GB 20), Houding (GV19), Touwei (ST 9), Conger 1-3, Congnao 1-2; and adjuvant acupoints: Huangshu (KI 16), Qihai (CV 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), Taixi (KI 3) were added for insufficiency of the liver and kidney; Zhongwan (CV 12), Tianshu (ST 25), Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Taichong (LR 3) were added for excess of liver-fire. Sequential multipoint pulse stimulation was adopted, twice each week, for 20 consecutive weeks (40 sessions) and then pure tone test was carried out repeatedly. RESULTS: Of 34 cases (58 affected ears), 13 cases were cured and 21 improved, and the various linguistic frequency hearing threshold pure hearing values before and after treatment increased significantly (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture and continuous multipoint pulse stimulation has definite therapeutic effect on linguistic frequency hearing loss in the patient of SNHL.

Acupuncture Points↗
PubMed2006

Initial linguistic and psychometric validation of the Arabic version of Nepean Dyspepsia Index.

OBJECTIVE: To report the initial evaluation of the linguistic and psychometric validation of the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI), as part of the ongoing research of quality of life among dyspeptic patients. METHODS: The Arabic version of the NDI was administered to 158 subjects (54 with non-ulcer dyspeptic [NUD]), 50 with gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and 54 with no history of gastroenteritis disease), with a mean age of 46.6 and SD 10.7. All subjects answered the Arabic versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ), and the Short Form-12 Quality of Life (QOL) scale. We administered the final translation of the NDI by consensus. The study was conducted in King Fahad Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, between December 2002 and January 2004. RESULTS: The NDI has shown adequate internal consistency. Cronbach Alpha coefficient ranged between 0.88 to 0.93, and Split-half correlation reliability ranged between 0.82 and 0.94. Correlations between NDI subscales and total scores were high and significant. Adequate Face and content validity was demonstrated by consultation with gastroenterologists and clinical psychologists. Convergent validity was shown in the moderate and significant correlation of the NDI subscales and global index with the indices of the SF-12. Divergent validity was shown in that subscales of the NDI revealed low correlation with scales which measure other dimensions; thus, both QOL subscales and symptom checklist have discriminated patients from non-patients groups (p > 0.01). The factorial structure of the NDI was also examined, and it revealed 4 factors, which is similarly the same with other studies. CONCLUSION: The initial validation of the Arabic version of the NDI has shown that this scale has adequate psychometric and linguistic property and can represent a good addition to health outcome measures in dyspepsia research. Further validation studies are recommended.

Dyspepsia↗
PubMed1994

[Cultural and linguistic validation, in Spanish, of the International Prostatic Symptoms Scale (I-PSS)].

Formal presentation of the cultural and linguistic validation, in Spanish, of the International Prostatic Symptoms Scale (I-PSS). The process for the official translation into Spanish of the questionnaire on prostatic symptomatology and quality of live derived from urinary symptoms, has followed a methodology common to several countries (UK, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands and Spain) which consisted in: translation into Spanish of the original American-English version published by the WHO in 1992, by two independent bilingual urologists; re-translation into English, checking any conceptual and semantic changes that had caused difficulties in the process of translation/re-translation; final choice of the text by an International Committee based both on the data provided by the above process and the experience of the Central Committee accrued over their relationships with the various National Committees. The resulting text was applied to 33 patients with prostate disease and 12 controls, individually recording any difficulty of interpretation and choice of answer observed for each of the questions. The final text herewith presented constitutes the official reference for the Spanish translation of the International Prostatic Symptoms Scale (I-PSS) which should be used for future symptomatic evaluations. The purpose of this cultural and linguistic validation is to secure that the application of these scales provides comparable and consistent numerical results in those countries where the translation has not been officially validated.

Cultural Characteristics↗
PubMed1996

Acoustic cues to grammatical structure in infant-directed speech: cross-linguistic evidence.

Several theorists have suggested that infants use prosodic cues such as pauses, final lengthening, and pitch changes to identify linguistic units in speech. One potential difficulty with this proposal, however, is that the acoustic shape of an utterance is affected by many factors other than its syntax, including its phonetic, lexical, and discourse structure. This has raised questions about how the infant could use timing and pitch as cues to any aspect of linguistic structure without simultaneously factoring out other effects. Acoustic analyses of connected samples of spontaneous speech addressed to 13.5-14-month-old infants by American English- and by Japanese-speaking mothers revealed that both utterance- and phrase-level acoustic regularities were large enough to be detected in spontaneous speech without correcting for other influences on the same acoustic features. (1) Utterance-final vowels were lengthened and underwent exaggerated pitch changes in both languages, and (2) local acoustic changes in duration (English) or pitch (Japanese) were reliably associated with some phrase boundaries within utterances. These findings suggest that a naive listener could estimate a rough prosodic template for each language based on robust acoustic patterns in observed sentences. We discuss ways in which the learner could combine acoustic and distributional analyses across utterances to acquire language-specific variations in prosodic bracketing cues and to obtain indirect perceptual evidence for the internal structure of utterances.

Child Development↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Linguistic background and test material considerations in assessing sentence identification ability in English- and Spanish-English-speaking adolescents.

This study investigated the influence of linguistic background differences on sentence identification by groups of English- and Spanish-English-speaking adolescents. Subjects were required to identify recorded meaningful and nonmeaningful (synthetic) sentences presented in a white noise background using a closed message set-response format. The results indicate that linguistic background variables significantly influence sentence identification ability and that these variables are not adequately controlled for by a closed message set. A significant difference in the ability to identify meaningful and nonmeaningful sentences was revealed. Contrary to previous indications, synthetic sentence identification appeared to be contingent upon key work or phrase recognition.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of the effects of presentation rate and speaking rate on children's auditory perception of two levels of linguistic material.

Twenty-four first- and second-order sentential approximations of four words each were presented auditorily to two groups of eight normal children. Eight first- and eight second-order approximations were spoken at three rates: 90 (slow); 140 (normal); and 175 (fast) words/min. The 48 approximations were randomized and rates altered as necessary so that one group heard the material at a slow rate (90 words/min) of presentation and the other group at a normal rate (140 words/min) of presentation. The results indicated that although presentation rate did not significantly effect auditory perception, speaking rate did. It was concluded that a slow speaking rate can be expected to enhance the perception of low-level linguistic material regardless of the presentation rate, whereas a normal speaking rate would be best for higher level linguistic material.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed1977

Congruence of distance matrices based on cranial discrete traits, cranial measurements, and linguistic-geographic criteria in five Alaskan populations.

Biological distances (C.A.B. Smith's Measure of Divergence) based on 25 nonmetric skull variants have been compared with distances (Mahalanobis' D2) based on cranial measurements of four Eskimo populations representing the Yupik subdivision of the Eskaleut linguistic stock, and one Aleut population. The ranking of Measures of Divergence (pooled-sex samples) for ten pairwise comparisons is significantly correlated (Spearman's rs) with both the male and female rankings of the F-values of D2. In addition, the non-metric distances showed stronger concordance than the metric distances with a hierarchy based on linguistic and geographical affinities. These findings indicate that, depending upon the particular battery of variants used, discrete traits provide valid taxonomical information in the study of extinct human populations.

Alaska↗