Drake University

Abstract: Over 3 million teachers in the United States use their voice as a primary tool of trade and are thought to be at higher risk for occupation-related voice disorders than the general population. However, estimates regarding the prevalence of voice disorders in teachers and the general population vary considerably. To determine the extent that teachers are at greater risk for voice disorders, 2,531 randomly selected participants from Iowa and Utah (1,243 teachers and 1,288 nonteachers) were interviewed by telephone using a voice disorder questionnaire. Prevalence-the number of cases per population at risk at a specific time-was determined. The prevalence of reporting a current voice problem was significantly greater in teachers compared with nonteachers (11.0% vs. 6.2%), chi(2)(1) = 18.2, p 4 weeks in duration), compared with acute voice disorders (20.9% vs. 13.3%), chi(2)(1) = 8.7, p =.003. To assess the association between past voice disorders and possible risks, adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using multiple logistic regression. The results identified that being a teacher, being a woman, being between 40 and 59 years of age, having 16 or more years of education, and having a family history of voice disorders were each positively associated with having experienced a voice disorder in the past. These results support the notion that teaching is a high-risk occupation for voice disorders. Important information is also provided regarding additional factors that might contribute to the development of voice disorders.

Abstract: This paper presents recent work using the CHILL parser acquisition system to automate the construction of a natural-language interface for database queries. CHILL treats parser acquisition as the learning of search-control rules within a logic program representing a shift-reduce parser and uses techniques from Inductive Logic Programming to learn relational control knowledge. Starting with a general framework for constructing a suitable logical form, CHILL is able to train on a corpus comprising sentences paired with database queries and induce parsers that map subsequent sentences directly into executable queries. Experimental results with a complete database-query application for U.S. geography show that CHILL is able to learn parsers that outperform a preexisting, hand-crafted counterpart. These results demonstrate the ability of a corpus-based system to produce more than purely syntactic representations. They also provide direct evidence of the utility of an empirical approach at the level of a complete natural language application.

Abstract: The popular press has recently reported that managers of retail and service outlets are diffusing scents into their stores to create more positive environments and develop a competitive advantage. ...