We present a novel approach for synonymous term preference detection that relies on chronological text analysis. Our approach analyses the use of synonymous term entries in a chronological reference corpus. As a result of preference evaluation, a ranking of preference between all the synonymous term entries belonging to the same concept is established.

Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head (SIFFH) is characterized by acute onset hip pain without overt trauma. It appears as a low intensity band with bone marrow edema on T1-weighted MRI. The most common course of treatment is protected weight bearing for a period of several weeks. Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has been commonly used if the patient does not respond to the initial...

In this paper we establish two alternative principles of the following type: If X and Y are convex subsets of two locally convex Hausdorff topological vector spaces and F, S : X Y are two set-valued mappings satisfying certain conditions, then either there exists x0 ∈ X such that F(x0) = ∅ or⋂x∈X S(x) = ∅. As first applications of the alternative principles we obtain two matching theorems of Ky...

OBJECTIVES To quantify patients' preferences for new pharmacist independent prescribing services in general practice for managing common existing long-term conditions compared with usual medical prescribing. METHODS A discrete choice experiment cross-sectional survey was conducted in five general practices in England (October-November 2009). Four service attributes reported on the length of c...

Testing problems with multivariate one-sided alternative hypotheses are common in clinical trials with multiple endpoints. In the case of comparing two treatments, treatment 1 is often preferred if it is superior for at least one of the endpoints and not biologically inferior for the remaining endpoints. Bloch et al. (2001, Biometrics57, 1039-1047) propose an intersection-union test (IUT) for t...

Academic writing is no longer considered an objective and impersonal form of discourse. It is now seen as an attempt involving interaction between writers and readers; hence, academics are not only required to produce texts representing external realities but also to use language to recognize, build, and exchange social relations. The present study aimed to analyze how native English speakers, ...

Many realist writings exemplify the spirit of ‘recipe realism’. Here I characterise recipe realism, challenge it, and propose replacing it with ‘exemplar realism’. This alternative understanding of realism is more piecemeal, robust, and better in tune with scientists’ own attitude towards their best theories, and thus to be preferred.