Project description:In this article, we employ simple descriptive methods in order to explore the peculiar behavior of the symbols in the Voynich Manuscript. Such an analysis reveals a group of symbols which are further analyzed for the possibility of being compounds (or ligatures), using a specifically developed method. The results suggest the possibility that the alphabet of the manuscript is a lot smaller, and steganographic type of encoding is proposed to explain the newly revealed properties.
Project description:While the use of statistical physics methods to analyze large corpora has been useful to unveil many patterns in texts, no comprehensive investigation has been performed on the interdependence between syntactic and semantic factors. In this study we propose a framework for determining whether a text (e.g., written in an unknown alphabet) is compatible with a natural language and to which language it could belong. The approach is based on three types of statistical measurements, i.e. obtained from first-order statistics of word properties in a text, from the topology of complex networks representing texts, and from intermittency concepts where text is treated as a time series. Comparative experiments were performed with the New Testament in 15 different languages and with distinct books in English and Portuguese in order to quantify the dependency of the different measurements on the language and on the story being told in the book. The metrics found to be informative in distinguishing real texts from their shuffled versions include assortativity, degree and selectivity of words. As an illustration, we analyze an undeciphered medieval manuscript known as the Voynich Manuscript. We show that it is mostly compatible with natural languages and incompatible with random texts. We also obtain candidates for keywords of the Voynich Manuscript which could be helpful in the effort of deciphering it. Because we were able to identify statistical measurements that are more dependent on the syntax than on the semantics, the framework may also serve for text analysis in language-dependent applications.
Project description:IntroductionWith the rising complexity of modern multimarker analytical techniques and notable scientific publication retractions required for erroneous statistical analysis, there is increasing awareness of the importance of research transparency and reproducibility. The development of mature open-source tools for literate programming in multiple langauge paradigms has made fully-reproducible authorship possible.ObjectivesWe describe the procedure for manuscript preparation using RMarkdown and the R statistical programming language with application to JMSACL or any other Elsevier journal.MethodsAn instructional manuscript has been prepared in the RMarkdown markup language with stepwise directions on preparing sections, subsections, lists, tables, figures and reference management in an entirely reproducible format.ResultsFrom RMarkdown code, a submission-ready PDF is generated and JMSACL-compatible LaTeX code is generated. These can be uploaded to the Editorial Manager.ConclusionA completely reproducible manuscript preparation pipeline using the R and RMarkdown is described.
Project description:The aim of this paper, written by the committee of educational research methodology of the "Society for Medical Education" of the German-speaking countries, will give recommendations for the review process of scientific papers in medical education. The recommendations are based on the results of a workshop in 2007 and on a survey among reviewers of the journal GMS Z Med Ausbild. It reflects on international standards and research in medical education in Germany. The paper describes reviewer's function concerning the journal of GMS Z Med Ausbild and specifies criteria for the review process with regard to the editors and reviewers; it also gives proposals for a feedback to the author. The catalogue of criteria for the reviewers is pictured in a checklist. The present recommendations shall help to increase the quality of the review process and to improve the national and international acceptance of the journal GMS Z Med Ausbild. Additionally, transparency of the review processes will support authors to submit a scientific article of high quality.