In this paper we describe a method for simplifying sentences using Phrase Based Machine Translation, augmented with a re-ranking heuristic based on dissimilarity, and trained on a monolingual parallel corpus. We compare our system to a word-substitution baseline and two state-of-the-art systems, all trained and tested on paired sentences from the English part of Wikipedia and Simple Wikipedia. ...

This study presents the results of an initial phase of a project seeking to convert texts into a more accessible form for people with autism spectrum disorders by means of text simplification technologies. Random samples of Simple Wikipedia articles are compared with texts from News, Health, and Fiction genres using four standard readability indices (Kincaid, Flesch, Fog and SMOG) and sixteen l...

BACKGROUND Published guidelines recommend written health information be written at or below the sixth-grade level. We evaluate the readability of online materials related to thyroid surgery. METHODS Thyroid surgery materials were evaluated using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (GFOG), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SM...

Background. Health professionals, including general practitioners involved in followup of breast cancer patients, need to systematically assess opportunities to offer patients support with ongoing or new problems. Methods. A self-administered needs assessment questionnaire was developed with reference to a multidisciplinary team. Short, evidence-based, readable questions were emphasized, and qu...

I examine the role of CEO speaking style on market valuation of their firms. Analyzing and quantifying the speaking style of CEOs using Flesch Kincaid Grade Level, a measure of speech sophistication, I find that verbal ability is correlated to the education levels of CEOs. I also find that after controlling for industry specific differences in CEO speaking style, the market places a higher valu...

[1] We present three‐dimensional laboratory modeling of the evolution of finite strain and compare these to shear wave splitting observations in the Northwest U.S. under the High Lava Plains (HLP). We show that relationships between mantle flow and anisotropy are complicated in subduction zones and factors such as initial orientation of the olivine fast‐axis, style of subduction, and time evolv...

Health communication is critical component of effective health delivery. While there are studies on the readability Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) around world, so far, only one Ghanaian study that explored language patient information leaflets for malaria. The present explores PILs seven common ailments in Ghana. In all, 68 were purposely sampled study. Using SMOG and Flesch Kincaid grade...