375-nm ultraviolet-laser based non-line-of-sight underwater optical communication

KAUST Repository

Sun, Xiaobin

2018-05-04

For circumventing the alignment requirement of line-of-sight (LOS) underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC), we demonstrated a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) UWOC link adequately enhanced using ultraviolet (UV) 375-nm laser. Path loss was chosen as a figure-of-merit for link performance in this investigation, which considers the effects of geometries, water turbidity, and transmission wavelength. The experiments suggest that path loss decreases with smaller azimuth angles, higher water turbidity, and shorter wavelength due in part to enhanced scattering utilizing 375-nm radiation. We highlighted that it is feasible to extend the current findings for long distance NLOS UWOC link in turbid water, such as harbor water.

Auditory cues for orientation and postural control in sighted and congenitally blind people

Science.gov (United States)

Easton, R. D.; Greene, A. J.; DiZio, P.; Lackner, J. R.

1998-01-01

This study assessed whether stationary auditory information could affect body and head sway (as does visual and haptic information) in sighted and congenitally blind people. Two speakers, one placed adjacent to each ear, significantly stabilized center-of-foot-pressure sway in a tandem Romberg stance, while neither a single speaker in front of subjects nor a head-mounted sonar device reduced center-of-pressure sway. Center-of-pressure sway was reduced to the same level in the two-speaker condition for sighted and blind subjects. Both groups also evidenced reduced head sway in the two-speaker condition, although blind subjects' head sway was significantly larger than that of sighted subjects. The advantage of the two-speaker condition was probably attributable to the nature of distance compared with directional auditory information. The results rule out a deficit model of spatial hearing in blind people and are consistent with one version of a compensation model. Analysis of maximum cross-correlations between center-of-pressure and head sway, and associated time lags suggest that blind and sighted people may use different sensorimotor strategies to achieve stability.

MiSight Assessment Study Spain (MASS). A 2-year randomized clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Pomeda, Alicia; Pérez-Sánchez, Belén; Valls, Isabel; Prieto-Garrido, Francisco Luis; Gutiérrez-Ortega, Ramón; Villa-Collar, César

2018-05-01

To compare myopia progression in children randomized to MiSight contact lenses (CLs) versus children corrected with single-vision spectacles (SV) over a 2-year period. Subjects aged 8 to 12 with myopia (-0.75 to -4.00 D sphere) and astigmatism (< -1.00 D cylinder) were assigned to the lens study group (MiSight) or the control group (single vision). Measurements of visual acuity and subjective refraction were taken at 6-month intervals, and axial length, anterior chamber, corneal power, and cycloplegic autorefraction were measured at the baseline, 12-month, and 24-month visits. Eighty-nine subjects were recruited. Forty-fix children were assigned to the MiSight group, and 33 to the single-vision spectacle group. In total, 74 children completed the clinical trial, with the following parameters at the beginning of the study: n =  41 in the MiSight group (age: 11.01 ± 1.23 years, spherical equivalent: -2.16 ± 0.94 D, gender: male: 21, female: 20) and n = 33 in the single-vision group (age: 10.12 ± 1.38 years, spherical equivalent: -1.75 ± 0.94 D, gender: male: 12, female: 21). After 2 years of follow-up, myopia progressed slowly in the MiSight group compared to the control group (0.45 D vs 0.74 D, p < 0.001) and there was less axial elongation in the MiSight group compared to the single-vision group (0.28 mm vs 0.44 mm, p < 0.001). Therefore, use of MiSight CLs produced lower myopia progression (39.32%) and lower axial growth of the eye (36.04%) at 2 years compared to spectacle use. MiSight contact lens wear reduces axial elongation and myopia progression in comparison to distance single-vision spectacles in children. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01917110.

Braille in the Sighted: Teaching Tactile Reading to Sighted Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Bola, Łukasz; Siuda-Krzywicka, Katarzyna; Paplińska, Małgorzata; Sumera, Ewa; Hańczur, Paweł; Szwed, Marcin

2016-01-01

Blind people are known to have superior perceptual abilities in their remaining senses. Several studies suggest that these enhancements are dependent on the specific experience of blind individuals, who use those remaining senses more than sighted subjects. In line with this view, sighted subjects, when trained, are able to significantly progress in relatively simple tactile tasks. However, the case of complex tactile tasks is less obvious, as some studies suggest that visual deprivation itself could confer large advantages in learning them. It remains unclear to what extent those complex skills, such as braille reading, can be learnt by sighted subjects. Here we enrolled twenty-nine sighted adults, mostly braille teachers and educators, in a 9-month braille reading course. At the beginning of the course, all subjects were naive in tactile braille reading. After the course, almost all were able to read whole braille words at a mean speed of 6 words-per-minute. Subjects with low tactile acuity did not differ significantly in braille reading speed from the rest of the group, indicating that low tactile acuity is not a limiting factor for learning braille, at least at this early stage of learning. Our study shows that most sighted adults can learn whole-word braille reading, given the right method and a considerable amount of motivation. The adult sensorimotor system can thus adapt, to some level, to very complex tactile tasks without visual deprivation. The pace of learning in our group was comparable to congenitally and early blind children learning braille in primary school, which suggests that the blind's mastery of complex tactile tasks can, to a large extent, be explained by experience-dependent mechanisms.

Transfer of learning on a spatial memory task between the blind and sighted people.

Science.gov (United States)

Akpinar, Selcuk; Popović, Stevo; Kirazci, Sadettin

2012-12-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of two different types of feedback on a spatial memory task between the blind and blindfolded-sighted participants. Participants tried to estimate the predetermined distance by using their dominant hands. Both blind and blindfolded-sighted groups were randomly divided into two feedback subgroups as "100% frequency" and "10% bandwidth". The score of the participants was given verbally to the participants as knowledge of results (KR). The target distance was set as 60 cm. Sixty acquisition trials were performed in 4 sets each including 15 repetition afterwards immediate and delayed retention tests were undertaken. Moreover, 24 hours past the delayed retention test, the participants completed 15 no-KR trials as a transfer test (target distance was 30 cm). The results of the statistical analyses revealed no significant differences for both acquisition and retention tests. However, a significant difference was found at transfer test. 100% frequency blind group performed significantly less accurate than all other groups. As a result, it can be concluded that different types of feedback have similar effect on spatial memory task used in this study. However, types of feedback can change the performance of accuracy on transferring this skill among the blind.

Sea turtles sightings in North Carolina

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Sea turtles sightings are reported to the NMFS Beaufort Laboratory sea turtle program by the general public as they are fishing, boating, etc. These sightings...

Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) Transformation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, Theo; Kittler, J.; van den Broek, Egon; Petrou, M.; Nixon, M.

2004-01-01

Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) transformation is introduced, starting from the inverse of the distance transformation. The prohibitive computational cost of a naive implementation of traditional Euclidean Distance Transformation, is tackled by three operations: restriction of both the number

Microwave line of sight link engineering

CERN Document Server

Angueira, Pablo

2012-01-01

A comprehensive guide to the design, implementation, and operation of line of sight microwave link systems The microwave Line of Sight (LOS) transport network of any cellular operator requires at least as much planning effort as the cellular infrastructure itself. The knowledge behind this design has been kept private by most companies and has not been easy to find. Microwave Line of Sight Link Engineering solves this dilemma. It provides the latest revisions to ITU reports and recommendations, which are not only key to successful design but have changed dramatically in

Uncertain sightings and the extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Science.gov (United States)

Solow, Andrew; Smith, Woollcott; Burgman, Mark; Rout, Tracy; Wintle, Brendan; Roberts, David

2012-02-01

The extinction of a species can be inferred from a record of its sightings. Existing methods for doing so assume that all sightings in the record are valid. Often, however, there are sightings of uncertain validity. To date, uncertain sightings have been treated in an ad hoc way, either excluding them from the record or including them as if they were certain. We developed a Bayesian method that formally accounts for such uncertain sightings. The method assumes that valid and invalid sightings follow independent Poisson processes and use noninformative prior distributions for the rate of valid sightings and for a measure of the quality of uncertain sightings. We applied the method to a recently published record of sightings of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). This record covers the period 1897-2010 and contains 39 sightings classified as certain and 29 classified as uncertain. The Bayes factor in favor of extinction was 4.03, which constitutes substantial support for extinction. The posterior distribution of the time of extinction has 3 main modes in 1944, 1952, and 1988. The method can be applied to sighting records of other purportedly extinct species. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

Megaptera Novaeangliae sightings recorder (Borowski, 1781) in the capixaba coast during marine seismic survey; Registro de avistagens de Megaptera Novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781) no litoral capixaba durante levantamento sismico maritimo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Leandro Damiao S. da; Almeida, Alexandre N. Ferraz de [Okeanos Consultoria e Meio Ambiente Ltda. (Brazil); Uller, George A.; Oliveira, Joao Luiz Martinez de [CGG do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Derntl, Jose Renato; Pereira, Edisio; Silva, Camila C. da [GEOCOOP Cooperativa de Trabalho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Miranda, Cristina M. de [Nautilus Cooperativa de Trabalho (Brazil)

2004-07-01

This work presents Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whale) sightings recorded during CGG seismic survey along south of Espirito Santo coast. The seismic vessel executed transects perpendicular to the coastline between 50 and 3.200 m depth. Two environmental technicians recorded all sightings during seismic survey; They worked on the highest point of the vessel (bridge) observing the presence and behavior of the marine biota around vessel. There were recorded 38 sightings of Humpback Whales and a total of 81 organisms. 61% of the sightings were concentrated between 40 and 80 m depth. About 60,5% of the sightings were recorded females with puppies, mainly in the afternoon. There were observed no difference between sightings with the source working on and off. The results obtained suggest similarity between the number of sightings and the distance of the animals related to seismic source activity, suggesting non evasive behavior, as well as any indicative change on the behavior regarding to the presence of the Seismic Vessel. Nevertheless, we know that it's necessary to make more studies to obtain definitive conclusions about the subject. (author)

Megaptera Novaeangliae sightings recorder (Borowski, 1781) in the capixaba coast during marine seismic survey; Registro de avistagens de Megaptera Novaeangliae (Borowski, 1781) no litoral capixaba durante levantamento sismico maritimo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Leandro Damiao S. da; Almeida, Alexandre N. Ferraz de [Okeanos Consultoria e Meio Ambiente Ltda. (Brazil); Uller, George A; Oliveira, Joao Luiz Martinez de [CGG do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Derntl, Jose Renato; Pereira, Edisio; Silva, Camila C. da [GEOCOOP Cooperativa de Trabalho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Miranda, Cristina M. de [Nautilus Cooperativa de Trabalho (Brazil)

2004-07-01

This work presents Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whale) sightings recorded during CGG seismic survey along south of Espirito Santo coast. The seismic vessel executed transects perpendicular to the coastline between 50 and 3.200 m depth. Two environmental technicians recorded all sightings during seismic survey; They worked on the highest point of the vessel (bridge) observing the presence and behavior of the marine biota around vessel. There were recorded 38 sightings of Humpback Whales and a total of 81 organisms. 61% of the sightings were concentrated between 40 and 80 m depth. About 60,5% of the sightings were recorded females with puppies, mainly in the afternoon. There were observed no difference between sightings with the source working on and off. The results obtained suggest similarity between the number of sightings and the distance of the animals related to seismic source activity, suggesting non evasive behavior, as well as any indicative change on the behavior regarding to the presence of the Seismic Vessel. Nevertheless, we know that it's necessary to make more studies to obtain definitive conclusions about the subject. (author)

Typewriting: The Sight Method of Teaching Typewriting

Science.gov (United States)

Ruddle, Eleanor S.

1970-01-01

Research with beginning typewriting students supports the use of the sight method-looking at the fingers and keyboard during the initial learning stages. The sight method increases the rate and degree of accuracy. (CH)

Non-line-of-sight ultraviolet communication based on DHT ACO-OFDM

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Qian; Chen, Gang

2012-10-01

Free space optical (FSO) communication has attracted tremendous research interest in the recent year. Most existing works focus only on the line-of-sight (LOS) transmission by infrared (IR) or visible light lasers/LEDs, while this article suggested a framework of non-line-of-sight (NLOS) FSO, motivated by our recent experimental results on the successful transmission of NLOS ultraviolet (UV) beams for up to kilometers, which is comparable to the typical distance a LOS FSO transmission. The NLOS provides an alternate path when the LOS path is shadowed or is highly attenuated. In order to mitigate the multipath dispersion of the NLOS FSO, a baseband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme was proposed, based on Discrete Hartley Transform (DHT) and asymmetric clipping to guarantee the positive-realness of the transmitted optical intensity. The proposed system could reduce the hardware complexity of transmitter and receiver. Minimum mean square error (MMSE) precoder was applied before the DHT to remove the crosstalk between subcarriers, i.e. the frequency domain orthogonality of OFDM was preserved. Performance of the BPSK modulated communication system was given under lognormal atmospheric turbulence for demonstration of the feasibility of the proposed method.

Recent sightings of marine mammals in Andaman Islands, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bitopan Malakar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study reports opportunistic sightings of marine mammals between August 2013 and January 2014 in the Andaman region.  Seven sightings were recorded during this period out of which one was of a Dugong, which is significant considering its small population size in India and limited data on its distribution and abundance.  The rest were 24 dolphins (Tursiops sp..  Four sightings were of the same pod of dolphins on different days at the same location.  Two sightings occurred during regular coral reef monitoring survey and the other five during fishery resource survey by trawling operations.  These sightings are of great significance as there is a lack of studies on marine mammals from the region.  Sighting records are useful for understanding aggregation site, behaviour, habits and habitat and residency patterns and provide important information for conservation of marine mammals. 

Miniaturized day/night sight in Soldato Futuro program

Science.gov (United States)

Landini, Alberto; Cocchi, Alessandro; Bardazzi, Riccardo; Sardelli, Mauro; Puntri, Stefano

2013-06-01

The market of the sights for the 5.56 mm assault rifles is dominated by mainly three types of systems: TWS (Thermal Weapon Sight), the Pocket Scope with Weapon Mount and the Clip-on. The latter are designed primarily for special forces and snipers use, while the TWS design is triggered mainly by the DRI (Detection, Recognition, Identification) requirements. The Pocket Scope design is focused on respecting the SWaP (Size, Weight and Power dissipation) requirements. Compared to the TWS systems, for the last two years there was a significant technological growth of the Pocket Scope/Weapon Mount solutions, concentrated on the compression of the overall dimensions. The trend for the assault rifles is the use of small size/light weight (SWaP) IR sights, suitable mainly for close combat operations but also for extraordinary use as pocket scopes - handheld or helmet mounted. The latest developments made by Selex ES S.p.A. are responding precisely to the above-mentioned trend, through a miniaturized Day/Night sight embedding state-of-the art sensors and using standard protocols (USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0) for interfacing with PDAs, Wearable computers, etc., while maintaining the "shoot around the corner" capability. Indeed, inside the miniaturized Day/Night sight architecture, a wireless link using Bluetooth technology has been implemented to transmit the video streaming of the rifle sight to an helmet mounted display. The video of the rifle sight is transmitted only to the eye-piece of the soldier shouldering the rifle.

Archiving InSight Lander Science Data Using PDS4 Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, T.; Guinness, E. A.; Slavney, S.

2017-12-01

The InSight Mars Lander is scheduled for launch in 2018, and science data from the mission will be archived in the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) using the new PDS4 standards. InSight is a geophysical lander with a science payload that includes a seismometer, a probe to measure subsurface temperatures and heat flow, a suite of meteorology instruments, a magnetometer, an experiment using radio tracking, and a robotic arm that will provide soil physical property information based on interactions with the surface. InSight is not the first science mission to archive its data using PDS4. However, PDS4 archives do not currently contain examples of the kinds of data that several of the InSight instruments will produce. Whereas the existing common PDS4 standards were sufficient for most of archiving requirements of InSight, the data generated by a few instruments required development of several extensions to the PDS4 information model. For example, the seismometer will deliver a version of its data in SEED format, which is standard for the terrestrial seismology community. This format required the design of a new product type in the PDS4 information model. A local data dictionary has also been developed for InSight that contains attributes that are not part of the common PDS4 dictionary. The local dictionary provides metadata relevant to all InSight data sets, and attributes specific to several of the instruments. Additional classes and attributes were designed for the existing PDS4 geometry dictionary that will capture metadata for the lander position and orientation, along with camera models for stereo image processing. Much of the InSight archive planning and design work has been done by a Data Archiving Working Group (DAWG), which has members from the InSight project and the PDS. The group coordinates archive design, schedules and peer review of the archive documentation and test products. The InSight DAWG archiving effort for PDS is being led by the PDS Geosciences

Memory for environmental sounds in sighted, congenitally blind and late blind adults: evidence for cross-modal compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Röder, Brigitte; Rösler, Frank

2003-10-01

Several recent reports suggest compensatory performance changes in blind individuals. It has, however, been argued that the lack of visual input leads to impoverished semantic networks resulting in the use of data-driven rather than conceptual encoding strategies on memory tasks. To test this hypothesis, congenitally blind and sighted participants encoded environmental sounds either physically or semantically. In the recognition phase, both conceptually as well as physically distinct and physically distinct but conceptually highly related lures were intermixed with the environmental sounds encountered during study. Participants indicated whether or not they had heard a sound in the study phase. Congenitally blind adults showed elevated memory both after physical and semantic encoding. After physical encoding blind participants had lower false memory rates than sighted participants, whereas the false memory rates of sighted and blind participants did not differ after semantic encoding. In order to address the question if compensatory changes in memory skills are restricted to critical periods during early childhood, late blind adults were tested with the same paradigm. When matched for age, they showed similarly high memory scores as the congenitally blind. These results demonstrate compensatory performance changes in long-term memory functions due to the loss of a sensory system and provide evidence for high adaptive capabilities of the human cognitive system.

iSIGHT-FD scalability test report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clay, Robert L.; Shneider, Max S.

2008-07-01

The engineering analysis community at Sandia National Laboratories uses a number of internal and commercial software codes and tools, including mesh generators, preprocessors, mesh manipulators, simulation codes, post-processors, and visualization packages. We define an analysis workflow as the execution of an ordered, logical sequence of these tools. Various forms of analysis (and in particular, methodologies that use multiple function evaluations or samples) involve executing parameterized variations of these workflows. As part of the DART project, we are evaluating various commercial workflow management systems, including iSIGHT-FD from Engineous. This report documents the results of a scalability test that was driven by DAKOTA and conducted on a parallel computer (Thunderbird). The purpose of this experiment was to examine the suitability and performance of iSIGHT-FD for large-scale, parameterized analysis workflows. As the results indicate, we found iSIGHT-FD to be suitable for this type of application.

Instant EdgeSight for XenApp

CERN Document Server

Hasan, Vaqar

2013-01-01

Filled with practical, step-by-step instructions and clear explanations for the most important and useful tasks. Instant EdgeSight for XenApp is a practical, hands-on guide that contains instruction-based examples from basic to advanced level topics. Instant EdgeSight for XenApp will serve as an excellent source of information for Citrix XenApp professionals and novices alike. It is assumed that readers have experience working with Citrix products and have some sort of familiarity with monitoring.

Distance estimation experiment for aerial minke whale surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Witting

2009-09-01

Full Text Available A comparative study between aerial cue–counting and digital photography surveys for minke whales conducted in Faxaflói Bay in September 2003 is used to check the perpendicular distances estimated by the cue-counting observers. The study involved 2 aircraft with the photo plane at 1,700 feet flying above the cue–counting plane at 750 feet. The observer–based distance estimates were calculated from head angles estimated by angle-boards and declination angles estimated by declinometers. These distances were checked against image–based estimates of the perpendicular distance to the same whale. The 2 independent distance estimates were obtained for 21 sightings of minke whale, and there was a good agreement between the 2 types of estimates. The relative absolute deviations between the 2 estimates were on average 23% (se: 6%, with the errors in the observer–based distance estimates resembling that of a log-normal distribution. The linear regression of the observer–based estimates (obs on the image–based estimates (img was Obs=1.1Img (R2=0.85 with an intercept fixed at zero. There was no evidence of a distance estimation bias that could generate a positive bias in the absolute abundance estimated by cue–counting.

Anti-TNF-alpha therapy for sight threatening uveitis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.W. Lindstedt (Eric); G.S. Baarsma (Seerp); R.W.A.M. Kuijpers (Robert); P.M. van Hagen (Martin)

2005-01-01

textabstractAIM: To describe the effect of additional treatment with anti-TNF-alpha therapy in a case series of 13 patients with serious sight threatening uveitis. METHODS: 13 patients with serious sight threatening uveitis were included, of whom six had Behcet's disease, five had idiopathic

Sight-Singing Pedagogy: A Content Analysis of Choral Methods Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Floyd, Eva G.; Haning, Marshall A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the sight-singing pedagogy content of choral methods textbooks, with the intent of determining what elements of sight-singing pedagogy are most commonly included in these resources. A content analysis was conducted to analyze information related to sight-singing pedagogy in 10 textbooks that are commonly…

Socio-Emotional Effects of the Transition from Sight to Blindness

Science.gov (United States)

Thurston, Mhairi; Thurston, Allen; McLeod, John

2010-01-01

The research examined the socio-emotional impact of sight loss on a sample of 18 blind and partially sighted adults from the east coast of Scotland (average age 64). The impact of sight loss in four core areas (mood, self-concept, social connectedness and loss) was explored. Data were collected using the mental health and social functioning…

Statistical simulation of information transfer through non-line-of-sight atmospheric optical communication channels

Science.gov (United States)

Tarasenkov, M. V.; Belov, V. V.; Poznakharev, E. S.

2017-11-01

Impulse response of non-line-of-sight atmospheric communication channels at wavelengths of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.9 μm are compared for the case in which the optical axes of the receiver and laser radiation lie in the plane perpendicular to the Earth's surface. The most efficient communication channel depending on the base distance is determined. For a wavelength of 0.5 μm and a concrete variant of the transceiving part of the communication system, the limiting communication range and the limiting repetition frequency of pulses that can be transmitted through the communication channel are estimated.

The Development of a String Sight-Reading Pitch Skill Hierarchy

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Michael L.; Henry, Michele L.

2012-01-01

This study was designed to determine a pitch skill hierarchy for string sight-reading, to determine the effects of key on string sight-reading achievement, and to determine the validity of a tonal pattern system as a measurement of melodic sight-reading skill for string players. High school string students (n = 94) obtained a mean score of 27.28…

Metacognitive strategies in learning sight-singing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogunović Blanka

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a part of a wider study that is based on interdisciplinary research of sight-singing (psychology and music education. Our intention was to join the psychological knowledge of cognitive processes on the one hand, and the practical approach of music teachers, based on methods, techniques and procedures of mastering sight-reading-singing skills on the other. We aimed: 1. to determine the kinds and levels of strategies that music students use in the cognitive processes involved during sight-singing; 2. to explore strategies of problem solving when difficulties appear; 3. to investigate the self-evaluation perspectives of students; and 4. to relate students' learning experience to the strategies used. The sample consisted of 89 music students from higher music education in Belgrade and The Hague. They filled in the questionnaire based on self-reports, covering general data about their music education background, different issues of sight-singing, such as planning, problem solving, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, and three melodic examples written in different musical styles. Results showed that strategies used during sight-singing can be roughly sorted into three groups that differ according to the 'key accent' given: cognitive, intuitive and no-strategy. The music cognitive strategies involved cover three levels of musical organization and representation: a relying on smaller chunks of the musical piece, referring to existing knowledge and learning experience; b leaning on a slightly 'bigger picture' of familiar patterns; and c mental representation of melodic/rhythmic/harmonic structures. When faced with a problem, half of the students employed analytic approaches. Comparisons between sub-samples showed, for example, that future performing musicians more often used 'tone-to-tone' thinking and 'bottom-up' strategies in approaching musical structure, while music theory students had better insight into the whole and used

Optimal short-sighted rules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sacha eBourgeois-Gironde

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to assess the relevance of methodological transfers from behavioral ecology to experimental economics with respect to the elicitation of intertemporal preferences. More precisely our discussion will stem from the analysis of Stephens and Anderson’s (2001 seminal article. In their study with blue jays they document that foraging behavior typically implements short sighted choice rules which are beneficial in the long-run. Such long term profitability of short-sighted behavior cannot be evidenced when using a self-control paradigm (one which contrasts in a binary way sooner smaller and later larger payoffs but becomes apparent when ecological patch-paradigms (replicating economic situations in which the main trade-off consists in staying on a food patch or leaving for another patch are implemented. We transfer this methodology in view of contrasting foraging strategies and self-control in human intertemporal choices.

Towards a Dynamic Model of Skills Involved in Sight Reading Music

Science.gov (United States)

Kopiez, Reinhard; Lee, Ji In

2006-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between selected predictors of achievement in playing unrehearsed music (sight reading) and the changing complexity of sight reading tasks. The question under investigation is, how different variables gain or lose significance as sight reading stimuli become more difficult. Fifty-two piano major graduates…

Comparison between RVG UI sensor and Kodak InSight film for detection of incipient proximal caries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuda, Yukiko; Hanazawa, Tomomi; Seki, Kenji; Araki, Kazuyuki; Okano, Tomohiro

2002-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of the four combination modes of Trophy Radio Visio Graphy (RVG) UI sensor (Trex-Trophy Radiology Inc., Marne-la-Valee, France) and Kodak InSight film (Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY) for detecting proximal dental caries. Thirty extracted human upper premolars were selected. Of 60 surfaces, 25 had carious lesions in the form of small cavities, and the rest showed no evidence of caries as verified by a micro computed tomogram (micro CT; XCT Research SA+, Stratec Medizintechnik GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany). All teeth were radiographed with the paralleling technique (60 kV, 40 cm focus-to-sensor distance). Four combination modes (high-resolution caries mode-HRC; high-sensitivity caries mode-HSC; high-resolution periodontal mode-HRP; and high-resolution endo mode-HRE) were used. Exposure was set at 0.12 sec for HRC, 0.08 sec for HSC, 0.16 sec for HRP, 0.12 sec for HRE, and 0.16 sec for the Kodak InSight film. The resulting images were evaluated by three oral radiologists. The same three observers evaluated the digital images, and were allowed to use the contrast and brightness controls in doing so. Possible differences in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve areas among image modalities were assessed by the Friedman test. The mean ROC curve areas were 0.66±0.11 for HRC, 0.78±0.02 for HSC, 0.76±0.04 for HRE, 0.77±0.04 for HRP, and 0.71±0.09 for the Kodak InSight film. There were no statistically significant differences between HRC, HSC, HRE, HRP and the Kodak InSight film in terms of proximal caries detection. The four modes of RVG UI system are each a viable alternative to intraoral film for the detection of incipient dental caries. (author)

Artificial Sight Basic Research, Biomedical Engineering, and Clinical Advances

CERN Document Server

Humayun, Mark S; Chader, Gerald; Greenbaum, Elias

2008-01-01

Artificial sight is a frontier area of modern ophthalmology combining the multidisciplinary skills of surgical ophthalmology, biomedical engineering, biological physics, and psychophysical testing. Many scientific, engineering, and surgical challenges must be surmounted before widespread practical applications can be realized. The goal of Artificial Sight is to summarize the state-of-the-art research in this exciting area, and to describe some of the current approaches and initiatives that may help patients in a clinical setting. The Editors are active researchers in the fields of artificial sight, biomedical engineering and biological physics. They have received numerous professional awards and recognition for their work. The artificial sight team at the Doheny Eye Institute, led by Dr. Mark Humayun, is a world leader in this area of biomedical engineering and clinical research. Key Features Introduces and assesses the state of the art for a broad audience of biomedical engineers, biophysicists, and clinical...

Inferring about the extinction of a species using certain and uncertain sightings.

Science.gov (United States)

Kodikara, Saritha; Demirhan, Haydar; Stone, Lewi

2018-04-07

The sighting record of threatened species is often used to infer the possibility of extinction. Most of these sightings have uncertain validity. Solow and Beet(2014) developed two models using a Bayesian approach which allowed for uncertainty in the sighting record by formally incorporating both certain and uncertain sightings, but in different ways. Interestingly, the two methods give completely different conclusions concerning the extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. We further examined these two methods to provide a mathematical explanation, and to explore in more depth, as to why the results differed from one another. It was found that the first model was more sensitive to the last uncertain sighting, while the second was more sensitive to the last certain sighting. The difficulties in choosing the appropriate model are discussed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building Astronomy Curriculum to Include the Sight Impaired: Week long summer camp activities for Middle School Students adherent to Washington State Curriculum Standards (EALR's)

Science.gov (United States)

Ramien, Natalie; Loebman, S. R.; Player, V.; Larson, A.; Torcolini, N. B.; Traverse, A.

2011-01-01

Currently astronomy learning is heavily geared towards visual aids; however, roughly 10 million people in North America are sight impaired. Every student should have access to meaningful astronomy curriculum; an understanding of astronomy is an expectation of national and state science learning requirements. Over the last ten years, Noreen Grice has developed Braille and large print astronomy text books aimed at sight impaired learners. We build upon Grice's written work and present here a five day lesson plan that integrates 2D reading with 3D activities. Through this curriculum, students develop an intuitive understanding of astronomical distance, size, composition and lifetimes. We present five distinct lesson modules that can be taught individually or in a sequential form: the planets, our sun, stars, stellar evolution and galaxies. We have tested these modules on sight impaired students and report the results here. Overall, we find the work presented here lends itself equally well to a week long science camp geared toward middle school sight impaired taught by astronomers or as supplemental material integrated into a regular classroom science curriculum. This work was made possible by a 2007 Simple Effective Education and Dissemination (SEED) Grant For Astronomy Researchers, Astronomical Society of the Pacific through funds provided by the Planck Mission, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology.

Micro-Doppler extraction of a small UAV in a non-line-of-sight urban scenario

Science.gov (United States)

Gustavsson, Magnus; Andersson, Åsa; Johansson, Tommy; Jonsson, Rolf; Karlsson, Nils; Nilsson, Stefan

2017-05-01

The appearance of small UAVs on the commercial market poses a real threat to both civilian safety and to military operations. In open terrain a radar can detect and track even small UAVs at long distances. In an urban environment with limited line-of-sight and strong static and non-static background, this capability can be severely reduced. The radar cross section of these UAVs are normally small compared to the background. However, the rotors of the UAVs produce a characteristic micro-Doppler signature that can be exploited for detection and classification. In this paper, we investigate in an experimental set-up whether it is possible in the radar non-line-of-sight to retrieve the micro-Doppler signature of the UAV rotors. This is done by exploring up to three multipath bounces in the measured signal. The measurements were made with a semi-monostatic single receiver-transmitter radar system operating at X-band in a pulsed single frequency mode. The radar response of the UAV, with plastic and metallic rotors, was measured at several positions inside a 4 m wide corridor with metallic walls. In this paper, data from one line-of-sight and two non-line-ofsight positions are presented. Results show that we are able to detect the micro-Doppler of the rotors and to retrieve the number of revolutions per minute, for both rotor types. Free space Finite-Difference Time-Domain calculations have also been performed on a CAD-model of the UAV rotor to determine the optimal choice of polarization and the short-time Fourier transform filter length.

Restricted DCJ-indel model: sorting linear genomes with DCJ and indels

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background The double-cut-and-join (DCJ) is a model that is able to efficiently sort a genome into another, generalizing the typical mutations (inversions, fusions, fissions, translocations) to which genomes are subject, but allowing the existence of circular chromosomes at the intermediate steps. In the general model many circular chromosomes can coexist in some intermediate step. However, when the compared genomes are linear, it is more plausible to use the so-called restricted DCJ model, in which we proceed the reincorporation of a circular chromosome immediately after its creation. These two consecutive DCJ operations, which create and reincorporate a circular chromosome, mimic a transposition or a block-interchange. When the compared genomes have the same content, it is known that the genomic distance for the restricted DCJ model is the same as the distance for the general model. If the genomes have unequal contents, in addition to DCJ it is necessary to consider indels, which are insertions and deletions of DNA segments. Linear time algorithms were proposed to compute the distance and to find a sorting scenario in a general, unrestricted DCJ-indel model that considers DCJ and indels. Results In the present work we consider the restricted DCJ-indel model for sorting linear genomes with unequal contents. We allow DCJ operations and indels with the following constraint: if a circular chromosome is created by a DCJ, it has to be reincorporated in the next step (no other DCJ or indel can be applied between the creation and the reincorporation of a circular chromosome). We then develop a sorting algorithm and give a tight upper bound for the restricted DCJ-indel distance. Conclusions We have given a tight upper bound for the restricted DCJ-indel distance. The question whether this bound can be reduced so that both the general and the restricted DCJ-indel distances are equal remains open. PMID:23281630

Tactile-Sight: A Sensory Substitution Device Based on Distance-Related Vibrotactile Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leandro Cancar

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Sensory substitution is a research field of increasing interest with regard to technical, applied and theoretical issues. Among the latter, it is of central interest to understand the form in which humans perceive the environment. Ecological psychology, among other approaches, proposes that we can detect higher-order informational variables (in the sense that they are defined over substantial spatial and temporal intervals that specify our interaction with the environment. When using a vibrotactile sensory substitution device, it is reasonable to ask if stimulation on the skin may be exploitable to detect higher-order variables. Motivated by this question, a portable vibrotactile sensory substitution device was built, using distance-based information as a source and driving a large number of vibrotactile actuators (72 in the reported version, 120 max. The portable device was designed to explore real environments, allowing natural unrestricted movement for the user while providing contingent real-time vibrotactile information. Two preliminary experiments were performed. In the first one, participants were asked to detect the time to contact of an approaching ball in a simulated (desktop environment. Reasonable performance was observed in all experimental conditions, including the one with only tactile stimulation. In the second experiment, a portable version of the device was used in a real environment, where participants were asked to hit an approaching ball. Participants were able to coordinate their arm movements with vibrotactile stimulation in appropriate timing. We conclude that vibrotactile flow can be generated by distance-based activation of the actuators and that this stimulation on the skin allows users to perceive time-to-contact related environmental properties.

Permissible Home Range Estimation (PHRE in Restricted Habitats: A New Algorithm and an Evaluation for Sea Otters.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Max Tarjan

Full Text Available Parametric and nonparametric kernel methods dominate studies of animal home ranges and space use. Most existing methods are unable to incorporate information about the underlying physical environment, leading to poor performance in excluding areas that are not used. Using radio-telemetry data from sea otters, we developed and evaluated a new algorithm for estimating home ranges (hereafter Permissible Home Range Estimation, or "PHRE" that reflects habitat suitability. We began by transforming sighting locations into relevant landscape features (for sea otters, coastal position and distance from shore. Then, we generated a bivariate kernel probability density function in landscape space and back-transformed this to geographic space in order to define a permissible home range. Compared to two commonly used home range estimation methods, kernel densities and local convex hulls, PHRE better excluded unused areas and required a smaller sample size. Our PHRE method is applicable to species whose ranges are restricted by complex physical boundaries or environmental gradients and will improve understanding of habitat-use requirements and, ultimately, aid in conservation efforts.

Evaluation of the Legibility of Broken Lines for Partial Sight

OpenAIRE

小林, 秀之

2000-01-01

The present study was designed to investigate the legibility of broken lines for persons with partial sight. The subjects were 10 persons with simulated partial sight, and 4 persons with partial sight. The simulation was obtained using filters and convex lenses. The 30 kind of broken lines was evaluated by the original test that the subjects were read directions of the broken lines in distinction from solid lines. The thickness of lines varied from 0.1mm. to 0.7mm. in 4 steps. The results...

The Effect of Key on Vocal Sight-Reading Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Michele L.

2013-01-01

At its most basic level, sight-reading can be defined as the production of accurate pitch and rhythm from a previously unseen musical score. For vocalists, sight-reading principally involves the production of pitches by determining their relationship within a tonal framework. The ability to mentally conceive tonal function and convert it into…

OnSight: Multi-platform Visualization of the Surface of Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Abercrombie, S. P.; Menzies, A.; Winter, A.; Clausen, M.; Duran, B.; Jorritsma, M.; Goddard, C.; Lidawer, A.

2017-12-01

A key challenge of planetary geology is to develop an understanding of an environment that humans cannot (yet) visit. Instead, scientists rely on visualizations created from images sent back by robotic explorers, such as the Curiosity Mars rover. OnSight is a multi-platform visualization tool that helps scientists and engineers to visualize the surface of Mars. Terrain visualization allows scientists to understand the scale and geometric relationships of the environment around the Curiosity rover, both for scientific understanding and for tactical consideration in safely operating the rover. OnSight includes a web-based 2D/3D visualization tool, as well as an immersive mixed reality visualization. In addition, OnSight offers a novel feature for communication among the science team. Using the multiuser feature of OnSight, scientists can meet virtually on Mars, to discuss geology in a shared spatial context. Combining web-based visualization with immersive visualization allows OnSight to leverage strengths of both platforms. This project demonstrates how 3D visualization can be adapted to either an immersive environment or a computer screen, and will discuss advantages and disadvantages of both platforms.

Galactic Structure in the Outer Disk: The Field in the Line of Sight to the Intermediate-Age open Cluster Tombaugh 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carraro, Giovanni [Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá di Padova Vicolo Osservatorio 3 I-35122, Padova (Italy); Silva, Joao Victor Sales [Observatorio Nacional/MCT Rua Gen. José Cristino 77 20291-400, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Bidin, Christian Moni [Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Catolica del Norte Av. Angamos 0610, Casilla 1280 Antofagasta (Chile); Vazquez, Ruben A., E-mail: giovanni.carraro@unipd.it [Instituto de Astrofisica de La Plata CONICET/ UNLP, Paseo del Bosque s/n La Plata (Argentina)

2017-03-01

We employ optical photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy to study a field toward the open cluster Tombaugh 1, where we identify a complex population mixture that we describe in terms of young and old Galactic thin disks. Of particular interest is the spatial distribution of the young population, which consists of dwarfs with spectral types as early as B6 and is distributed in a blue plume feature in the color–magnitude diagram. For the first time, we confirm spectroscopically that most of these stars are early-type stars and not blue stragglers or halo/thick-disk subdwarfs. Moreover, they are not evenly distributed along the line of sight but crowd at heliocentric distances between 6.6 and 8.2 kpc. We compare these results with present-day understanding of the spiral structure of the Galaxy and suggest that they trace the outer arm. This range of distances challenges current Galactic models adopting a disk cutoff at 14 kpc from the Galactic center. The young dwarfs overlap in space with an older component, which is identified as an old Galactic thin disk. Both young and old populations are confined in space since the disk is warped at the latitude and longitude of Tombaugh 1. The main effects of the warp are that the line of sight intersects the disk and entirely crosses it at the outer arm distance and that there are no traces of the closer Perseus arm, which would then be either unimportant in this sector or located much closer to the formal Galactic plane. Finally, we analyze a group of giant stars, which turn out to be located at very different distances and to possess very different chemical properties, with no obvious relation to the other populations.

Sight Word and Phonics Training in Children with Dyslexia

Science.gov (United States)

McArthur, Genevieve; Castles, Anne; Kohnen, Saskia; Larsen, Linda; Jones, Kristy; Anandakumar, Thushara; Banales, Erin

2015-01-01

The aims of this study were to (a) compare sight word training and phonics training in children with dyslexia, and (b) determine if different orders of sight word and phonics training have different effects on the reading skills of children with dyslexia. One group of children (n = 36) did 8 weeks of phonics training (reading via grapheme-phoneme…

Improvement in spatial imagery following sight onset late in childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandhi, Tapan K; Ganesh, Suma; Sinha, Pawan

2014-03-01

The factors contributing to the development of spatial imagery skills are not well understood. Here, we consider whether visual experience shapes these skills. Although differences in spatial imagery between sighted and blind individuals have been reported, it is unclear whether these differences are truly due to visual deprivation or instead are due to extraneous factors, such as reduced opportunities for the blind to interact with their environment. A direct way of assessing vision's contribution to the development of spatial imagery is to determine whether spatial imagery skills change soon after the onset of sight in congenitally blind individuals. We tested 10 children who gained sight after several years of congenital blindness and found significant improvements in their spatial imagery skills following sight-restoring surgeries. These results provide evidence of vision's contribution to spatial imagery and also have implications for the nature of internal spatial representations.

The importance of sight for drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alicja Pas-Wyroślak

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Sight is the basic sense for drivers. Condition of the eye determines correct, comfortable and safe performance of the work as drivers. This article presents various factors influencing the sight condition. There are two groups of factors, external (environment, the kind and time of work, stress caused by work and internal (systemic and local disorders. All these factors can reduce significantly visual functions, such as visual acuity, field of vision, color vision, strereoscopic vision, twilight vision and glare sensitivity. There are also presented actual requirements for drivers and causes of the car accidents in various age groups. Impairments in vision functions can be dangerous for both the driver and other road users. Med Pr 2013;64(3:419–425

Measuring the Dust Grains and Distance to X Persei Via Its X-ray Halo

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Randall

2006-09-01

We propose to observe the X-ray halo of the high mass X-ray binary pulsar X Per to measure interstellar dust grains along the line of sight (LOS) and to determine the distance to X Per. The X-ray halo is formed by scattering from grains along the LOS, which for X Per appear to be concentrated in one molecular cloud. Unlike many other X-ray halo observations, this low-absorption high-latitude sightline is well-characterized from absorption spectroscopy done with HST, Copernicus, and FUSE. This halo observation will measure the distance to the cloud and the dust size distribution in it. We will also be able to determine the distance to X Per by measuring the time delayed pulses in the X-ray halo.

Glaucoma: Screening Can Save Your Sight!

Science.gov (United States)

... of this page please turn Javascript on. Feature: Glaucoma Glaucoma: Screening Can Save Your Sight! Past Issues / Fall 2009 Table of Contents People with glaucoma see the world through a tunnel. Glaucoma is ...

Right Whale Sightings Advisory System (RWSAS)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Right Whale Sighting Advisory System (RWSAS) is a NOAA Fisheries program which was designed to reduce collisions between ships and the critically endangered...

A large catalog of accurate distances to molecular clouds from PS1 photometry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schlafly, E. F.; Rix, H.-W.; Martin, N. F. [Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Green, G.; Finkbeiner, D. P. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Bell, E. F. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Burgett, W. S.; Chambers, K. C.; Hodapp, K. W.; Kaiser, N.; Magnier, E. A.; Tonry, J. L. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Draper, P. W.; Metcalfe, N. [Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Price, P. A. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)

2014-05-01

Distance measurements to molecular clouds are important but are often made separately for each cloud of interest, employing very different data and techniques. We present a large, homogeneous catalog of distances to molecular clouds, most of which are of unprecedented accuracy. We determine distances using optical photometry of stars along lines of sight toward these clouds, obtained from PanSTARRS-1. We simultaneously infer the reddenings and distances to these stars, tracking the full probability distribution function using a technique presented in Green et al. We fit these star-by-star measurements using a simple dust screen model to find the distance to each cloud. We thus estimate the distances to almost all of the clouds in the Magnani et al. catalog, as well as many other well-studied clouds, including Orion, Perseus, Taurus, Cepheus, Polaris, California, and Monoceros R2, avoiding only the inner Galaxy. Typical statistical uncertainties in the distances are 5%, though the systematic uncertainty stemming from the quality of our stellar models is about 10%. The resulting catalog is the largest catalog of accurate, directly measured distances to molecular clouds. Our distance estimates are generally consistent with available distance estimates from the literature, though in some cases the literature estimates are off by a factor of more than two.

Distance still matters. The hard reality of global expansion.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghemawat, P

2001-09-01

Companies routinely overestimate the attractiveness of foreign markets. Dazzled by the sheer size of untapped markets, they lose sight of the difficulties of pioneering new, often very different territories. The problem is rooted in the analytic tools (the most prominent being country portfolio analysis, or CPA) that managers use to judge international investments. By focusing on national wealth, consumer income, and people's propensity to consume, CPA emphasizes potential sales, ignoring the costs and risks of doing business in a new market. Most of these costs and risks result from the barriers created by distance. "Distance," however, does not refer only to geography; its other dimensions can make foreign markets considerably more or less attractive. The CAGE framework of distance presented here considers four attributes: cultural distance (religious beliefs, race, social norms, and language that are different for the target country and the country of the company considering expansion); administrative or political distance (colony-colonizer links, common currency, and trade arrangements); geographic distance (the physical distance between the two countries, the size of the target country, access to waterways and the ocean, internal topography, and transportation and communications infrastructures); and economic distance (disparities in the two countries' wealth or consumer income and variations in the cost and quality of financial and other resources). This framework can help to identify the ways in which potential markets may be distant from existing ones. The article explores how (and by how much) various types of distance can affect different types of industries and shows how dramatically an explicit consideration of distance can change a company's picture of its strategic options.

The processing of music notation: some implications for piano sight ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Most piano pupils and many professional pianists find it difficult to sight-read music fluently. A major reason for this phenomenon is the complexity of the piano sight-reading process. Cognitive research reveals an intricate system of neural networks spread over all four cortical lobes of the brain, which are involved in ...

Interactive SIGHT: textual access to simple bar charts

Science.gov (United States)

Demir, Seniz; Oliver, David; Schwartz, Edward; Elzer, Stephanie; Carberry, Sandra; Mccoy, Kathleen F.; Chester, Daniel

2010-12-01

Information graphics, such as bar charts and line graphs, are an important component of many articles from popular media. The majority of such graphics have an intention (a high-level message) to communicate to the graph viewer. Since the intended message of a graphic is often not repeated in the accompanying text, graphics together with the textual segments contribute to the overall purpose of an article and cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, these visual displays are provided in a format which is not readily accessible to everyone. For example, individuals with sight impairments who use screen readers to listen to documents have limited access to the graphics. This article presents a new accessibility tool, the Interactive SIGHT (Summarizing Information GrapHics Textually) system, that is intended to enable visually impaired users to access the knowledge that one would gain from viewing information graphics found on the web. The current system, which is implemented as a browser extension that works on simple bar charts, can be invoked by a user via a keystroke combination while navigating the web. Once launched, Interactive SIGHT first provides a brief summary that conveys the underlying intention of a bar chart along with the chart's most significant and salient features, and then produces history-aware follow-up responses to provide further information about the chart upon request from the user. We present two user studies that were conducted with sighted and visually impaired users to determine how effective the initial summary and follow-up responses are in conveying the informational content of bar charts, and to evaluate how easy it is to use the system interface. The evaluation results are promising and indicate that the system responses are well-structured and enable visually impaired users to answer key questions about bar charts in an easy-to-use manner. Post-experimental interviews revealed that visually impaired participants were very satisfied with

Assessing distances and consistency of kinematics in Gaia/TGAS

Science.gov (United States)

Schönrich, Ralph; Aumer, Michael

2017-12-01

We apply the statistical methods by Schönrich, Binney & Asplund to assess the quality of distances and kinematics in the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE)-Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) and Large Sky Area Multiobject Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST)-TGAS samples of Solar neighbourhood stars. These methods yield a nominal distance accuracy of 1-2 per cent. Other than common tests on parallax accuracy, they directly test distance estimations including the effects of distance priors. We show how to construct these priors including the survey selection functions (SSFs) directly from the data. We demonstrate that neglecting the SSFs causes severe distance biases. Due to the decline of the SSFs in distance, the simple 1/parallax estimate only mildly underestimates distances. We test the accuracy of measured line-of-sight velocities (vlos) by binning the samples in the nominal vlos uncertainties. We find: (i) the LAMOST vlos have a ∼-5 km s-1 offset; (ii) the average LAMOST measurement error for vlos is ∼7 km s-1, significantly smaller than, and nearly uncorrelated with the nominal LAMOST estimates. The RAVE sample shows either a moderate distance underestimate, or an unaccounted source of vlos dispersion (e∥) from measurement errors and binary stars. For a subsample of suspected binary stars in RAVE, our methods indicate significant distance underestimates. Separating a sample in metallicity or kinematics to select thick-disc/halo stars, discriminates between distance bias and e∥. For LAMOST, this separation yields consistency with pure vlos measurement errors. We find an anomaly near longitude l ∼ (300 ± 60)° and distance s ∼ (0.32 ± 0.03) kpc on both sides of the galactic plane, which could be explained by either a localized distance error or a breathing mode.

Quality of life in blind and partially sighted people

OpenAIRE

Vuletić, Gorka; Šarlija, Tea; Benjak, Tomislav

2016-01-01

The aim of this research was to examine the subjective quality of life in blind and partially sighted people in relation to the type of impairment, duration of impairment and participation in psychosocial rehabilitation. The study used a sociodemographic and health questionnaire, and the Personal Wellbeing Index for adults to examine participant satisfaction with different life domains. The results have shown that subjective quality of life in blind and partially sighted people is within the ...

ESTIMATION OF DISTANCES TO STARS WITH STELLAR PARAMETERS FROM LAMOST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Newberg, Heidi Jo [Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180 (United States); Liu, Chao; Deng, Licai; Li, Guangwei; Luo, A-Li; Wu, Yue; Yang, Ming; Zhang, Haotong [Key Lab of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012 (China); Beers, Timothy C. [Department of Physics and JINA: Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Chen, Li; Hou, Jinliang; Smith, Martin C. [Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030 (China); Guhathakurta, Puragra [UCO/Lick Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Hou, Yonghui [Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210042 (China); Lépine, Sébastien [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, 25 Park Place, Suite 605, Atlanta, GA 30303 (United States); Yanny, Brian [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Zheng, Zheng, E-mail: jeffreylcarlin@gmail.com [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, UT 84112 (United States)

2015-07-15

We present a method to estimate distances to stars with spectroscopically derived stellar parameters. The technique is a Bayesian approach with likelihood estimated via comparison of measured parameters to a grid of stellar isochrones, and returns a posterior probability density function for each star’s absolute magnitude. This technique is tailored specifically to data from the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) survey. Because LAMOST obtains roughly 3000 stellar spectra simultaneously within each ∼5° diameter “plate” that is observed, we can use the stellar parameters of the observed stars to account for the stellar luminosity function and target selection effects. This removes biasing assumptions about the underlying populations, both due to predictions of the luminosity function from stellar evolution modeling, and from Galactic models of stellar populations along each line of sight. Using calibration data of stars with known distances and stellar parameters, we show that our method recovers distances for most stars within ∼20%, but with some systematic overestimation of distances to halo giants. We apply our code to the LAMOST database, and show that the current precision of LAMOST stellar parameters permits measurements of distances with ∼40% error bars. This precision should improve as the LAMOST data pipelines continue to be refined.

COMPARISON OF SOLAR SURFACE FLOWS INFERRED FROM TIME-DISTANCE HELIOSEISMOLOGY AND COHERENT STRUCTURE TRACKING USING HMI/SDO OBSERVATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Švanda, Michal; Roudier, Thierry; Rieutord, Michel; Burston, Raymond; Gizon, Laurent

2013-01-01

We compare measurements of horizontal flows on the surface of the Sun using helioseismic time-distance inversions and coherent structure tracking of solar granules. Tracking provides two-dimensional horizontal flows on the solar surface, whereas the time-distance inversions estimate the full three-dimensional velocity flows in the shallow near-surface layers. Both techniques use Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager observations as input. We find good correlations between the various measurements resulting from the two techniques. Further, we find a good agreement between these measurements and the time-averaged Doppler line-of-sight velocity, and also perform sanity checks on the vertical flow that resulted from the three-dimensional time-distance inversion.

Electrophysiological correlates of mental navigation in blind and sighted people.

Science.gov (United States)

Kober, Silvia Erika; Wood, Guilherme; Kampl, Christiane; Neuper, Christa; Ischebeck, Anja

2014-10-15

The aim of the present study was to investigate functional reorganization of the occipital cortex for a mental navigation task in blind people. Eight completely blind adults and eight sighted matched controls performed a mental navigation task, in which they mentally imagined to walk along familiar routes of their hometown during a multi-channel EEG measurement. A motor imagery task was used as control condition. Furthermore, electrophysiological activation patterns during a resting measurement with open and closed eyes were compared between blind and sighted participants. During the resting measurement with open eyes, no differences in EEG power were observed between groups, whereas sighted participants showed higher alpha (8-12Hz) activity at occipital sites compared to blind participants during an eyes-closed resting condition. During the mental navigation task, blind participants showed a stronger event-related desynchronization in the alpha band over the visual cortex compared to sighted controls indicating a stronger activation in this brain region in the blind. Furthermore, groups showed differences in functional brain connectivity between fronto-central and parietal-occipital brain networks during mental navigation indicating stronger visuo-spatial processing in sighted than in blind people during mental navigation. Differences in electrophysiological parameters between groups were specific for mental navigation since no group differences were observed during motor imagery. These results indicate that in the absence of vision the visual cortex takes over other functions such as spatial navigation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preferred viewing distance and screen angle of electronic paper displays.

Science.gov (United States)

Shieh, Kong-King; Lee, Der-Song

2007-09-01

This study explored the viewing distance and screen angle for electronic paper (E-Paper) displays under various light sources, ambient illuminations, and character sizes. Data analysis showed that the mean viewing distance and screen angle were 495 mm and 123.7 degrees. The mean viewing distances for Kolin Chlorestic Liquid Crystal display was 500 mm, significantly longer than Sony electronic ink display, 491 mm. Screen angle for Kolin was 127.4 degrees, significantly greater than that of Sony, 120.0 degrees. Various light sources revealed no significant effect on viewing distances; nevertheless, they showed significant effect on screen angles. The screen angle for sunlight lamp (D65) was similar to that of fluorescent lamp (TL84), but greater than that of tungsten lamp (F). Ambient illumination and E-paper type had significant effects on viewing distance and screen angle. The higher the ambient illumination was, the longer the viewing distance and the lesser the screen angle. Character size had significant effect on viewing distances: the larger the character size, the longer the viewing distance. The results of this study indicated that the viewing distance for E-Paper was similar to that of visual display terminal (VDT) at around 500 mm, but greater than normal paper at about 360 mm. The mean screen angle was around 123.7 degrees, which in terms of viewing angle is 29.5 degrees below horizontal eye level. This result is similar to the general suggested viewing angle between 20 degrees and 50 degrees below the horizontal line of sight.

Sight threatening retinopathy in a child with sickle cell &beta ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sight threatening changes in the retina are a well-recognized complication of sickle cell disease (SCD). However they usually occur in older patients with Haemoglobin SC or Sβ+thal patterns. It is rarely found under the age of 20 years in patients who are Hb SS or Sβ<°thal. This is a report of sight threatening retinopathy in ...

Vocal Sight-Reading Assessment: Technological Advances, Student Perceptions, and Instructional Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Michele

2015-01-01

This study investigated choral singers' comfort level using computer technology for vocal sight-reading assessment. High school choral singers (N = 138) attending a summer music camp completed a computer-based sight-reading assessment and accompanying pre- and posttest surveys on their musical backgrounds and perceptions about technology. A large…

375-nm ultraviolet-laser based non-line-of-sight underwater optical communication

KAUST Repository

Sun, Xiaobin; Cai, Wenqi; Alkhazragi, Omar; Ooi, Ee-Ning; He, Hongsen; Chaaban, Anas; Shen, Chao; Oubei, Hassan M.; Khan, Mohammed Zahed Mustafa; Ng, Tien Khee; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ooi, Boon S.

2018-01-01

For circumventing the alignment requirement of line-of-sight (LOS) underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC), we demonstrated a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) UWOC link adequately enhanced using ultraviolet (UV) 375-nm laser. Path loss was chosen

Clustering of galaxies around gamma-ray burst sight-lines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sudilovsky, V.; Greiner, J.; Rau, A.

2013-01-01

-lines, as strong MgII tends to trace these sources. In this work, we test this expectation by calculating the two point angular correlation function of galaxies within 120'' (~470 h Kpc470h71-1Kpc at z ~ 0.4) of GRB afterglows. We compare the gamma-ray burst optical and near-infrared detector (GROND) GRB afterglow.......3. This result is contrary to the expectations from the MgII excess derived from GRB afterglow spectroscopy, although many confirmed galaxy counterparts to MgII absorbers may be too faint to detect in our sample-especially those at z > 1. We note that the addition of higher sensitivity Spitzer/IRAC or HST/WFC3......There is evidence of an overdensity of strong intervening MgII absorption line systems distributed along the lines of sight toward gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows relative to quasar sight-lines. If this excess is real, one should also expect an overdensity of field galaxies around GRB sight...

Trends in anecdotal fox sightings in Tasmania accounted for by psychological factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Marks, Clive A; Clark, Malcolm; Obendorf, David; Hall, Graham P; Soares, Inês; Pereira, Filipe

2017-12-01

There has been little evaluation of anecdotal sightings as a means to confirm new incursions of invasive species. This paper explores the potential for equivocal information communicated by the media to account for patterns of anecdotal reports. In 2001, it was widely reported that red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) had been deliberately released in the island state of Tasmania (Australia), although this claim was later revealed to be baseless. Regardless, by 2013 a total of 3153 anecdotal fox sightings had been reported by members of the public, which implied their distribution was wide. For each month in 2001-2003, we defined a monthly media index (MMI) of fox-related media coverage, an index of their relative seasonal abundance (abundance), and a factor denoting claims of fox evidence (claimed evidence) regardless of its evidentiary quality. We fitted a generalized linear model with Poisson error for monthly totals of anecdotal sightings with factors of year and claimed evidence and covariates of MMI, abundance, and hours of darkness. The collective effect of psychological factors (MMI, claimed evidence, and year) relative to biophysical factors (photoperiod and abundance) was highly significant (χ 2 = 122.1, df = 6, p fox media from 2001 to 2010 was strongly associated with the yearly tally of anecdotal sightings (p = 0.018). The odds ratio of sightings ranked as reliable by the fox eradication program in any year decreased exponentially at a rate of 0.00643 as the total number of sightings increased (p < 0.0001) and was indicative of an observer-expectancy bias. Our results suggest anecdotal sightings are highly susceptible to cognitive biases and when used to qualify and quantify species presence can contribute to flawed risk assessments. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Creating a store environment that encourages buying: A study on sight atmospherics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yolande Hefer

2015-11-01

Full Text Available More than ever, consumers respond to more than just the physical product when making a decision to purchase a product. One of the most noteworthy features of a product is the atmosphere of the place in which the product is bought. From time to time, the store atmosphere is more powerful than the product itself. This study focused specifically on the most important atmospheric element – sight. The main research question explored the effect of sight atmospherics on consumer perceptions. Explorative research was conducted together with qualitative research by means of focus groups. Purposive sampling was deemed the most appropriate sampling method for this study. The findings indicated that sight atmospherics can influence consumers’ perceptions either subconsciously or consciously, and have a direct influence on the amount of time consumers spend in a specific store. Consumers perceived sight atmospherics as a tool to establish a ‘purchasing’ atmosphere and as a means of communication to represent the brand of the store. It was established that sight atmospherics create visual attraction and stimulation with consumers, and that they contribute to the image and the character of the store.

Three-dimensional solution structure of a DNA duplex containing the BclI restriction sequence: Two-dimensional NMR studies, distance geometry calculations, and refinement by back-calculation of the NOESY spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banks, K.M.; Hare, D.R.; Reid, B.R.

1989-01-01

A three-dimensional solution structure for the self-complementary dodecanucleotide [(d-GCCTGATCAGGC)] 2 has been determined by distance geometry with further refinements being performed after back-calculation of the NOESY spectrum. This DNA dodecamer contains the hexamer [d(TGATCA)] 2 recognized and cut by the restriction endonuclease BclI, and its structure was determined in hopes of obtaining a better understanding of the sequence-specific interactions which occur between proteins and DNA. Preliminary examination of the structure indicates the structure is underwound with respect to idealized B-form DNA though some of the local structural parameters (glycosyl torsion angle and pseudorotation angle) suggest a B-family type of structure is present. This research demonstrates the requirements (resonance assignments, interproton distance measurements, distance geometry calculations, and NOESY spectra back-calculation) to generate experimentally self-consistent solution structures for short DNA sequences

Spatial Memory by Blind and Sighted Children

Science.gov (United States)

Millar, Susanna

1975-01-01

Non-verbal recall of haptically presented spatial positions by three age groups of blind and sighted children was tested under conditions varying cuing, recall type and stimulus position in a within-subject design. (Editor)

Haptic cues for orientation and postural control in sighted and blind individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Jeka, J. J.; Easton, R. D.; Bentzen, B. L.; Lackner, J. R.

1996-01-01

Haptic cues from fingertip contact with a stable surface attenuate body sway in subjects even when the contact forces are too small to provide physical support of the body. We investigated how haptic cues derived from contact of a cane with a stationary surface at low force levels aids postural control in sighted and congenitally blind individuals. Five sighted (eyes closed) and five congenitally blind subjects maintained a tandem Romberg stance in five conditions: (1) no cane; (2,3) touch contact (postural sway in all subjects, compared to the no-cane condition. A slanted cane was far more effective in reducing postural sway than was a perpendicular cane. Cane use also decreased head displacement of sighted subjects far more than that of blind subjects. These results suggest that head movement control is linked to postural control through gaze stabilization reflexes in sighted subjects; such reflexes are absent in congenitally blind individuals and may account for their higher levels of head displacement.

Reliability Based Geometric Design of Horizontal Circular Curves

Science.gov (United States)

Rajbongshi, Pabitra; Kalita, Kuldeep

2018-06-01

Geometric design of horizontal circular curve primarily involves with radius of the curve and stopping sight distance at the curve section. Minimum radius is decided based on lateral thrust exerted on the vehicles and the minimum stopping sight distance is provided to maintain the safety in longitudinal direction of vehicles. Available sight distance at site can be regulated by changing the radius and middle ordinate at the curve section. Both radius and sight distance depend on design speed. Speed of vehicles at any road section is a variable parameter and therefore, normally the 98th percentile speed is taken as the design speed. This work presents a probabilistic approach for evaluating stopping sight distance, considering the variability of all input parameters of sight distance. It is observed that the 98th percentile sight distance value is much lower than the sight distance corresponding to 98th percentile speed. The distribution of sight distance parameter is also studied and found to follow a lognormal distribution. Finally, the reliability based design charts are presented for both plain and hill regions, and considering the effect of lateral thrust.

Reliability Based Geometric Design of Horizontal Circular Curves

Science.gov (United States)

Rajbongshi, Pabitra; Kalita, Kuldeep

2018-03-01

Geometric design of horizontal circular curve primarily involves with radius of the curve and stopping sight distance at the curve section. Minimum radius is decided based on lateral thrust exerted on the vehicles and the minimum stopping sight distance is provided to maintain the safety in longitudinal direction of vehicles. Available sight distance at site can be regulated by changing the radius and middle ordinate at the curve section. Both radius and sight distance depend on design speed. Speed of vehicles at any road section is a variable parameter and therefore, normally the 98th percentile speed is taken as the design speed. This work presents a probabilistic approach for evaluating stopping sight distance, considering the variability of all input parameters of sight distance. It is observed that the 98th percentile sight distance value is much lower than the sight distance corresponding to 98th percentile speed. The distribution of sight distance parameter is also studied and found to follow a lognormal distribution. Finally, the reliability based design charts are presented for both plain and hill regions, and considering the effect of lateral thrust.

Spatial flexibility in job mobility: macro-level opportunities and micro-level restrictions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ham, M. van; Mulder, C.H.; Hooimeijer, P.

2001-01-01

Disequilibria among regional labour markets persist through spatial inflexibility in job mobility resulting from restrictions in migration and long-distance commuting. This contribution analyses workplace mobilityöthe acceptance of a job at a great distance from the place of resi- denceöusing a

Development of Small UAS Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS Flight Operations: System Requirements and Procedures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Scott Xiang Fang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Due to safety concerns of integrating small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS into non-segregated airspace, aviation authorities have required a set of detect and avoid (DAA systems to be equipped on small UAS for beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS flight operations in civil airspace. However, the development of small UAS DAA systems also requires BVLOS flights for testing and validation. To mitigate operational risks for small UAS BVLOS flight operations, this paper proposes to initially test small UAS DAA systems in BVLOS flights in a restricted airspace with additional safety features. Later, this paper further discusses the operating procedures and emergency action plans for small UAS BVLOS flight operations. The testing results show that these safety systems developed can help improve operational safety for small UAS BVLOS flight operations.

The Minimum Distance of Graph Codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høholdt, Tom; Justesen, Jørn

2011-01-01

We study codes constructed from graphs where the code symbols are associated with the edges and the symbols connected to a given vertex are restricted to be codewords in a component code. In particular we treat such codes from bipartite expander graphs coming from Euclidean planes and other...... geometries. We give results on the minimum distances of the codes....

Static balance control and lower limb strength in blind and sighted women.

Science.gov (United States)

Giagazoglou, Paraskevi; Amiridis, Ioannis G; Zafeiridis, Andreas; Thimara, Maria; Kouvelioti, Vassiliki; Kellis, Elefthrerios

2009-11-01

The aim of the present study was to examine isokinetic and isometric strength of the knee and ankle muscles and to compare center of pressure (CoP) sway between blind and sighted women. A total of 20 women volunteered to participate in this study. Ten severe blind women (age 33.5 +/- 7.9 years; height 163 +/- 5 cm; mass 64.5 +/- 12.2 kg) and 10 women with normal vision (age 33.5 +/- 8.3 years; height 164 +/- 6 cm; mass 61.9 +/- 14.5 kg) performed 3 different tasks of increasing difficulty: Normal Quiet Stance (1 min), Tandem Stance (20 s), and One-Leg Stance (10 s). Participants stood barefoot on two adjacent force platforms and the CoP variations [peak-to-peak amplitude (CoPmax) and SD of the CoP displacement (CoPsd)] were analyzed. Sighted participants performed the tests in eyes open and eyes closed conditions. Torque/angular velocity and torque/angular position relationships were also established using a Cybex dynamometer for knee extensors and flexors as well as for ankle plantar and dorsiflexors. The main finding of this study was that the ability to control balance in both anterior/posterior and medio/lateral directions was inferior in blind than in sighted women. However, when sighted participants performed the tests blindfolded, their CoP sway increased significantly in both directions. There were no differences in most isometric and concentric strength measurements of the lower limb muscles between the blind and sighted individuals. Our results demonstrate that vision is a more prominent indicator of performance during the postural tasks compared to strength of the lower limbs. Despite similar level of strength, blind individuals performed significantly worse in all balance tests compared to sighted individuals.

Future of clip-on weapon sights: pros and cons from an applications perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, C. Reed; Greenslade, Ken; Francisco, Glen

2015-05-01

US Domestic, International, allied Foreign National Warfighters and Para-Military First Responders (Police, SWAT, Special Operations, Law Enforcement, Government, Security and more) are put in harm's way all the time. To successfully complete their missions and return home safely are the primary goals of these professionals. Tactical product improvements that affect mission effectiveness and solider survivability are pivotal to understanding the past, present and future of Clip-On in-line weapon sights. Clip-On Weapon Sight (WS) technology was deemed an interim solution by the US Government for use until integrated and fused (day/night multi-sensor) Weapon Sights (WSs) were developed/fielded. Clip-On has now become the solution of choice by Users, Warriors, Soldiers and the US Government. SWaP-C (size, weight and power -cost) has been improved through progressive advances in Clip-On Image Intensified (I2), passive thermal, LL-CMOS and fused technology. Clip-On Weapon Sights are now no longer mounting position sensitive. Now they maintain aim point boresight, so they can be used for longer ranges with increased capabilities while utilizing the existing zeroed weapon and daysight optic. Active illuminated low-light level (both analog I2 and digital LL-CMOS) imaging is rightfully a real-world technology, proven to deliver daytime and low-light level identification confidence. Passive thermal imaging is also a real-world technology, proven to deliver daytime, nighttime and all-weather (including dirty battlefield) target detection confidence. Image processing detection algorithms with intelligent analytics provide documented promise to improve confidence by reducing Users, Warriors and Soldiers' work-loads and improving overall system engagement solution outcomes. In order to understand the future of Clip-On in-line weapon sights, addressing pros and cons, this paper starts with an overview of historical weapon sight applications, technologies and stakeholder decisions

A Nationwide Overview of Sight-Singing Requirements of Large-Group Choral Festivals

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Charles E.

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine sight-singing requirements at junior and senior high school large-group ratings-based choral festivals throughout the United States. Responses to the following questions were sought from each state: (1) Are there ratings-based large-group choral festivals? (2) Is sight-singing a requirement? (3) Are there…

Immediate Memory for Haptically-Examined Braille Symbols by Blind and Sighted Subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, Slater E.; And Others

The paper reports on two experiments in Braille learning which compared blind and sighted subjects on the immediate recall of haptically-examined Braille symbols. In the first study, sighted subjects (N=64) haptically examined each of a set of Braille symbols with their preferred or nonpreferred hand and immediately recalled the symbol by drawing…

The dialectics of vision: Oskar Kokoschka and the historiography of expressionistic sight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan J. Timpano

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In his seminal essay ‘On the Nature of Visions’, Oskar Kokoschka proposes a theory of expressionistic sight that advocates the centrality of both optical and psychological processes in the development of this sensorial construct. The present study argues that Kokoschka’s novel handling of the role of vision in the image forming process implicitly elucidates expressionistic sight as a process fashioned through the dialectical tension that arises from these two prevalent, though oppositional views of artistic vision in the early twentieth century. As such, the historiography of expressionistic sight offered by Kokoschka stands in stark contrast to other prevailing histories written by his interlocutors in fin-de-siècle Germany and Austria.

Definition of interstellar wind parameters by means of Lsub(α) background noise observations at large distances from the Sun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgin, M.S.

1982-01-01

Multiple scattering of solar photons on interstellar hydrogen and an exitence of galactic background lead to the fact that far from the Sun Lsub(α)-radiation intensity dependence on a distance from the Sun and on the direction of a ray of sight differs from the dependence predicted by the optically fine model. It is possible to evaluate hydrogen density in interstellar wind and galactic background intensity considering no absolute device calibration and having no proper information on a flux in Lsub(α) solar line by means of Lsub(α) background intensity measurings at sufficiently great distances from the Sun

Effects of successive critical distances in heavy ion fusion reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, S.M.; Nakagawa, T.; Matsuse, T.

1984-01-01

The concept of Successive Critical Distances is presented. It appears that whether the fusion cross section is limited by compound nucleus or entrance channel properties depends on the degree of asymmetry of the fusing nuclei. Only in the near to symmetry case does the Statistical Yrast Line emerge as a limiting factor. Otherwise, the critical angular momentum for fusion is restricted by a critical distance

Northern Fur Seal Captures and Tag Sightings Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains information regarding the capture, tagging and re-sighting of northern fur seals on the Pribilof Islands and Bogoslof Island, Alaska, from 1986...

A Path Loss Model for Non-Line-of-Sight Ultraviolet Multiple Scattering Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadler BrianM

2010-01-01

Full Text Available An ultraviolet (UV signal transmission undergoes rich scattering and strong absorption by atmospheric particulates. We develop a path loss model for a Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS link. The model is built upon probability theory governing random migration of photons in free space, undergoing scattering, in terms of angular direction and distance. The model analytically captures the contributions of different scattering orders. Thus it relaxes the assumptions of single scattering theory and provides more realistic results. This allows us to assess the importance of high-order scattering, such as in a thick atmosphere environment, where short range NLOS UV communication is enhanced by hazy or foggy weather. By simulation, it is shown that the model coincides with a previously developed Monte Carlo model. Additional numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effects of link geometry and atmospheric conditions. The results indicate the inherent tradeoffs in beamwidth, pointing angles, range, absorption, and scattering and so are valuable for NLOS communication system design.

Photovoltaic restoration of sight with high visual acuity

Science.gov (United States)

Lorach, Henri; Goetz, Georges; Smith, Richard; Lei, Xin; Mandel, Yossi; Kamins, Theodore; Mathieson, Keith; Huie, Philip; Harris, James; Sher, Alexander; Palanker, Daniel

2015-01-01

Patients with retinal degeneration lose sight due to gradual demise of photoreceptors. Electrical stimulation of the surviving retinal neurons provides an alternative route for delivery of visual information. We demonstrate that subretinal arrays with 70 μm photovoltaic pixels provide highly localized stimulation, with electrical and visual receptive fields of comparable sizes in rat retinal ganglion cells. Similarly to normal vision, retinal response to prosthetic stimulation exhibits flicker fusion at high frequencies, adaptation to static images and non-linear spatial summation. In rats with retinal degeneration, these photovoltaic arrays provide spatial resolution of 64 ± 11 μm, corresponding to half of the normal visual acuity in pigmented rats. Ease of implantation of these wireless and modular arrays, combined with their high resolution opens the door to functional restoration of sight. PMID:25915832

Looking at eye dominance from a different angle: is sighting strength related to hand preference?

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, David P; Hutchinson, Claire V

2013-10-01

Sighting dominance (the behavioural preference for one eye over the other under monocular viewing conditions) has traditionally been thought of as a robust individual trait. However, Khan and Crawford (2001) have shown that, under certain viewing conditions, eye preference reverses as a function of horizontal gaze angle. Remarkably, the reversal of sighting from one eye to the other depends on which hand is used to reach out and grasp the target. Their procedure provides an ideal way to measure the strength of monocular preference for sighting, which may be related to other indicators of hemispheric specialisation for speech, language and motor function. Therefore, we hypothesised that individuals with consistent side preferences (e.g., right hand, right eye) should have more robust sighting dominance than those with crossed lateral preferences. To test this idea, we compared strength of eye dominance in individuals who are consistently right or left sided for hand and foot preference with those who are not. We also modified their procedure in order to minimise a potential image size confound, suggested by Banks et al. (2004) as an explanation of Khan and Crawford's results. We found that the sighting dominance switch occurred at similar eccentricities when we controlled for effects of hand occlusion and target size differences. We also found that sighting dominance thresholds change predictably with the hand used. However, we found no evidence for relationships between strength of hand preference as assessed by questionnaire or by pegboard performance and strength of sighting dominance. Similarly, participants with consistent hand and foot preferences did not show stronger eye preference as assessed using the Khan and Crawford procedure. These data are discussed in terms of indirect relationships between sighting dominance, hand preference and cerebral specialisation for language and motor control. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TOWARD A NEW GEOMETRIC DISTANCE TO THE ACTIVE GALAXY NGC 4258. III. FINAL RESULTS AND THE HUBBLE CONSTANT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphreys, E. M. L.; Reid, M. J.; Moran, J. M.; Greenhill, L. J.; Argon, A. L.

2013-01-01

We report a new geometric maser distance estimate to the active galaxy NGC 4258. The data for the new model are maser line-of-sight (LOS) velocities and sky positions from 18 epochs of very long baseline interferometry observations, and LOS accelerations measured from a 10 yr monitoring program of the 22 GHz maser emission of NGC 4258. The new model includes both disk warping and confocal elliptical maser orbits with differential precession. The distance to NGC 4258 is 7.60 ± 0.17 ± 0.15 Mpc, a 3% uncertainty including formal fitting and systematic terms. The resulting Hubble constant, based on the use of the Cepheid variables in NGC 4258 to recalibrate the Cepheid distance scale, is H 0 = 72.0 ± 3.0 km s –1 Mpc –1

Loneliness among Students with Blindness and Sighted Students in Jordan: A Brief Report

Science.gov (United States)

Hadidi, Muna S.; Al Khateeb, Jamal M.

2013-01-01

This study investigated loneliness among students with blindness and those who are sighted in Jordan, and examined whether loneliness levels vary according to gender. Students included 90 students with blindness and 79 sighted students selected from high schools and universities in the capital city of Amman. The instrument used to collect…

Problem Behavior and Developmental Tasks in Adolescents with Visual Impairment and Sighted Peers

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Jens P.; Pinquart, Martin

2013-01-01

This longitudinal study analyzed associations of problem behavior with the attainment of developmental tasks in 133 adolescents with visual impairment and 449 sighted peers. Higher levels of initial problem behavior predicted less progress in the attainment of developmental tasks at the one-year follow-up only in sighted adolescents. This…

No Sensory Compensation for Olfactory Memory: Differences between Blind and Sighted People

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Sorokowska

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Blindness can be a driving force behind a variety of changes in sensory systems. When vision is missing, other modalities and higher cognitive functions can become hyper-developed through a mechanism called sensory compensation. Overall, previous studies suggest that olfactory memory in blind people can be better than that of the sighted individuals. Better performance of blind individuals in other-sensory modalities was hypothesized to be a result of, among others, intense perceptual training. At the same time, if the superiority of blind people in olfactory abilities indeed results from training, their scores should not decrease with age to such an extent as among the sighted people. Here, this hypothesis was tested in a large sample of 94 blind individuals. Olfactory memory was assessed using the Test for Olfactory Memory, comprising episodic odor recognition (discriminating previously presented odors from new odors and two forms of semantic memory (cued and free identification of odors. Regarding episodic olfactory memory, we observed an age-related decline in correct hits in blind participants, but an age-related increase in false alarms in sighted participants. Further, age moderated the between-group differences for correct hits, but the direction of the observed effect was contrary to our expectations. The difference between blind and sighted individuals younger than 40 years old was non-significant, but older sighted individuals outperformed their blind counterparts. In conclusion, we found no positive effect of visual impairment on olfactory memory. We suggest that daily perceptual training is not enough to increase olfactory memory function in blind people.

No Sensory Compensation for Olfactory Memory: Differences between Blind and Sighted People.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Karwowski, Maciej

2017-01-01

Blindness can be a driving force behind a variety of changes in sensory systems. When vision is missing, other modalities and higher cognitive functions can become hyper-developed through a mechanism called sensory compensation. Overall, previous studies suggest that olfactory memory in blind people can be better than that of the sighted individuals. Better performance of blind individuals in other-sensory modalities was hypothesized to be a result of, among others, intense perceptual training. At the same time, if the superiority of blind people in olfactory abilities indeed results from training, their scores should not decrease with age to such an extent as among the sighted people. Here, this hypothesis was tested in a large sample of 94 blind individuals. Olfactory memory was assessed using the Test for Olfactory Memory, comprising episodic odor recognition (discriminating previously presented odors from new odors) and two forms of semantic memory (cued and free identification of odors). Regarding episodic olfactory memory, we observed an age-related decline in correct hits in blind participants, but an age-related increase in false alarms in sighted participants. Further, age moderated the between-group differences for correct hits, but the direction of the observed effect was contrary to our expectations. The difference between blind and sighted individuals younger than 40 years old was non-significant, but older sighted individuals outperformed their blind counterparts. In conclusion, we found no positive effect of visual impairment on olfactory memory. We suggest that daily perceptual training is not enough to increase olfactory memory function in blind people.

No Sensory Compensation for Olfactory Memory: Differences between Blind and Sighted People

Science.gov (United States)

Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Karwowski, Maciej

2017-01-01

Blindness can be a driving force behind a variety of changes in sensory systems. When vision is missing, other modalities and higher cognitive functions can become hyper-developed through a mechanism called sensory compensation. Overall, previous studies suggest that olfactory memory in blind people can be better than that of the sighted individuals. Better performance of blind individuals in other-sensory modalities was hypothesized to be a result of, among others, intense perceptual training. At the same time, if the superiority of blind people in olfactory abilities indeed results from training, their scores should not decrease with age to such an extent as among the sighted people. Here, this hypothesis was tested in a large sample of 94 blind individuals. Olfactory memory was assessed using the Test for Olfactory Memory, comprising episodic odor recognition (discriminating previously presented odors from new odors) and two forms of semantic memory (cued and free identification of odors). Regarding episodic olfactory memory, we observed an age-related decline in correct hits in blind participants, but an age-related increase in false alarms in sighted participants. Further, age moderated the between-group differences for correct hits, but the direction of the observed effect was contrary to our expectations. The difference between blind and sighted individuals younger than 40 years old was non-significant, but older sighted individuals outperformed their blind counterparts. In conclusion, we found no positive effect of visual impairment on olfactory memory. We suggest that daily perceptual training is not enough to increase olfactory memory function in blind people. PMID:29276494

Incubator embedded cell culture imaging system (EmSight) based on Fourier ptychographic microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinho; Henley, Beverley M; Kim, Charlene H; Lester, Henry A; Yang, Changhuei

2016-08-01

Multi-day tracking of cells in culture systems can provide valuable information in bioscience experiments. We report the development of a cell culture imaging system, named EmSight, which incorporates multiple compact Fourier ptychographic microscopes with a standard multiwell imaging plate. The system is housed in an incubator and presently incorporates six microscopes. By using the same low magnification objective lenses as the objective and the tube lens, the EmSight is configured as a 1:1 imaging system that, providing large field-of-view (FOV) imaging onto a low-cost CMOS imaging sensor. The EmSight improves the image resolution by capturing a series of images of the sample at varying illumination angles; the instrument reconstructs a higher-resolution image by using the iterative Fourier ptychographic algorithm. In addition to providing high-resolution brightfield and phase imaging, the EmSight is also capable of fluorescence imaging at the native resolution of the objectives. We characterized the system using a phase Siemens star target, and show four-fold improved coherent resolution (synthetic NA of 0.42) and a depth of field of 0.2 mm. To conduct live, long-term dopaminergic neuron imaging, we cultured ventral midbrain from mice driving eGFP from the tyrosine hydroxylase promoter. The EmSight system tracks movements of dopaminergic neurons over a 21 day period.

Sighting of Elymnias panthera (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae in West Bengal, eastern India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.B. Roy

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Tawny Palmfly butterfly, Elymnias panthera (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae, is a Malayan species that is also known from the Nicobar Islands. Here we report sighting of E. panthera from the Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal, eastern India. This is the first sighting of the species from mainland India, and is a possible range extension of the species into northeastern India.

Short term memory and working memory in blind versus sighted children.

Science.gov (United States)

Withagen, Ans; Kappers, Astrid M L; Vervloed, Mathijs P J; Knoors, Harry; Verhoeven, Ludo

2013-07-01

There is evidence that blind people may strengthen their memory skills to compensate for absence of vision. However, which aspects of memory are involved is open to debate and a developmental perspective is generally lacking. In the present study, we compared the short term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) of 10-year-old blind children and sighted children. STM was measured using digit span forward, name learning, and word span tasks; WM was measured using listening span and digit span backward tasks. The blind children outperformed their sighted peers on both STM and WM tasks. The enhanced capacity of the blind children on digit span and other STM tasks confirms the results of earlier research; the significantly better performance of the blind children relative to their sighted peers on verbal WM tasks is a new interesting finding. Task characteristics, including the verbal nature of the WM tasks and strategies used to perform these tasks, are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AN INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENT OF THE INCIDENCE OF Mg II ABSORBERS ALONG GAMMA-RAY BURST SIGHT LINES: THE END OF THE MYSTERY?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cucchiara, A.; Prochaska, J. X.; Zhu, G.; Ménard, B.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Fox, D. B.; Chen, H.-W.; Cooksey, K. L.; Cenko, S. B.; Bloom, J. S.; Perley, D.; Berger, E.; Chornock, R.; Tanvir, N. R.; D'Elia, V.; Lopez, S.; De Jaeger, T.

2013-01-01

In 2006, Prochter et al. reported a statistically significant enhancement of very strong Mg II absorption systems intervening the sight lines to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) relative to the incidence of such absorption along quasar sight lines. This counterintuitive result has inspired a diverse set of astrophysical explanations (e.g., dust, gravitational lensing) but none of these has obviously resolved the puzzle. Using the largest set of GRB afterglow spectra available, we reexamine the purported enhancement. In an independent sample of GRB spectra with a survey path three times larger than Prochter et al., we measure the incidence per unit redshift of ≥1 Å rest-frame equivalent width Mg II absorbers at z ≈ 1 to be l(z) = 0.18 ± 0.06. This is fully consistent with current estimates for the incidence of such absorbers along quasar sight lines. Therefore, we do not confirm the original enhancement and suggest those results suffered from a statistical fluke. Signatures of the original result do remain in our full sample (l(z) shows an ≈1.5 enhancement over l(z) QSO ), but the statistical significance now lies at ≈90% c.l. Restricting our analysis to the subset of high-resolution spectra of GRB afterglows (which overlaps substantially with Prochter et al.), we still reproduce a statistically significant enhancement of Mg II absorption. The reason for this excess, if real, is still unclear since there is no connection between the rapid afterglow follow-up process with echelle (or echellette) spectrographs and the detectability of strong Mg II doublets. Only a larger sample of such high-resolution data will shed some light on this matter

Bolide Airbursts as a Seismic Source for the 2018 Mars InSight Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Stevanović, J.; Teanby, N. A.; Wookey, J.; Selby, N.; Daubar, I. J.; Vaubaillon, J.; Garcia, R.

2017-10-01

In 2018, NASA will launch InSight, a single-station suite of geophysical instruments, designed to characterise the martian interior. We investigate the seismo-acoustic signal generated by a bolide entering the martian atmosphere and exploding in a terminal airburst, and assess this phenomenon as a potential observable for the SEIS seismic payload. Terrestrial analogue data from four recent events are used to identify diagnostic airburst characteristics in both the time and frequency domain. In order to estimate a potential number of detectable events for InSight, we first model the impactor source population from observations made on the Earth, scaled for planetary radius, entry velocity and source density. We go on to calculate a range of potential airbursts from the larger incident impactor population. We estimate there to be {˜} 1000 events of this nature per year on Mars. To then derive a detectable number of airbursts for InSight, we scale this number according to atmospheric attenuation, air-to-ground coupling inefficiencies and by instrument capability for SEIS. We predict between 10-200 detectable events per year for InSight.

Sex Difference in Bottlenose Dolphin Sightings during a Long-term Bridge Construction Project

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Ann Weaver

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Almost nothing is known about the effect of long-term bridge construction on free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus. The species’ natural history predicts that there should be sex differences in reaction to construction because bottlenose dolphins show sex differences in most of their behaviors. A 5-year bridge construction project over a narrow but important dolphin corridor at John’s Pass tidal inlet, St. Petersburg FL, brought chronic environmental changes. The purpose of this 8-year study was to determine if bridge construction was associated with changes in dolphin sightings. The sex difference hypothesis was tested with a comparison of sighting probabilities before, during and after bridge construction. Sighting probabilities were generated for 68 adults seen n = 6504 times during N = 951 small-boat surveys of the 6.5-mile estuarine study area, documented with photo identification June 2005-December 2012. The sex difference hypothesis was supported with a significant interaction between construction and gender. Female sightings showed a significant linear decline across construction. Male sightings did not change across construction. The main conclusion is that adult males and females may react differently to habitat changes associated with anthropogenic activities. Sex differences in environmental monitoring and vigilance associated with maternal behavior may have played a role. This is the first report on John’s Pass dolphins that evaluates changes in their behavior during a major construction project across a narrow but important dolphin corridor.

Can pictures promote the acquisition of sight-word reading? An evaluation of two potential instructional strategies.

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Richardson, Amy R; Lerman, Dorothea C; Nissen, Melissa A; Luck, Kally M; Neal, Ashley E; Bao, Shimin; Tsami, Loukia

2017-01-01

Sight-word instruction can be a useful supplement to phonics-based methods under some circumstances. Nonetheless, few studies have evaluated the conditions under which pictures may be used successfully to teach sight-word reading. In this study, we extended prior research by examining two potential strategies for reducing the effects of overshadowing when using picture prompts. Five children with developmental disabilities and two typically developing children participated. In the first experiment, the therapist embedded sight words within pictures but gradually faded in the pictures as needed using a least-to-most prompting hierarchy. In the second experiment, the therapist embedded text-to-picture matching within the sight-word reading sessions. Results suggested that these strategies reduced the interference typically observed with picture prompts and enhanced performance during teaching sessions for the majority of participants. Text-to-picture matching also accelerated mastery of the sight words relative to a condition under which the therapist presented text without pictures. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

OB Stars and Cepheids From the Gaia TGAS Catalogue: Test of their Distances and Proper Motions

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Bobylev Vadim V.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We consider young distant stars from the Gaia TGAS catalog. These are 250 classical Cepheids and 244 OB stars located at distances up to 4 kpc from the Sun. These stars are used to determine the Galactic rotation parameters using both trigonometric parallaxes and proper motions of the TGAS stars. In this case the considered stars have relative parallax errors less than 200%. Following the well-known statistical approach, we assume that the kinematic parameters found from the line-of-sight velocities Vr are less dependent on errors of distances than the found from the velocity components Vl. From values of the first derivative of the Galactic rotation angular velocity ′0, found from the analysis of velocities Vr and Vl separately, the scale factor of distances is determined.We found that from the sample of Cepheids the scale of distances of the TGAS should be reduced by 3%, and from the sample of OB stars, on the contrary, the scale should be increased by 9%.

Perception of contextual size illusions by honeybees in restricted and unrestricted viewing conditions.

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Howard, Scarlett R; Avarguès-Weber, Aurore; Garcia, Jair E; Stuart-Fox, Devi; Dyer, Adrian G

2017-11-29

How different visual systems process images and make perceptual errors can inform us about cognitive and visual processes. One of the strongest geometric errors in perception is a misperception of size depending on the size of surrounding objects, known as the Ebbinghaus or Titchener illusion. The ability to perceive the Ebbinghaus illusion appears to vary dramatically among vertebrate species, and even populations, but this may depend on whether the viewing distance is restricted. We tested whether honeybees perceive contextual size illusions, and whether errors in perception of size differed under restricted and unrestricted viewing conditions. When the viewing distance was unrestricted, there was an effect of context on size perception and thus, similar to humans, honeybees perceived contrast size illusions. However, when the viewing distance was restricted, bees were able to judge absolute size accurately and did not succumb to visual illusions, despite differing contextual information. Our results show that accurate size perception depends on viewing conditions, and thus may explain the wide variation in previously reported findings across species. These results provide insight into the evolution of visual mechanisms across vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, and suggest convergent evolution of a visual processing solution. © 2017 The Author(s).

Development of a new lines of sight analyzer while playing sport

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Shinya Mochiduki

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The Olympics will be held in Tokyo in 2020, and the training of the athlete using technology has been gaining attention. In an effort to refine the competitive ability of top athletes by evaluating their performance objectively, we have focused on eye movement and head movement. Since the field of view moves according to the athlete’s head movement, which is a problem for the conventional method of measuring eye movement, we proposed a new method of analysis of lines of sight which can record head movement during a competition and make it easier to analyze by superimposing the lines of sight on an externally recorded fixed image. With the goal of measuring the lines of sight of an athlete during an actual competition, we made a video during a competition and had an athlete observe the video in a laboratory. First we compared the video in which only the eye movement was measured and the field-of-view image moved according to the head movement with another video in which the head movement and eye movement were measured and the image did not move in spite of the occurrence of head movement. The results of the experiment, which involved baseball as the competitive sport, showed the effectiveness of our proposed system. Furthermore, we showed the difference between the lines of sight of an experienced and an inexperienced catcher.

Deep Orbital Sub-Q Hyaluronic Acid Filler Injection for Enophthalmic Sighted Eyes in Parry-Romberg Syndrome.

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Feldman, Ilan; Sheptulin, Vladimir A; Grusha, Yaroslav O; Malhotra, Raman

2018-01-23

The authors present a consecutive series of deep orbital Sub-Q injections to treat enophthalmic sighted eyes in Parry-Romberg syndrome patients. Retrospective, interventional case series in 2 centers. Data were collected on patient demographics, Parry-Romberg syndrome onset age, previous orbital and eyelid surgeries, diplopia, ocular movement restriction before and after the injection, number of injections, interval between injections, indication for any top-up or dissolution of filler, and any other complications. In all cases, the hyaluronic acid gel used was Restylane Sub-Q + Lidocaine. A total of 8 injections on 3 patients with Parry-Romberg syndrome, and significant enophthalmos is reported. All injections were with deep orbital Sub-Q filler. All patients were females, aged 32, 24, and 52 years old while their symptoms started at 15, 16, and 30 years old, respectively. None had orbital surgery prior to the injection. Follow up period was 2, 7, and 5 years respectively. All presented a significant enophthalmos of 4 mm which reduced to 1 mm after the injection, and duration effect was 18, 24, and 20 months, respectively. We observed a significant improvement in enophthalmos, lagophthalmos, exposure keratopathy, and even ocular motility. Lagophthalmos improved from 1, 4, and 7 mm to 0, 1, and 2 mm post injection. Ocular motility improved with no onset of new limitation or diplopia. Lower eyelid retraction increased in 1 patient after orbital injection. No other complications occurred. Deep orbital Sub-Q hyaluronic injection for treatment of enophthalmos in Parry-Romberg syndrome is an useful option in sighted eyes.

Aesthetics of movement with sight disabled children - pilot study

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Mirosław Górny

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to establish the aesthetics of movement in people with vision defects. This knowledge will provide tools to improve the methodology of study in the area of assessment of movement aesthetics in people with disabilities. In order to establish its level a test was used which measured its selected elements such as precision, rhythm, harmony, fluidity and speed. The aesthetics of movement was assessed using exercise tests which were to represent the components of aesthetics of movement. Individual tests were carried out on blind and partially sighted children aged 6 to 15 years and on a group of healthy children of the same age. Using the test tasks a general indicator of movement aesthetics in blind children was obtained. The participants of the study were 145 children from four School and Education Centres for Blind Children in Poland and the control group consisted of 310 children from a primary school in Poznań. The studies confirmed a lower level of movement aesthetics in children with vision defects, but the differences in groups between the partially sighted children and children with correct vision were definitely smaller. A higher level of aesthetics of movement characterised children from older groups irrespective of their sex. The best developed property in blind and partially sighted children was precision.

Advanced Mathematics Communication beyond Modality of Sight

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Sedaghatjou, Mina

2018-01-01

This study illustrates how mathematical communication and learning are inherently multimodal and embodied; hence, sight-disabled students are also able to conceptualize visuospatial information and mathematical concepts through tactile and auditory activities. Adapting a perceptuomotor integration approach, the study shows that the lack of access…

Posture of Twig Figures: Reactions by the Blind and the Sighted. Brief Research Report.

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Kennedy, John M.; Domander, Ramona

1986-01-01

Eighteen congenitally blind adolescents and adults and 29 sighted children and adults were asked to select one of two identifying labels for six pairs of highly schematic line figures portraying simple events, relationships between people, and expressive emotional states. Blind subjects agreed with sighted interpretations on 77% of the response…

H0LiCOW - III. Quantifying the effect of mass along the line of sight to the gravitational lens HE 0435-1223 through weighted galaxy counts★

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Rusu, Cristian E.; Fassnacht, Christopher D.; Sluse, Dominique; Hilbert, Stefan; Wong, Kenneth C.; Huang, Kuang-Han; Suyu, Sherry H.; Collett, Thomas E.; Marshall, Philip J.; Treu, Tommaso; Koopmans, Leon V. E.

2017-06-01

Based on spectroscopy and multiband wide-field observations of the gravitationally lensed quasar HE 0435-1223, we determine the probability distribution function of the external convergence κext for this system. We measure the under/overdensity of the line of sight towards the lens system and compare it to the average line of sight throughout the Universe, determined by using the CFHTLenS (The Canada France Hawaii Lensing Survey) as a control field. Aiming to constrain κext as tightly as possible, we determine under/overdensities using various combinations of relevant informative weighting schemes for the galaxy counts, such as projected distance to the lens, redshift and stellar mass. We then convert the measured under/overdensities into a κext distribution, using ray-tracing through the Millennium Simulation. We explore several limiting magnitudes and apertures, and account for systematic and statistical uncertainties relevant to the quality of the observational data, which we further test through simulations. Our most robust estimate of κext has a median value κ^med_ext = 0.004 and a standard deviation σκ = 0.025. The measured σκ corresponds to 2.5 per cent relative uncertainty on the time delay distance, and hence the Hubble constant H0 inferred from this system. The median κ^med_ext value varies by ˜0.005 with the adopted aperture radius, limiting magnitude and weighting scheme, as long as the latter incorporates galaxy number counts, the projected distance to the main lens and a prior on the external shear obtained from mass modelling. This corresponds to just ˜0.5 per cent systematic impact on H0. The availability of a well-constrained κext makes HE 0435-1223 a valuable system for measuring cosmological parameters using strong gravitational lens time delays.

Preventing sight loss in older people. A qualitative study exploring barriers to the uptake of regular sight tests of older people living in socially deprived communities in South Wales.

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Biddyr, S; Jones, A

2015-02-01

This paper describes research findings that try to understand some of the reasons that prevent older people in deprived communities in South Wales from accessing NHS funded sight tests and leads to a discussion of suitable interventions that seek to improve access to primary eye care services and prevent avoidable sight loss. Data were collected from eight focus groups (n = 63) of mixed gender and ages (60-80+ years), of white origin living in deprived communities in South Wales. Individuals were recruited for the focus groups by extensively publicizing the project, with a range of health and older people's community services and groups such as sheltered housing complexes, stroke support groups and coffee morning groups. The study included people who attended optometry services and people not engaged with services. A purposive sampling technique summarizes the sampling approach taken, an approach which the team utilized to recruit 'information rich' cases, namely individuals, groups and organizations that provided the greatest insight into the research question. Focus groups were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data underwent thematic content analysis and subsequent interpretations were corroborated by expert advisors and a project steering group. Cost was perceived as a significant barrier to accessing sight tests, particularly in relation to purchasing glasses. Other barriers included the perceived pressure to buy glasses associated with visits to the optometrists; poor understanding of the purpose of a sight test in a health prevention context and acceptance of deteriorating sight loss due to the ageing process. Areas of improvement for the delivery of preventative eye health services to older people are identified, as are areas for reflection on the part of those who work within the eye health industry. Copyright © 2014 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrametric Distance in Syntax

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Roberts Mark D.

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Phrase structure trees have a hierarchical structure. In many subjects, most notably in taxonomy such tree structures have been studied using ultrametrics. Here syntactical hierarchical phrase trees are subject to a similar analysis, which is much simpler as the branching structure is more readily discernible and switched. The ambiguity of which branching height to choose, is resolved by postulating that branching occurs at the lowest height available. An ultrametric produces a measure of the complexity of sentences: presumably the complexity of sentences increases as a language is acquired so that this can be tested. All ultrametric triangles are equilateral or isosceles. Here it is shown that X̅ structure implies that there are no equilateral triangles. Restricting attention to simple syntax a minimum ultrametric distance between lexical categories is calculated. A matrix constructed from this ultrametric distance is shown to be different than the matrix obtained from features. It is shown that the definition of C-COMMAND can be replaced by an equivalent ultrametric definition. The new definition invokes a minimum distance between nodes and this is more aesthetically satisfying than previous varieties of definitions. From the new definition of C-COMMAND follows a new definition of of the central notion in syntax namely GOVERNMENT.

Applying Sight Translation as a Means to Enhance Reading Ability of Iranian EFL Students

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Fatollahi, Moslem

2016-01-01

Sight translation is the oral translation of a written text and is a mixture of translation and interpreting. Sight translation is a widely-used activity in translation training programs. Yet, this mode of translation has rarely been applied as a reading instruction technique in Iranian EFL instruction context in spite of the growing interest in…

AN INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENT OF THE INCIDENCE OF Mg II ABSORBERS ALONG GAMMA-RAY BURST SIGHT LINES: THE END OF THE MYSTERY?

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Cucchiara, A.; Prochaska, J. X. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Zhu, G.; Menard, B. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Fynbo, J. P. U. [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Fox, D. B. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Chen, H.-W. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Cooksey, K. L. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 37-685, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Cenko, S. B.; Bloom, J. S. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Perley, D. [Department of Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, MC 249-17, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Berger, E.; Chornock, R. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Tanvir, N. R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); D' Elia, V. [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via di Frascati 33, I-00040 Monte Porzio Catone (RM) (Italy); Lopez, S.; De Jaeger, T., E-mail: acucchia@ucolick.org [Departamento de Astronomia, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago (Chile)

2013-08-20

In 2006, Prochter et al. reported a statistically significant enhancement of very strong Mg II absorption systems intervening the sight lines to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) relative to the incidence of such absorption along quasar sight lines. This counterintuitive result has inspired a diverse set of astrophysical explanations (e.g., dust, gravitational lensing) but none of these has obviously resolved the puzzle. Using the largest set of GRB afterglow spectra available, we reexamine the purported enhancement. In an independent sample of GRB spectra with a survey path three times larger than Prochter et al., we measure the incidence per unit redshift of {>=}1 A rest-frame equivalent width Mg II absorbers at z Almost-Equal-To 1 to be l(z) = 0.18 {+-} 0.06. This is fully consistent with current estimates for the incidence of such absorbers along quasar sight lines. Therefore, we do not confirm the original enhancement and suggest those results suffered from a statistical fluke. Signatures of the original result do remain in our full sample (l(z) shows an Almost-Equal-To 1.5 enhancement over l(z){sub QSO}), but the statistical significance now lies at Almost-Equal-To 90% c.l. Restricting our analysis to the subset of high-resolution spectra of GRB afterglows (which overlaps substantially with Prochter et al.), we still reproduce a statistically significant enhancement of Mg II absorption. The reason for this excess, if real, is still unclear since there is no connection between the rapid afterglow follow-up process with echelle (or echellette) spectrographs and the detectability of strong Mg II doublets. Only a larger sample of such high-resolution data will shed some light on this matter.

Phonological processing skills in 6 year old blind and sighted Persian speakers

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Maryam Sadat Momen Vaghefi

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Phonological processing skills include the abilities to restore, retrieve and use memorized phonological codes. The purpose of this research is to compare and evaluate phonological processing skills in 6-7 year old blind and sighted Persian speakers in Tehran, Iran.Methods: This research is an analysis-comparison study. The subjects were 24 blind and 24 sighted children. The evaluation test of reading and writing disorders in primary school students, linguistic and cognitive abilities test, and the naming subtest of the aphasia evaluation test were used as research tools.Results: Sighted children were found to perform better on phoneme recognition of nonwords and flower naming subtests; and the difference was significant (p<0.001. Blind children performed better in words and sentence memory; the difference was significant (p<0.001. There were no significant differences in other subtests.Conclusion: Blind children's better performance in memory tasks is due to the fact that they have powerful auditory memory.

BioSIGHT: Interactive Visualization Modules for Science Education

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Wong, Wee Ling

1998-01-01

Redefining science education to harness emerging integrated media technologies with innovative pedagogical goals represents a unique challenge. The Integrated Media Systems Center (IMSC) is the only engineering research center in the area of multimedia and creative technologies sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The research program at IMSC is focused on developing advanced technologies that address human-computer interfaces, database management, and high- speed network capabilities. The BioSIGHT project at IMSC is a demonstration technology project in the area of education that seeks to address how such emerging multimedia technologies can make an impact on science education. The scope of this project will help solidify NASA's commitment for the development of innovative educational resources that promotes science literacy for our students and the general population as well. These issues must be addressed as NASA marches towards the goal of enabling human space exploration that requires an understanding of life sciences in space. The IMSC BioSIGHT lab was established with the purpose of developing a novel methodology that will map a high school biology curriculum into a series of interactive visualization modules that can be easily incorporated into a space biology curriculum. Fundamental concepts in general biology must be mastered in order to allow a better understanding and application for space biology. Interactive visualization is a powerful component that can capture the students' imagination, facilitate their assimilation of complex ideas, and help them develop integrated views of biology. These modules will augment the role of the teacher and will establish the value of student-centered interactivity, both in an individual setting as well as in a collaborative learning environment. Students will be able to interact with the content material, explore new challenges, and perform virtual laboratory simulations. The BioSIGHT effort is truly cross

Music Memory Following Short-term Practice and Its Relationship with the Sight-reading Abilities of Professional Pianists

OpenAIRE

Aiba, Eriko; Matsui, Toshie

2016-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between the ability to sight-read and the ability to memorize a score using a behavioral experiment. By measuring the amount of memorization following short-term practice, we examined whether better sight-readers not only estimate forthcoming notes but also memorize musical structures and phrases with more practice. Eleven pianists performed the music first by sight-reading. After a 20-minute practice, the participants were asked to perform from memory...

Knowledge of Dental Health and Oral Hygiene Practices of Taiwanese Visually Impaired and Sighted Students

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Chang, Chien-Huey Sophie; Shih, Yeng-Hung

2004-01-01

This study investigated the dental health knowledge and oral hygiene practices of 95 students with visual impairments and 286 sighted students in Taiwan. It found that the students with visual impairments were less knowledgeable about dental health and less frequently completed oral hygiene practices than did the sighted students.

An Exploration into Self Concept: A Comparative Analysis between the Adolescents Who Are Sighted and Blind in India

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Halder, Santoshi; Datta, Poulomee

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the self concept of adolescents who are sighted and blind with respect to gender in India. The sample was made up of 160 participants aged 15 to 18 years: of whom 100 were sighted and 60 were blind. The results of the t-tests illustrated that sighted male adolescents scored higher in the overall…

From perception to metacognition: Auditory and olfactory functions in early blind, late blind, and sighted individuals

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Stina Cornell Kärnekull

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Although evidence is mixed, studies have shown that blind individuals perform better than sighted at specific auditory, tactile, and chemosensory tasks. However, few studies have assessed blind and sighted individuals across different sensory modalities in the same study. We tested early blind (n = 15, late blind (n = 15, and sighted (n = 30 participants with analogous olfactory and auditory tests in absolute threshold, discrimination, identification, episodic recognition, and metacognitive ability. Although the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA showed no overall effect of blindness and no interaction with modality, follow-up between-group contrasts indicated a blind-over-sighted advantage in auditory episodic recognition, that was most pronounced in early blind individuals. In contrast to the auditory modality, there was no empirical support for compensatory effects in any of the olfactory tasks. There was no conclusive evidence for group differences in metacognitive ability to predict episodic recognition performance. Taken together, the results showed no evidence of an overall superior performance in blind relative sighted individuals across olfactory and auditory functions, although early blind individuals exceled in episodic auditory recognition memory. This observation may be related to an experience-induced increase in auditory attentional capacity.

Dust devil track survey at Elysium Planitia, Mars: Implications for the InSight landing sites

Science.gov (United States)

Reiss, Dennis; Lorenz, Ralph D.

2016-03-01

The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) robotic lander is scheduled to land in Elysium Planitia on Mars in September 2016. InSight will perform the first comprehensive surface-based geophysical investigation including seismic measurements. Knowledge about encounter rates of dust devils with the InSight lander are important for two main reasons: (1) dust devils will affect the scientific measurements, i.e., wind-induced seismic noise, and (2) the power-supply of the InSight lander and instruments is provided by solar arrays and previous landers and rovers on Mars were affected by a steady decline in electrical power output due to atmospheric dust deposition on the solar panels. Long term science operations were only made possible by dust clearing events of the solar arrays caused by wind gusts and dust devils. In this study we analyzed dust devil tracks (DDTs) at the final InSight landing site region in Elysium Planitia. Formation of DDTs is caused by the removal of a layer of dust by passing dust devils, hence in principle the same process as clearing of dust from solar panels. We mapped the number, size (width and length), and orientation of DDTs in repeat observations using High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) images covering the exact same surface area acquired within a relatively short time span (solar panel clearing recurrence interval estimate of ∼11 Mars years using the mean annual DDT formation rate, and the mean DDT width and length from all measured DDTs. Due to several uncertainties this solar panel clearing recurrence interval for the InSight landing should be seen as an upper limit estimate.

Limitations to mapping habitat-use areas in changing landscapes using the Mahalanobis distance statistic

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Knick, Steven T.; Rotenberry, J.T.

1998-01-01

We tested the potential of a GIS mapping technique, using a resource selection model developed for black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) and based on the Mahalanobis distance statistic, to track changes in shrubsteppe habitats in southwestern Idaho. If successful, the technique could be used to predict animal use areas, or those undergoing change, in different regions from the same selection function and variables without additional sampling. We determined the multivariate mean vector of 7 GIS variables that described habitats used by jackrabbits. We then ranked the similarity of all cells in the GIS coverage from their Mahalanobis distance to the mean habitat vector. The resulting map accurately depicted areas where we sighted jackrabbits on verification surveys. We then simulated an increase in shrublands (which are important habitats). Contrary to expectation, the new configurations were classified as lower similarity relative to the original mean habitat vector. Because the selection function is based on a unimodal mean, any deviation, even if biologically positive, creates larger Malanobis distances and lower similarity values. We recommend the Mahalanobis distance technique for mapping animal use areas when animals are distributed optimally, the landscape is well-sampled to determine the mean habitat vector, and distributions of the habitat variables does not change.

Cognitive aspects of haptic form recognition by blind and sighted subjects.

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Bailes, S M; Lambert, R M

1986-11-01

Studies using haptic form recognition tasks have generally concluded that the adventitiously blind perform better than the congenitally blind, implicating the importance of early visual experience in improved spatial functioning. The hypothesis was tested that the adventitiously blind have retained some ability to encode successive information obtained haptically in terms of a global visual representation, while the congenitally blind use a coding system based on successive inputs. Eighteen blind (adventitiously and congenitally) and 18 sighted (blindfolded and performing with vision) subjects were tested on their recognition of raised line patterns when the standard was presented in segments: in immediate succession, or with unfilled intersegmental delays of 5, 10, or 15 seconds. The results did not support the above hypothesis. Three main findings were obtained: normally sighted subjects were both faster and more accurate than the other groups; all groups improved in accuracy of recognition as a function of length of interstimulus interval; sighted subjects tended to report using strategies with a strong verbal component while the blind tended to rely on imagery coding. These results are explained in terms of information-processing theory consistent with dual encoding systems in working memory.

Line-of-sight extrapolation noise in dust polarization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poh, Jason; Dodelson, Scott

2017-05-19

The B-modes of polarization at frequencies ranging from 50-1000 GHz are produced by Galactic dust, lensing of primordial E-modes in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by intervening large scale structure, and possibly by primordial B-modes in the CMB imprinted by gravitational waves produced during inflation. The conventional method used to separate the dust component of the signal is to assume that the signal at high frequencies (e.g., 350 GHz) is due solely to dust and then extrapolate the signal down to lower frequency (e.g., 150 GHz) using the measured scaling of the polarized dust signal amplitude with frequency. For typical Galactic thermal dust temperatures of about 20K, these frequencies are not fully in the Rayleigh-Jeans limit. Therefore, deviations in the dust cloud temperatures from cloud to cloud will lead to different scaling factors for clouds of different temperatures. Hence, when multiple clouds of different temperatures and polarization angles contribute to the integrated line-of-sight polarization signal, the relative contribution of individual clouds to the integrated signal can change between frequencies. This can cause the integrated signal to be decorrelated in both amplitude and direction when extrapolating in frequency. Here we carry out a Monte Carlo analysis on the impact of this line-of-sight extrapolation noise, enabling us to quantify its effect. Using results from the Planck experiment, we find that this effect is small, more than an order of magnitude smaller than the current uncertainties. However, line-of-sight extrapolation noise may be a significant source of uncertainty in future low-noise primordial B-mode experiments. Scaling from Planck results, we find that accounting for this uncertainty becomes potentially important when experiments are sensitive to primordial B-mode signals with amplitude r < 0.0015 .

Observational constraints on interstellar depletion mechanisms in lines of sight exhibiting peculiar extinction curves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joseph, C.L.

1985-01-01

The nature of dust-gas interactions, which are capable of modifying the size distribution of the grains and thus causing changes in the selective extinction curve, are investigated through depletion studies. The gaseous abundances of 16 elements were determined for several lines of sight toward moderately reddened stars, each having a so called anomalous extinction curve. Four lines of sight in the rho Ophiuchi dark cloud complexes as well as several lines of sight through the diffuse interstellar medium were also analyzed for comparison. Two approaches are used to assess the strength of density dependent depletion processes. First, the depletion pattern from element-to-element for each integrated line of sight is studied with particular emphasis being given to those species that are potential discriminators between the two major competing models of grain formation and growth. In the second approach, the relative abundancies of neutral atoms, which are thought to form primarily in the densest portions of interstellar clouds, are studied. Both of these constraints are then compared to a theoretical extinction curve derived from a simple model for the size distribution of the grains based on the degree of mantling

Midcourse Guidance Law Based on High Target Acquisition Probability Considering Angular Constraint and Line-of-Sight Angle Rate Control

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Xiao Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Random disturbance factors would lead to the variation of target acquisition point during the long distance flight. To acquire a high target acquisition probability and improve the impact precision, missiles should be guided to an appropriate target acquisition position with certain attitude angles and line-of-sight (LOS angle rate. This paper has presented a new midcourse guidance law considering the influences of random disturbances, detection distance restraint, and target acquisition probability with Monte Carlo simulation. Detailed analyses of the impact points on the ground and the random distribution of the target acquisition position in the 3D space are given to get the appropriate attitude angles and the end position for the midcourse guidance. Then, a new formulation biased proportional navigation (BPN guidance law with angular constraint and LOS angle rate control has been derived to ensure the tracking ability when attacking the maneuvering target. Numerical simulations demonstrates that, compared with the proportional navigation guidance (PNG law and the near-optimal spatial midcourse guidance (NSMG law, BPN guidance law demonstrates satisfactory performances and can meet both the midcourse terminal angular constraint and the LOS angle rate requirement.

Marine biota sightings during 3D marine seismic surveys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oliveira, Joao Luiz Martinez de; Uller, George A. [CGG do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Derntl, Jose Renato; Ribeiro, Camila Castroviejo da Silva; Pereira, Edisio [GEOCOOP Cooperativa de Trabalho, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Miranda, Cristina Maschio de [Nautilus Cooperativa de Trabalho (Brazil); Ferraz, Alexandre Almeida; Costa, Leandro Damiao Soares da [Okeanos Consultoria e Meio Ambiente Ltda. (Brazil)

2004-07-01

This work intends to make a correlation between the presence of the marine biota and the seismic source activity (air guns) during seismic surveys, in Campos (BM-C-25 and BM-C-16) and Santos (BM-S-3) Basin, since July 2003 until March 2004. Environmental data were acquired onboard of the Seismic Vessel CGG Harmattan by a team of four oceanographers (environmental technicians), working on the highest place of the Vessel to record and identify the animals whenever was possible. The data were recorded in forms where fields about the biotic and environmental aspects were filled. In 212 days of observations, 2580,1 hours of sighting's effort were recorded; the air guns worked during 37,6% of the time of the effort. These efforts were made during the daylight reaching an average value of 11,35 hours/day. Sightings were divided into the suborders Odontocetes and Mysticetes, and others (fishes, turtles and non identified mammals). 175 sightings were recorded, being 54% when the air gun was off (24% Mysticetes, 56% Odontocetes, 20% others). Similarly, when the air gun was working, 46% of the records were made (24% Mysticetes, 61% Odontocetes, 6% others); the major concentration (58%) of individuals was inside the 1000 m radius around the ship, followed by 14% of the individuals occurring between 3001-4000 m radius away from the ship. The analysis of the data suggests a non-evasive behavior related to the working of the seismic source, corroborating the results reached by other publications using the data collected onboard CGG Vessels. (author)

Six Sensational Dots: Braille Literacy for Sighted Classmates

Science.gov (United States)

Swenson, Anna M.; Cozart, Nancy

2010-01-01

From the moment sighted children see their first dot, teachers find that they are fascinated by the braille code. If they are fortunate enough to have a classmate who reads braille, they have daily opportunities to observe braille used for a variety of purposes, from reading chapter books to solving problems with tactile graphics. Teachers of…

Imaging x-ray sources at a finite distance in coded-mask instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnarumma, Immacolata; Pacciani, Luigi; Lapshov, Igor; Evangelista, Yuri

2008-01-01

We present a method for the correction of beam divergence in finite distance sources imaging through coded-mask instruments. We discuss the defocusing artifacts induced by the finite distance showing two different approaches to remove such spurious effects. We applied our method to one-dimensional (1D) coded-mask systems, although it is also applicable in two-dimensional systems. We provide a detailed mathematical description of the adopted method and of the systematics introduced in the reconstructed image (e.g., the fraction of source flux collected in the reconstructed peak counts). The accuracy of this method was tested by simulating pointlike and extended sources at a finite distance with the instrumental setup of the SuperAGILE experiment, the 1D coded-mask x-ray imager onboard the AGILE (Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero) mission. We obtained reconstructed images of good quality and high source location accuracy. Finally we show the results obtained by applying this method to real data collected during the calibration campaign of SuperAGILE. Our method was demonstrated to be a powerful tool to investigate the imaging response of the experiment, particularly the absorption due to the materials intercepting the line of sight of the instrument and the conversion between detector pixel and sky direction

The subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex: a clinical marker for centration of refractive treatments and devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Daniel H; Waring, George O

2014-11-01

To describe the inconsistencies in definition, application, and usage of the ocular reference axes (optical axis, visual axis, line of sight, pupillary axis, and topographic axis) and angles (angle kappa, lambda, and alpha) and to propose a precise, reproducible, clinically defined reference marker and axis for centration of refractive treatments and devices. Perspective. Literature review of papers dealing with ocular reference axes, angles, and centration. The inconsistent definitions and usage of the current ocular axes, as derived from eye models, limit their clinical utility. With a clear understanding of Purkinje images and a defined alignment of the observer, light source/fixation target, and subject eye, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex can be a clinically useful reference marker. The axis formed by connecting the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex and the fixation point, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex axis, is independent of pupillary dilation and phakic status of the eye. The relationship of the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex axis to a refined definition of the visual axis without reference to nodal points, the foveal-fixation axis, is discussed. The displacement between the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex and pupil center is described not by an angle, but by a chord, here termed chord mu. The application of the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex to the surgical centration of refractive treatments and devices is discussed. As a clinically defined reference marker, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex avoids the shortcomings of current ocular axes for clinical application and may contribute to better consensus in the literature and improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Representing distance, consuming distance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Gunvor Riber

Title: Representing Distance, Consuming Distance Abstract: Distance is a condition for corporeal and virtual mobilities, for desired and actual travel, but yet it has received relatively little attention as a theoretical entity in its own right. Understandings of and assumptions about distance...... are being consumed in the contemporary society, in the same way as places, media, cultures and status are being consumed (Urry 1995, Featherstone 2007). An exploration of distance and its representations through contemporary consumption theory could expose what role distance plays in forming...

Pedestrian Safety in Road Traffic in Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynski, Marcin; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Mackun, Tomasz

2017-10-01

Every third road accident in Poland involves a pedestrian as a participant or, most of the time, a casualty. Pedestrian accidents are usually the result of complex situations and the outcome of a number of factors related to driver and pedestrian behaviour and road infrastructure. Safety depends largely on how well the traffic condition is perceived and on visibility in traffic. The paper presents the results of analyses of methodologies for systematic studies of pedestrian behaviour and pedestrian-driver relations. The effects of the location of the site, type of cross-section and other selected parameters on pedestrian and driver behaviour are demonstrated. The analyses showed that pedestrians are most often put at risk by too long pedestrian crossings, vehicles going too fast around pedestrian crossings, lack of proper sight distance and poorly lit or unlit pedestrian crossings. The reason for such defective infrastructure is that planners, designers, contractors and maintenance services are not receiving any support from design, marking and maintenance regulations for pedestrian traffic. In addition, the Road Traffic Law is not restrictive enough when it comes to drivers’ obligations towards pedestrian safety. Polish design regulations allow long pedestrian crossings up to four lanes in one direction or three lanes in two directions irrespective of traffic control and speed limits. Pedestrian crossings should be kept at a maximum of three lanes. There is nothing in the design regulations about the required driver-pedestrian sight distance. Neither does the Road Traffic Law help engineers with that. It is legal to park vehicles within 10 m of a pedestrian crossing which does not guarantee the necessary sight distance. Drivers must be able to see a pedestrian waiting or stepping onto the crossing from a distance that will help them come to a stop safely. It is safer to follow the principle of providing adequate pedestrian sight distance. Recommendations for

Measurement of Antenna Bore-Sight Gain

Science.gov (United States)

Fortinberry, Jarrod; Shumpert, Thomas H.

2016-01-01

The absolute or free-field gain of a simple antenna can be approximated using standard antenna theory formulae or for a more accurate prediction, numerical methods may be employed to solve for antenna parameters including gain. Both of these methods will result in relatively reasonable estimates but in practice antenna gain is usually verified and documented via measurements and calibration. In this paper, a relatively simple and low-cost, yet effective means of determining the bore-sight free-field gain of a VHF/UHF antenna is proposed by using the Brewster angle relationship.

NWHI Basking Green Turtle Data (Turtle Sightings from Seal Surveys)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains records of green turtle sightings in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) since 1982 at Lisianski Island, and since 1983 for most other...

Repeated sightings of Alexandrine parakeet Psittacula eupatria in Rome (Central Italy and its likely acclimatization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Maria Angelici

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Alexandrine parakeet sightings have repeatedly occurred in the city of Rome, Italy in the Caffarella valley, within the ‘Regional Park of Appia Antica’ starting from March 2010. Several other sightings have been made since December 2014 onwards. Until now, nesting has not been proven, but it is believed that this may have already occurred.

Behaviors of Sighted Individuals Perceived by Blind Persons as Hindrances to Self-Reliance in Blind Persons.

Science.gov (United States)

Rickelman, Bonnie L.; Blaylock, Jerry N.

1983-01-01

Situations in which sighted people behaved inappropiately toward blind individuals were recalled by 60 blind subjects, who described their reactions and feelings and offered suggestions for sighted people. A lack of knowledge and understanding of the skills, abilities, and feelings of visually impaired individuals were revealed. (SEW)

Terminology report respect distance. The Use of the term respect distance in Posiva and SKB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lampinen, H.

2007-09-01

that are shorter than 3 km the margin for construction is applied. The term in question is not fixed in SKB's use and might thus change in future. In Posiva and SKB the respect distances are applied from the boundary of the modelled deformation zone. The difference between the two approaches is that in SKB the transition zone is included within the zone width and in Posiva the influence zone is not. Drillholes / boreholes are considered unrelated to the respect distances discussed in other forums in SKB and Posiva. For describing the distance to such holes, required from long-term safety aspect, the term restricted radius is proposed. An important issue regarding future work with respect distances is to differentiate between 'requirement', that is, what condition is really not acceptable, and 'criterion', that is, what practically demonstrable rule should be applied to try to meet the requirement. (orig.)

A Conceptual Model of the Cognitive Processing of Environmental Distance Information

Science.gov (United States)

Montello, Daniel R.

I review theories and research on the cognitive processing of environmental distance information by humans, particularly that acquired via direct experience in the environment. The cognitive processes I consider for acquiring and thinking about environmental distance information include working-memory, nonmediated, hybrid, and simple-retrieval processes. Based on my review of the research literature, and additional considerations about the sources of distance information and the situations in which it is used, I propose an integrative conceptual model to explain the cognitive processing of distance information that takes account of the plurality of possible processes and information sources, and describes conditions under which particular processes and sources are likely to operate. The mechanism of summing vista distances is identified as widely important in situations with good visual access to the environment. Heuristics based on time, effort, or other information are likely to play their most important role when sensory access is restricted.

Physical exercises to improve the stability of the target sight in sport shooting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mercedes Miló Dubé

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Sport shooting stands for a highly technical sport, and a competitive art. It is the target sight one of the more important technical elements because it favors the sport performance and it must be considered in the training sessions from the junior school categories. This research meets the goals of proposing a set of physical exercises to improve the stability of the target sight technique for the Shooting athletes, category 13-16, field Standard gun pistol in the Sport School “Ormani Arenado Llonch” in Pinar del Río, Cuba. To fulfill this objective it was applied scientific observation, surveys and interviews, theoretical methods were also used in this research adjusted to 11 athletes and 3 coaches as the sample of research belonging to this school under study. Based on the diagnosed weaknesses found along the training was selected a set of physical exercise to improve the target sight empowering the pedagogical implication and without breaking the planning process of the sport.

Absolute distance measurement with micrometer accuracy using a Michelson interferometer and the iterative synthetic wavelength principle.

Science.gov (United States)

Alzahrani, Khaled; Burton, David; Lilley, Francis; Gdeisat, Munther; Bezombes, Frederic; Qudeisat, Mohammad

2012-02-27

We present a novel system that can measure absolute distances of up to 300 mm with an uncertainty of the order of one micrometer, within a timeframe of 40 seconds. The proposed system uses a Michelson interferometer, a tunable laser, a wavelength meter and a computer for analysis. The principle of synthetic wave creation is used in a novel way in that the system employs an initial low precision estimate of the distance, obtained using a triangulation, or time-of-flight, laser system, or similar, and then iterates through a sequence of progressively smaller synthetic wavelengths until it reaches micrometer uncertainties in the determination of the distance. A further novel feature of the system is its use of Fourier transform phase analysis techniques to achieve sub-wavelength accuracy. This method has the major advantages of being relatively simple to realize, offering demonstrated high relative precisions better than 5 × 10(-5). Finally, the fact that this device does not require a continuous line-of-sight to the target as is the case with other configurations offers significant advantages.

A Comparative Study of the Manneristic Behaviour of Blind and Sighted Children. Research Series No. 1.

Science.gov (United States)

Indian National Inst. for the Visually Handicapped, Dehra Dun.

Examination of the manneristic behavior (stereotyped or repetitive movement) of 542 blind and 365 sighted children was undertaken. Seventeen types of manneristic behavior were investigated, including head movement, eye poking and rubbing, body rocking, kicking, and posture distortion. Comparison of the behaviors observed in sighted and blind Ss…

Silicon Graphics' IRIS InSight: An SGML Success Story.

Science.gov (United States)

Glushko, Robert J.; Kershner, Ken

1993-01-01

Offers a case history of the development of the Silicon Graphics "IRIS InSight" system, a system for viewing on-line documentation using Standard Generalized Markup Language. Notes that SGML's explicit encoding of structure and separation of structure and presentation make possible structure-based search, alternative structural views of…

Experience, but not distance, influences the recruitment precision in the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, Daniel; Kraus, F. Bernhard; Hernández, Manuel De Jesús; Vandame, Rémy

2007-07-01

Recruitment precision, i.e. the proportion of recruits that reach an advertised food source, is a crucial adaptation of social bees to their environment. Studies with honeybees showed that recruitment precision is not a fixed feature, but it may be enhanced by factors like experience and distance. However, little is known regarding the recruitment precision of stingless bees. Hence, in this study, we examined the effects of experience and spatial distance on the precision of the food communication system of the stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana. We conducted the experiments by training bees to a three-dimensional artificial patch at several distances from the colony. We recorded the choices of individual recruited foragers, either being newcomers (foragers without experience with the advertised food source) or experienced (foragers that had previously visited the feeder). We found that the average precision of newcomers (95.6 ± 2.61%) was significantly higher than that of experienced bees (80.2 ± 1.12%). While this might seem counter-intuitive on first sight, this “loss” of precision can be explained by the tendency of experienced recruits to explore nearby areas to find new rewarding food sources after they had initially learned the exact location of the food source. Increasing the distance from the colony had no significant effect on the precision of the foraging bees. Thus, our data show that experience, but not the distance of the food source, affected the patch precision of S. mexicana foragers.

Global assessment of onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Herran, Diego; Dai, Hancheng; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Masui, Toshihiko

2016-01-01

This study assessed global onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas in terms of transmission losses and costs, and visibility (landscape impact) restrictions. Including this factor decreased the economic potential considerably depending on the level of supply cost considered (at least 37% and 16% for an economic potential below 10 and 14 US cents/kWh, respectively). Its importance compared to other factors was secondary below 15 US cents/kWh. At higher costs it was secondary only to land use, and was more important than economic and technical factors. The impact of this factor was mixed across all regions of the world, given the heterogeneity of wind resources in remote and proximal areas. Regions where available resources decreased the most included the European Union, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The supply cost chosen to evaluate the economic potential and uncertainties influencing the estimation of distance to the closest urban area are critical for the assessment. Neglecting the restrictions associated with integration into energy systems and social acceptability resulted in an overestimation of global onshore wind resources. These outcomes are fundamental for global climate policies because they help to clarify the limits of wind energy resource availability. - Highlights: • Global onshore wind resources were assessed including the distance to urban areas. • We evaluate the impact of transmission losses and cost, and visibility restrictions. • The distance to urban areas' impact was considerable, depending on the supply cost. • This factor's importance was secondary to economic, land use, and technical factors. • Neglecting this factor resulted in an overestimation of global wind resources.

Multidisciplinary Optimization Branch Experience Using iSIGHT Software

Science.gov (United States)

Padula, S. L.; Korte, J. J.; Dunn, H. J.; Salas, A. O.

1999-01-01

The Multidisciplinary Optimization (MDO) Branch at NASA Langley is investigating frameworks for supporting multidisciplinary analysis and optimization research. A framework provides software and system services to integrate computational tasks and allows the researcher to concentrate more on the application and less on the programming details. A framework also provides a common working environment and a full range of optimization tools, and so increases the productivity of multidisciplinary research teams. Finally, a framework enables staff members to develop applications for use by disciplinary experts in other organizations. This year, the MDO Branch has gained experience with the iSIGHT framework. This paper describes experiences with four aerospace applications, including: (1) reusable launch vehicle sizing, (2) aerospike nozzle design, (3) low-noise rotorcraft trajectories, and (4) acoustic liner design. Brief overviews of each problem are provided, including the number and type of disciplinary codes and computation time estimates. In addition, the optimization methods, objective functions, design variables, and constraints are described for each problem. For each case, discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of using the iSIGHT framework are provided as well as notes on the ease of use of various advanced features and suggestions for areas of improvement.

Tactile Acuity in the Blind: A Closer Look Reveals Superiority over the Sighted in Some but Not All Cutaneous Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Alary, Flamine; Duquette, Marco; Goldstein, Rachel; Chapman, C. Elaine; Voss, Patrice; La Buissonniere-Ariza, Valerie; Lepore, Franco

2009-01-01

Previous studies have shown that blind subjects may outperform the sighted on certain tactile discrimination tasks. We recently showed that blind subjects outperformed the sighted in a haptic 2D-angle discrimination task. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of the same blind (n = 16) and sighted (n = 17, G1) subjects in three…

MGN V RSS LINE OF SIGHT ACCELERATION PROFILES V1.0

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Line of Sight Acceleration Profile Data Records (LOSAPDR) consist of data from Doppler tracking of the orbiting spacecraft. The relative motion of the spacecraft and...

Music memory following short-term practice and its relationship with the sight-reading abilities of professional pianists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eriko eAiba

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the relationship between the ability to sight-read and the ability to memorize a score using a behavioural experiment. By measuring the amount of memorization following short-term practice, we examined whether better sight-readers not only estimate forthcoming notes but also memorize musical structures and phrases with more practice.Eleven pianists performed the music first by sight-reading. After a 20-minute practice, the participants were asked to perform from memory without any advance notice. The number of mistakes was used as an index of performance.There were no correlations in the numbers of mistakes between sight-reading and memory trial performance. Some pianists memorized almost the entire score, while others hardly remembered it despite demonstrating almost completely accurate performance just before memory trial performance. However, judging from the participants’ responses to a questionnaire regarding their practice strategies, we found auditory memory was helpful for memorizing music following short-term practice.

Music Memory Following Short-term Practice and Its Relationship with the Sight-reading Abilities of Professional Pianists.

Science.gov (United States)

Aiba, Eriko; Matsui, Toshie

2016-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between the ability to sight-read and the ability to memorize a score using a behavioral experiment. By measuring the amount of memorization following short-term practice, we examined whether better sight-readers not only estimate forthcoming notes but also memorize musical structures and phrases with more practice. Eleven pianists performed the music first by sight-reading. After a 20-minute practice, the participants were asked to perform from memory without any advance notice. The number of mistakes was used as an index of performance. There were no correlations in the numbers of mistakes between sight-reading and memory trial performance. Some pianists memorized almost the entire score, while others hardly remembered it despite demonstrating almost completely accurate performance just before memory trial performance. However, judging from the participants' responses to a questionnaire regarding their practice strategies, we found auditory memory was helpful for memorizing music following short-term practice.

DISTANCES TO DARK CLOUDS: COMPARING EXTINCTION DISTANCES TO MASER PARALLAX DISTANCES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foster, Jonathan B.; Jackson, James M.; Stead, Joseph J.; Hoare, Melvin G.; Benjamin, Robert A.

2012-01-01

We test two different methods of using near-infrared extinction to estimate distances to dark clouds in the first quadrant of the Galaxy using large near-infrared (Two Micron All Sky Survey and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey) surveys. Very long baseline interferometry parallax measurements of masers around massive young stars provide the most direct and bias-free measurement of the distance to these dark clouds. We compare the extinction distance estimates to these maser parallax distances. We also compare these distances to kinematic distances, including recent re-calibrations of the Galactic rotation curve. The extinction distance methods agree with the maser parallax distances (within the errors) between 66% and 100% of the time (depending on method and input survey) and between 85% and 100% of the time outside of the crowded Galactic center. Although the sample size is small, extinction distance methods reproduce maser parallax distances better than kinematic distances; furthermore, extinction distance methods do not suffer from the kinematic distance ambiguity. This validation gives us confidence that these extinction methods may be extended to additional dark clouds where maser parallaxes are not available.

Dispersion Distance and the Matter Distribution of the Universe in Dispersion Space.

Science.gov (United States)

Masui, Kiyoshi Wesley; Sigurdson, Kris

2015-09-18

We propose that "standard pings," brief broadband radio impulses, can be used to study the three-dimensional clustering of matter in the Universe even in the absence of redshift information. The dispersion of radio waves as they travel through the intervening plasma can, like redshift, be used as a cosmological distance measure. Because of inhomogeneities in the electron density along the line of sight, dispersion is an imperfect proxy for radial distance and we show that this leads to calculable dispersion-space distortions in the apparent clustering of sources. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are a new class of radio transients that are the prototypical standard ping and, due to their high observed dispersion, have been interpreted as originating at cosmological distances. The rate of fast radio bursts has been estimated to be several thousand over the whole sky per day and, if cosmological, the sources of these events should trace the large-scale structure of the Universe. We calculate the dispersion-space power spectra for a simple model where electrons and FRBs are biased tracers of the large-scale structure of the Universe, and we show that the clustering signal could be measured using as few as 10 000 events. Such a survey is in line with what may be achieved with upcoming wide-field radio telescopes.

Self-Esteem and Empathy in Sighted and Visually Impaired Preadolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin-Shirley, Nora; Nes, Sandra L.

2005-01-01

This article reports on a study of self-esteem and empathy among 71 students with visual impairments and 88 sighted students. No significant difference was found between the two groups of students in their levels of self esteem, empathy toward others, and bonding with pets.

Development of nanostructured protective "sight glasses" for IR gas sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bergmann, René; Davis, Zachary James; Schmidt, Michael Stenbæk

2011-01-01

In this work protective "sight glasses" for infrared gas sensors showing a sub-wavelength nanostructure with random patterns have been fabricated by reactive ion etching (RIE) in an easy and comparable cheap single step mask-less process. By an organic coating, the intrinsic water repellent...

A member of a new plant gene family encoding a meprin and TRAF homology (MATH) domain-containing protein is involved in restriction of long distance movement of plant viruses

Science.gov (United States)

Cosson, Patrick; Sofer, Luc; Schurdi-Levraud, Valérie

2010-01-01

Restriction of long distance movement of several potyviruses in Arabidopsis thaliana is controlled by at least three dominant restricted TEV movement (RTM) genes, named RTM1, RTM2 and RTM3 and acts as a non-conventional resistance. RTM1 encodes a protein belonging to the jacalin family and RTM2 encodes a protein which has similarities to small heat shock proteins. The recent cloning of RTM3 which encodes a protein belonging to an unknown protein family of 29 members that has a meprin and TRAF homology (MATH) domain in its N-terminal region and a coiled-coil (CC) domain at its C-terminal end is an important breakthrough for a better understanding of this resistance process. Not only the third gene involved in this resistance has been identified and has allowed revealing a new gene family in plant but the discovery that the RTM3 protein interacts directly with RTM1 strongly suggests that the RTM proteins form a multimeric complex. However, these data also highlight striking similarities of the RTM resistance with the well known R-gene mediated resistance. PMID:20930558

No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Kepler's supernova (SN1604)

Science.gov (United States)

van Gent, R. H.

2013-03-01

In a recent paper in this journal, Sule et al. (2011) argued that an early 17th-century Indian mural of the constellation Sagittarius with a dragon-headed tail indicated that the bright supernova of 1604 was also sighted by Indian astronomers. In this paper it will be shown that this identification is based on a misunderstanding of traditional Islamic astrological iconography and that the claim that the mural represents an early 17th-century Indian sighting of the supernova of 1604 has to be rejected.

Analysis of local slopes at the InSight landing site on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Fergason, Robin L.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Cushing, Glen; Galuszka, Donna M.; Golombek, Matthew P.; Hare, Trent M.; Howington-Kraus, Elpitha; Kipp, Devin M; Redding, Bonnie L.

2017-01-01

To evaluate the topography of the surface within the InSight candidate landing ellipses, we generated Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) at lander scales and those appropriate for entry, descent, and landing simulations, along with orthoimages of both images in each stereopair, and adirectional slope images. These products were used to assess the distribution of slopes for each candidate ellipse and terrain type in the landing site region, paying particular attention to how these slopes impact InSight landing and engineering safety, and results are reported here. Overall, this region has extremely low slopes at 1-meter baseline scales and meets the safety constraints of the InSight lander. The majority of the landing ellipse has a mean slope at 1-meter baselines of 3.2°. In addition, a mosaic of HRSC, CTX, and HiRISE DTMs within the final landing ellipse (ellipse 9) was generated to support entry, descent, and landing simulations and evaluations. Several methods were tested to generate this mosaic and the NASA Ames Stereo Pipeline program dem_mosaic produced the best results. For the HRSC-CTX-HiRISE DTM mosaic, more than 99 % of the mosaic has slopes less than 15°, and the introduction of artificially high slopes along image seams was minimized.

HMSRP Hawaiian Monk Seal Shark Predation Mitigation Shark Sightings and Incidents

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Data on direct sightings of large sharks around monk seal pupping sites and shark incidents on preweaned and newly weaned pups at French Frigate Shoals are entered...

Extended Kalman Filter Channel Estimation for Line-of-Sight Detection in WCDMA Mobile Positioning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdelmonaem Lakhzouri

2003-12-01

Full Text Available In mobile positioning, it is very important to estimate correctly the delay between the transmitter and the receiver. When the receiver is in line-of-sight (LOS condition with the transmitter, the computation of the mobile position in two dimensions becomes straightforward. In this paper, the problem of LOS detection in WCDMA for mobile positioning is considered, together with joint estimation of the delays and channel coefficients. These are very challenging topics in multipath fading channels because LOS component is not always present, and when it is present, it might be severely affected by interfering paths spaced at less than one chip distance (closely spaced paths. The extended Kalman filter (EKF is used to estimate jointly the delays and complex channel coefficients. The decision whether the LOS component is present or not is based on statistical tests to determine the distribution of the channel coefficient corresponding to the first path. The statistical test-based techniques are practical, simple, and of low computation complexity, which is suitable for WCDMA receivers. These techniques can provide an accurate decision whether LOS component is present or not.

Working memory for vibrotactile frequencies: comparison of cortical activity in blind and sighted individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, Harold; Sinclair, Robert J; Dixit, Sachin

2010-11-01

In blind, occipital cortex showed robust activation to nonvisual stimuli in many prior functional neuroimaging studies. The cognitive processes represented by these activations are not fully determined, although a verbal recognition memory role has been demonstrated. In congenitally blind and sighted (10 per group), we contrasted responses to a vibrotactile one-back frequency retention task with 5-s delays and a vibrotactile amplitude-change task; both tasks involved the same vibration parameters. The one-back paradigm required continuous updating for working memory (WM). Findings in both groups confirmed roles in WM for right hemisphere dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC) and dorsal/ventral attention components of posterior parietal cortex. Negative findings in bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex suggested task performance without subvocalization. In bilateral occipital cortex, blind showed comparable positive responses to both tasks, whereas WM evoked large negative responses in sighted. Greater utilization of attention resources in blind were suggested as causing larger responses in dorsal and ventral attention systems, right DLPFC, and persistent responses across delays between trials in somatosensory and premotor cortex. In sighted, responses in somatosensory and premotor areas showed iterated peaks matched to stimulation trial intervals. The findings in occipital cortex of blind suggest that tactile activations do not represent cognitive operations for nonverbal WM task. However, these data suggest a role in sensory processing for tactile information in blind that parallels a similar contribution for visual stimuli in occipital cortex of sighted. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A Novel Guidance Law with Line-of-Sight Acceleration Feedback for Missiles against Maneuvering Targets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kemao Ma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Terminal guidance law design and its implementation are considered for homing missiles against maneuvering targets. The lateral acceleration dynamics are taken into account in the design. In the guidance law design, the line-of-sight acceleration signals are incorporated into the acceleration reference signals to compensate for the targets’ maneuvers. Then the commanded accelerations are designed and the convergent tracking of the lateral accelerations to these signals is proven theoretically. In the guidance implementation, a linear high-gain differentiator is used to estimate the line-of-sight rates and the line-of-sight acceleration signals. To avoid the magnifying effects of higher order differentiation, a practical design of commanded accelerations is given to realize approximate tracking of the lateral accelerations to the given reference signals. Simulation is conducted for both cases with and without measurement noises. The simulation results justify the feasibility of the design and the implementation.

A Comparison of Emotion Regulation Strategies of Blind Students With Sighted Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samaneh Salimi

2016-06-01

Discussion: Emotion regulation is a possible influential factor in many problems that blind people suffer from, more than sighted ones, and using interventions that target emotion regulation strategies would be useful.

An analysis of initial acquisition and maintenance of sight words following picture matching and copy cover, and compare teaching methods.

OpenAIRE

Conley, Colleen M; Derby, K Mark; Roberts-Gwinn, Michelle; Weber, Kimberly P; McLaughlin, T E

2004-01-01

This study compared the copy, cover, and compare method to a picture-word matching method for teaching sight word recognition. Participants were 5 kindergarten students with less than preprimer sight word vocabularies who were enrolled in a public school in the Pacific Northwest. A multielement design was used to evaluate the effects of the two interventions. Outcomes suggested that sight words taught using the copy, cover, and compare method resulted in better maintenance of word recognition...

Task demands affect spatial reference frame weighting during tactile localization in sighted and congenitally blind adults

OpenAIRE

Heed, Tobias; Roeder, Brigitte; Badde, Stephanie; Schubert, Jonathan

2017-01-01

Task demands modulate tactile localization in sighted humans, presumably through weight adjustments in the spatial integration of anatomical, skin-based, and external, posture-based information. In contrast, previous studies have suggested that congenitally blind humans, by default, refrain from automatic spatial integration and localize touch using only skin-based information. Here, sighted and congenitally blind participants localized tactile targets on the palm or back of one hand, while i...

A Pedagogy of Sight: Microscopic Vision in Robert Hooke's "Micrographia"

Science.gov (United States)

Jack, Jordynn

2009-01-01

Robert Hooke's "Micrographia" (1665) holds an important place in the history of scientific visual rhetoric. Hooke's accomplishment lies not only in a stunning array of engravings, but also in a "pedagogy of sight"--a rhetorical framework that instructs readers how to view images in accordance with an ideological or epistemic program. Hooke not…

Noninvasive continuous blood pressure monitoring by the ClearSight system during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Yoko; Yasuo M, Tsutsumi; Oyama, Takuro; Murakami, Chiaki; Kakuta, Nami; Tanaka, Katsuya

2018-01-01

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALRP) is commonly performed in the surgical treatment of prostate cancer. However, the steep Trendelenburg position (25) and pneumoperitoneum required for this procedure can sometimes cause hemodynamic changes. Although blood pressure is traditionally monitored invasively during RALRP, the ClearSight system (BMEYE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) enables a totally noninvasive and simple continuous blood pressure and cardiac output monitoring based on finger arterial pressure pulse contour analysis. We therefore investigated whether noninvasive continuous arterial blood pressure measurements using the ClearSight system were comparable to those obtained invasively in patients undergoing RALRP. Ten patients scheduled for RALRP with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-II were included in this study. At each of the seven defined time points, noninvasive and invasive blood pressure measurements were documented and compared in each patient using Bland-Altman analysis. Although the blood pressure measured with the ClearSight system correlated with that measured invasively, a large difference between the values obtained by the two devices was noted. The ClearSight system was unable to detect blood pressure accurately during RALRP, suggesting that blood pressure monitoring using this device alone is not feasible in this small patient population. J. Med. Invest. 65:69-73, February, 2018.

Leading causes of certification for blindness and partial sight in England & Wales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wormald Richard

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Prevention of visual impairment is an international priority agreed at the World Health Assembly of 2002- yet many countries lack contemporary data about incidence and causes from which priorities for prevention, treatment and management can be identified. Methods Registration as blind or partially-sighted in England and Wales is voluntary and is initiated by certification by a consultant ophthalmologist. From all certificates completed during the year April 1999 to March 2000, the main cause of visual loss was ascertained where possible and here we present information on the leading causes observed and comment on changes in the three leading causes since the last analysis conducted for 1990–1991 data. Results 13788 people were certified as blind, 19107 were certified as partially sighted. The majority of certifications were in the older age groups. The most commonly recorded main cause of certifications for both blindness (57.2 % and partial sight (56 % was degeneration of the macula and posterior pole which largely comprises age-related macular degeneration. Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy were the next most commonly recorded main causes. Overall, the age specific incidence of all three leading causes has increased since 1990–1991 – with changes in diabetic retinopathy being the most marked – particularly in the over 65's where figures have more than doubled. Conclusion The numbers of individuals per 100,000 population being certified blind or partially sighted due to the three leading causes – AMD, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma have increased since 1990. This may to some extent be explained by improved ascertainment. The process of registration for severe visual impairment in England and Wales is currently undergoing review. Efforts must be made to ensure that routine collection of data on causes of severe visual impairment is continued, particularly in this age of improved technology, to allow such trends

THE MEGAMASER COSMOLOGY PROJECT. V. AN ANGULAR-DIAMETER DISTANCE TO NGC 6264 AT 140 Mpc

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuo, C. Y.; Braatz, J. A.; Lo, K. Y.; Condon, J. J.; Impellizzeri, C. M. V.; Reid, M. J.; Henkel, C.

2013-01-01

We present the direct measurement of the Hubble constant, yielding the direct measurement of the angular-diameter distance to NGC 6264 using the H 2 O megamaser technique. Our measurement is based on sensitive observations of the circumnuclear megamaser disk from four observations with the Very Long Baseline Array, the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), and the Effelsberg telescope. We also monitored the maser spectral profile for 2.3 years using the GBT to measure accelerations of maser lines by tracking their line-of-sight velocities as they change with time. The measured accelerations suggest that the systemic maser spots have a significantly wider radial distribution than in the archetypal megamaser in NGC 4258. We model the maser emission as arising from a circumnuclear disk with orbits dominated by the central black hole. The best fit of the data gives a Hubble constant of H 0 = 68 ± 9 km s –1 Mpc –1 , which corresponds to an angular-diameter distance of 144 ± 19 Mpc. In addition, the fit also gives a mass of the central black hole of (3.09 ± 0.42) × 10 7 M ☉ . The result demonstrates the feasibility of measuring distances to galaxies located well into the Hubble flow by using circumnuclear megamaser disks.

Sight-Reading Requirements at Concert Band Festivals: A National Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Timothy A.

2010-01-01

This study, a replication and extension of work by Norris (2004), examined sight-reading requirements at middle and high school large-group band festivals across the United States. As in the earlier investigation, answers to the following questions were solicited from all 50 states: (1) Are there ratings-based large-group band festivals? (2) Is…

Marine mammal sightings around oil and gas installations in the central North Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Delefosse, Matthieu; Rahbek, Malene Louise; Roesen, Lars

2017-01-01

288 animals were reported between May 2013 and May 2016. A total of seven marine mammal species were identified, five cetaceans: harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), killer whale (Orcinus orca), pilot whales......Relatively little is known about the distribution and diversity of marine mammals around offshore anthropogenic structures. Wepresentresultsobtainedfromincidentalsightings ofmarinemammalsaroundoilandgasinstallationslocated200 kmoff the Danish coast. A total of 131 sightings corresponding to about...... (Globicephala spp.) and two species of pinnipeds: harbour (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). The most sighted species were harbour porpoise (41%) and minke whale (31%). Relative counts and biodiversity of marine mammals observed around installations corresponded well with the expected...

Influence of non-line of sight luminescent emitters in visible light communication systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorai, Anaranya; Walvekar, Pratik; Nayak, Shreyas; Narayan, K. S.

2018-01-01

We introduce and demonstrate concepts which utilize the non-line of sight fraction of light incident on a detector assembly in a visible-light communication (VLC) system. In addition to ambient light, realistic enclosures where VLC is implemented consist of a sizable fraction of scattered and reflected light. We present results of VLC systems with detectors responding to contributions from the light source scattered off a surface embedded with fluorescent and phosphorescent emitters besides the direct line of sight signal. Contribution from the emitters takes a form of discernible fluctuations in the detector signal. The implication of our results from noise analysis of these fluctuations indicates the possibility of utilizing smart coatings to further tailor VLC capabilities.

Western Aphrodite Terra, tectonics, geology, and line-of-sight gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Hays, John E.; Morgan, Paul

1992-01-01

Aphrodite Terra is the largest area of high-standing topography on Venus, and isostatic considerations strongly suggest that this high topography is supported at least in part by thickened crust. Previous studies of line-of-sight gravity data from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter indicate rapidly changing apparent depths of compensation across Aphrodite Terra. Magellan imaging data provide the first detailed images of this region, and we are mapping the region along Pioneer Venus orbit 440 to investigate whether the changing apparent depths of compensation correlate with changes in surficial tectonics. Preliminary mapping of geological features on Magellan images along the path of Pioneer Venus orbit 440 do not indicate a first-order correlation among surface features and changes in the apparent depth of compensation of line-of-sight gravity data. The apparent depth of compensation appears to be most variable in regions dominated by tessera, but not all areas of tessera have distinct gravity signatures. There is a weak correlation among areas in which impact craters are relatively common and areas in which the observed and predicted gravity anomalies are poorly correlated.

An Evaluation of Ad Hoc Presence-Only Data in Explaining Patterns of Distribution: Cetacean Sightings from Whale-Watching Vessels

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Louisa K. Higby

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of presence-only data is a problem in determining species distributions and accurately determining population sizes. The collection of such data is common from unequal or nonrandomised effort surveys, such as those surveys conducted by citizen scientists. However, causative regression-based methods have been less well examined using presence-only data. In this study, we examine a range of predictive factors which might influence Cetacean sightings (specifically minke whale sightings from whale-watching vessels in Faxaflói Bay in Iceland. In this case, environmental variables were collected regularly regardless of whether sightings were recorded. Including absences as well as presence in the analysis resulted in a multiple-generalised linear regression model with significantly more explanatory power than when data were presence only. However, by including extra information on the sightings of the whales, in this case, their observed behaviour when the sighting occurred resulted in a significantly improved model over the presence-only data model. While there are limitations of conducting nonrandomised surveys for the use of predictive models such as regression, presence-only data should not be considered as worthless, and the scope of collection of these data by citizen scientists using modern technology should not be underestimated.

Distance and total column density to the periodic radio star LSI + 61 deg 303

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frail, D.A.; Hjellming, R.M.

1991-01-01

New observations toward the periodic radio star LSI + 61 deg 303 in the lines of H I at 21 cm and CO-18 at 2.7 mm are reported. Using the kinematic method, H I observations are interpreted in terms of the two-armed spiral shock model of Roberts (1972) to derive a distance to LSI + 61 deg 303 of 2.0 + or - 0.2 kpc. The results clearly show the presence of the Perseus arm shock and locate LSI + 61 deg 303 between this shock and the more distant postshock gas. In addition, by using the H I and CO-18 data, the total neutral and molecular gas column density is derived along the line of sight toward LSI + 61 deg 303. 32 refs

Improving patient access to prevent sight loss: ophthalmic electronic referrals and communication (Scotland).

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, A A; Mustafa, M Z; Sanders, R

2015-02-01

With the number of people with sight loss predicted to double to four million people in the UK by the year 2050, preventable visual loss is a significant public health issue. Sight loss is associated with an increased risk of falls, accidents and depression and evidence suggests that 50% of sight loss can be avoided. Timely diagnosis is central to the prevention of sight loss. Access to care can be a limiting factor in preventable cases. By improving referrals and access to hospital eye services it is possible to treat and minimise the number of patients with preventable sight loss and the impact this has on wider society. In 2005, NHS Fife took part in a flagship pilot funded by the Scottish government e-health department to evaluate the feasibility, safety, clinical effectiveness, and cost of electronic referral with images of patients directly from community optometrists to Hospital Eye Service (HES). The pilot study showed that electronic referral was feasible, fast, safe, and obviated the need for outpatient appointments in 128 (37%) patients with a high patient satisfaction. The results of the pilot study were presented and in May 2007, the electronic referral system was rolled out regionally in southeast Scotland. Referrals were accepted at a single site with vetting by a trained team and appointments were allocated within 48 hours. Following the implementation of electronic referral, waiting times were reduced from a median of 14 to 4 weeks. Significantly fewer new patients were seen (7462 vs 8714 [p electronic communication between community optometry practices and hospital eye departments. Five electronic forms were specifically designed for cataract, glaucoma, macula, paediatric and general ophthalmic disease. A Virtual Private Network was created which enabled optometrists to connect to the Scottish clinical information gateway system and send referrals to hospital and receive referral status feedback. Numerous hurdles have been encountered and overcome

GABA release in the zona incerta of the sheep in response to the sight and ingestion of food and salt.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendrick, K M; Hinton, M R; Baldwin, B A

1991-05-31

In order to establish which neurotransmitters may influence the activity of zona incerta neurones in the sheep which respond selectively to the sight or ingestion of food, we have measured the release of amino acid and monoamine neurotransmitters from this region using microdialysis sampling. Co-ordinates for the placement of microdialysis probes in regions of the zona incerta where cells respond to the sight or ingestion of food were first established by making single-unit extracellular recordings. When animals were food-deprived results showed that release of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was increased in response to the sight and ingestion of food but not of aspartate, glutamate, taurine, noradrenaline, dopamine or serotonin. This release of GABA was absent when the animals were shown non-food objects or saw or ingested salt solutions. When the same animals were physiologically sodium-depleted GABA release was evoked by the sight and ingestion of salt solutions and release following the sight and ingestion of food was significantly reduced. These results provide further evidence that GABA is an important neurotransmitter in neural circuits controlling the regulation of food intake.

Task demands affect spatial reference frame weighting during tactile localization in sighted and congenitally blind adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan T W Schubert

Full Text Available Task demands modulate tactile localization in sighted humans, presumably through weight adjustments in the spatial integration of anatomical, skin-based, and external, posture-based information. In contrast, previous studies have suggested that congenitally blind humans, by default, refrain from automatic spatial integration and localize touch using only skin-based information. Here, sighted and congenitally blind participants localized tactile targets on the palm or back of one hand, while ignoring simultaneous tactile distractors at congruent or incongruent locations on the other hand. We probed the interplay of anatomical and external location codes for spatial congruency effects by varying hand posture: the palms either both faced down, or one faced down and one up. In the latter posture, externally congruent target and distractor locations were anatomically incongruent and vice versa. Target locations had to be reported either anatomically ("palm" or "back" of the hand, or externally ("up" or "down" in space. Under anatomical instructions, performance was more accurate for anatomically congruent than incongruent target-distractor pairs. In contrast, under external instructions, performance was more accurate for externally congruent than incongruent pairs. These modulations were evident in sighted and blind individuals. Notably, distractor effects were overall far smaller in blind than in sighted participants, despite comparable target-distractor identification performance. Thus, the absence of developmental vision seems to be associated with an increased ability to focus tactile attention towards a non-spatially defined target. Nevertheless, that blind individuals exhibited effects of hand posture and task instructions in their congruency effects suggests that, like the sighted, they automatically integrate anatomical and external information during tactile localization. Moreover, spatial integration in tactile processing is, thus, flexibly

Task demands affect spatial reference frame weighting during tactile localization in sighted and congenitally blind adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Jonathan T W; Badde, Stephanie; Röder, Brigitte; Heed, Tobias

2017-01-01

Task demands modulate tactile localization in sighted humans, presumably through weight adjustments in the spatial integration of anatomical, skin-based, and external, posture-based information. In contrast, previous studies have suggested that congenitally blind humans, by default, refrain from automatic spatial integration and localize touch using only skin-based information. Here, sighted and congenitally blind participants localized tactile targets on the palm or back of one hand, while ignoring simultaneous tactile distractors at congruent or incongruent locations on the other hand. We probed the interplay of anatomical and external location codes for spatial congruency effects by varying hand posture: the palms either both faced down, or one faced down and one up. In the latter posture, externally congruent target and distractor locations were anatomically incongruent and vice versa. Target locations had to be reported either anatomically ("palm" or "back" of the hand), or externally ("up" or "down" in space). Under anatomical instructions, performance was more accurate for anatomically congruent than incongruent target-distractor pairs. In contrast, under external instructions, performance was more accurate for externally congruent than incongruent pairs. These modulations were evident in sighted and blind individuals. Notably, distractor effects were overall far smaller in blind than in sighted participants, despite comparable target-distractor identification performance. Thus, the absence of developmental vision seems to be associated with an increased ability to focus tactile attention towards a non-spatially defined target. Nevertheless, that blind individuals exhibited effects of hand posture and task instructions in their congruency effects suggests that, like the sighted, they automatically integrate anatomical and external information during tactile localization. Moreover, spatial integration in tactile processing is, thus, flexibly adapted by top

Entity-Linking via Graph-Distance Minimization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roi Blanco

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Entity-linking is a natural-language–processing task that consists in identifying the entities mentioned in a piece of text, linking each to an appropriate item in some knowledge base; when the knowledge base is Wikipedia, the problem comes to be known as wikification (in this case, items are wikipedia articles. One instance of entity-linking can be formalized as an optimization problem on the underlying concept graph, where the quantity to be optimized is the average distance between chosen items. Inspired by this application, we define a new graph problem which is a natural variant of the Maximum Capacity Representative Set. We prove that our problem is NP-hard for general graphs; nonetheless, under some restrictive assumptions, it turns out to be solvable in linear time. For the general case, we propose two heuristics: one tries to enforce the above assumptions and another one is based on the notion of hitting distance; we show experimentally how these approaches perform with respect to some baselines on a real-world dataset.

CYGNUS X-3: ITS LITTLE FRIEND’S COUNTERPART, THE DISTANCE TO CYGNUS X-3, AND OUTFLOWS/JETS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCollough, M. L.; Dunham, M. M. [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Corrales, L., E-mail: mmccollough@cfa.harvard.edu [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2016-10-20

Chandra observations have revealed a feature within 16″ of Cygnus X-3 that varied in phase with Cygnus X-3. This feature was shown to be a Bok globule that is along the line of sight to Cygnus X-3. We report on observations made with the Submillimeter Array to search for molecular emission from this globule, also known as Cygnus X-3's “Little Friend.” We have found a counterpart in both {sup 12}CO (2-1) and {sup 13}CO (2-1) emission. From the velocity shift of the molecular lines we are able to find two probable distances based on the Bayesian model of Milky Way kinematics of Reid et al. For the LF velocity of −47.5 km s{sup −1}, we find distances of 6.1 ± 0.6 kpc (62% probability) and 7.8 ± 0.6 kpc (38% probability). This yields distances to Cyg X-3 of 7.4 ± 1.1 kpc and 10.2 ± 1.2 kpc, respectively. Based on the probabilities entailed, we take 7.4 ± 1.1 kpc as the preferred distance to Cyg X-3. We also report the discovery of bipolar molecular outflow, suggesting that there is active star formation occurring within the Little Friend.

Towards Mobile OCR: How To Take a Good Picture of a Document Without Sight.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutter, Michael; Manduchi, Roberto

The advent of mobile OCR (optical character recognition) applications on regular smartphones holds great promise for enabling blind people to access printed information. Unfortunately, these systems suffer from a problem: in order for OCR output to be meaningful, a well-framed image of the document needs to be taken, something that is difficult to do without sight. This contribution presents an experimental investigation of how blind people position and orient a camera phone while acquiring document images. We developed experimental software to investigate if verbal guidance aids in the acquisition of OCR-readable images without sight. We report on our participant's feedback and performance before and after assistance from our software.

A Computer-Based Program to Teach Braille Reading to Sighted Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Scheithauer, Mindy C.; Tiger, Jeffrey H.

2012-01-01

Instructors of the visually impaired need efficient braille-training methods. This study conducted a preliminary evaluation of a computer-based program intended to teach the relation between braille characters and English letters using a matching-to-sample format with 4 sighted college students. Each participant mastered matching visual depictions…

Short-sighted evolution of virulence in parasitic honeybee workers ( Apis mellifera capensis Esch.)

Science.gov (United States)

Moritz, Robin F. A.; Pirk, Christian W. W.; Hepburn, H. Randall; Neumann, Peter

2008-06-01

The short-sighted selection hypothesis for parasite virulence predicts that winners of within-host competition are poorer at transmission to new hosts. Social parasitism by self-replicating, female-producing workers occurs in the Cape honeybee Apis mellifera capensis, and colonies of other honeybee subspecies are susceptible hosts. We found high within-host virulence but low transmission rates in a clone of social parasitic A. m. capensis workers invading the neighbouring subspecies A. m. scutellata. In contrast, parasitic workers from the endemic range of A. m. capensis showed low within-host virulence but high transmission rates. This suggests a short-sighted selection scenario for the host-parasite co-evolution in the invasive range of the Cape honeybee, probably facilitated by beekeeping-assisted parasite transmission in apiaries.

Restricting the vertical and horizontal extent of the Field-of-View: Effects on manoeuvring performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, S.E.M.; Toet, A.; Delleman, N.J.

2010-01-01

It is known that Field-of-view restrictions affect distance estimation, postural equilibrium, and the ability to control heading. These are all important factors when manoeuvring on foot through complex structured environments. Although considerable research has been devoted to the horizontal

The Distance to NGC 4993: The Host Galaxy of the Gravitational-wave Event GW170817

Science.gov (United States)

Hjorth, Jens; Levan, Andrew J.; Tanvir, Nial R.; Lyman, Joe D.; Wojtak, Radosław; Schrøder, Sophie L.; Mandel, Ilya; Gall, Christa; Bruun, Sofie H.

2017-10-01

The historic detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger (GW170817) and its electromagnetic counterpart led to the first accurate (sub-arcsecond) localization of a gravitational-wave event. The transient was found to be ˜10″ from the nucleus of the S0 galaxy NGC 4993. We report here the luminosity distance to this galaxy using two independent methods. (1) Based on our MUSE/VLT measurement of the heliocentric redshift (z helio = 0.009783 ± 0.000023), we infer the systemic recession velocity of the NGC 4993 group of galaxies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) frame to be v CMB = 3231 ± 53 km s-1. Using constrained cosmological simulations we estimate the line-of-sight peculiar velocity to be v pec = 307 ± 230 km s-1, resulting in a cosmic velocity of v cosmic = 2924 ± 236 km s-1 (z cosmic = 0.00980 ± 0.00079) and a distance of D z = 40.4 ± 3.4 Mpc assuming a local Hubble constant of H 0 = 73.24 ± 1.74 km s-1 Mpc-1. (2) Using Hubble Space Telescope measurements of the effective radius (15.″5 ± 1.″5) and contained intensity and MUSE/VLT measurements of the velocity dispersion, we place NGC 4993 on the Fundamental Plane (FP) of E and S0 galaxies. Comparing to a frame of 10 clusters containing 226 galaxies, this yields a distance estimate of D FP = 44.0 ± 7.5 Mpc. The combined redshift and FP distance is D NGC 4993 = 41.0 ± 3.1 Mpc. This “electromagnetic” distance estimate is consistent with the independent measurement of the distance to GW170817 as obtained from the gravitational-wave signal ({D}{GW}={43.8}-6.9+2.9 Mpc) and confirms that GW170817 occurred in NGC 4993.

GALAXY CLUSTERS IN THE LINE OF SIGHT TO BACKGROUND QUASARS. III. MULTI-OBJECT SPECTROSCOPY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrews, H.; Barrientos, L. F.; Padilla, N.; Lacerna, I.; López, S.; Lira, P.; Maureira, M. J.; Gilbank, D. G.; Ellingson, E.; Gladders, M. D.; Yee, H. K. C.

2013-01-01

We present Gemini/GMOS-S multi-object spectroscopy of 31 galaxy cluster candidates at redshifts between 0.2 and 1.0 and centered on QSO sight lines taken from López et al. The targets were selected based on the presence of an intervening Mg II absorption system at a similar redshift to that of a galaxy cluster candidate lying at a projected distance 71 -1 Mpc from the QSO sight line (a p hotometric hit ) . The absorption systems span rest-frame equivalent widths between 0.015 and 2.028 Å. Our aim was three-fold: (1) to identify the absorbing galaxies and determine their impact parameters, (2) to confirm the galaxy cluster candidates in the vicinity of each quasar sightline, and (3) to determine whether the absorbing galaxies reside in galaxy clusters. In this way, we are able to characterize the absorption systems associated with cluster members. Our main findings are as follows. (1) We identified 10 out of 24 absorbing galaxies with redshifts between 0.2509 ≤ z gal ≤ 1.0955, up to an impact parameter of 142 h 71 -1 kpc and a maximum velocity difference of 280 km s –1 . (2) We spectroscopically confirmed 20 out of 31 cluster/group candidates, with most of the confirmed clusters/groups at z –1 from galaxy clusters/groups, in addition to two new ones related to galaxy group environments. These numbers imply efficiencies of 71% in finding such systems with MOS spectroscopy. This is a remarkable result since we defined a photometric hit as those cluster-absorber pairs having a redshift difference Δz = 0.1. The general population of our confirmed absorbing galaxies have luminosities L B ∼L B * and mean rest-frame colors (R c – z') typical of S cd galaxies. From this sample, absorbing cluster galaxies hosting weak absorbers are consistent with lower star formation activity than the rest, which produce strong absorption and agree with typical Mg II absorbing galaxies found in the literature. Our spectroscopic confirmations lend support to the selection of

Insufficient smoking restrictions in restaurants around junior high schools in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotani, Kazuhiko; Osaki, Yoneatsu; Kurozawa, Youichi; Kishimoto, Takuji

2006-12-01

Controls for second hand smoke (SHS) and adolescent smoking have been still sociomedical concerns in Japan. Restaurant smoking restrictions are associated with community social norms affecting adolescent smoking behavior, and the status in areas around Junior high schools (JHSs) in the community could be a sign of community practices on regulating SHS for adolescents. To examine whether restaurant smoking restrictions are seen especially in areas around JHSs in Japan, a survey using the direct inspection of a total of 163 restaurants (64 restaurants within and 99 outside a 1-km radius from the nearest JHSs) was conducted in May 2003 in Yonago city, Japan. We assessed smoking restriction status in each restaurant and classified them into 2 groups according to the distance from the nearest JHSs. There were only 2 (3.1%) restaurants with 100% non-smoking and 11 (17.2%) with some partial restrictions among the restaurants within a 1-km radius of JHSs. There were 1 (1.0%) restaurant with 100% non-smoking, 3 (3.0%) with complete non-smoking sections and 17 (17.2%) with some partial restrictions among the restaurants outside a 1-km radius of JHSs. Among restaurants with some partial restrictions, restriction methods were considered insufficient. The smoking restriction status was not significantly different between the restaurant groups within and outside a 1-km radius of JHSs. These results suggest that the public awareness of and attitude toward adolescent smoking problems remains low in Japan. Further SHS control actions for adolescents are needed in Japan.

NanoChemistry Group at DTU uses NanoSight's NTA System for Nanoparticle Characterization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2011-01-01

(Nanowerk News) NanoSight, leading manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterization technology, describes how the Nano Chemistry group at DTU Copenhagen is utilizing nanoparticle tracking analysis, NTA, in its research and teaching programs....

Coastal Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Imager Pointing Line-of-Sight Solution Development and Testing

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A stable pointing line of sight solution is developed and tested in support of the Coastal Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics Imager for the GEOstationary Coastal and Air...

Predictors of Music Sight-Reading Ability in High School Wind Players

Science.gov (United States)

Gromko, Joyce Eastlund

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study, grounded in near-transfer theory, was to investigate relationships among music sight-reading and tonal and rhythmic audiation, visual field articulation, spatial orientation and visualization, and achievement in math concepts and reading comprehension. A regression analysis with data from four high schools (N = 98) in…

An analysis of initial acquisition and maintenance of sight words following picture matching and copy cover, and compare teaching methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Conley, Colleen M; Derby, K Mark; Roberts-Gwinn, Michelle; Weber, Kimberly P; McLaughlin, T E

2004-01-01

This study compared the copy, cover, and compare method to a picture-word matching method for teaching sight word recognition. Participants were 5 kindergarten students with less than preprimer sight word vocabularies who were enrolled in a public school in the Pacific Northwest. A multielement design was used to evaluate the effects of the two interventions. Outcomes suggested that sight words taught using the copy, cover, and compare method resulted in better maintenance of word recognition when compared to the picture-matching intervention. Benefits to students and the practicality of employing the word-level teaching methods are discussed.

On the Matching of Seen and Felt Shape by Newly Sighted Subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Schwenkler

2012-04-01

Full Text Available How do we recognize identities between seen shapes and felt ones? Is this due to associative learning, or intrinsic connections these sensory modalities? We can address this question by testing the capacities of newly sighted subjects to match seen and felt shapes, but only if the subjects can see the objects well enough to form adequate visual representations of their shapes. In light of this, a recent study by R. Held and colleagues fails to demonstrate that their newly sighted subjects' inability to match seen and felt shape was due to a lack of intermodal connections rather than a purely visual deficit, as the subjects may not have been able visually to represent 3D shape in the perspective-invariant manner required for intermodal matching. However, the study could be modified in any of several ways to help avoid this problem.

Motion processing after sight restoration: No competition between visual recovery and auditory compensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bottari, Davide; Kekunnaya, Ramesh; Hense, Marlene; Troje, Nikolaus F; Sourav, Suddha; Röder, Brigitte

2018-02-15

The present study tested whether or not functional adaptations following congenital blindness are maintained in humans after sight-restoration and whether they interfere with visual recovery. In permanently congenital blind individuals both intramodal plasticity (e.g. changes in auditory cortex) as well as crossmodal plasticity (e.g. an activation of visual cortex by auditory stimuli) have been observed. Both phenomena were hypothesized to contribute to improved auditory functions. For example, it has been shown that early permanently blind individuals outperform sighted controls in auditory motion processing and that auditory motion stimuli elicit activity in typical visual motion areas. Yet it is unknown what happens to these behavioral adaptations and cortical reorganizations when sight is restored, that is, whether compensatory auditory changes are lost and to which degree visual motion processing is reinstalled. Here we employed a combined behavioral-electrophysiological approach in a group of sight-recovery individuals with a history of a transient phase of congenital blindness lasting for several months to several years. They, as well as two control groups, one with visual impairments, one normally sighted, were tested in a visual and an auditory motion discrimination experiment. Task difficulty was manipulated by varying the visual motion coherence and the signal to noise ratio, respectively. The congenital cataract-reversal individuals showed lower performance in the visual global motion task than both control groups. At the same time, they outperformed both control groups in auditory motion processing suggesting that at least some compensatory behavioral adaptation as a consequence of a complete blindness from birth was maintained. Alpha oscillatory activity during the visual task was significantly lower in congenital cataract reversal individuals and they did not show ERPs modulated by visual motion coherence as observed in both control groups. In

Precision Timing of PSR J0437-4715: An Accurate Pulsar Distance, a High Pulsar Mass, and a Limit on the Variation of Newton's Gravitational Constant

Science.gov (United States)

Verbiest, J. P. W.; Bailes, M.; van Straten, W.; Hobbs, G. B.; Edwards, R. T.; Manchester, R. N.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Sarkissian, J. M.; Jacoby, B. A.; Kulkarni, S. R.

2008-05-01

Analysis of 10 years of high-precision timing data on the millisecond pulsar PSR J0437-4715 has resulted in a model-independent kinematic distance based on an apparent orbital period derivative, dot Pb , determined at the 1.5% level of precision (Dk = 157.0 +/- 2.4 pc), making it one of the most accurate stellar distance estimates published to date. The discrepancy between this measurement and a previously published parallax distance estimate is attributed to errors in the DE200 solar system ephemerides. The precise measurement of dot Pb allows a limit on the variation of Newton's gravitational constant, |Ġ/G| <= 23 × 10-12 yr-1. We also constrain any anomalous acceleration along the line of sight to the pulsar to |a⊙/c| <= 1.5 × 10-18 s-1 at 95% confidence, and derive a pulsar mass, mpsr = 1.76 +/- 0.20 M⊙, one of the highest estimates so far obtained.

What kind of love is love at first sight? An empirical investigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zsok, Florian; Haucke, Matthias; de Wit, Cornelia; Barelds, Dick

2017-01-01

Love at first sight (LAFS) is a commonly known phenomenon, but has barely been investigated scientifically. Major psychological theories of love predict that LAFS is marked by high passion. However, it could also be a memory confabulation construed by couples to enhance their relationship. We

Using a Quadtree Algorithm To Assess Line of Sight

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Joseph; Chamberlain, Robert; Tailor, Eric; Gutt, Gary

2006-01-01

A matched pair of computer algorithms determines whether line of sight (LOS) is obstructed by terrain. These algorithms were originally designed for use in conjunction with combat-simulation software in military training exercises, but could also be used for such commercial purposes as evaluating lines of sight for antennas or determining what can be seen from a "room with a view." The quadtree preparation algorithm operates on an array of digital elevation data and only needs to be run once for a terrain region, which can be quite large. Relatively little computation time is needed, as each elevation value is considered only one and one-third times. The LOS assessment algorithm uses that quadtree to answer LOS queries. To determine whether LOS is obstructed, a piecewise-planar (or higher-order) terrain skin is computationally draped over the digital elevation data. Adjustments are made to compensate for curvature of the Earth and for refraction of the LOS by the atmosphere. Average computing time appears to be proportional to the number of queries times the logarithm of the number of elevation data points. Accuracy is as high as is possible for the available elevation data, and symmetric results are assured. In the simulation, the LOS query program runs as a separate process, thereby making more random-access memory available for other computations.

Water inSight : An exploration into landscape architectonic transformations of polder water

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bobbink, I.; Loen, S.

2013-01-01

Water inSight provides insight into the ‘water machine’ that forms the basis of the Dutch polder landscape. Authors Inge Bobbink and Suzanne Loen approach the polder landscape from a landscape-architectonic point of view, using technical and spatial analysis drawings, images, plans and experiments

On the language of space: Neurocognitive studies in blind and sighted individuals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Struiksma, M.E.

2011-01-01

In 1688 Molyneux asked the question whether a blind man who knew the difference between a sphere and a cube from touch, with his sight restored would be able to distinguish between them based on vision. One interpretation of Molyneux’s question is whether spatial representations are

Bayesian Ranging for Radio Localization with and without Line-of-Sight Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jing, Lishuai; Pedersen, Troels; Fleury, Bernard Henri

2015-01-01

We consider Bayesian ranging methods for local- ization in wireless communication systems. Based on a channel model and given priors for the range and the line-of-sight (LOS) condition, we propose range estimators with and without LOS detection. Since the pdf of the received frequency...

PROBING THE ROLE OF CARBON IN ULTRAVIOLET EXTINCTION ALONG GALACTIC SIGHT LINES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parvathi, V. S.; Babu, B. R. S. [Department of Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635 (India); Sofia, U. J. [Department of Physics, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20016 (United States); Murthy, J., E-mail: veena.makesh@gmail.com, E-mail: brsbabu@gmail.com, E-mail: sofia@american.edu, E-mail: jmurthy@yahoo.com [Indian Institute of Astrophysics, II Block, Koramangala, Bangalore 560034 (India)

2012-11-20

We report previously undetermined interstellar gas and dust-phase carbon abundances along 15 Galactic sight lines based on archival data of the strong 1334.5323 A transition observed with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. These are combined with previously reported carbon measurements along six sight lines to produce a complete sample of interstellar C II measurements determined with the 1334 A transition. Our data set includes a variety of Galactic disk environments characterized by different extinctions and samples paths ranging over three orders of magnitude in average density of hydrogen ((n(H))). Our data support the idea that dust, specifically carbon-based grains, are processed in the neutral interstellar medium. We, however, do not find that the abundance of carbon in dust or the grain-size distribution is related to the strength of the 2175 A bump. This is surprising, given that many current models have polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as the bump-producing dust.

Design of rapid prototype of UAV line-of-sight stabilized control system

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Gang; Zhao, Liting; Li, Yinlong; Yu, Fei; Lin, Zhe

2018-01-01

The line-of-sight (LOS) stable platform is the most important technology of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), which can reduce the effect to imaging quality from vibration and maneuvering of the aircraft. According to the requirement of LOS stability system (inertial and optical-mechanical combined method) and UAV's structure, a rapid prototype is designed using based on industrial computer using Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and Windows RTX to exchange information. The paper shows the control structure, and circuit system including the inertial stability control circuit with gyro and voice coil motor driven circuit, the optical-mechanical stability control circuit with fast-steering-mirror (FSM) driven circuit and image-deviation-obtained system, outer frame rotary follower, and information-exchange system on PC. Test results show the stability accuracy reaches 5μrad, and prove the effectiveness of the combined line-of-sight stabilization control system, and the real-time rapid prototype runs stable.

The effect of weak lensing on distance estimates from supernovae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Mathew; Maartens, Roy [Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town 7535 (South Africa); Bacon, David J.; Nichol, Robert C.; Campbell, Heather; D' Andrea, Chris B. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Clarkson, Chris [Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravity Centre (ACGC), Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Bassett, Bruce A. [South African Astronomical Observatory, P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935 (South Africa); Cinabro, David [Wayne State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Detroit, MI 48202 (United States); Finley, David A.; Frieman, Joshua A. [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Galbany, Lluis [CENTRA Centro Multidisciplinar de Astrofísica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon (Portugal); Garnavich, Peter M. [Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States); Olmstead, Matthew D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (United States); Schneider, Donald P. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Shapiro, Charles [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91109 (United States); Sollerman, Jesper, E-mail: matsmith2@gmail.com [The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)

2014-01-01

Using a sample of 608 Type Ia supernovae from the SDSS-II and BOSS surveys, combined with a sample of foreground galaxies from SDSS-II, we estimate the weak lensing convergence for each supernova line of sight. We find that the correlation between this measurement and the Hubble residuals is consistent with the prediction from lensing (at a significance of 1.7σ). Strong correlations are also found between the residuals and supernova nuisance parameters after a linear correction is applied. When these other correlations are taken into account, the lensing signal is detected at 1.4σ. We show, for the first time, that distance estimates from supernovae can be improved when lensing is incorporated, by including a new parameter in the SALT2 methodology for determining distance moduli. The recovered value of the new parameter is consistent with the lensing prediction. Using cosmic microwave background data from WMAP7, H {sub 0} data from Hubble Space Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Baryon acoustic oscillations measurements, we find the best-fit value of the new lensing parameter and show that the central values and uncertainties on Ω {sub m} and w are unaffected. The lensing of supernovae, while only seen at marginal significance in this low-redshift sample, will be of vital importance for the next generation of surveys, such as DES and LSST, which will be systematics-dominated.

Assessment of different models for computing the probability of a clear line of sight

Science.gov (United States)

Bojin, Sorin; Paulescu, Marius; Badescu, Viorel

2017-12-01

This paper is focused on modeling the morphological properties of the cloud fields in terms of the probability of a clear line of sight (PCLOS). PCLOS is defined as the probability that a line of sight between observer and a given point of the celestial vault goes freely without intersecting a cloud. A variety of PCLOS models assuming the cloud shape hemisphere, semi-ellipsoid and ellipsoid are tested. The effective parameters (cloud aspect ratio and absolute cloud fraction) are extracted from high-resolution series of sunshine number measurements. The performance of the PCLOS models is evaluated from the perspective of their ability in retrieving the point cloudiness. The advantages and disadvantages of the tested models are discussed, aiming to a simplified parameterization of PCLOS models.

The effects of size, clutter, and complexity on vanishing-point distances in visual imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbard, T L; Baird, J C

1993-01-01

The portrayal of vanishing-point distances in visual imagery was examined in six experiments. In all experiments, subjects formed visual images of squares, and the squares were to be oriented orthogonally to subjects' line of sight. The squares differed in their level of surface complexity, and were either undivided, divided into 4 equally sized smaller squares, or divided into 16 equally sized smaller squares. Squares also differed in stated referent size, and ranged from 3 in. to 128 ft along each side. After subjects had formed an image of a specified square, they transformed their image so that the square was portrayed to move away from them. Eventually, the imaged square was portrayed to be so far away that if it were any further away, it could not be identified. Subjects estimated the distance to the square that was portrayed in their image at that time, the vanishing-point distance, and the relationship between stated referent size and imaged vanishing-point distance was best described by a power function with an exponent less than 1. In general, there were trends for exponents (slopes on log axes) to increase slightly and for multiplicative constants (y intercepts on log axes) to decrease as surface complexity increased. No differences in exponents or in multiplicative constants were found when the vanishing-point was approached from either subthreshold or suprathreshold directions. When clutter in the form of additional imaged objects located to either side of the primary imaged object was added to the image, the exponent of the vanishing-point function increased slightly and the multiplicative constant decreased. The success of a power function (and the failure of the size-distance invariance hypothesis) in describing the vanishing-point distance function calls into question the notions (a) that a constant grain size exists in the imaginal visual field at a given location and (b) that grain size specifies a lower limit in the storage of information in

Blue whale sightings in Antarctica west of the Greenwich meridian, Januart 2015

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geelhoed, S.C.V.; Feij, B.; Franeker, van J.A.; Herr, H.; Janinhoff, N.; McKay, S.J.; Muller, S.; Thomisch, K.; Verdaat, J.P.; Viquerat, S.

2015-01-01

During the RV Polarstern PS 89 (ANT-XXX/2) expedition from Cape Town to Atka Bay and back, 20 sightings of 26 individual blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were recorded in Antarctic waters west of the Greenwich Meridian between 16-20 January 2015. These observations suggest a more westerly

The use of exploratory procedures by blind and sighted adults and children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Withagen, A.; Kappers, A.M.L.; Vervloed, M.P.J.; Knoors, H.; Verhoeven, L.

2013-01-01

The study examined exploratory procedures (EPs) of congenitally blind and sighted children and adults on a haptic match-to-sample task. The aim was to examine the influence of age, visual status, and familiarity on the use of EPs when people haptically examine the object properties of weight, size,

The use of Exploratory Procedures by blind and sighted adults and children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Withagen, A.J.; Kappers, A.M.L.; Vervloed, M.P.J.; Knoors, H.E.T.; Verhoeven, L.T.W.

2013-01-01

The study examined exploratory procedures (EPs) of congenitally blind and sighted children and adults on a haptic match-to-sample task. The aim was to examine the influence of age, visual status, and familiarity on the use of EPs when people haptically examine the object properties of weight, size,

Perception of Peripersonal and Interpersonal Space in Patients with Restrictive-type Anorexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nandrino, Jean-Louis; Ducro, Claire; Iachini, Tina; Coello, Yann

2017-05-01

This study examines whether the perception of peripersonal action-space and interpersonal social-space is modified in patients with restrictive-type anorexia in two experimental conditions using videos. First, participants stopped the video of an approaching stimulus when they felt the distance to be comfortable for interacting with it (first-person perspective). Second, participants stopped the video when an observed individual approaching a stimulus, or being approached by it, was at a comfortable distance (third-person perspective). In the first-person perspective, the results showed an estimation of peripersonal space that did not differ from controls when an object was approaching and an increase in interpersonal space compared with controls when a male or female individual was approaching. In the third-person perspective, both individual-object and individual-individual distances were larger in anorexic patients. These results indicate a specific deficit in adjusting interpersonal distances in both the first-person and third-person perspectives. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Mutual Disambiguation of Eye Gaze and Speech for Sight Translation and Reading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kulkarni, Rucha; Jain, Kritika; Bansal, Himanshu

2013-01-01

and composition of the two modalities was used for integration. F-measure for Eye-Gaze and Word Accuracy for ASR were used as metrics to evaluate our results. In reading task, we demonstrated a significant improvement in both Eye-Gaze f-measure and speech Word Accuracy. In sight translation task, significant...

The Lifestyles of Blind, Low Vision, and Sighted Youths: A Quantitative Comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolffe, K.; Sacks, S. Z.

1997-01-01

Analysis of interviews and time-diary protocols with 48 students (16 blind, 16 low-vision, and 16 sighted), ages 15-21, and their parents focused on four lifestyle areas: academic involvement and performance, daily living and personal care activities, recreation and leisure activities, and work and vocational experiences. Similarities and…

Advanced mathematics communication beyond modality of sight

Science.gov (United States)

Sedaghatjou, Mina

2018-01-01

This study illustrates how mathematical communication and learning are inherently multimodal and embodied; hence, sight-disabled students are also able to conceptualize visuospatial information and mathematical concepts through tactile and auditory activities. Adapting a perceptuomotor integration approach, the study shows that the lack of access to visual fields in an advanced mathematics course does not obstruct a blind student's ability to visualize, but transforms it. The goal of this study is not to compare the visually impaired student with non-visually impaired students to address the 'differences' in understanding; instead, I discuss the challenges that a blind student, named Anthony, has encountered and the ways that we tackled those problems. I also demonstrate how the proper and precisely crafted tactile materials empowered Anthony to learn mathematical functions.

Auditory motion in the sighted and blind: Early visual deprivation triggers a large-scale imbalance between auditory and "visual" brain regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Dormal, Giulia; Rezk, Mohamed; Yakobov, Esther; Lepore, Franco; Collignon, Olivier

2016-07-01

How early blindness reorganizes the brain circuitry that supports auditory motion processing remains controversial. We used fMRI to characterize brain responses to in-depth, laterally moving, and static sounds in early blind and sighted individuals. Whole-brain univariate analyses revealed that the right posterior middle temporal gyrus and superior occipital gyrus selectively responded to both in-depth and laterally moving sounds only in the blind. These regions overlapped with regions selective for visual motion (hMT+/V5 and V3A) that were independently localized in the sighted. In the early blind, the right planum temporale showed enhanced functional connectivity with right occipito-temporal regions during auditory motion processing and a concomitant reduced functional connectivity with parietal and frontal regions. Whole-brain searchlight multivariate analyses demonstrated higher auditory motion decoding in the right posterior middle temporal gyrus in the blind compared to the sighted, while decoding accuracy was enhanced in the auditory cortex bilaterally in the sighted compared to the blind. Analyses targeting individually defined visual area hMT+/V5 however indicated that auditory motion information could be reliably decoded within this area even in the sighted group. Taken together, the present findings demonstrate that early visual deprivation triggers a large-scale imbalance between auditory and "visual" brain regions that typically support the processing of motion information. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Depression of molecular emission in the line of sight of Sgr A West

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Y.; Ogawa, H.; Deguchi, S.; Suzuki, H.

1982-01-01

The galatic center region has been mapped in the 4-mm emission lines of HCCCN (J = 8-7) and H 2 CO (JK-K+ = 1 01 -0 00 ) with a 1.5 arc min beam. The molecular lines are found to show depression in intensity in the line of sight of Sgr A West. Comparison with other molecular data indicates that NH 3 also shows a significant depression while HCN and HCO + show little sign of similar depression. Based on some density estimates we suggest that the depression means abnormally reduced abundance in HCCCN, NH 3 , and H 2 CO in the line of sight of Sgr A West. The difference in the degree of depression could be interpreted in terms of a time-dependent ion-molecule reaction scheme because HCO + and HCN are formed much more rapidly than the other molecules in the scheme

Fast steering and quick positioning of large field-of-regard, two-axis, four-gimbaled sight

Science.gov (United States)

Ansari, Zahir Ahmed; Nigam, Madhav Ji; Kumar, Avnish

2017-07-01

Fast steering and quick positioning are prime requirements of the current electro-optical tracking system to achieve quick target acquisition. A scheme has been proposed for realizing these features using two-axis, four-gimbaled sight. For steering the line of sight in the stabilization mode, outer gimbal is slaved to the gyro stabilized inner gimbal. Typically, the inner gimbals have direct drives and outer gimbals have geared drives, which result in a mismatch in the acceleration capability of their servo loops. This limits the allowable control bandwidth for the inner gimbal. However, to achieve high stabilization accuracy, high bandwidth control loops are essential. This contradictory requirement has been addressed by designing a suitable command conditioning module for the inner gimbals. Also, large line-of-sight freedom in pitch axis is required to provide a wide area surveillance capacity for airborne application. This leads to a loss of freedom along the yaw axis as the pitch angle goes beyond 70 deg or so. This is addressed by making the outer gimbal master after certain pitch angle. Moreover, a mounting scheme for gyro has been proposed to accomplish yaw axis stabilization for 110-deg pitch angle movement with a single two-axis gyro.

Sight Word Reading in Prereaders: Use of Logographic vs. Alphabetic Access Routes.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Judith Anne; Ehri, Linnea C.

1990-01-01

Investigates whether prereaders who knew all their letters are better at forming logographic access routes than letter-sound access routes into memory from words read by sight. Concludes that prereaders become capable of forming letter-sound access routes when they learn letters well enough to take advantage of the phonetic cues the letters…

Divergent Development of Manual Skills in Children Who Are Blind or Sighted

Science.gov (United States)

Brambring, Michael

2007-01-01

This empirical study compared the average ages at which four children with congenital blindness acquired 32 fine motor skills with age norms for sighted children. The results indicated that the children experienced extreme developmental delays in the acquisition of manual skills and a high degree of variability in developmental delays within and…

Tableau Calculus for the Logic of Comparative Similarity over Arbitrary Distance Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Alenda, Régis; Olivetti, Nicola

The logic CSL (first introduced by Sheremet, Tishkovsky, Wolter and Zakharyaschev in 2005) allows one to reason about distance comparison and similarity comparison within a modal language. The logic can express assertions of the kind "A is closer/more similar to B than to C" and has a natural application to spatial reasoning, as well as to reasoning about concept similarity in ontologies. The semantics of CSL is defined in terms of models based on different classes of distance spaces and it generalizes the logic S4 u of topological spaces. In this paper we consider CSL defined over arbitrary distance spaces. The logic comprises a binary modality to represent comparative similarity and a unary modality to express the existence of the minimum of a set of distances. We first show that the semantics of CSL can be equivalently defined in terms of preferential models. As a consequence we obtain the finite model property of the logic with respect to its preferential semantic, a property that does not hold with respect to the original distance-space semantics. Next we present an analytic tableau calculus based on its preferential semantics. The calculus provides a decision procedure for the logic, its termination is obtained by imposing suitable blocking restrictions.

Ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in interstellar space. IV. The lines of sight to delta, epsilon, and iota Orionis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laurent, C.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; York, D.G.

1979-01-01

We have analyzed the deuterium absorption features in the spectra of delta, epsilon, and iota Ori obtained with Copernicus. The iota Ori line-of-sight analysis, which is quite detailed because of the high-velocity H I components superposed on the deuterium features, gives a D/H ratio (which is uncertain because of a complex profile) of 1.4 x 10 -5 . We determined a D/H ratio of the order of 7 x 10 -6 for delta and epsilon Ori. For the complex line profiles involved, one may regard this as a formal lower limit. Several attempts were made to increase the ratio N (DI)/N (H I) in the context of reasonable models for the line of sight, but with no success; we therefore regard the derived values as actual values, not lower limits. Since our derived value is an average on the line of sight, we cannot rule out the possibility that the true ratios N (D I)/N (H I) in individual nearby components (Δν -1 ) differ from the mean values. Our mean value for these two directions is lower by a factor of 4 than our best value for the zeta Pup line of sight

Rat sightings in New York City are associated with neighborhood sociodemographics, housing characteristics, and proximity to open public space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael G. Walsh

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Rats are ubiquitous in urban environments and, as established reservoirs for infectious pathogens, present a control priority for public health agencies. New York City (NYC harbors one of the largest rat populations in the United States, but surprising little study has been undertaken to define rat ecology across varied features of this urban landscape. More importantly, factors that may contribute to increased encounters between rats and humans have rarely been explored. Using city-wide records of rat sightings reported to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, this investigation sought to identify sociodemographic, housing, and physical landscape characteristics that are associated with increased rat sightings across NYC census tracts. A hierarchical Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson model was used to assess these associations while accounting for spatial heterogeneity in the variance. Closer proximity to both subway lines and recreational public spaces was associated with a higher concentration of rat sightings, as was a greater presence of older housing, vacant housing units, and low education among the population. Moreover, these aspects of the physical and social landscape accurately predicted rat sightings across the city. These findings have identified specific features of the NYC urban environment that may help to provide direct control targets for reducing human–rat encounters.

Rat sightings in New York City are associated with neighborhood sociodemographics, housing characteristics, and proximity to open public space.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Michael G

2014-01-01

Rats are ubiquitous in urban environments and, as established reservoirs for infectious pathogens, present a control priority for public health agencies. New York City (NYC) harbors one of the largest rat populations in the United States, but surprising little study has been undertaken to define rat ecology across varied features of this urban landscape. More importantly, factors that may contribute to increased encounters between rats and humans have rarely been explored. Using city-wide records of rat sightings reported to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, this investigation sought to identify sociodemographic, housing, and physical landscape characteristics that are associated with increased rat sightings across NYC census tracts. A hierarchical Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson model was used to assess these associations while accounting for spatial heterogeneity in the variance. Closer proximity to both subway lines and recreational public spaces was associated with a higher concentration of rat sightings, as was a greater presence of older housing, vacant housing units, and low education among the population. Moreover, these aspects of the physical and social landscape accurately predicted rat sightings across the city. These findings have identified specific features of the NYC urban environment that may help to provide direct control targets for reducing human-rat encounters.

Amazon soil charcoal: Pyrogenic carbon stock depends of ignition source distance and forest type in Roraima, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva Carvalho, Lidiany C; Fearnside, Philip M; Nascimento, Marcelo T; Barbosa, Reinaldo I

2018-04-18

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) derived from charcoal particles (paleo + modern) deposited in the soil column has been little studied in the Amazon, and our understanding of the factors that control the spatial and vertical distribution of these materials in the region's forest soils is still unclear. The objective of this study was to test the effect of forest type and distance from the ignition source on the PyC stocks contained in macroscopic particles of soil charcoal (≥2 mm; 1 m depth) dispersed in ecotone forests of the northern Brazilian Amazon. Thirty permanent plots were set up near a site that had been occupied by pre-Columbian and by modern populations until the late 1970s. The sampled plots represent seasonal and ombrophilous forests that occur under different hydro-edaphic restrictions. Our results indicate that the largest PyC stock was spatially dependent on distance to the ignition source ( 50 cm) in seasonal forests was limited by hydro-edaphic impediments that restricted the occurrence of charcoal. These results suggest that PyC stocks derived from macroscopic charcoal particles in the soil of this Brazilian Amazon ecotone region are controlled by the distance from the ignition source of the fire, and that forest types with higher hydro-edaphic restrictions can inhibit formation and accumulation of charcoal. Making use of these distinctions reduces uncertainty and improves our ability to understand the variability of PyC stocks in forests with a history of fire in the Amazon. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) RCS: DD-A&T(Q&A)823-199 Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminals ( FAB -T) As of FY 2017 President’s...Budget Defense Acquisition Management Information Retrieval (DAMIR) March 21, 2016 15:24:15 UNCLASSIFIED FAB -T December 2015 SAR March 21, 2016 15:24...Operational Requirements Document OSD - Office of the Secretary of Defense O&S - Operating and Support PAUC - Program Acquisition Unit Cost FAB -T December 2015

InSight: Single Station Broadband Seismology for Probing Mars' Interior

Science.gov (United States)

Panning, Mark P.; Banerdt, W. Bruce; Beucler, Eric; Boschi, Lapo; Johnson, Catherine; Lognonne, Philippe; Mocquet, Antoine; Weber, Renee C.

2012-01-01

InSight is a proposed Discovery mission which will deliver a lander containing geophysical instrumentation, including a heat flow probe and a seismometer package, to Mars. The aim of this mission is to perform, for the first time, an in-situ investigation of the interior of a truly Earth- like planet other than our own, with the goal of understanding the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets through investigation of the interior structure and processes of Mars.

Diagnostic and Treatment Challenges of Sighted Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Malkani, Roneil G; Abbott, Sabra M; Reid, Kathryn J; Zee, Phyllis C

2018-04-15

To report the diagnostic and treatment challenges of sighted non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder (N24SWD). We report a series of seven sighted patients with N24SWD clinically evaluated by history and sleep diaries, and when available wrist actigraphy and salivary melatonin levels, and treated with timed melatonin and bright light therapy. Most patients had a history of a delayed sleep-wake pattern prior to developing N24SWD. The typical sleep-wake pattern of N24SWD was seen in the sleep diaries (and in actigraphy when available) in all patients with a daily delay in midpoint of sleep ranging 0.8 to 1.8 hours. Salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) was evaluated in four patients but was missed in one. The estimated phase angle from DLMO to sleep onset ranged from 5.25 to 9 hours. All six patients who attempted timed melatonin and bright light therapy were able to entrain their sleep-wake schedules. Entrainment occurred at a late circadian phase, possibly related to the late timing of melatonin administration, though the patients often preferred late sleep times. Most did not continue treatment and continued to have a non-24-hour sleep-wake pattern. N24SWD is a chronic debilitating disorder that is often overlooked in sighted people and can be challenging to diagnose and treat. Tools to assess circadian pattern and timing can be effectively applied to aid the diagnosis. The progressive delay of the circadian rhythm poses a challenge for determining the most effective timing for melatonin and bright light therapies. Furthermore, once the circadian sleep-wake rhythm is entrained, long-term effectiveness is limited because of the behavioral and environmental structure that is required to maintain stable entrainment. © 2018 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

The VBB SEIS experiment of InSight

Science.gov (United States)

De Raucourt, Sebastien; Gabsi, Taoufik; Tanguy, Nebut; Mimoun, David; Lognonne, Philippe; Gagnepain-Beyneix, Jeannine; Banerdt, William; Tillier, Sylvain; Hurst, Kenneth

2012-07-01

SEIS is the core payload of InSight, one of the three missions selected for competitive phase A in the frame of the 2010 Discovery AO. It aims at providing unique observation of the interior structure of Mars and to monitor seismic activity of Mars. SEIS will provide the first seismic model from another planet than Earth. SEIS is an hybrid seismometer composed of 3 SPs and 3 VBBs axes providing ground motion measurement from Dc to 50Hz. A leveling system will ensure the coupling between the ground and the sensors as well as the horizontality of the VBB sphere. This assembly will be deployed on the ground of Mars and will be shielded by a strong thermal insulation and a wind shield. The 24 bits low noise acquisition electronics will remain in the warm electronic box of the lander with the sensors feedback and leveling system electronics. The VBB sphere enclosed three single axis sensors. Those sensors are based on an inverted leaf spring pendulum, which convert ground acceleration into mobile mass displacement. A capacitive displacement sensor monitors this mass displacement to provide a measurement. A force feedback allows transfer function and sensitivity tuning. The VBB sensor has a very strong heritage from previous project and benefits from recent work to improve its performances. Both the mechanical design and the displacement sensors have optimized to improve performances while reducing technological risk and keeping a high TRL. From those development a self-noise well below 10 ^{-9} m.s ^{-2}/sqrt Hz is expected. Environmental sensitivity of SEIS has been minimized by the design of a very efficient wind and thermal shield. Remaining noise is expected to be very close to the VBB self-noise. Associated sources and budget will be discussed. If InSight is selected to fly in 2016, this experiment will provide very high quality seismic signal measurement with a wider bandwidth, higher sensitivity and lower noise than previous Mars seismometer (Viking and Optimism

Model of the lines of sight for an off-axis optical instrument Pleiades

Science.gov (United States)

Sauvage, Dominique; Gaudin-Delrieu, Catherine; Tournier, Thierry

2017-11-01

The future Earth observation missions aim at delivering images with a high resolution and a large field of view. These images have to be processed to get a very accurate localisation. In that goal, the individual lines of sight of each photosensitive element must be evaluated according to the localisation of the pixels in the focal plane. But, with off-axis Korsch telescope (like PLEIADES), the classical model has to be adapted. This is possible by using optical ground measurements made after the integration of the instrument. The processing of these results leads to several parameters, which are function of the offsets of the focal plane and the real focal length. All this study which has been proposed for the PLEIADES mission leads to a more elaborated model which provides the relation between the lines of sight and the location of the pixels, with a very good accuracy, close to the pixel size.

The Ability to Assume the Upright Position in Blind and Sighted Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Gipsman, Sandra Curtis

To investigate the ability of 48 blind and partially sighted children (8 to 10 and 12 to 14 years old) to assume the upright position, Ss were given six trials in which they were requested to move themselves from a tilted starting position in a specially constructed chair to an upright position. No significant differences were found between three…

Role of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis corticotrophin-releasing factor receptors in frustration stress-induced binge-like palatable food consumption in female rats with a history of food restriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Micioni Di Bonaventura, Maria Vittoria; Ciccocioppo, Roberto; Romano, Adele; Bossert, Jennifer M; Rice, Kenner C; Ubaldi, Massimo; St Laurent, Robyn; Gaetani, Silvana; Massi, Maurizio; Shaham, Yavin; Cifani, Carlo

2014-08-20

We developed recently a binge-eating model in which female rats with a history of intermittent food restriction show binge-like palatable food consumption after 15 min exposure to the sight of the palatable food. This "frustration stress" manipulation also activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axis. Here, we determined the role of the stress neurohormone corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in stress-induced binge eating in our model. We also assessed the role of CRF receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a brain region implicated in stress responses and stress-induced drug seeking, in stress-induced binge eating. We used four groups that were first exposed or not exposed to repeated intermittent cycles of regular chow food restriction during which they were also given intermittent access to high-caloric palatable food. On the test day, we either exposed or did not expose the rats to the sight of the palatable food for 15 min (frustration stress) before assessing food consumption for 2 h. We found that systemic injections of the CRF1 receptor antagonist R121919 (2,5-dimethyl-3-(6-dimethyl-4-methylpyridin-3-yl)-7 dipropylamino pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine) (10-20 mg/kg) and BNST (25-50 ng/side) or ventricular (1000 ng) injections of the nonselective CRF receptor antagonist D-Phe-CRF(12-41) decreased frustration stress-induced binge eating in rats with a history of food restriction. Frustration stress also increased Fos (a neuronal activity marker) expression in ventral and dorsal BNST. Results demonstrate a critical role of CRF receptors in BNST in stress-induced binge eating in our rat model. CRF1 receptor antagonists may represent a novel pharmacological treatment for bingeing-related eating disorders. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3411316-09$15.00/0.

78 FR 77705 - Proposed Agency Information Collection Activity: Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Sighting Reporting...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-24

... invasion. The USGS provides the tools, technology, and information supporting efforts to prevent, contain..., primarily fish, in open waters of the United States. This is vital information for early detection and rapid... requested includes type of organism, date and location of sighting, photograph(s) if available, and basic...

Tactile band : accessing gaze signals from the sighted in face-to-face communication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Qiu, S.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.; Hu, J.

2016-01-01

Gaze signals, frequently used by the sighted in social interactions as visual cues, are hardly accessible for low-vision and blind people. A concept is proposed to help the blind people access and react to gaze signals in face-to-face communication. 20 blind and low-vision participants were

PERBANDINGAN EUCLIDEAN DISTANCE DENGAN CANBERRA DISTANCE PADA FACE RECOGNITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sendhy Rachmat Wurdianarto

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Perkembangan ilmu pada dunia komputer sangatlah pesat. Salah satu yang menandai hal ini adalah ilmu komputer telah merambah pada dunia biometrik. Arti biometrik sendiri adalah karakter-karakter manusia yang dapat digunakan untuk membedakan antara orang yang satu dengan yang lainnya. Salah satu pemanfaatan karakter / organ tubuh pada setiap manusia yang digunakan untuk identifikasi (pengenalan adalah dengan memanfaatkan wajah. Dari permasalahan diatas dalam pengenalan lebih tentang aplikasi Matlab pada Face Recognation menggunakan metode Euclidean Distance dan Canberra Distance. Model pengembangan aplikasi yang digunakan adalah model waterfall. Model waterfall beriisi rangkaian aktivitas proses yang disajikan dalam proses analisa kebutuhan, desain menggunakan UML (Unified Modeling Language, inputan objek gambar diproses menggunakan Euclidean Distance dan Canberra Distance. Kesimpulan yang dapat ditarik adalah aplikasi face Recognation menggunakan metode euclidean Distance dan Canverra Distance terdapat kelebihan dan kekurangan masing-masing. Untuk kedepannya aplikasi tersebut dapat dikembangkan dengan menggunakan objek berupa video ataupun objek lainnya.   Kata kunci : Euclidean Distance, Face Recognition, Biometrik, Canberra Distance

The effects of using flashcards with reading racetrack to teach letter sounds, sight words, and math facts to elementary students with learning disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Erbey

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of reading racetrack and flashcards when teaching phonics, sight words, and addition facts. The participants for the sight word and phonics portion of this study were two seven-year-old boys in the second grade. Both participants were diagnosed with a learning disability. The third participant was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by his pediatrician and with a learning disability and traumatic brain injury by his school’s multi-disciplinary team.. The dependent measures were corrects and errors when reading from a first grade level sight word list. Math facts were selected based on a 100 add fact test for the third participant. The study demonstrated that racetracks paired with the flashcard intervention improved the students’ number of corrects for each subject-matter area (phonics, sight words, and math facts. However, the results show that some students had more success with it than others. These outcomes clearly warrant further research.

The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in interstellar space. IV - The lines of sight to Delta, Epsilon, and Iota Orionis

Science.gov (United States)

Laurent, C.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; York, D. G.

1979-01-01

Deuterium absorption features in spectra of Delta, Epsilon, and Iota Ori obtained with Copernicus are analyzed. The Iota Ori line-of-sight analysis, which is quite detailed because of the high-velocity H I components superposed on the deuterium features, gives a D/H ratio (which is uncertain because of a complex profile) of 0.000014. A D/H ratio of the order of 7 millionths is determined for Delta and Epsilon Ori. For the complex line profiles involved, one may regard this as a formal lower limit. Several attempts were made to increase the ratio N(D I)/N(H I) in the context of reasonable models for the line of sight, but with no success; the derived values are therefore regarded as actual values, not lower limits. Since the derived value is an average on the line of sight, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the true ratios N(D I)/N(H I) in individual nearby components differ from the mean values. The mean value for these two directions is lower by a factor of 4 than the best value for the Zeta Pup line of sight (the highest yet derived for path lengths greater than 50 pc).

Steller sea lion sightings or recaptures of previously marked animals throughout their range, 1987-2014

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains information regarding the sighting and capture of previously marked Steller sea lions from 1987 to the present. Marks are seen and documented...

Exploring EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension Process through Their Life Experiences and the Sight Word Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Camargo

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Due to the role language and literature play in the construction of social, economic and cultural systems, reading comprehension has become a growing challenge. This study examined how the relationship between English as a foreign language reading comprehension and life experiences while using the Sight Word Strategy could prove significant. Fifth graders at a public school in Bogotá participated in this study. Data were collected using tape recordings, field notes, archival data and students’ reflections. Analysis indicated that comprehension and construction of meaning were generated by sharing life experiences and through the interaction produced in each one of the Sight Word Strategy stages. The study suggested further research into a more encompassing definition of reading comprehension and life experiences correlation as an appropriate goal for English as a foreign language.

Performance Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Multi-hop Machine-to-Machine Networks Based on Hop Distance Statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haejoon Jung

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As an intrinsic part of the Internet of Things (IoT ecosystem, machine-to-machine (M2M communications are expected to provide ubiquitous connectivity between machines. Millimeter-wave (mmWave communication is another promising technology for the future communication systems to alleviate the pressure of scarce spectrum resources. For this reason, in this paper, we consider multi-hop M2M communications, where a machine-type communication (MTC device with the limited transmit power relays to help other devices using mmWave. To be specific, we focus on hop distance statistics and their impacts on system performances in multi-hop wireless networks (MWNs with directional antenna arrays in mmWave for M2M communications. Different from microwave systems, in mmWave communications, wireless channel suffers from blockage by obstacles that heavily attenuate line-of-sight signals, which may result in limited per-hop progress in MWNs. We consider two routing strategies aiming at different types of applications and derive the probability distributions of their hop distances. Moreover, we provide their baseline statistics assuming the blockage-free scenario to quantify the impact of blockages. Based on the hop distance analysis, we propose a method to estimate the end-to-end performances (e.g., outage probability, hop count, and transmit energy of the mmWave MWNs, which provides important insights into mmWave MWN design without time-consuming and repetitive end-to-end simulation.

Performance Analysis of Millimeter-Wave Multi-hop Machine-to-Machine Networks Based on Hop Distance Statistics.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Haejoon; Lee, In-Ho

2018-01-12

As an intrinsic part of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications are expected to provide ubiquitous connectivity between machines. Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication is another promising technology for the future communication systems to alleviate the pressure of scarce spectrum resources. For this reason, in this paper, we consider multi-hop M2M communications, where a machine-type communication (MTC) device with the limited transmit power relays to help other devices using mmWave. To be specific, we focus on hop distance statistics and their impacts on system performances in multi-hop wireless networks (MWNs) with directional antenna arrays in mmWave for M2M communications. Different from microwave systems, in mmWave communications, wireless channel suffers from blockage by obstacles that heavily attenuate line-of-sight signals, which may result in limited per-hop progress in MWNs. We consider two routing strategies aiming at different types of applications and derive the probability distributions of their hop distances. Moreover, we provide their baseline statistics assuming the blockage-free scenario to quantify the impact of blockages. Based on the hop distance analysis, we propose a method to estimate the end-to-end performances (e.g., outage probability, hop count, and transmit energy) of the mmWave MWNs, which provides important insights into mmWave MWN design without time-consuming and repetitive end-to-end simulation.

Comparison of SureSight autorefractor and plusoptiX A09 photoscreener for vision screening in rural Honduras.

Science.gov (United States)

Silbert, David I; Matta, Noelle S; Ely, Amanda L

2014-02-01

To evaluate the SureSight autorefractor and compare it to the plusoptiX A09 photoscreener in the detection of amblyopia risk factors in a cohort of Honduran children examined during medical mission work and to assess the utility of both devices in the rural setting. The medical records of patients who had undergone SureSight autorefractor screening, plusoptiX photoscreening, and a gold standard pediatric ophthalmology examination, including cycloplegic refraction, during a recent medical mission trip to Honduras were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 216 children were examined. Of these, 9 (4%) were found to have amblyopia risk factors based on the current referral criteria of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus on ophthalmological examination. The plusoptiX was found to have 89% sensitivity and 80% specificity; the SureSight, using manufacturer's referral criteria, was found to have sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 71%. Both devices were found to be reliable vision screening devices when used on the general population of remote villages in Honduras, although the specificity of the plusoptiX A09 was higher. Copyright © 2014 American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Differences between early-blind, late-blind, and blindfolded-sighted people in haptic spatial-configuration learning and resulting memory traces.

Science.gov (United States)

Postma, Albert; Zuidhoek, Sander; Noordzij, Matthijs L; Kappers, Astrid M L

2007-01-01

The roles of visual and haptic experience in different aspects of haptic processing of objects in peripersonal space are examined. In three trials, early-blind, late-blind, and blindfolded-sighted individuals had to match ten shapes haptically to the cut-outs in a board as fast as possible. Both blind groups were much faster than the sighted in all three trials. All three groups improved considerably from trial to trial. In particular, the sighted group showed a strong improvement from the first to the second trial. While superiority of the blind remained for speeded matching after rotation of the stimulus frame, coordinate positional-memory scores in a non-speeded free-recall trial showed no significant differences between the groups. Moreover, when assessed with a verbal response, categorical spatial-memory appeared strongest in the late-blind group. The role of haptic and visual experience thus appears to depend on the task aspect tested.

Pursit-evasion game analysis in a line of sight coordinate system

Science.gov (United States)

Shinar, J.; Davidovitz, A.

1985-01-01

The paper proposes to use line of sight coordinates for the analysis of pursuit-evasion games. The advantage of this method for two-target games is shown to be evident. As a demonstrative example the game of two identical cars is formulated and solved in such coordinate systems. A new type of singular surface, overlooked in a previous study of the same problem, is discovered as a consequence of the simplicity of the solution.

My4Sight: A Human Computation Platform for Improving Flu Predictions

OpenAIRE

Akupatni, Vivek Bharath

2015-01-01

While many human computation (human-in-the-loop) systems exist in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve problems that can't be solved by computers alone, comparatively fewer platforms exist for collecting human knowledge, and evaluation of various techniques for harnessing human insights in improving forecasting models for infectious diseases, such as Influenza and Ebola. In this thesis, we present the design and implementation of My4Sight, a human computation system develope...

Nonlinear gap junctions enable long-distance propagation of pulsating calcium waves in astrocyte networks.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mati Goldberg

Full Text Available A new paradigm has recently emerged in brain science whereby communications between glial cells and neuron-glia interactions should be considered together with neurons and their networks to understand higher brain functions. In particular, astrocytes, the main type of glial cells in the cortex, have been shown to communicate with neurons and with each other. They are thought to form a gap-junction-coupled syncytium supporting cell-cell communication via propagating Ca(2+ waves. An identified mode of propagation is based on cytoplasm-to-cytoplasm transport of inositol trisphosphate (IP(3 through gap junctions that locally trigger Ca(2+ pulses via IP(3-dependent Ca(2+-induced Ca(2+ release. It is, however, currently unknown whether this intracellular route is able to support the propagation of long-distance regenerative Ca(2+ waves or is restricted to short-distance signaling. Furthermore, the influence of the intracellular signaling dynamics on intercellular propagation remains to be understood. In this work, we propose a model of the gap-junctional route for intercellular Ca(2+ wave propagation in astrocytes. Our model yields two major predictions. First, we show that long-distance regenerative signaling requires nonlinear coupling in the gap junctions. Second, we show that even with nonlinear gap junctions, long-distance regenerative signaling is favored when the internal Ca(2+ dynamics implements frequency modulation-encoding oscillations with pulsating dynamics, while amplitude modulation-encoding dynamics tends to restrict the propagation range. As a result, spatially heterogeneous molecular properties and/or weak couplings are shown to give rise to rich spatiotemporal dynamics that support complex propagation behaviors. These results shed new light on the mechanisms implicated in the propagation of Ca(2+ waves across astrocytes and the precise conditions under which glial cells may participate in information processing in the brain.

Divergent Development of Gross Motor Skills in Children Who Are Blind or Sighted

Science.gov (United States)

Brambring, Michael

2006-01-01

This empirical study compared the average ages at which four congenitally blind children acquired 29 gross motor skills with age norms for sighted children. The results indicated distinct developmental delays in the acquisition of motor skills and a high degree of variability in developmental delays within and across the six subdomains that were…

Encyclopedia of distances

CERN Document Server

Deza, Michel Marie

2016-01-01

This 4th edition of the leading reference volume on distance metrics is characterized by updated and rewritten sections on some items suggested by experts and readers, as well a general streamlining of content and the addition of essential new topics. Though the structure remains unchanged, the new edition also explores recent advances in the use of distances and metrics for e.g. generalized distances, probability theory, graph theory, coding theory, data analysis. New topics in the purely mathematical sections include e.g. the Vitanyi multiset-metric, algebraic point-conic distance, triangular ratio metric, Rossi-Hamming metric, Taneja distance, spectral semimetric between graphs, channel metrization, and Maryland bridge distance. The multidisciplinary sections have also been supplemented with new topics, including: dynamic time wrapping distance, memory distance, allometry, atmospheric depth, elliptic orbit distance, VLBI distance measurements, the astronomical system of units, and walkability distance. Lea...

Distance Learning

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Braddock, Joseph

1997-01-01

A study reviewing the existing Army Distance Learning Plan (ADLP) and current Distance Learning practices, with a focus on the Army's training and educational challenges and the benefits of applying Distance Learning techniques...

Restricted Interval Valued Neutrosophic Sets and Restricted Interval Valued Neutrosophic Topological Spaces

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Anjan Mukherjee

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper we introduce the concept of restricted interval valued neutrosophic sets (RIVNS in short. Some basic operations and properties of RIVNS are discussed. The concept of restricted interval valued neutrosophic topology is also introduced together with restricted interval valued neutrosophic finer and restricted interval valued neutrosophic coarser topology. We also define restricted interval valued neutrosophic interior and closer of a restricted interval valued neutrosophic set. Some theorems and examples are cites. Restricted interval valued neutrosophic subspace topology is also studied.

Strong rightward lateralization of the dorsal attentional network in left-handers with right sighting-eye: an evolutionary advantage.

Science.gov (United States)

Petit, Laurent; Zago, Laure; Mellet, Emmanuel; Jobard, Gaël; Crivello, Fabrice; Joliot, Marc; Mazoyer, Bernard; Tzourio-Mazoyer, Nathalie

2015-03-01

Hemispheric lateralization for spatial attention and its relationships with manual preference strength and eye preference were studied in a sample of 293 healthy individuals balanced for manual preference. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to map this large sample while performing visually guided saccadic eye movements. This activated a bilateral distributed cortico-subcortical network in which dorsal and ventral attentional/saccadic pathways elicited rightward asymmetrical activation depending on manual preference strength and sighting eye. While the ventral pathway showed a strong rightward asymmetry irrespective of both manual preference strength and eye preference, the dorsal frontoparietal network showed a robust rightward asymmetry in strongly left-handers, even more pronounced in left-handed subjects with a right sighting-eye. Our findings brings support to the hypothesis that the origin of the rightward hemispheric dominance for spatial attention may have a manipulo-spatial origin neither perceptual nor motor per se but rather reflecting a mechanism by which a spatial context is mapped onto the perceptual and motor activities, including the exploration of the spatial environment with eyes and hands. Within this context, strongly left-handers with a right sighting-eye may benefit from the advantage of having the same right hemispheric control of their dominant hand and visuospatial attention processing. We suggest that this phenomenon explains why left-handed right sighting-eye athletes can outperform their competitors in sporting duels and that the prehistoric and historical constancy of the left-handers ratio over the general population may relate in part on the hemispheric specialization of spatial attention. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Lateralization of narrow-band noise by blind and sighted listeners.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Helen J; Divenyi, Pierre L; Lotze, Al

2002-01-01

The effects of varying interaural time delay (ITD) and interaural intensity difference (IID) were measured in normal-hearing sighted and congenitally blind subjects as a function of eleven frequencies and at sound pressure levels of 70 and 90 dB, and at a sensation level of 25 dB (sensation level refers to the pressure level of the sound above its threshold for the individual subject). Using an 'acoustic' pointing paradigm, the subject varied the IID of a 500 Hz narrow-band (100 Hz) noise (the 'pointer') to coincide with the apparent lateral position of a 'target' ITD stimulus. ITDs of 0, +/-200, and +/-400 micros were obtained through total waveform delays of narrow-band noise, including envelope and fine structure. For both groups, the results of this experiment confirm the traditional view of binaural hearing for like stimuli: non-zero ITDs produce little perceived lateral displacement away from 0 IID at frequencies above 1250 Hz. To the extent that greater magnitude of lateralization for a given ITD, presentation level, and center frequency can be equated with superior localization abilities, blind listeners appear at least comparable and even somewhat better than sighted subjects, especially when attending to signals in the periphery. The present findings suggest that blind listeners are fully able to utilize the cues for spatial hearing, and that vision is not a mandatory prerequisite for the calibration of human spatial hearing.

The molecular chemistry of diffuse and translucent clouds in the line-of-sight to Sgr B2: Absorption by simple organic and inorganic molecules in the GBT PRIMOS survey

Science.gov (United States)

Corby, J. F.; McGuire, B. A.; Herbst, E.; Remijan, A. J.

2018-02-01

The 1-50 GHz PRebiotic Interstellar MOlecular Survey (PRIMOS) contains 50 molecular absorption lines observed in clouds located in the line-of-sight to Sgr B2(N). The line-of-sight material is associated with diffuse and translucent clouds located in the Galactic center, bar, and spiral arms in the disk. We measured the column densities and estimate abundances, relative to H2, of 11 molecules and additional isotopologues observed in this material. We used absorption by optically thin transitions of c-C3H2 to estimate the molecular hydrogen columns, and argue that this method is preferable to more commonly used methods. We discuss the kinematic structure and abundance patterns of small molecules including the sulfur-bearing species CS, SO, CCS, H2CS, and HCS+; oxygen-bearing molecules OH, SiO, and H2CO; and simple hydrocarbon molecules c-C3H2, l-C3H, and l-C3H+. Finally, we discuss the implications of the observed chemistry for the structure of the gas and dust in the ISM. Highlighted results include the following. First, whereas gas in the disk has a molecular hydrogen fraction of 0.65, clouds on the outer edge of the Galactic bar and in or near the Galactic center have molecular fractions of 0.85 and >0.9, respectively. Second, we observe trends in isotope ratios with Galactocentric distance; while carbon and silicon show enhancement of the rare isotopes at low Galactocentric distances, sulfur exhibits no trend with Galactocentric distance. We also determine that the ratio of c-C3H2/c-H13CCCH provides a good estimate of the 12C/13C ratio, whereas H2CO/H213CO exhibits fractionation. Third, we report the presence of l-C3H+ in diffuse clouds for the first time. Finally, we suggest that CS has an enhanced abundance within higher density clumps of material in the disk, and therefore may be diagnostic of cloud conditions. If this holds, the diffuse clouds in the Galactic disk contain multiple embedded hyperdensities in a clumpy structure, and the density profile is not

Sensitivity of Chaos Measures in Detecting Stress in the Focusing Control Mechanism of the Short-Sighted Eye.

Science.gov (United States)

Hampson, Karen M; Cufflin, Matthew P; Mallen, Edward A H

2017-08-01

When fixating on a stationary object, the power of the eye's lens fluctuates. Studies have suggested that changes in these so-called microfluctuations in accommodation may be a factor in the onset and progression of short-sightedness. Like many physiological signals, the fluctuations in the power of the lens exhibit chaotic behaviour. A breakdown or reduction in chaos in physiological systems indicates stress to the system or pathology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the chaos in fluctuations of the power of the lens changes with refractive error, i.e. how short-sighted a subject is, and/or accommodative demand, i.e. the effective distance of the object that is being viewed. Six emmetropes (EMMs, non-short-sighted), six early-onset myopes (EOMs, onset of short-sightedness before the age of 15), and six late-onset myopes (LOMs, onset of short-sightedness after the age of 15) took part in the study. Accommodative microfluctuations were measured at 22 Hz using an SRW-5000 autorefractor at accommodative demands of 1 D (dioptres), 2 D, and 3 D. Chaos theory analysis was used to determine the embedding lag, embedding dimension, limit of predictability, and Lyapunov exponent. Topological transitivity was also tested for. For comparison, the power spectrum and standard deviation were calculated for each time record. The EMMs had a statistically significant higher Lyapunov exponent than the LOMs ([Formula: see text] vs. [Formula: see text]) and a lower embedding dimension than the LOMs ([Formula: see text] vs. [Formula: see text]). There was insufficient evidence (non-significant p value) of a difference between EOMs and EMMs or EOMs and LOMs. The majority of time records were topologically transitive. There was insufficient evidence of accommodative demand having an effect. Power spectrum analysis and assessment of the standard deviation of the fluctuations failed to discern differences based on refractive error. Chaos differences in accommodation

Sight Word Recognition among Young Children At-Risk: Picture-Supported vs. Word-Only

Science.gov (United States)

Meadan, Hedda; Stoner, Julia B.; Parette, Howard P.

2008-01-01

A quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the impact of Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) on sight word recognition by young children identified as "at risk" for academic and social-behavior difficulties. Ten pre-primer and 10 primer Dolch words were presented to 23 students in the intervention group and 8 students in the…

REPRESENTATIONS OF DISTANCE: DIFFERENCES IN UNDERSTANDING DISTANCE ACCORDING TO TRAVEL METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunvor Riber Larsen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores how Danish tourists represent distance in relation to their holiday mobility and how these representations of distance are a result of being aero-mobile as opposed to being land-mobile. Based on interviews with Danish tourists, whose holiday mobility ranges from the European continent to global destinations, the first part of this qualitative study identifies three categories of representations of distance that show how distance is being ‘translated’ by the tourists into non-geometric forms: distance as resources, distance as accessibility, and distance as knowledge. The representations of distance articulated by the Danish tourists show that distance is often not viewed in ‘just’ kilometres. Rather, it is understood in forms that express how transcending the physical distance through holiday mobility is dependent on individual social and economic contexts, and on whether the journey was undertaken by air or land. The analysis also shows that being aeromobile is the holiday transportation mode that removes the tourists the furthest away from physical distance, resulting in the distance travelled by air being represented in ways that have the least correlation, in the tourists’ minds, with physical distance measured in kilometres.

Teaching braille letters, numerals, punctuation, and contractions to sighted individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Putnam, Brittany C; Tiger, Jeffrey H

2015-01-01

Braille-character recognition is one of the foundational skills required for teachers of braille. Prior research has evaluated computer programming for teaching braille-to-print letter relations (e.g., Scheithauer & Tiger, 2012). In the current study, we developed a program (the Visual Braille Trainer) to teach not only letters but also numerals, punctuation, symbols, and contractions; we evaluated this program with 4 sighted undergraduate participants. Exposure to this program resulted in mastery of all braille-to-print relations for each participant. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Automobile driving in older adults: factors affecting driving restriction in men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Marie Dit Asse, Laetitia; Fabrigoule, Colette; Helmer, Catherine; Laumon, Bernard; Lafont, Sylviane

2014-11-01

To identify factors associated with driving restriction in elderly men and women. Prospective cohort study of French drivers from 2003 to 2009. The Three-City Cohort of Bordeaux, a prospective study of 2,104 people aged 65 and older. Five hundred twenty-three drivers with a mean age of 76 (273 male, 250 female). Sociodemographic characteristics, driving habits, health variables, cognitive evaluation and dementia diagnosis. Predementia was defined as no dementia at one follow-up and dementia at the next follow-up. Over the 6-year period, 54% of men and 63% of women stopped driving or reduced the distance they drove. Predementia, Parkinson's disease, older age, and a high number of kilometers previously driven were common restriction factors in both sexes. Prevalent dementia, depressive symptomatology, a decline in one or more instrumental activities of daily living, and poor visual working memory were specific factors in men. In women, low income, fear of falling, slow processing speed, and severe decline in global cognitive performance all affected driving restriction. Older women restricted their driving activity more than older men, regardless of the number of kilometers previously driven, physical health, and cognitive status. Factors affecting driving restriction differed according to sex, and women were more likely to stop driving than men in the period preceding a dementia diagnosis. © 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.

The effects of curvature on haptic judgments of extent in sighted and blind people

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heller, Morton A.; Kappers, Astrid M L; McCarthy, Melissa; Clark, Ashley; Riddle, Tara; Fulkerson, Erin; Wemple, Lindsay; Walk, Anne McClure; Basso, Andreana; Wanek, Crystal; Russler, Kristen

2008-01-01

A series of experiments was carried out to examine the effect of curvature on haptic judgments of extent in sighted and blind individuals. Experiment 1 showed that diameters connecting the endpoints of semicircular lines were underestimated with respect to straight lines, but failed to show an

THE BOLOCAM GALACTIC PLANE SURVEY. XII. DISTANCE CATALOG EXPANSION USING KINEMATIC ISOLATION OF DENSE MOLECULAR CLOUD STRUCTURES WITH {sup 13}CO(1-0)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellsworth-Bowers, Timothy P.; Glenn, Jason [CASA, University of Colorado, UCB 389, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States); Rosolowsky, Erik [Department of Physics, 4-183 CCIS, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1 (Canada); Ginsburg, Adam [European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany); Evans II, Neal J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Texas, 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Battersby, Cara [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Shirley, Yancy L.; Svoboda, Brian, E-mail: timothy.ellsworthbowers@colorado.edu [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

2015-01-20

We present an expanded distance catalog for 1710 molecular cloud structures identified in the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS) version 2, representing a nearly threefold increase over the previous BGPS distance catalog. We additionally present a new method for incorporating extant data sets into our Bayesian distance probability density function (DPDF) methodology. To augment the dense-gas tracers (e.g., HCO{sup +}(3-2), NH{sub 3}(1,1)) used to derive line-of-sight velocities for kinematic distances, we utilize the Galactic Ring Survey (GRS) {sup 13}CO(1-0) data to morphologically extract velocities for BGPS sources. The outline of a BGPS source is used to select a region of the GRS {sup 13}CO data, along with a reference region to subtract enveloping diffuse emission, to produce a line profile of {sup 13}CO matched to the BGPS source. For objects with a HCO{sup +}(3-2) velocity, ≈95% of the new {sup 13}CO(1-0) velocities agree with that of the dense gas. A new prior DPDF for kinematic distance ambiguity (KDA) resolution, based on a validated formalism for associating molecular cloud structures with known objects from the literature, is presented. We demonstrate this prior using catalogs of masers with trigonometric parallaxes and H II regions with robust KDA resolutions. The distance catalog presented here contains well-constrained distance estimates for 20% of BGPS V2 sources, with typical distance uncertainties ≲ 0.5 kpc. Approximately 75% of the well-constrained sources lie within 6 kpc of the Sun, concentrated in the Scutum-Centaurus arm. Galactocentric positions of objects additionally trace out portions of the Sagittarius, Perseus, and Outer arms in the first and second Galactic quadrants, and we also find evidence for significant regions of interarm dense gas.

Massive cortical reorganization in sighted Braille readers.

Science.gov (United States)

Siuda-Krzywicka, Katarzyna; Bola, Łukasz; Paplińska, Małgorzata; Sumera, Ewa; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur; Śliwińska, Magdalena W; Amedi, Amir; Szwed, Marcin

2016-03-15

The brain is capable of large-scale reorganization in blindness or after massive injury. Such reorganization crosses the division into separate sensory cortices (visual, somatosensory...). As its result, the visual cortex of the blind becomes active during tactile Braille reading. Although the possibility of such reorganization in the normal, adult brain has been raised, definitive evidence has been lacking. Here, we demonstrate such extensive reorganization in normal, sighted adults who learned Braille while their brain activity was investigated with fMRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Subjects showed enhanced activity for tactile reading in the visual cortex, including the visual word form area (VWFA) that was modulated by their Braille reading speed and strengthened resting-state connectivity between visual and somatosensory cortices. Moreover, TMS disruption of VWFA activity decreased their tactile reading accuracy. Our results indicate that large-scale reorganization is a viable mechanism recruited when learning complex skills.

ICT in Portuguese Reference Schools for the Education of Blind and Partially Sighted Students

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Sara Isabel Moca; de Andrade, António Manuel Valente

2016-01-01

Technology has become an essential component in our society and considering its impact in the educational system, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) cannot be dissociated from the educational process and, in particular, from pedagogical practices adopted for students who are blind or partially sighted. This study focuses on…

A comparative study of simple auditory reaction time in blind (congenitally) and sighted subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Gandhi, Pritesh Hariprasad; Gokhale, Pradnya A; Mehta, H B; Shah, C J

2013-07-01

Reaction time is the time interval between the application of a stimulus and the appearance of appropriate voluntary response by a subject. It involves stimulus processing, decision making, and response programming. Reaction time study has been popular due to their implication in sports physiology. Reaction time has been widely studied as its practical implications may be of great consequence e.g., a slower than normal reaction time while driving can have grave results. To study simple auditory reaction time in congenitally blind subjects and in age sex matched sighted subjects. To compare the simple auditory reaction time between congenitally blind subjects and healthy control subjects. STUDY HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT IN TWO GROUPS: The 1(st) of 50 congenitally blind subjects and 2(nd) group comprises of 50 healthy controls. It was carried out on Multiple Choice Reaction Time Apparatus, Inco Ambala Ltd. (Accuracy±0.001 s) in a sitting position at Government Medical College and Hospital, Bhavnagar and at a Blind School, PNR campus, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. Simple auditory reaction time response with four different type of sound (horn, bell, ring, and whistle) was recorded in both groups. According to our study, there is no significant different in reaction time between congenital blind and normal healthy persons. Blind individuals commonly utilize tactual and auditory cues for information and orientation and they reliance on touch and audition, together with more practice in using these modalities to guide behavior, is often reflected in better performance of blind relative to sighted participants in tactile or auditory discrimination tasks, but there is not any difference in reaction time between congenitally blind and sighted people.

Encyclopedia of distances

CERN Document Server

Deza, Michel Marie

2014-01-01

This updated and revised third edition of the leading reference volume on distance metrics includes new items from very active research areas in the use of distances and metrics such as geometry, graph theory, probability theory and analysis. Among the new topics included are, for example, polyhedral metric space, nearness matrix problems, distances between belief assignments, distance-related animal settings, diamond-cutting distances, natural units of length, Heidegger’s de-severance distance, and brain distances. The publication of this volume coincides with intensifying research efforts into metric spaces and especially distance design for applications. Accurate metrics have become a crucial goal in computational biology, image analysis, speech recognition and information retrieval. Leaving aside the practical questions that arise during the selection of a ‘good’ distance function, this work focuses on providing the research community with an invaluable comprehensive listing of the main available di...

Effects of dynamic text in an AAC app on sight word reading for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Jessica; Light, Janice; Holyfield, Christine; McNaughton, David

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Transition to Literacy (T2L) software features (i.e., dynamic text and speech output upon selection of a graphic symbol) within a grid display in an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app, on the sight word reading skills of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and complex communication needs. The study implemented a single-subject multiple probe research design across one set of three participants. The same design was utilized with an additional set of two participants. As part of the intervention, the participants were exposed to an AAC app with the T2L features during a highly structured matching task. With only limited exposure to the features, the five participants all demonstrated increased accuracy of identification of 12 targeted sight words. This study provides preliminary evidence that redesigning AAC apps to include the provision of dynamic text combined with speech output, can positively impact the sight-word reading of participants during a structured task. This adaptation in AAC system design could be used to complement literacy instruction and to potentially infuse components of literacy learning into daily communication.

Influence of skin blood flow and source-detector distance on near-infrared spectroscopy-determined cerebral oxygenation in humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hirasawa, Ai; Yanagisawa, Shintaro; Tanaka, Naoki

2015-01-01

Most near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) apparatus fails to isolate cerebral oxygenation from an extracranial contribution although they use different source-detector distances. Nevertheless, the effect of different source-detector distances and change in extracranial blood flow on the NIRS signal...... in a semi-recumbent position, while extracranial blood flow was restricted by application of four different pressures (+20 to +80 mmHg) to the left temporal artery. The O2 Hb was measured at the forehead via a multidistance probe (source-detector distance; 15, 22·5 and 30 mm), and SkBF was determined...... by laser Doppler. Heart rate and blood pressure were unaffected by application of pressure to the temporal artery, while SkBF gradually decreased (Papplied pressure...

Interface Simulation Distances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavol Černý

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The classical (boolean notion of refinement for behavioral interfaces of system components is the alternating refinement preorder. In this paper, we define a distance for interfaces, called interface simulation distance. It makes the alternating refinement preorder quantitative by, intuitively, tolerating errors (while counting them in the alternating simulation game. We show that the interface simulation distance satisfies the triangle inequality, that the distance between two interfaces does not increase under parallel composition with a third interface, and that the distance between two interfaces can be bounded from above and below by distances between abstractions of the two interfaces. We illustrate the framework, and the properties of the distances under composition of interfaces, with two case studies.

Evolution of the branchiostegal membrane and restricted gill openings in Actinopterygian fishes.

Science.gov (United States)

Farina, Stacy C; Near, Thomas J; Bemis, William E

2015-06-01

A phylogenetic survey is a powerful approach for investigating the evolutionary history of a morphological characteristic that has evolved numerous times without obvious functional implications. Restricted gill openings, an extreme modification of the branchiostegal membrane, are an example of such a characteristic. We examine the evolution of branchiostegal membrane morphology and highlight convergent evolution of restricted gill openings. We surveyed specimens from 433 families of actinopterygians for branchiostegal membrane morphology and measured head and body dimensions. We inferred a relaxed molecular clock phylogeny with branch length estimates based on nine nuclear genes sampled from 285 species that include all major lineages of Actinopterygii. We calculated marginal state reconstructions of four branchiostegal membrane conditions and found that restricted gill openings have evolved independently in at least 11 major actinopterygian clades, and the total number of independent origins of the trait is likely much higher. A principal component analysis revealed that fishes with restricted gill openings occupy a larger morphospace, as defined by our linear measurements, than do fishes with nonrestricted openings. We used a decision tree analysis of ecological data to determine if restricted gill openings are linked to certain environments. We found that fishes with restricted gill openings repeatedly occur under a variety of ecological conditions, although they are rare in open-ocean pelagic environments. We also tested seven ratios for their utility in distinguishing between fishes with and without restricted gill openings, and we propose a simple metric for quantifying restricted gill openings (RGO), defined as a ratio of the distance from the ventral midline to the gill opening relative to half the circumference of the head. Functional explanations for this specialized morphology likely differ within each clade, but its repeated evolution indicates a need

Rapid Eye Movements (REMs) and visual dream recall in both congenitally blind and sighted subjects

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Bértolo, Helder; Mestre, Tiago; Barrio, Ana; Antona, Beatriz

2017-08-01

Our objective was to evaluate rapid eye movements (REMs) associated with visual dream recall in sighted subjects and congenital blind. During two consecutive nights polysomnographic recordings were performed at subjects home. REMs were detected by visual inspection on both EOG channels (EOG-H, EOG-V) and further classified as occurring isolated or in bursts. Dream recall was defined by the existence of a dream report. The two groups were compared using t-test and also the two-way ANOVA and a post-hoc Fisher test (for the features diagnosis (blind vs. sighted) and dream recall (yes or no) as a function of time). The average of REM awakenings per subject and the recall ability were identical in both groups. CB had a lower REM density than CS; the same applied to REM bursts and isolated eye movements. In the two-way ANOVA, REM bursts and REM density were significantly different for positive dream recall, mainly for the CB group and for diagnosis; furthermore for both features significant results were obtained for the interaction of time, recall and diagnosis; the interaction of recall and time was however, stronger. In line with previous findings the data show that blind have lower REMs density. However the ability of dream recall in congenitally blind and sighted controls is identical. In both groups visual dream recall is associated with an increase in REM bursts and density. REM bursts also show differences in the temporal profile. REM visual dream recall is associated with increased REMs activity.

Beyond monetary benefits of restoring sight in Vietnam: Evaluating well-being gains from cataract surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Feeny, Simon; Posso, Alberto; McDonald, Lachlan; Chuyen, Truong Thi Kim; Tung, Son Thanh

2018-01-01

A more holistic understanding of the benefits of sight-restoring cataract surgery requires a focus that goes beyond income and employment, to include a wider array of well-being measures. The objective of this study is to examine the monetary and non-monetary benefits of cataract surgery on both patients as well as their caregivers in Vietnam. Participants were randomly recruited from a Ho-Chi-Minh City Hospital. A total of 82 cataract patients and 83 caregivers participated in the survey conducted for this study. Paired t-tests, Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests, and regression analysis are used to detect any statistically significant differences in various measures of well-being for patients and caregivers before and after surgery. There are statistically significant improvements in monetary and non-monetary measures of well-being for both patients and caregivers approximately three months after undergoing cataract surgery, compared with baseline assessments collected prior to surgery. Non-monetary measures of well-being include self-assessments of overall health, mental health, hope, self-efficacy, happiness and life satisfaction. For patients, the benefits included statistically significant improvements in earnings, mobility, self-care, the ability to undertake daily activities, self-assessed health and mental health, life satisfaction, hope, and self-efficacy (pbenefits are almost equal in their magnitude. The study has also demonstrated that many of these impacts are non-monetary in nature. It is clear that estimates of the rate of return to restoring sight that focus only on financial gains will underestimate the true returns to society of restoring sight from cataract surgeries.

No Sensory Compensation for Olfactory Memory: Differences between Blind and Sighted People

OpenAIRE

Agnieszka Sorokowska; Agnieszka Sorokowska; Maciej Karwowski

2017-01-01

Blindness can be a driving force behind a variety of changes in sensory systems. When vision is missing, other modalities and higher cognitive functions can become hyper-developed through a mechanism called sensory compensation. Overall, previous studies suggest that olfactory memory in blind people can be better than that of the sighted individuals. Better performance of blind individuals in other-sensory modalities was hypothesized to be a result of, among others, intense perceptual trainin...

Determinants of 6-minute walk distance in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis undergoing lung transplant evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Porteous, Mary K; Rivera-Lebron, Belinda N; Kreider, Maryl; Lee, James; Kawut, Steven M

2016-03-01

Little is known about the physiologic determinants of 6-minute walk distance in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. We investigated the demographic, pulmonary function, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic determinants of 6-minute walk distance in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis evaluated for lung transplantation. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 130 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis who completed a lung transplantation evaluation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2010. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to generate an explanatory model for 6-minute walk distance. After adjustment for age, sex, race, height, and weight, the presence of right ventricular dilation was associated with a decrease of 50.9 m (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.4-93.3) in 6-minute walk distance ([Formula: see text]). For each 200-mL reduction in forced vital capacity, the walk distance decreased by 15.0 m (95% CI, 9.0-21.1; [Formula: see text]). For every increase of 1 Wood unit in pulmonary vascular resistance, the walk distance decreased by 17.3 m (95% CI, 5.1-29.5; [Formula: see text]). Six-minute walk distance in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis depends in part on circulatory impairment and the degree of restrictive lung disease. Future trials that target right ventricular morphology, pulmonary vascular resistance, and forced vital capacity may potentially improve exercise capacity in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Spatial imagery relies on a sensory independent, though sensory sensitive, functional organization within the parietal cortex: a fMRI study of angle discrimination in sighted and congenitally blind individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonino, Daniela; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Bernardi, Giulio; Sani, Lorenzo; Gentili, Claudio; Vecchi, Tomaso; Pietrini, Pietro

2015-02-01

Although vision offers distinctive information to space representation, individuals who lack vision since birth often show perceptual and representational skills comparable to those found in sighted individuals. However, congenitally blind individuals may result in impaired spatial analysis, when engaging in 'visual' spatial features (e.g., perspective or angle representation) or complex spatial mental abilities. In the present study, we measured behavioral and brain responses using functional magnetic resonance imaging in sighted and congenitally blind individuals during spatial imagery based on a modified version of the mental clock task (e.g., angle discrimination) and a simple recognition control condition, as conveyed across distinct sensory modalities: visual (sighted individuals only), tactile and auditory. Blind individuals were significantly less accurate during the auditory task, but comparable-to-sighted during the tactile task. As expected, both groups showed common neural activations in intraparietal and superior parietal regions across visual and non-visual spatial perception and imagery conditions, indicating the more abstract, sensory independent functional organization of these cortical areas, a property that we named supramodality. At the same time, however, comparisons in brain responses and functional connectivity patterns across experimental conditions demonstrated also a functional lateralization, in a way that correlated with the distinct behavioral performance in blind and sighted individuals. Specifically, blind individuals relied more on right parietal regions, mainly in the tactile and less in the auditory spatial processing. In sighted, spatial representation across modalities relied more on left parietal regions. In conclusions, intraparietal and superior parietal regions subserve supramodal spatial representations in sighted and congenitally blind individuals. Differences in their recruitment across non-visual spatial processing in

Bottom-up linking of carbon markets under far-sighted cap coordination and reversibility

Science.gov (United States)

Heitzig, Jobst; Kornek, Ulrike

2018-03-01

The Paris Agreement relies on nationally determined contributions to reach its targets and asks countries to increase ambitions over time, leaving open the details of this process. Although overcoming countries' myopic `free-riding' incentives requires cooperation, the global public good character of mitigation makes forming coalitions difficult. To cooperate, countries may link their carbon markets1, but is this option beneficial2? Some countries might not participate, not agree to lower caps, or not comply to agreements. While non-compliance might be deterred3, countries can hope that if they don't participate, others might still form a coalition. When considering only one coalition whose members can leave freely, the literature following the publication of refs 4,5 finds meagre prospects for effective collaboration6. Countries also face incentives to increase emissions when linking their markets without a cap agreement7,8. Here, we analyse the dynamics of market linkage using a game-theoretic model of far-sighted coalition formation. In contrast to non-dynamic models and dynamic models without far-sightedness9,10, in our model an efficient global coalition always forms eventually if players are sufficiently far-sighted or caps are coordinated immediately when markets are linked.

Reducing the distance in distance-caregiving by technology innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lazelle E Benefield

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Lazelle E Benefield1, Cornelia Beck21College of Nursing, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; 2Pat & Willard Walker Family Memory Research Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USAAbstract: Family caregivers are responsible for the home care of over 34 million older adults in the United States. For many, the elder family member lives more than an hour’s distance away. Distance caregiving is a growing alternative to more familiar models where: 1 the elder and the family caregiver(s may reside in the same household; or 2 the family caregiver may live nearby but not in the same household as the elder. The distance caregiving model involves elders and their family caregivers who live at some distance, defined as more than a 60-minute commute, from one another. Evidence suggests that distance caregiving is a distinct phenomenon, differs substantially from on-site family caregiving, and requires additional assistance to support the physical, social, and contextual dimensions of the caregiving process. Technology-based assists could virtually connect the caregiver and elder and provide strong support that addresses the elder’s physical, social, cognitive, and/or sensory impairments. Therefore, in today’s era of high technology, it is surprising that so few affordable innovations are being marketed for distance caregiving. This article addresses distance caregiving, proposes the use of technology innovation to support caregiving, and suggests a research agenda to better inform policy decisions related to the unique needs of this situation.Keywords: caregiving, family, distance, technology, elders

Censoring distances based on labeled cortical distance maps in cortical morphometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceyhan, Elvan; Nishino, Tomoyuki; Alexopolous, Dimitrios; Todd, Richard D; Botteron, Kelly N; Miller, Michael I; Ratnanather, J Tilak

2013-01-01

It has been demonstrated that shape differences in cortical structures may be manifested in neuropsychiatric disorders. Such morphometric differences can be measured by labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM) which characterizes the morphometry of the laminar cortical mantle of cortical structures. LCDM data consist of signed/labeled distances of gray matter (GM) voxels with respect to GM/white matter (WM) surface. Volumes and other summary measures for each subject and the pooled distances can help determine the morphometric differences between diagnostic groups, however they do not reveal all the morphometric information contained in LCDM distances. To extract more information from LCDM data, censoring of the pooled distances is introduced for each diagnostic group where the range of LCDM distances is partitioned at a fixed increment size; and at each censoring step, the distances not exceeding the censoring distance are kept. Censored LCDM distances inherit the advantages of the pooled distances but also provide information about the location of morphometric differences which cannot be obtained from the pooled distances. However, at each step, the censored distances aggregate, which might confound the results. The influence of data aggregation is investigated with an extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis and it is demonstrated that this influence is negligible. As an illustrative example, GM of ventral medial prefrontal cortices (VMPFCs) of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD), subjects at high risk (HR) of MDD, and healthy control (Ctrl) subjects are used. A significant reduction in laminar thickness of the VMPFC in MDD and HR subjects is observed compared to Ctrl subjects. Moreover, the GM LCDM distances (i.e., locations with respect to the GM/WM surface) for which these differences start to occur are determined. The methodology is also applicable to LCDM-based morphometric measures of other cortical structures affected by disease.

Censoring Distances Based on Labeled Cortical Distance Maps in Cortical Morphometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elvan eCeyhan

2013-10-01

Full Text Available It has been demonstrated that shape differences are manifested in cortical structures due to neuropsychiatric disorders. Such morphometric differences can be measured by labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM which characterizes the morphometry of the laminar cortical mantle of cortical structures. LCDM data consist of signed/labeled distances of gray matter (GM voxels with respect to GM/white matter (WM surface. Volumes and other summary measures for each subject and the pooled distances can help determine the morphometric differences between diagnostic groups, however they do not reveal all the morphometric information con-tained in LCDM distances. To extract more information from LCDM data, censoring of the pooled distances is introduced for each diagnostic group where the range of LCDM distances is partitioned at a fixed increment size; and at each censoring step, the distances not exceeding the censoring distance are kept. Censored LCDM distances inherit the advantages of the pooled distances but also provide information about the location of morphometric differences which cannot be obtained from the pooled distances. However, at each step, the censored distances aggregate, which might confound the results. The influence of data aggregation is investigated with an extensive Monte Carlo simulation analysis and it is demonstrated that this influence is negligible. As an illustrative example, GM of ventral medial prefrontal cortices (VMPFCs of subjects with major depressive disorder (MDD, subjects at high risk (HR of MDD, and healthy control (Ctrl subjects are used. A significant reduction in laminar thickness of the VMPFC in MDD and HR subjects is observed compared to Ctrl subjects. Moreover, the GM LCDM distances (i.e., locations with respect to the GM/WM surface for which these differences start to occur are determined. The methodology is also applicable to LCDM-based morphometric measures of other cortical structures affected by disease.

Training for Distance Teaching through Distance Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadorath, Jill; Harris, Simon; Encinas, Fatima

2002-01-01

Describes a mixed-mode bachelor degree course in English language teaching at the Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (Mexico) that was designed to help practicing teachers write appropriate distance education materials by giving them the experience of being distance students. Includes a course outline and results of a course evaluation. (Author/LRW)

A model for the Lin-Shu type density-wave structure of our Galaxy: Line-of-sight and transverse-longitudinal velocities of 242 optically visible open clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Griv, E.; Jiang, I.-G.

2015-02-01

In this paper, the fourth in a series, we examine again one of the implications of the Lin-Shu density-wave theory, specifically, the noncircular systematic motion of the Galactic objects. Our previous investigation is extended by analyzing simultaneously both the line-of-sight and transversal velocities of a sample of open clusters for which velocities, distances and ages are available. The ordinary equations of the Oort-Lindblad theory of galactic differential rotation are used. The minor effects caused by the two-dimensional tightly-wound density waves are also taken into account. The published data of 242 currently known optically visible clusters having distances rsight and transversal along the Galactic longitude velocities are nearly equal. We argue that the resemblance of these Galactic wave structures is so remarkable that no doubt is felt as to the theory's truth with respect to these data. The results obtained allow us to conclude that several low-m trailing density-wave patterns with different number of spiral arms m (say, m=1, 2, 3, and 4), pitch angles (about 5o, 8o, 11o, and 14o, respectively) and amplitudes of the perturbed gravitational potential may coexist in the Galaxy. The latter suggests the asymmetric multiarm, not well-organized (``flocculent'') spiral structure of the system. In memory of Professors Alexei M. Fridman (1940-2010) and Chi Yuan (1937-2008)

Tourists consuming distance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Gunvor Riber

The environmental impact of tourism mobility is linked to the distances travelled in order to reach a holiday destination, and with tourists travelling more and further than previously, an understanding of how the tourists view the distance they travel across becomes relevant. Based on interviews...... contribute to an understanding of how it is possible to change tourism travel behaviour towards becoming more sustainable. How tourists 'consume distance' is discussed, from the practical level of actually driving the car or sitting in the air plane, to the symbolic consumption of distance that occurs when...... travelling on holiday becomes part of a lifestyle and a social positioning game. Further, different types of tourist distance consumers are identified, ranging from the reluctant to the deliberate and nonchalant distance consumers, who display very differing attitudes towards the distance they all travel...

Analytic processing of distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Dopkins, Stephen; Galyer, Darin

2018-01-01

How does a human observer extract from the distance between two frontal points the component corresponding to an axis of a rectangular reference frame? To find out we had participants classify pairs of small circles, varying on the horizontal and vertical axes of a computer screen, in terms of the horizontal distance between them. A response signal controlled response time. The error rate depended on the irrelevant vertical as well as the relevant horizontal distance between the test circles with the relevant distance effect being larger than the irrelevant distance effect. The results implied that the horizontal distance between the test circles was imperfectly extracted from the overall distance between them. The results supported an account, derived from the Exemplar Based Random Walk model (Nosofsky & Palmieri, 1997), under which distance classification is based on the overall distance between the test circles, with relevant distance being extracted from overall distance to the extent that the relevant and irrelevant axes are differentially weighted so as to reduce the contribution of irrelevant distance to overall distance. The results did not support an account, derived from the General Recognition Theory (Ashby & Maddox, 1994), under which distance classification is based on the relevant distance between the test circles, with the irrelevant distance effect arising because a test circle's perceived location on the relevant axis depends on its location on the irrelevant axis, and with relevant distance being extracted from overall distance to the extent that this dependency is absent. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Drawing in the blind and the sighted as a probe of cortical reorganization

Science.gov (United States)

Likova, Lora T.

2010-02-01

In contrast to other arts, such as music, there is a very little neuroimaging research on visual art and in particular - on drawing. Drawing - from artistic to technical - involves diverse aspects of spatial cognition, precise sensorimotor planning and control as well as a rich set of higher cognitive functions. A new method for learning the drawing skill in the blind that we have developed, and the technological advances of a multisensory MR-compatible drawing system, allowed us to run for the first time a comparative fMRI study on drawing in the blind and the sighted. In each population, we identified widely distributed cortical networks, extending from the occipital and temporal cortices, through the parietal to the frontal lobe. This is the first neuroimaging study of drawing in blind novices, as well as the first study on the learning to draw in either population. We sought to determine the cortical reorganization taking place as a result of learning to draw, despite the lack of visual input to the brains of the blind. Remarkably, we found massive recruitment of the visual cortex on learning to draw, although our subjects had no previous experience, but only a short training with our new drawing method. This finding implies a rapid, learning-based plasticity mechanism. We further proposed that the functional level of the brain reorganization in the blind may still differ from that in the sighted even in areas that overlap between the two populations, such as in the visual cortex. We tested this idea in the framework of saccadic suppression. A methodological innovation allowed us to estimate the retinotopic regions locations in the blind brain. Although the visual cortex of both groups was greatly recruited, only the sighted experienced dramatic suppression in hMT+ and V1, while there was no sign of an analogous process in the blind. This finding has important implications and suggests that the recruitment of the visual cortex in the blind does not assure a

Restrictions and Proportionality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Werlauff, Erik

2009-01-01

The article discusses three central aspects of the freedoms under European Community law, namely 1) the prohibition against restrictions as an important extension of the prohibition against discrimination, 2) a prohibition against exit restrictions which is just as important as the prohibition...... against host country restrictions, but which is often not recognised to the same extent by national law, and 3) the importance of also identifying and recognising an exit restriction, so that it is possible to achieve the required test of appropriateness and proportionality in relation to the rule...

Performance, Calibration and Stability of the Mars InSight Mission Pressure Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Banfield, Don; Banerdt, Bruce; Hurst, Ken; Grinblat, Jonny; murray, alex; Carpenter, Scott

2017-10-01

The NASA Mars InSight Discovery Mission is primarily aimed at understanding the seismic environment at Mars and in turn the interior structure of the planet. To this end, it carries a set of very sensitive seismometers to characterize fine ground movements from quakes, impacts and tides. However, to remove atmospheric perturbations that would otherwise corrupt the seismic signals, InSight also carries a pressure sensor of unprecedented sensitivity and frequency response for a Mars mission.The instrument is based on a commercial spacecraft pressure sensor built by the Tavis Corporation. Tavis heritage transducers have provided pressure measurements on several interplanetary missions, starting with a similar application on the Viking Landers. The sensor developed for the Insight mission is their most sensitive device. That same sensitivity was the root of the challenges faced in the design and development for Insight. It uses inductive sensing of a deformable membrane, and includes an internal temperature sensor to compensate for temperature effects in its overall response.The technical requirement on the pressure sensor performance is 0.01(f/0.1)^(-2/3) Pa/sqrt(Hz) between 0.01 and 0.1 Hz, and 0.01 Pa/sqrt(Hz) between 0.1 and 1 Hz. The actual noise spectrum is about 0.01(f/0.3)^(-2/3) Pa/sqrt(Hz) between 0.01 and 1 Hz, and its frequency response (including inlet plumbing) has good response up to about 10 Hz Nyquist (it will be sampled at 20 Hz).Achieving the required sensitivity proved to be a difficult engineering challenge, which necessitated extensive experimentation and prototyping of the electronics design. In addition, a late discovery of the introduction of noise by the signal processing chain into the measurement stream forced a last-minute change in the instrument’s firmware.The flight unit has been calibrated twice, separated by a time span of about 2 years due to the delay in launching the InSight mission. This has the benefit of allowing a direct

Distancing, not embracing, the Distancing-Embracing model of art reception.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Stephen

2017-01-01

Despite denials in the target article, the Distancing-Embracing model appeals to compensatory ideas in explaining the appeal of artworks that elicit negative affect. The model also appeals to the deflationary effects of psychological distancing. Having pointed to the famous rejection in the 1960s of the view that aesthetic experience involves psychological distancing, I suggest that "distance" functions here as a weak metaphor that cannot sustain the explanatory burden the theory demands of it.

Simultaneous Determination of Structure and Event Location Using Body and Surface Wave Measurements at a Single Station: Preparation for Mars Data from the InSight Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Panning, M. P.; Banerdt, W. B.; Beucler, E.; Blanchette-Guertin, J. F.; Boese, M.; Clinton, J. F.; Drilleau, M.; James, S. R.; Kawamura, T.; Khan, A.; Lognonne, P. H.; Mocquet, A.; van Driel, M.

2015-12-01

An important challenge for the upcoming InSight mission to Mars, which will deliver a broadband seismic station to Mars along with other geophysical instruments in 2016, is to accurately determine event locations with the use of a single station. Locations are critical for the primary objective of the mission, determining the internal structure of Mars, as well as a secondary objective of measuring the activity of distribution of seismic events. As part of the mission planning process, a variety of techniques have been explored for location of marsquakes and inversion of structure, and preliminary procedures and software are already under development as part of the InSight Mars Quake and Mars Structure Services. One proposed method, involving the use of recordings of multiple-orbit surface waves, has already been tested with synthetic data and Earth recordings. This method has the strength of not requiring an a priori velocity model of Mars for quake location, but will only be practical for larger events. For smaller events where only first orbit surface waves and body waves are observable, other methods are required. In this study, we implement a transdimensional Bayesian inversion approach to simultaneously invert for basic velocity structure and location parameters (epicentral distance and origin time) using only measurements of body wave arrival times and dispersion of first orbit surface waves. The method is tested with synthetic data with expected Mars noise and Earth data for single events and groups of events and evaluated for errors in both location and structural determination, as well as tradeoffs between resolvable parameters and the effect of 3D crustal variations.

Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling Memory, and Vocabulary Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ehri, Linnea C.

2014-01-01

Orthographic mapping (OM) involves the formation of letter-sound connections to bond the spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of specific words in memory. It explains how children learn to read words by sight, to spell words from memory, and to acquire vocabulary words from print. This development is portrayed by Ehri (2005a) as a sequence of…

Foundations of Distance Education. Third Edition. Routledge Studies in Distance Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Keegan, Desmond

This text gives an overview of distance education for students, administrators, and practitioners in distance education. Chapter 1 discusses the study of distance education. Chapter 2 analyzes forms of nonconventional education (open, nontraditional) that may have similarities to distance education but are not to be identified with it. Chapter 3…

Colour-the-INSight : Combining a direct view rifle sight with fused intensified and thermal imagery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hogervorst, M.A.; Jansen, C.; Toet, A.; Bijl, P.; Bakker, P.J.; Hiddema, A.C.; Vliet, S.F. van

2012-01-01

We present the design and evaluation of a new demonstrator rifle sight viewing system containing direct view, red aim point and fusion of an (uncooled, LWIR) thermal sensor with a digital image intensifier. Our goal is to create a system that performs well under a wide variety of (weather)

Restricted vs. unrestricted wheel running in mice: Effects on brain, behavior and endocannabinoids.

Science.gov (United States)

Biedermann, Sarah V; Auer, Matthias K; Bindila, Laura; Ende, Gabriele; Lutz, Beat; Weber-Fahr, Wolfgang; Gass, Peter; Fuss, Johannes

2016-11-01

Beneficial effects of voluntary wheel running on hippocampal neurogenesis, morphology and hippocampal-dependent behavior have widely been studied in rodents, but also serious side effects and similarities to stereotypy have been reported. Some mouse strains run excessively when equipped with running wheels, complicating the comparability to human exercise regimes. Here, we investigated how exercise restriction to 6h/day affects hippocampal morphology and metabolism, stereotypic and basal behaviors, as well as the endocannabinoid system in wheel running C57BL/6 mice; the strain most commonly used for behavioral analyses and psychiatric disease models. Restricted and unrestricted wheel running had similar effects on immature hippocampal neuron numbers, thermoregulatory nest building and basal home-cage behaviors. Surprisingly, hippocampal gray matter volume, assessed with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 9.4 Tesla, was only increased in unrestricted but not in restricted runners. Moreover, unrestricted runners showed less stereotypic behavior than restricted runners did. However, after blockage of running wheels for 24h stereotypic behavior also increased in unrestricted runners, arguing against a long-term effect of wheel running on stereotypic behavior. Stereotypic behaviors correlated with frontal glutamate and glucose levels assessed by 1 H-MR spectroscopy. While acute running increased plasma levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide in former studies in mice and humans, we found an inverse correlation of anandamide with the daily running distance after long-term running. In conclusion, although there are some diverging effects of restricted and unrestricted running on brain and behavior, restricted running does not per se seem to be a better animal model for aerobic exercise in mice. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

modelling distances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert F. Love

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Distance predicting functions may be used in a variety of applications for estimating travel distances between points. To evaluate the accuracy of a distance predicting function and to determine its parameters, a goodness-of-fit criteria is employed. AD (Absolute Deviations, SD (Squared Deviations and NAD (Normalized Absolute Deviations are the three criteria that are mostly employed in practice. In the literature some assumptions have been made about the properties of each criterion. In this paper, we present statistical analyses performed to compare the three criteria from different perspectives. For this purpose, we employ the ℓkpθ-norm as the distance predicting function, and statistically compare the three criteria by using normalized absolute prediction error distributions in seventeen geographical regions. We find that there exist no significant differences between the criteria. However, since the criterion SD has desirable properties in terms of distance modelling procedures, we suggest its use in practice.

Sightings and behavioral observations of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins Sousa chinensis (Osbeck, 1765 along Chennai coast, Bay of Bengal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Muralidharan

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Boat-based surveys were used to investigate the presence of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins Sousa chinensis along the coast of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Notes were collected on behavior, group size, coloration patterns and group composition on sighting cetaceans during the surveys. Four groups of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins were sighted near-shore in the month of February 2011, between 10-25 m depth with an average group size of 20 individuals of which 10 individuals were photo-identifiable. Dominant group behavior was aerial display, feeding and traveling. This study gives a basic idea of presence, threats and habitat use of Humpback Dolphin areas along Chennai coast.

KINETIC TOMOGRAPHY. I. A METHOD FOR MAPPING THE MILKY WAY’S INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN FOUR DIMENSIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tchernyshyov, Kirill [The Johns Hopkins University (United States); Peek, J. E. G. [Space Telescope Science Institute (United States)

2017-01-01

We have developed a method for deriving the distribution of the Milky Way’s interstellar medium as a function of longitude, latitude, distance, and line-of-sight velocity. This method takes as input maps of reddening as a function of longitude, latitude, distance, and maps of line emission as a function of longitude, latitude, and line-of-sight velocity. We have applied this method to data sets covering much of the Galactic plane. The output of this method correctly reproduces the line-of-sight velocities of high-mass star-forming regions with known distances from Reid et al. and qualitatively agrees with results from the Milky Way kinematics literature. These maps will be useful for measuring flows of gas around the Milky Way’s spiral arms and into and out of giant molecular clouds.

Sea turtles sightings in North Carolina from 1987-02-01 to 2015-06-16 (NCEI Accession 0161174)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data contains sea turtle sightings reported to the NMFS Beaufort Laboratory sea turtle program by the general public as they were fishing, boating, etc. These...

Energy mergers, acquisitions and trusts : no end in sight

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiry, J.

1998-01-01

An overview of Canadian export of natural gas to the U.S. and mergers in the Canadian gas industry was presented. Issues discussed included: (1) the Canadian role in U.S. gas markets, (2) growth, returns, and reinvestment rates in the Canadian gas industry, (3) current and historical mergers and acquisitions activity, (4) the driving forces of continued mergers, and (5) the role of trusts in mergers and acquisitions. It was stressed that the recent trend of energy industry mergers is reshaping the industry. Canadian gas producers are currently finding themselves in a high risk, low-return, capital intensive industry caught in a 10-year major growth trend driven by U.S. exports. Unfortunately, for the immediate future there is no end in sight. figs

Energy mergers, acquisitions and trusts : no end in sight

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shiry, J. [Woodside Research Ltd., Calgary, AB (Canada)

1998-08-01

An overview of Canadian export of natural gas to the U.S. and mergers in the Canadian gas industry was presented. Issues discussed included: (1) the Canadian role in U.S. gas markets, (2) growth, returns, and reinvestment rates in the Canadian gas industry, (3) current and historical mergers and acquisitions activity, (4) the driving forces of continued mergers, and (5) the role of trusts in mergers and acquisitions. It was stressed that the recent trend of energy industry mergers is reshaping the industry. Canadian gas producers are currently finding themselves in a high risk, low-return, capital intensive industry caught in a 10-year major growth trend driven by U.S. exports. Unfortunately, for the immediate future there is no end in sight. figs.

Proposing a Web-Based Tutorial System to Teach Malay Language Braille Code to the Sighted

Science.gov (United States)

Wah, Lee Lay; Keong, Foo Kok

2010-01-01

The "e-KodBrailleBM Tutorial System" is a web-based tutorial system which is specially designed to teach, facilitate and support the learning of Malay Language Braille Code to individuals who are sighted. The targeted group includes special education teachers, pre-service teachers, and parents. Learning Braille code involves memorisation…

Memory for Verbally Presented Routes: A Comparison of Strategies Used by Blind and Sighted People.

Science.gov (United States)

Easton, R. D.; Bentzen, B. L.

1987-01-01

Congenitally-blind (N=16) and sighted (N=16) young adults listened to descriptions of routes and then finger traced routes through a raised line matrix. Route tracing speed and accuracy revealed that spatial sentence verification interfered with route memory more than abstract/verbal sentence verification for all subjects. (Author/CB)

Brownian distance covariance

OpenAIRE

Székely, Gábor J.; Rizzo, Maria L.

2010-01-01

Distance correlation is a new class of multivariate dependence coefficients applicable to random vectors of arbitrary and not necessarily equal dimension. Distance covariance and distance correlation are analogous to product-moment covariance and correlation, but generalize and extend these classical bivariate measures of dependence. Distance correlation characterizes independence: it is zero if and only if the random vectors are independent. The notion of covariance with...

R Factor-Controlled Restriction and Modification of Deoxyribonucleic Acid: Restriction Mutants

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimori, Robert; Roulland-Dussoix, Daisy; Boyer, Herbert W.

1972-01-01

Restriction mutants of two different R factor-controlled host specificities (RI and RII) were isolated. All of the restriction mutants examined had a normal modification phenotype. No complementation was observed between the RI and RII host specificities. It is concluded that for each host specificity no protein subunit is shared by the restriction endonuclease and modification methylase. PMID:4565538

Traversing psychological distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Liberman, Nira; Trope, Yaacov

2014-07-01

Traversing psychological distance involves going beyond direct experience, and includes planning, perspective taking, and contemplating counterfactuals. Consistent with this view, temporal, spatial, and social distances as well as hypotheticality are associated, affect each other, and are inferred from one another. Moreover, traversing all distances involves the use of abstraction, which we define as forming a belief about the substitutability for a specific purpose of subjectively distinct objects. Indeed, across many instances of both abstraction and psychological distancing, more abstract constructs are used for more distal objects. Here, we describe the implications of this relation for prediction, choice, communication, negotiation, and self-control. We ask whether traversing distance is a general mental ability and whether distance should replace expectancy in expected-utility theories. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chiral dynamics and partonic structure at large transverse distances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strikman, M. [Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Weiss, C. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States). Theory Center

2009-12-30

In this paper, we study large-distance contributions to the nucleon’s parton densities in the transverse coordinate (impact parameter) representation based on generalized parton distributions (GPDs). Chiral dynamics generates a distinct component of the partonic structure, located at momentum fractions x≲M_π/M_N and transverse distances b~1/M_π. We calculate this component using phenomenological pion exchange with a physical lower limit in b (the transverse “core” radius estimated from the nucleon’s axial form factor, R_core=0.55 fm) and demonstrate its universal character. This formulation preserves the basic picture of the “pion cloud” model of the nucleon’s sea quark distributions, while restricting its application to the region actually governed by chiral dynamics. It is found that (a) the large-distance component accounts for only ~1/3 of the measured antiquark flavor asymmetry d¯-u¯ at x~0.1; (b) the strange sea quarks s and s¯ are significantly more localized than the light antiquark sea; (c) the nucleon’s singlet quark size for x<0.1 is larger than its gluonic size, (b²)_q+q¯>(b²)_g, as suggested by the t-slopes of deeply-virtual Compton scattering and exclusive J/ψ production measured at HERA and FNAL. We show that our approach reproduces the general N_c-scaling of parton densities in QCD, thanks to the degeneracy of N and Δ intermediate states in the large-N_c limit. Finally, we also comment on the role of pionic configurations at large longitudinal distances and the limits of their applicability at small x.

System Architecture of Small Unmanned Aerial System for Flight Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-17

International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA 2011), 28-31 (August 2011) Maddalon Jeffrey M., Kelly J... SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE OF SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM FOR FLIGHT BEYOND VISUAL LINE-OF-SIGHT THESIS...is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. AFIT-ENV-MS-15-S-047 SYSTEM

A Novel Geometrical Height Gain Model for Line-of-Sight Urban Micro Cells Below 6 GHz

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodriguez, Ignacio; Nguyen, Huan Cong; Sørensen, Troels Bundgaard

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel height gain model applicable to line-of-sight urban micro cell scenarios and frequencies below 6 GHz. The model is knife-edge diffraction-based, and it is founded on simple geometrical and physical relationships. Typical system level simulator scenario parameters...

The Effect of Contingent Reinforcement on the Acquisition of Sight Vocabulary. Technical Report No. 49.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Mary E.; And Others

The present study is a replication of a Lahey and Drabman study (1974) which investigated the effects of contingent versus noncontingent reinforcement on the learning of sight words. The subjects in this study were 14 Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) students who composed the lowest reading group in a combined first-second grade…

ROLE OF LINE-OF-SIGHT COSMIC-RAY INTERACTIONS IN FORMING THE SPECTRA OF DISTANT BLAZARS IN TeV GAMMA RAYS AND HIGH-ENERGY NEUTRINOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Essey, Warren; Kusenko, Alexander; Kalashev, Oleg; Beacom, John F.

2011-01-01

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can produce both gamma rays and cosmic rays. The observed high-energy gamma-ray signals from distant blazars may be dominated by secondary gamma rays produced along the line of sight by the interactions of cosmic-ray protons with background photons. This explains the surprisingly low attenuation observed for distant blazars, because the production of secondary gamma rays occurs, on average, much closer to Earth than the distance to the source. Thus, the observed spectrum in the TeV range does not depend on the intrinsic gamma-ray spectrum, while it depends on the output of the source in cosmic rays. We apply this hypothesis to a number of sources and, in every case, we obtain an excellent fit, strengthening the interpretation of the observed spectra as being due to secondary gamma rays. We explore the ramifications of this interpretation for limits on the extragalactic background light and for the production of cosmic rays in AGNs. We also make predictions for the neutrino signals, which can help probe the acceleration of cosmic rays in AGNs.

A young solar twin in the Rosette cluster NGC 2244 line of sight

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Jeremy M.; Kielkopf, John F.; Mengel, Matthew; Carter, Bradley D.; Ferland, Gary J.; Clark, Frank O.

2018-05-01

Based on prior precision photometry and cluster age analysis, the bright star GSC 00154-01819 is a possible young pre-main sequence member of the Rosette cluster, NGC 2244. As part of a comprehensive study of the large-scale structure of the Rosette and its excitation by the cluster stars, we noted this star as a potential backlight for a probe of the interstellar medium and extinction along the sight line towards a distinctive nebular feature projected on to the cluster centre. New high-resolution spectra of the star were taken with the University College London Echelle Spectrograph of the AAT. They reveal that rather than being a reddened spectral type B or A star within the Mon OB2 association, it is a nearby, largely unreddened, solar twin of spectral type G2V less than 180 Myr old. It is about 219 pc from the Sun with a barycentric radial velocity of +14.35 ± 1.99 km s-1. The spectrum of the Rosette behind it and along this line of sight shows a barycentric radial velocity of +26.0 ± 2.4 km s-1 in H α, and a full width at half-maximum velocity dispersion of 61.94 ± 1.38 km s-1.

Descriptive analysis and comparison of strategic incremental rehearsal to "Business as Usual" sight-word instruction for an adult nonreader with intellectual disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Richman, David M; Grubb, Laura; Thompson, Samuel

2018-01-01

Strategic Incremental Rehearsal (SIR) is an effective method for teaching sight-word acquisition, but has neither been evaluated for use in adults with an intellectual disability, nor directly compared to the ongoing instruction in the natural environment. Experimental analysis of sight word acquisition via an alternating treatment design was conducted with a 23-year-old woman with Down syndrome. SIR was compared to the current reading instruction (CRI) in a classroom for young adults with intellectual disabilities. CRI procedures included non-contingent praise, receptive touch prompts ("touch the word bat"), echoic prompts ("say bat"), textual prompts ("read the word"), and pre-determined introduction of new words. SIR procedures included textual prompts on flash cards, contingent praise, corrective feedback, and mastery-based introduction of new words. The results indicated that SIR was associated with more rapid acquisition of sight words than CRI. Directions for future research could include systematic comparisons to other procedures, and evaluations of procedural permutations of SIR.

Increased prevalences of left-handedness and left-eye sighting dominance in individuals with Williams-Beuren syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.W. van Strien (Jan)

2005-01-01

textabstractHandedness and eye sighting dominance were assessed in a sample of 50 individuals (25 male, 25 female; aged 5 – 38 years) with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). The prevalences of left-handedness and left-eyedness were compared to the normative prevalences in the general population. We

The advantage of a decreasing right-hand superiority: the influence of laterality on a selected musical skill (sight reading achievement).

Science.gov (United States)

Kopiez, Reinhard; Galley, Niels; Lee, Ji In

2006-01-01

In this study, the unrehearsed performance of music, known as 'sight reading', is used as a model to examine the influence of motoric laterality on highly challenging musical performance skills. As expertise research has shown, differences in this skill can be partially explained by factors such as accumulated practise and an early start to training. However, up until now, neurobiological factors that may influence highly demanding instrumental performance have been widely neglected. In an experiment with 52 piano students at a German university music department, we could show that the most challenging musical skill, sight reading (which is characterized by extreme demands on the performer's real time information processing), is positively correlated with decreasing right-hand superiority of performers. Laterality was measured by the differences between left and right-hand performance in a speed tapping task. SR achievement was measured using an accompanying task paradigm. An overall superiority of 22% for non-right-handed pianists was found. This effect is gender-related and stronger in non-right-handed males (r(24) = -0.49, p0.05). We conclude that non-right-handed motoric laterality is associated with neurobiological advantages required for sight reading, an extremely demanding musical subskill.

Open and Distance Learning Today. Routledge Studies in Distance Education Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, Fred, Ed.

This book contains the following papers on open and distance learning today: "Preface" (Daniel); "Big Bang Theory in Distance Education" (Hawkridge); "Practical Agenda for Theorists of Distance Education" (Perraton); "Trends, Directions and Needs: A View from Developing Countries" (Koul); "American…

Haptic orientation perception benefits from visual experience : Evidence from early-blind, late-blind, and sighted people

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postma, Albert; Zuidhoek, Sander; Noordzij, Matthijs L.; Kappers, A. M L

2008-01-01

Early-blind, late-blind, and blindfolded sighted participants were presented with two haptic allocentric spatial tasks: a parallel-setting task, in an immediate and a 10-sec delay condition, and a task in which the orientation of a single bar was judged verbally. With respect to deviation size, the

Measuring the Restrictiveness of Living Environments for Children and Youth: Reconceptualizing Restriction

Science.gov (United States)

Rauktis, Mary E.; Huefner, Jonathan C.; O'Brien, Kirk; Pecora, Peter J.; Doucette, Ann; Thompson, Ronald W.

2009-01-01

The "Restrictiveness of Living Environment Scale" has long been the primary way to conceptualize the "restrictiveness" of a child's living situation. However, changes in systems of care and other factors have created a need to revisit how restrictiveness is conceptualized and measured. A measure was created to assess an environment's level of…

From a distance: implications of spontaneous self-distancing for adaptive self-reflection.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayduk, Ozlem; Kross, Ethan

2010-05-01

Although recent experimental work indicates that self-distancing facilitates adaptive self-reflection, it remains unclear (a) whether spontaneous self-distancing leads to similar adaptive outcomes, (b) how spontaneous self-distancing relates to avoidance, and (c) how this strategy impacts interpersonal behavior. Three studies examined these issues demonstrating that the more participants spontaneously self-distanced while reflecting on negative memories, the less emotional (Studies 1-3) and cardiovascular (Study 2) reactivity they displayed in the short term. Spontaneous self-distancing was also associated with lower emotional reactivity and intrusive ideation over time (Study 1). The negative association between spontaneous self-distancing and emotional reactivity was mediated by how participants construed their experience (i.e., less recounting relative to reconstruing) rather than avoidance (Studies 1-2). In addition, spontaneous self-distancing was associated with more problem-solving behavior and less reciprocation of negativity during conflicts among couples in ongoing relationships (Study 3). Although spontaneous self-distancing was empirically related to trait rumination, it explained unique variance in predicting key outcomes. 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Multi-site Study of Diffusion Metric Variability: Characterizing the Effects of Site, Vendor, Field Strength, and Echo Time using the Histogram Distance

Science.gov (United States)

Helmer, K. G.; Chou, M-C.; Preciado, R. I.; Gimi, B.; Rollins, N. K.; Song, A.; Turner, J.; Mori, S.

2016-01-01

MRI-based multi-site trials now routinely include some form of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in their protocol. These studies can include data originating from scanners built by different vendors, each with their own set of unique protocol restrictions, including restrictions on the number of available gradient directions, whether an externally-generated list of gradient directions can be used, and restrictions on the echo time (TE). One challenge of multi-site studies is to create a common imaging protocol that will result in a reliable and accurate set of diffusion metrics. The present study describes the effect of site, scanner vendor, field strength, and TE on two common metrics: the first moment of the diffusion tensor field (mean diffusivity, MD), and the fractional anisotropy (FA). We have shown in earlier work that ROI metrics and the mean of MD and FA histograms are not sufficiently sensitive for use in site characterization. Here we use the distance between whole brain histograms of FA and MD to investigate within- and between-site effects. We concluded that the variability of DTI metrics due to site, vendor, field strength, and echo time could influence the results in multi-center trials and that histogram distance is sensitive metrics for each of these variables. PMID:27350723

Multi-site Study of Diffusion Metric Variability: Characterizing the Effects of Site, Vendor, Field Strength, and Echo Time using the Histogram Distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Helmer, K G; Chou, M-C; Preciado, R I; Gimi, B; Rollins, N K; Song, A; Turner, J; Mori, S

2016-02-27

MRI-based multi-site trials now routinely include some form of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in their protocol. These studies can include data originating from scanners built by different vendors, each with their own set of unique protocol restrictions, including restrictions on the number of available gradient directions, whether an externally-generated list of gradient directions can be used, and restrictions on the echo time (TE). One challenge of multi-site studies is to create a common imaging protocol that will result in a reliable and accurate set of diffusion metrics. The present study describes the effect of site, scanner vendor, field strength, and TE on two common metrics: the first moment of the diffusion tensor field (mean diffusivity, MD), and the fractional anisotropy (FA). We have shown in earlier work that ROI metrics and the mean of MD and FA histograms are not sufficiently sensitive for use in site characterization. Here we use the distance between whole brain histograms of FA and MD to investigate within- and between-site effects. We concluded that the variability of DTI metrics due to site, vendor, field strength, and echo time could influence the results in multi-center trials and that histogram distance is sensitive metrics for each of these variables.

Distance-regular graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dam, Edwin R.; Koolen, Jack H.; Tanaka, Hajime

2016-01-01

This is a survey of distance-regular graphs. We present an introduction to distance-regular graphs for the reader who is unfamiliar with the subject, and then give an overview of some developments in the area of distance-regular graphs since the monograph 'BCN'[Brouwer, A.E., Cohen, A.M., Neumaier,

Factors affecting written distance-learning feedback: the tutor’s perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Calfoglou

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Launching the distance-learning student-tutor interaction process, tutors of the first module of the M.Ed in English course at the HOU lay the foundations of academic student autonomy by means of providing – inter alia -- the appropriate written feedback on written assignments. In doing so, they need to gauge the content and form of their written comments systematically with regard to both output- and student-, that is human factor-related issues (cf. Goldstein, 2004, the latter being particularly relevant to the distance-learning context. In this article we discuss tutor policy as well as tutor perceptions (cf. Lee, 2004, 2009 among others regarding written feedback on students’ academic assignments in terms of aspects of deviance treated and the relative gravity of ‘global’ and ‘local’ errors (e.g. Ferris, 2002, the directness of the correction, the punitive or facilitative nature of the comments provided as well as the relative balance of student strengths and weaknesses on the tutor’s comment agenda (cf. Hyland & Hyland, 2006. The role of the tutor as an assessor and/or counsellor is explored and the importance of striking a delicate balance between the two, especially in a context where face-to-face feedback opportunities are severely restricted, is underscored. We suggest that distance-learning feedback practices may need to be at least partially individualized to maximize student response and meet the goal of ‘informed autonomy’.

Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species' ecological niches distances

Science.gov (United States)

Fort, Florian; Jouany, Claire; Cruz, Pablo

2015-01-01

Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e., ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits, and whole plant traits) in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species' ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems) are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems) are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance. PMID:25741353

Hierarchical traits distances explain grassland Fabaceae species’ ecological niches distances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florian eFort

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen via their symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria. To increase benefits of using Fabaceae in agricultural systems, it is necessary to find ways to evaluate species or genotypes having potential adaptations to sub-optimal growth conditions. We evaluated the relevance of phylogenetic distance, absolute trait distance and hierarchical trait distance for comparing the adaptation of 13 grassland Fabaceae species to different habitats, i.e. ecological niches. We measured a wide range of functional traits (root traits, leaf traits and whole plant traits in these species. Species phylogenetic and ecological distances were assessed from a species-level phylogenetic tree and species’ ecological indicator values, respectively. We demonstrated that differences in ecological niches between grassland Fabaceae species were related more to their hierarchical trait distances than to their phylogenetic distances. We showed that grassland Fabaceae functional traits tend to converge among species with the same ecological requirements. Species with acquisitive root strategies (thin roots, shallow root systems are competitive species adapted to non-stressful meadows, while conservative ones (coarse roots, deep root systems are able to tolerate stressful continental climates. In contrast, acquisitive species appeared to be able to tolerate low soil-P availability, while conservative ones need high P availability. Finally we highlight that traits converge along the ecological gradient, providing the assumption that species with similar root-trait values are better able to coexist, regardless of their phylogenetic distance.

Numerical distance protection

CERN Document Server

Ziegler, Gerhard

2011-01-01

Distance protection provides the basis for network protection in transmission systems and meshed distribution systems. This book covers the fundamentals of distance protection and the special features of numerical technology. The emphasis is placed on the application of numerical distance relays in distribution and transmission systems.This book is aimed at students and engineers who wish to familiarise themselves with the subject of power system protection, as well as the experienced user, entering the area of numerical distance protection. Furthermore it serves as a reference guide for s

Crocodylus acutus (American Crocodile). Long distance juvenile movement

Science.gov (United States)

Crespo, Rafael; Beauchamp, Jeffrey S.; Mazzotti, Frank; Cherkiss, Michael S.

2015-01-01

Crocodylus acutus (American Crocodile) is the most widely distributed New World crocodilian species with its range extending from Peru in the south to the southern tip of peninsular Florida in the north. Crocodylus acutus occupies primarily coastal brackish water habitat, however it also occurs in freshwater to hypersaline habitats (Thorbjarnarson 2010. In Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. [Third Edition], American Crocodile Crocodylus acutus, pp. 46–53 S.C. Manolis and C. Stevenson. Crocodile Specialist Group, Darwin). There is limited literature on long distance movements of juvenile crocodilians worldwide and no literature on juvenile crocodiles in Florida. However, adult C. acutus in Florida have been documented to make seasonal movements of 5–15 km from preferred foraging habitat to nesting beaches (Mazzotti 1983. The Ecology of Crocodylus acutus in Florida. PhD Dissertation. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. 161pp), and one adult was documented making a 35 km trip from her nest site to preferred foraging habitat (Cherkiss et. al. 2006. Herpetol. Rev. 38:72–73). Rodda (1984. Herpetologica 40:444–451) reported on juvenile C. acutus movement in Gatun Lake, Panama, and found that juveniles stayed within 1 km of their nest site for the first month. Movements of juvenile Crocodylus porosus (Saltwater Crocodile) in a river system in Northern Australia showed a maximum movement of 38.9 km from a known nest site, with the majority of the crocodiles staying within 15.6 km downstream to 6.8 km upstream (Webb and Messel 1978. Aust. Wildlife Res. 5:263–283). Juvenile movement of Crocodylus niloticus (Nile Crocodile) in Lake Ngezi, Zimbabwe showed crocodiles restricted their movements from 1.0 km up to 4.5 km through the wet and dry seasons (Hutton 1989. Am. Zool. 29:1033–1049). Long distance movements of alligators were recorded for sizes ranging from 28 cm to 361 cm in a coastal refuge in Louisiana, where

Planning with Reachable Distances

KAUST Repository

Tang, Xinyu

2009-01-01

Motion planning for spatially constrained robots is difficult due to additional constraints placed on the robot, such as closure constraints for closed chains or requirements on end effector placement for articulated linkages. It is usually computationally too expensive to apply sampling-based planners to these problems since it is difficult to generate valid configurations. We overcome this challenge by redefining the robot\\'s degrees of freedom and constraints into a new set of parameters, called reachable distance space (RD-space), in which all configurations lie in the set of constraint-satisfying subspaces. This enables us to directly sample the constrained subspaces with complexity linear in the robot\\'s number of degrees of freedom. In addition to supporting efficient sampling, we show that the RD-space formulation naturally supports planning, and in particular, we design a local planner suitable for use by sampling-based planners. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach for several systems including closed chain planning with multiple loops, restricted end effector sampling, and on-line planning for drawing/sculpting. We can sample single-loop closed chain systems with 1000 links in time comparable to open chain sampling, and we can generate samples for 1000-link multi-loop systems of varying topology in less than a second. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.

The Distance Standard Deviation

OpenAIRE

Edelmann, Dominic; Richards, Donald; Vogel, Daniel

2017-01-01

The distance standard deviation, which arises in distance correlation analysis of multivariate data, is studied as a measure of spread. New representations for the distance standard deviation are obtained in terms of Gini's mean difference and in terms of the moments of spacings of order statistics. Inequalities for the distance variance are derived, proving that the distance standard deviation is bounded above by the classical standard deviation and by Gini's mean difference. Further, it is ...

Analysis of Molecular Variance Inferred from Metric Distances among DNA Haplotypes: Application to Human Mitochondrial DNA Restriction Data

OpenAIRE

Excoffier, L.; Smouse, P. E.; Quattro, J. M.

1992-01-01

We present here a framework for the study of molecular variation within a single species. Information on DNA haplotype divergence is incorporated into an analysis of variance format, derived from a matrix of squared-distances among all pairs of haplotypes. This analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) produces estimates of variance components and F-statistic analogs, designated here as φ-statistics, reflecting the correlation of haplotypic diversity at different levels of hierarchical subdivisi...

Distance Education in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr. Nursel Selver RUZGAR,

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Distance Education in Turkey Assistant Professor Dr. Nursel Selver RUZGAR Technical Education Faculty Marmara University, TURKEY ABSTRACT Many countries of the world are using distance education with various ways, by internet, by post and by TV. In this work, development of distance education in Turkey has been presented from the beginning. After discussing types and applications for different levels of distance education in Turkey, the distance education was given in the cultural aspect of the view. Then, in order to create the tendencies and thoughts of graduates of Higher Education Institutions and Distance Education Institutions about being competitors in job markets, sufficiency of education level, advantages for education system, continuing education in different Institutions, a face-to-face survey was applied to 1284 graduates, 958 from Higher Education Institutions and 326 from Distance Education Institutions. The results were evaluated and discussed. In the last part of this work, suggestions to become widespread and improve the distance education in the country were made.

Influences of the separation distance, ship speed and channel dimension on ship maneuverability in a confined waterway

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Peng; Ouahsine, Abdellatif; Sergent, Philippe

2018-05-01

Ship maneuvering in the confined inland waterway is investigated using the system-based method, where a nonlinear transient hydrodynamic model is adopted and confinement models are implemented to account for the influence of the channel bank and bottom. The maneuvering model is validated using the turning circle test, and the confinement model is validated using the experimental data. The separation distance, ship speed, and channel width are then varied to investigate their influences on ship maneuverability. With smaller separation distances and higher speeds near the bank, the ship's trajectory deviates more from the original course and the bow is repelled with a larger yaw angle, which increase the difficulty of maneuvering. Smaller channel widths induce higher advancing resistances on the ship. The minimum distance to the bank are extracted and studied. It is suggested to navigate the ship in the middle of the channel and with a reasonable speed in the restricted waterway.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Velocity and proper motion of OB associations (Melnik+, 2009)

Science.gov (United States)

Melnik, A. M.; Dambis, A. K.

2009-11-01

For every OB-association from the list by Blaha and Humphreys (1989AJ.....98.1598B) we give the mean galactic coordinates l and b, the mean heliocentric distance r, median line-of-sight velocity Vr, the dispersion of line-of-sight velocities dvr, and number of stars with known line-of-sight velocity nvr. The line-of-sight velocities were taken from the catalog by Barbier-Brossat and Figon (1999, Cat. ). We used only the velocities measured with errors of less than 10km/s which corresponds to the quality estimations A, B, and C. We also present median proper motions of OB-associations along l- and b- coordinates, mul and mub. The data obtained for the old reduction (1997, Cat. ) are denoted by the subscript 1, whereas those based on the reduction by van Leewen (2008, Cat. ) are marked by the subscript 2. For each OB association we represent the dispersions of proper motions, dml and dmb, as well as a number of stars nmu with known proper motion. The last column shows the total number of stars with known photometric measurements, Nt, used for determination of the distances for OB-associations. The distances r correspond to the short distance scale for classical Cepheids. They are equal to the distances from the catalog by Blaha and Humphreys (1989AJ.....98.1598B), rBH, multiplied by a factor of 0.8, r=0.8*rBH. (1 data file).

Tactile exploration of virtual objects for blind and sighted people: the role of beta 1 EEG band in sensory substitution and supramodal mental mapping

OpenAIRE

Campus, C.; Brayda, L.; De Carli, F.; Chellali, R.; Famà, F.; Bruzzo, C.; Lucagrossi, L.; Rodriguez, G.

2012-01-01

The neural correlates of exploration and cognitive mapping in blindness remain elusive. The role of visuo-spatial pathways in blind vs. sighted subjects is still under debate. In this preliminary study, we investigate, as a possible estimation of the activity in the visuo-spatial pathways, the EEG patterns of blind and blindfolded-sighted subjects during the active tactile construction of cognitive maps from virtual objects compared with rest and passive tactile stimulation. Ten blind and ten...

Tactile exploration of virtual objects for blind and sighted people: the role of beta 1 EEG band in sensory substitution and supramodal mental mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Campus, C; Brayda, L; De Carli, F; Chellali, R; Famà, F; Bruzzo, C; Lucagrossi, L; Rodriguez, G

2012-05-01

The neural correlates of exploration and cognitive mapping in blindness remain elusive. The role of visuo-spatial pathways in blind vs. sighted subjects is still under debate. In this preliminary study, we investigate, as a possible estimation of the activity in the visuo-spatial pathways, the EEG patterns of blind and blindfolded-sighted subjects during the active tactile construction of cognitive maps from virtual objects compared with rest and passive tactile stimulation. Ten blind and ten matched, blindfolded-sighted subjects participated in the study. Events were defined as moments when the finger was only stimulated (passive stimulation) or the contour of a virtual object was touched (during active exploration). Event-related spectral power and coherence perturbations were evaluated within the beta 1 band (14-18 Hz). They were then related to a subjective cognitive-load estimation required by the explorations [namely, perceived levels of difficulty (PLD)]. We found complementary cues for sensory substitution and spatial processing in both groups: both blind and sighted subjects showed, while exploring, late power decreases and early power increases, potentially associated with motor programming and touch, respectively. The latter involved occipital areas only for blind subjects (long-term plasticity) and only during active exploration, thus supporting tactile-to-visual sensory substitution. In both groups, coherences emerged among the fronto-central, centro-parietal, and occipito-temporal derivations associated with visuo-spatial processing. This seems in accordance with mental map construction involving spatial processing, sensory-motor processing, and working memory. The observed involvement of the occipital regions suggests that a substitution process also occurs in sighted subjects. Only during explorations did coherence correlate positively with PLD for both groups and in derivations, which can be related to visuo-spatial processing, supporting the

Tactile exploration of virtual objects for blind and sighted people: the role of beta 1 EEG band in sensory substitution and supramodal mental mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Brayda, L.; De Carli, F.; Chellali, R.; Famà, F.; Bruzzo, C.; Lucagrossi, L.; Rodriguez, G.

2012-01-01

The neural correlates of exploration and cognitive mapping in blindness remain elusive. The role of visuo-spatial pathways in blind vs. sighted subjects is still under debate. In this preliminary study, we investigate, as a possible estimation of the activity in the visuo-spatial pathways, the EEG patterns of blind and blindfolded-sighted subjects during the active tactile construction of cognitive maps from virtual objects compared with rest and passive tactile stimulation. Ten blind and ten matched, blindfolded-sighted subjects participated in the study. Events were defined as moments when the finger was only stimulated (passive stimulation) or the contour of a virtual object was touched (during active exploration). Event-related spectral power and coherence perturbations were evaluated within the beta 1 band (14–18 Hz). They were then related to a subjective cognitive-load estimation required by the explorations [namely, perceived levels of difficulty (PLD)]. We found complementary cues for sensory substitution and spatial processing in both groups: both blind and sighted subjects showed, while exploring, late power decreases and early power increases, potentially associated with motor programming and touch, respectively. The latter involved occipital areas only for blind subjects (long-term plasticity) and only during active exploration, thus supporting tactile-to-visual sensory substitution. In both groups, coherences emerged among the fronto-central, centro-parietal, and occipito-temporal derivations associated with visuo-spatial processing. This seems in accordance with mental map construction involving spatial processing, sensory-motor processing, and working memory. The observed involvement of the occipital regions suggests that a substitution process also occurs in sighted subjects. Only during explorations did coherence correlate positively with PLD for both groups and in derivations, which can be related to visuo-spatial processing, supporting the

From sight to light the passage from ancient to modern optics

CERN Document Server

Smith, A Mark

2014-01-01

From its inception in Greek antiquity, the science of optics was aimed primarily at explaining sight and accounting for why things look as they do. By the end of the seventeenth century, however, the analytic focus of optics had shifted to light: its fundamental properties and such physical behaviors as reflection, refraction, and diffraction. This dramatic shift-which A. Mark Smith characterizes as the "Keplerian turn"-lies at the heart of this fascinating and pioneering study.                    Breaking from previous scholarship that sees Johannes Kepler as the culmination of a long-evolvin

A new technique for the determination of coronal magnetic fields: A fixed mesh solution to Laplace's equation using line-of-sight boundary conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, J.; Pneuman, G.W.

1976-01-01

A new method for computing potential magnetic field configurations in the solar atmosphere is described. A discrete approximation to Laplace's equation is solved in the domain R(Sun) 1 , 0 1 being an arbitrary radial distance from the solar center). The method utilizes the measured line-of-sight magnetic fields directly as the boundary condition at the solar surface and constrains the field to become radial at the outer boundary, R 1 . First the differential equation and boundary conditions are reduced to a set of two-dimensional equations in r, theta by Fourier transforming out the periodic phi dependence. Next each transformed boundary condition is converted to a Dirichlet surface condition. Then each two-dimensional equation with standard Dirichlet-Dirichlet boundary conditions is solved for the Fourier coefficient it determines. Finally, the solution of the original three dimensional equation is obtained through inverse Fourier transformation. The primary numerical tools in this technique are the use of a finite fast Fourier transform technique and also a generalized cyclic reduction algorithm developed at NCAR. Any extraneous monopole component present in the data can be removed if so desired. (Auth.)

Haptic Discrimination of Distance

Science.gov (United States)

van Beek, Femke E.; Bergmann Tiest, Wouter M.; Kappers, Astrid M. L.

2014-01-01

While quite some research has focussed on the accuracy of haptic perception of distance, information on the precision of haptic perception of distance is still scarce, particularly regarding distances perceived by making arm movements. In this study, eight conditions were measured to answer four main questions, which are: what is the influence of reference distance, movement axis, perceptual mode (active or passive) and stimulus type on the precision of this kind of distance perception? A discrimination experiment was performed with twelve participants. The participants were presented with two distances, using either a haptic device or a real stimulus. Participants compared the distances by moving their hand from a start to an end position. They were then asked to judge which of the distances was the longer, from which the discrimination threshold was determined for each participant and condition. The precision was influenced by reference distance. No effect of movement axis was found. The precision was higher for active than for passive movements and it was a bit lower for real stimuli than for rendered stimuli, but it was not affected by adding cutaneous information. Overall, the Weber fraction for the active perception of a distance of 25 or 35 cm was about 11% for all cardinal axes. The recorded position data suggest that participants, in order to be able to judge which distance was the longer, tried to produce similar speed profiles in both movements. This knowledge could be useful in the design of haptic devices. PMID:25116638

Haptic discrimination of distance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Femke E van Beek

Full Text Available While quite some research has focussed on the accuracy of haptic perception of distance, information on the precision of haptic perception of distance is still scarce, particularly regarding distances perceived by making arm movements. In this study, eight conditions were measured to answer four main questions, which are: what is the influence of reference distance, movement axis, perceptual mode (active or passive and stimulus type on the precision of this kind of distance perception? A discrimination experiment was performed with twelve participants. The participants were presented with two distances, using either a haptic device or a real stimulus. Participants compared the distances by moving their hand from a start to an end position. They were then asked to judge which of the distances was the longer, from which the discrimination threshold was determined for each participant and condition. The precision was influenced by reference distance. No effect of movement axis was found. The precision was higher for active than for passive movements and it was a bit lower for real stimuli than for rendered stimuli, but it was not affected by adding cutaneous information. Overall, the Weber fraction for the active perception of a distance of 25 or 35 cm was about 11% for all cardinal axes. The recorded position data suggest that participants, in order to be able to judge which distance was the longer, tried to produce similar speed profiles in both movements. This knowledge could be useful in the design of haptic devices.

Expansion patterns and parallaxes for planetary nebulae

Science.gov (United States)

Schönberner, D.; Balick, B.; Jacob, R.

2018-02-01

Aims: We aim to determine individual distances to a small number of rather round, quite regularly shaped planetary nebulae by combining their angular expansion in the plane of the sky with a spectroscopically measured expansion along the line of sight. Methods: We combined up to three epochs of Hubble Space Telescope imaging data and determined the angular proper motions of rim and shell edges and of other features. These results are combined with measured expansion speeds to determine individual distances by assuming that line of sight and sky-plane expansions are equal. We employed 1D radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of nebular evolution to correct for the difference between the spectroscopically measured expansion velocities of rim and shell and of their respective shock fronts. Results: Rim and shell are two independently expanding entities, driven by different physical mechanisms, although their model-based expansion timescales are quite similar. We derive good individual distances for 15 objects, and the main results are as follows: (i) distances derived from rim and shell agree well; (ii) comparison with the statistical distances in the literature gives reasonable agreement; (iii) our distances disagree with those derived by spectroscopic methods; (iv) central-star "plateau" luminosities range from about 2000 L⊙ to well below 10 000 L⊙, with a mean value at about 5000 L⊙, in excellent agreement with other samples of known distance (Galactic bulge, Magellanic Clouds, and K648 in the globular cluster M 15); (v) the central-star mass range is rather restricted: from about 0.53 to about 0.56 M⊙, with a mean value of 0.55 M⊙. Conclusions: The expansion measurements of nebular rim and shell edges confirm the predictions of radiation-hydrodynamics simulations and offer a reliable method for the evaluation of distances to suited objects. Results of this paper are based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in Cycle 16 (GO11122

HYDROGEN CHLORIDE IN DIFFUSE INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS ALONG THE LINE OF SIGHT TO W31C (G10.6-0.4)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monje, R. R.; Lis, D. C.; Phillips, T. G. [California Institute of Technology, MC 301-17, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125-4700 (United States); Roueff, E. [Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, LUTH UMR 8102, 5 Pl. Jules Janssen, F-92195 Meudon Cedex (France); Gerin, M.; De Luca, M. [LERMA, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris and ENS, F-75231 Paris Cedex (France); Neufeld, D. A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Godard, B., E-mail: raquel@caltech.edu [Departamento de Astrofisica, Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB), INTA-CSIC, Crta. Torrejon km 4, E-28850 Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid (Spain)

2013-04-10

We report the detection of hydrogen chloride, HCl, in diffuse molecular clouds on the line of sight toward the star-forming region W31C (G10.6-0.4). The J = 1-0 lines of the two stable HCl isotopologues, H{sup 35}Cl and H{sup 37}Cl, are observed using the 1b receiver of the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) on board the Herschel Space Observatory. The HCl line is detected in absorption, over a wide range of velocities associated with diffuse clouds along the line of sight to W31C. The analysis of the absorption strength yields a total HCl column density of a few 10{sup 13} cm{sup -2}, implying that HCl accounts for {approx}0.6% of the total gas-phase chlorine, which exceeds the theoretical model predictions by a factor of {approx}6. This result is comparable to those obtained from the chemically related species H{sub 2}Cl{sup +} and HCl{sup +}, for which large column densities have also been reported on the same line of sight. The source of discrepancy between models and observations is still unknown; however, the detection of these Cl-bearing molecules provides key constraints for the chlorine chemistry in the diffuse gas.

MEETING THE PENETRATING SIGHT OF THE GYPSY WOMEN SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

OpenAIRE

BUJALSKA, Aleksandra

2017-01-01

Somewhere in the Middle East during journey we can meet Gypsy women. Their penetrating sight clenches their entire existence. This stare shows their struggle with life, the everlasting roam and the mysterious knowledge contained in their nature. Who is the Gypsy woman in the Middle East? Gypsy is primarily a vagabond, a woman responsible for divination but very often the beggar and also unfortunately a thief. How we can recognize her from other women? The presence of Gypsies in the Midd...

Medical Services from the Point of View of People with a Sight Handicap

OpenAIRE

Nováková Peršínová, Lenka

2010-01-01

My thesis deals with the provision of medical services to people with a severe sight handicap. My research focuses on fully blind people. The aim of my thesis is to find out the situation of these people within medical facilities. I try to reveal blind people's experience of how healthcare workers communicate with them, how well prepared healthcare professionals are and how blind people themselves are prepared. I also examine what technical obstacles are encountered by blind people in medical...

Image retrieval by information fusion based on scalable vocabulary tree and robust Hausdorff distance

Science.gov (United States)

Che, Chang; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Yu, Boyang

2017-12-01

In recent years, Scalable Vocabulary Tree (SVT) has been shown to be effective in image retrieval. However, for general images where the foreground is the object to be recognized while the background is cluttered, the performance of the current SVT framework is restricted. In this paper, a new image retrieval framework that incorporates a robust distance metric and information fusion is proposed, which improves the retrieval performance relative to the baseline SVT approach. First, the visual words that represent the background are diminished by using a robust Hausdorff distance between different images. Second, image matching results based on three image signature representations are fused, which enhances the retrieval precision. We conducted intensive experiments on small-scale to large-scale image datasets: Corel-9, Corel-48, and PKU-198, where the proposed Hausdorff metric and information fusion outperforms the state-of-the-art methods by about 13, 15, and 15%, respectively.

Experimental Investigation of Some Effects of Multipath Propagation on a Line-of-Sight Path at 14 GHz

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stephansen, E.; Mogensen, G.

1979-01-01

A microwave line-of-sight propagation experiment is carried out in Denmark at frequencies around 14 GHz. Results from long term measurements of multipath propagation are presented. The multipath fade durations are shown to be log-normally distributed. The level dependence of the probability of fa...

TNO and RUN at the TREC 2012 Contextual Suggestion Track: Recommending Personalized Touristic Sights Using Google Places

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

TNO and RUN at the TREC 2012 Contextual Suggestion Track: Recommending personalized touristic sights using Google Places Maya Sappelli∗1, Suzan...quite conservative . Figure 1: Accuracies on the ratings and contextual fits (0, 1 and 2) A more detailed look on the distribution of positive, neutral

Audiovisual integration in depth: multisensory binding and gain as a function of distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Noel, Jean-Paul; Modi, Kahan; Wallace, Mark T; Van der Stoep, Nathan

2018-07-01

The integration of information across sensory modalities is dependent on the spatiotemporal characteristics of the stimuli that are paired. Despite large variation in the distance over which events occur in our environment, relatively little is known regarding how stimulus-observer distance affects multisensory integration. Prior work has suggested that exteroceptive stimuli are integrated over larger temporal intervals in near relative to far space, and that larger multisensory facilitations are evident in far relative to near space. Here, we sought to examine the interrelationship between these previously established distance-related features of multisensory processing. Participants performed an audiovisual simultaneity judgment and redundant target task in near and far space, while audiovisual stimuli were presented at a range of temporal delays (i.e., stimulus onset asynchronies). In line with the previous findings, temporal acuity was poorer in near relative to far space. Furthermore, reaction time to asynchronously presented audiovisual targets suggested a temporal window for fast detection-a range of stimuli asynchronies that was also larger in near as compared to far space. However, the range of reaction times over which multisensory response enhancement was observed was limited to a restricted range of relatively small (i.e., 150 ms) asynchronies, and did not differ significantly between near and far space. Furthermore, for synchronous presentations, these distance-related (i.e., near vs. far) modulations in temporal acuity and multisensory gain correlated negatively at an individual subject level. Thus, the findings support the conclusion that multisensory temporal binding and gain are asymmetrically modulated as a function of distance from the observer, and specifies that this relationship is specific for temporally synchronous audiovisual stimulus presentations.

NODC Standard Format Marine Mammals of Coastal Alaska Data (1979-1991): Sighting and Census (F127) (NODC Accession 0014197)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC maintains data in three NODC Standard Format Marine Mammal Data Sets: Marine Mammal Sighting and Census (F127); Marine Mammal Specimens (F025); Marine Mammal...

The 9.7 and 18 µm silicate absorption profiles towards diffuse and molecular cloud lines-of-sight

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Breemen, J.M.; Min, M.; Chiar, J.E.; Waters, L.B.F.M.; Kemper, F.; Boogert, A.C.A.; Cami, J.; Decin, L.; Knez, C.; Sloan, G.C.; Tielens, A.G.G.M.

2011-01-01

Context. Studying the composition of dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) is crucial for understanding the cycle of dust in our galaxy. Aims. The mid-infrared spectral signature of amorphous silicates, the most abundant dust species in the ISM, is studied in different lines-of-sight through the

Paraphrasensuche mittels word2vec und der Word Mover’s Distance im Altgriechischen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcus Pöckelmann

2017-12-01

Full Text Available To find receptions of Plato‘s work within the ancient Greek literature, automatic methods would be a useful assistance. Unfortunately, such methods are often knowledge-based and thus restricted to extensively annotated texts, which are not available to a sufficient extent for ancient Greek. In this article, we describe an approach that is based on the distributional hypotheses instead, to overcome the problem of missing annotations. This approach uses word2vec and the related Word Mover‘s Distance to determine phrases with similar meaning. Despite its experimental state, the method produces some meaningful results as shown in three examples.

The attentional blink is related to phonemic decoding, but not sight-word recognition, in typically reading adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyson-Parry, Maree M; Sailah, Jessica; Boyes, Mark E; Badcock, Nicholas A

2015-10-01

This research investigated the relationship between the attentional blink (AB) and reading in typical adults. The AB is a deficit in the processing of the second of two rapidly presented targets when it occurs in close temporal proximity to the first target. Specifically, this experiment examined whether the AB was related to both phonological and sight-word reading abilities, and whether the relationship was mediated by accuracy on a single-target rapid serial visual processing task (single-target accuracy). Undergraduate university students completed a battery of tests measuring reading ability, non-verbal intelligence, and rapid automatised naming, in addition to rapid serial visual presentation tasks in which they were required to identify either two (AB task) or one (single target task) target/s (outlined shapes: circle, square, diamond, cross, and triangle) in a stream of random-dot distractors. The duration of the AB was related to phonological reading (n=41, β=-0.43): participants who exhibited longer ABs had poorer phonemic decoding skills. The AB was not related to sight-word reading. Single-target accuracy did not mediate the relationship between the AB and reading, but was significantly related to AB depth (non-linear fit, R(2)=.50): depth reflects the maximal cost in T2 reporting accuracy in the AB. The differential relationship between the AB and phonological versus sight-word reading implicates common resources used for phonemic decoding and target consolidation, which may be involved in cognitive control. The relationship between single-target accuracy and the AB is discussed in terms of cognitive preparation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oscillatory activity reflects differential use of spatial reference frames by sighted and blind individuals in tactile attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Jonathan T W; Buchholz, Verena N; Föcker, Julia; Engel, Andreas K; Röder, Brigitte; Heed, Tobias

2015-08-15

Touch can be localized either on the skin in anatomical coordinates, or, after integration with posture, in external space. Sighted individuals are thought to encode touch in both coordinate systems concurrently, whereas congenitally blind individuals exhibit a strong bias for using anatomical coordinates. We investigated the neural correlates of this differential dominance in the use of anatomical and external reference frames by assessing oscillatory brain activity during a tactile spatial attention task. The EEG was recorded while sighted and congenitally blind adults received tactile stimulation to uncrossed and crossed hands while detecting rare tactile targets at one cued hand only. In the sighted group, oscillatory alpha-band activity (8-12Hz) in the cue-target interval was reduced contralaterally and enhanced ipsilaterally with uncrossed hands. Hand crossing attenuated the degree of posterior parietal alpha-band lateralization, indicating that attention deployment was affected by external spatial coordinates. Beamforming suggested that this posture effect originated in the posterior parietal cortex. In contrast, cue-related lateralization of central alpha-band as well as of beta-band activity (16-24Hz) were unaffected by hand crossing, suggesting that these oscillations exclusively encode anatomical coordinates. In the blind group, central alpha-band activity was lateralized, but did not change across postures. The pattern of beta-band activity was indistinguishable between groups. Because the neural mechanisms for posterior alpha-band generation seem to be linked to developmental vision, we speculate that the lack of this neural mechanism in blind individuals is related to their preferred use of anatomical over external spatial codes in sensory processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploratory Movement Generates Higher-Order Information That Is Sufficient for Accurate Perception of Scaled Egocentric Distance

Science.gov (United States)

Mantel, Bruno; Stoffregen, Thomas A.; Campbell, Alain; Bardy, Benoît G.

2015-01-01

Body movement influences the structure of multiple forms of ambient energy, including optics and gravito-inertial force. Some researchers have argued that egocentric distance is derived from inferential integration of visual and non-visual stimulation. We suggest that accurate information about egocentric distance exists in perceptual stimulation as higher-order patterns that extend across optics and inertia. We formalize a pattern that specifies the egocentric distance of a stationary object across higher-order relations between optics and inertia. This higher-order parameter is created by self-generated movement of the perceiver in inertial space relative to the illuminated environment. For this reason, we placed minimal restrictions on the exploratory movements of our participants. We asked whether humans can detect and use the information available in this higher-order pattern. Participants judged whether a virtual object was within reach. We manipulated relations between body movement and the ambient structure of optics and inertia. Judgments were precise and accurate when the higher-order optical-inertial parameter was available. When only optic flow was available, judgments were poor. Our results reveal that participants perceived egocentric distance from the higher-order, optical-inertial consequences of their own exploratory activity. Analysis of participants’ movement trajectories revealed that self-selected movements were complex, and tended to optimize availability of the optical-inertial pattern that specifies egocentric distance. We argue that accurate information about egocentric distance exists in higher-order patterns of ambient energy, that self-generated movement can generate these higher-order patterns, and that these patterns can be detected and used to support perception of egocentric distance that is precise and accurate. PMID:25856410

Developing a reproducible non-line-of-sight experimental setup for testing wireless medical device coexistence utilizing ZigBee.

Science.gov (United States)

LaSorte, Nickolas J; Rajab, Samer A; Refai, Hazem H

2012-11-01

The integration of heterogeneous wireless technologies is believed to aid revolutionary healthcare delivery in hospitals and residential care. Wireless medical device coexistence is a growing concern given the ubiquity of wireless technology. In spite of this, a consensus standard that addresses risks associated with wireless heterogeneous networks has not been adopted. This paper serves as a starting point by recommending a practice for assessing the coexistence of a wireless medical device in a non-line-of-sight environment utilizing 802.15.4 in a practical, versatile, and reproducible test setup. This paper provides an extensive survey of other coexistence studies concerning 802.15.4 and 802.11 and reports on the authors' coexistence testing inside and outside an anechoic chamber. Results are compared against a non-line-of-sight test setup. Findings relative to co-channel and adjacent channel interference were consistent with results reported in the literature.

Thermal weapon sights with integrated fire control computers: algorithms and experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Rothe, Hendrik; Graswald, Markus; Breiter, Rainer

2008-04-01

The HuntIR long range thermal weapon sight of AIM is deployed in various out of area missions since 2004 as a part of the German Future Infantryman system (IdZ). In 2007 AIM fielded RangIR as upgrade with integrated laser Range finder (LRF), digital magnetic compass (DMC) and fire control unit (FCU). RangIR fills the capability gaps of day/night fire control for grenade machine guns (GMG) and the enhanced system of the IdZ. Due to proven expertise and proprietary methods in fire control, fast access to military trials for optimisation loops and similar hardware platforms, AIM and the University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg (HSU) decided to team for the development of suitable fire control algorithms. The pronounced ballistic trajectory of the 40mm GMG requires most accurate FCU-solutions specifically for air burst ammunition (ABM) and is most sensitive to faint effects like levelling or firing up/downhill. This weapon was therefore selected to validate the quality of the FCU hard- and software under relevant military conditions. For exterior ballistics the modified point mass model according to STANAG 4355 is used. The differential equations of motions are solved numerically, the two point boundary value problem is solved iteratively. Computing time varies according to the precision needed and is typical in the range from 0.1 - 0.5 seconds. RangIR provided outstanding hit accuracy including ABM fuze timing in various trials of the German Army and allied partners in 2007 and is now ready for series production. This paper deals mainly with the fundamentals of the fire control algorithms and shows how to implement them in combination with any DSP-equipped thermal weapon sights (TWS) in a variety of light supporting weapon systems.

Many faces of compact objects: distance, optical extinction and multi-wavelength behaviour

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corbel, Stephane

1999-01-01

This thesis is devoted to a multi-wavelength study of accretion-ejection phenomena around compact stars (black holes and neutron stars). The first part of this manuscript describes problems related to the determination of the distance and the optical extinction to compact objects - fundamental parameters for the evaluation of the energy budget of these systems. To this end, the structure and the dynamics of the Galaxy are studied by observations of the atomic and molecular gas along the line of sight to compact stars. This method leads to the first evaluation of the distance to two Soft Gamma Repeaters: SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1627-41. We then draw some conclusions on the nature of these sources of recurrent gamma-ray bursts. The above method is then applied to two X-ray binaries: Cir X-1 and GX 339-4. In the second part of this thesis, we present a multi-wavelength study of the Galactic black hole candidate GX 339-4. We first discuss the characteristics of the radio emission from GX 339-4. In 1998, GX 339-4 underwent a transition to a soft-high X-ray state and observations in three wavelength regimes (radio, soft and hard X-rays) revealed new patterns of behaviour. This allowed us to constrain the region of origin of the radio emission (a compact jet) in GX 339-4 and allowed a better understanding of the physical coupling between accretion and ejection in GX 339-4. An analogy with the black hole candidate Cyg X-1 is then presented. Finally, these results are discussed in the context of micro-quasars and active galactic nuclei in order to gain a deeper insight into the accretion-ejection coupling around compact objects. (author) [fr

Distancing from experienced self: how global-versus-local perception affects estimation of psychological distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Liberman, Nira; Förster, Jens

2009-08-01

In 4 studies, the authors examined the prediction derived from construal level theory (CLT) that higher level of perceptual construal would enhance estimated egocentric psychological distance. The authors primed participants with global perception, local perception, or both (the control condition). Relative to the control condition, global processing made participants estimate larger psychological distances in time (Study 1), space (Study 2), social distance (Study 3), and hypotheticality (Study 4). Local processing had the opposite effect. Consistent with CLT, all studies show that the effect of global-versus-local processing did emerge when participants estimated egocentric distances, which are distances from the experienced self in the here and now, but did not emerge with temporal distances not from now (Study 1), spatial distances not from here (Study 2), social distances not from the self (Study 3), or hypothetical events that did not involve altering an experienced reality (Study 4).

Fast Computing for Distance Covariance

OpenAIRE

Huo, Xiaoming; Szekely, Gabor J.

2014-01-01

Distance covariance and distance correlation have been widely adopted in measuring dependence of a pair of random variables or random vectors. If the computation of distance covariance and distance correlation is implemented directly accordingly to its definition then its computational complexity is O($n^2$) which is a disadvantage compared to other faster methods. In this paper we show that the computation of distance covariance and distance correlation of real valued random variables can be...

Long-distance transport of natrium in bean plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marschner, H.; Ossenberg-Neuhaus, H.

1976-01-01

After Na + -application to a certain zone of the root or after application to the tip or to the base of a primary leaf or along the stem of bean plants, the long-distance transport of Na + was studied. The age of the plants was 8 d when root application took place, 10 d at the time of leaf application. After application to the root zone, the long-distance transport of Na + in the direction of the shoot was strongly prevented, and the transport in the direction of the root point could be neglected. Presence of K + in the ambient nutritive solution led to a strong increase of Na + efflux from the roots. Within 48 hrs., 30-40% of the Na + applied to a primary leaf were transported towards the roots. The Na + efflux to the ambient nutritive solution came from the basal regions; it was mostly more than 10% of the amount recepted through the leaf and was only slightly increased by the presence of K + in the external solution. In the case of Na + application through the hypokotyl, this Na + -efflux from the roots was even more than 25% within 12 hrs. Both with leaf and with stem application, only 1% of the Na + taken up was transported in the direction of the shoot point. The separation of the hypocotyl tissue in the bark and in the central cylinder showed the extremely high Na + storage capacity of the central cylinder. The transfer of Na + from the central cylinder into the bark seems to be fast in the hypocotyl, while the escape of Na + from the phloem of the bark into the central cylinder is rather limited. Long-distance transport of Na + in the phloem of the bark is highly basispetal and of high efficiency. Low Na + -contents in bean leaves are thus due to several regulation mechanisms: K + -stimulated Na + -efflux in the root, restricted long-distance transport in the xylemadue to high storage capacity of the xylemparenchyma, Na + influx pumps at the phloem in stem and leaf and strictly basipetal phloem-retransport of Na + in the root and efflux into the surrounding

ORDERED WEIGHTED DISTANCE MEASURE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zeshui XU; Jian CHEN

2008-01-01

The aim of this paper is to develop an ordered weighted distance (OWD) measure, which is thegeneralization of some widely used distance measures, including the normalized Hamming distance, the normalized Euclidean distance, the normalized geometric distance, the max distance, the median distance and the min distance, etc. Moreover, the ordered weighted averaging operator, the generalized ordered weighted aggregation operator, the ordered weighted geometric operator, the averaging operator, the geometric mean operator, the ordered weighted square root operator, the square root operator, the max operator, the median operator and the min operator axe also the special cases of the OWD measure. Some methods depending on the input arguments are given to determine the weights associated with the OWD measure. The prominent characteristic of the OWD measure is that it can relieve (or intensify) the influence of unduly large or unduly small deviations on the aggregation results by assigning them low (or high) weights. This desirable characteristic makes the OWD measure very suitable to be used in many actual fields, including group decision making, medical diagnosis, data mining, and pattern recognition, etc. Finally, based on the OWD measure, we develop a group decision making approach, and illustrate it with a numerical example.

Recognition memory for vibrotactile rhythms: an fMRI study in blind and sighted individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, Robert J; Dixit, Sachin; Burton, Harold

2011-01-01

Calcarine sulcal cortex possibly contributes to semantic recognition memory in early blind (EB). We assessed a recognition memory role using vibrotactile rhythms and a retrieval success paradigm involving learned "old" and "new" rhythms in EB and sighted. EB showed no activation differences in occipital cortex indicating retrieval success but replicated findings of somatosensory processing. Both groups showed retrieval success in primary somatosensory, precuneus, and orbitofrontal cortex. The S1 activity might indicate generic sensory memory processes.

Spatial coordinate systems for tactile spatial attention depend on developmental vision: evidence from event-related potentials in sighted and congenitally blind adult humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Röder, Brigitte; Föcker, Julia; Hötting, Kirsten; Spence, Charles

2008-08-01

Changes in limb posture (such as crossing the hands) can impair people's performance in tasks such as those involving temporal order judgements, when one tactile stimulus is presented to either hand. This crossed hands deficit has been attributed to a conflict between externally and anatomically anchored reference systems when people localize tactile stimuli. Interestingly, however, the performance of congenitally blind adults does not seem to be affected by crossing the hands, suggesting a default use of an anatomically rather than an externally anchored reference system for tactile localization. In the present study, 12 congenitally blind and 12 sighted adults were instructed to attend to either the left or the right hand on a trial-by-trial basis in order to detect rare deviants (consisting of a double touch) at that hand, while ignoring both deviants at the other hand and frequent standard stimuli (consisting of a single touch) presented to either hand. Only the sighted participants performed less accurately when they crossed their hands. Concurrent electroencephalogram recordings revealed an early contralateral attention positivity, followed by an attention negativity in the sighted group when they adopted the uncrossed hands posture. For the crossed hand posture, only the attention negativity was observed with reduced amplitude in the sighted group. By contrast, the congenitally blind group displayed an event-related potential attention negativity that did not vary when the posture of their hands was changed. These results demonstrate that the default use of an external frame of reference for tactile localization seems to depend on developmental vision.

The effect of font size and type on reading performance with Arabic words in normally sighted and simulated cataract subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Alotaibi, Abdullah Z

2007-05-01

Previous investigations have shown that reading is the most common functional problem reported by patients at a low vision practice. While there have been studies investigating effect of fonts in normal and low vision patients in English, no study has been carried out in Arabic. Additionally, there has been no investigation into the use of optimum print sizes or fonts that should be used in Arabic books and leaflets for low vision patients. Arabic sentences were read by 100 normally sighted volunteers with and without simulated cataract. Subjects read two font types (Times New Roman and Courier) in three different sizes (N8, N10 and N12). The subjects were asked to read the sentences aloud. The reading speed was calculated as number of words read divided by the time taken, while reading rate was calculated as the number of words read correctly divided by the time taken. There was an improvement in reading performance of normally sighted and simulated visually impaired subjects when the print size increased. There was no significant difference in reading performance between the two types of font used at small print size, however the reading rate improved as print size increased with Times New Roman. The results suggest that the use of N12 print in Times New Roman enhanced reading performance in normally sighted and simulated cataract subjects.

Aging, adiposity, and calorie restriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Fontana, Luigi; Klein, Samuel

2007-03-07

Excessive calorie intake and subsequent obesity increases the risk of developing chronic disease and decreases life expectancy. In rodent models, calorie restriction with adequate nutrient intake decreases the risk of developing chronic disease and extends maximum life span. To evaluate the physiological and clinical implications of calorie restriction with adequate nutrient intake. Search of PubMed (1966-December 2006) using terms encompassing various aspects of calorie restriction, dietary restriction, aging, longevity, life span, adiposity, and obesity; hand search of journals that focus on obesity, geriatrics, or aging; and search of reference lists of pertinent research and review articles and books. Reviewed reports (both basic science and clinical) included epidemiologic studies, case-control studies, and randomized controlled trials, with quality of data assessed by taking into account publication in a peer-reviewed journal, number of animals or individuals studied, objectivity of measurements, and techniques used to minimize bias. It is not known whether calorie restriction extends maximum life span or life expectancy in lean humans. However, calorie restriction in adult men and women causes many of the same metabolic adaptations that occur in calorie-restricted rodents and monkeys, including decreased metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and possibly cancer. Excessive calorie restriction causes malnutrition and has adverse clinical effects. Calorie restriction in adult men and women causes beneficial metabolic, hormonal, and functional changes, but the precise amount of calorie intake or body fat mass associated with optimal health and maximum longevity in humans is not known. In addition, it is possible that even moderate calorie restriction may be harmful in specific patient populations, such as lean persons who have minimal amounts of body fat.

Design for coordinated measurements of Faraday rotation and line-of-sight electron density using heterodyne techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobson, A.R.

1977-07-01

This report proposes a device which can overcome certain of the compromises of conventional Faraday rotation methods and at the same time measure the optical phase as well as the polarization. This would be useful for unfolding the Faraday rotation signal using the line-of-sight density along exactly the same path. Preliminary design parameters using a CO 2 laser are presented

Guidebook to the Constellations Telescopic Sights, Tales, and Myths

CERN Document Server

Simpson, Phil

2012-01-01

This handbook is a guide to exploring the night sky and its wonderful telescopic sights. All eighty-eight officially recognized constellations in both hemispheres are presented in natural groups, related by their origin and location. The author, a former astronomy instructor and planetarium director, has for over thirty-five years, researched myths from all over the world to identify the most memorable stories which link multiple constellations in a single story. Thus, the interested observer may discover that it will be easier to use already known constellations to locate and remember new constellations. The author has found that showing each constellation figure with a simple line drawing is helpful for remembering each constellation. He includes photographs of many of the brighter celestial objects, as well as many accompanying drawings which illustrate how the telescopic views differ from the photographs. One way to use this handbook, which is useful to beginners as well as experienced astronomers, is to ...

Automated measurement of bolometer line of sight alignment and characteristics for application in ITER

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penzel, Florian Olivier

2015-07-01

The line of sight (LOS) alignment and characteristic of a bolometer camera used in a fusion experiment is a crucial parameter for the measurement accuracy of the diagnostic. A robot based LOS measurement device has been developed which allows the fully automatic measurement of the two dimensional transmission function of a bolometer camera. It has been used to optimize camera prototypes for ITER and has been successfully operated in the fusion experiment ASDEX Upgrade in order to measure the LOS alignment.

Dietary restriction with and without caloric restriction for healthy aging [version 1; referees: 3 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changhan Lee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Caloric restriction is the most effective and reproducible dietary intervention known to regulate aging and increase the healthy lifespan in various model organisms, ranging from the unicellular yeast to worms, flies, rodents, and primates. However, caloric restriction, which in most cases entails a 20–40% reduction of food consumption relative to normal intake, is a severe intervention that results in both beneficial and detrimental effects. Specific types of chronic, intermittent, or periodic dietary restrictions without chronic caloric restriction have instead the potential to provide a significant healthspan increase while minimizing adverse effects. Improved periodic or targeted dietary restriction regimens that uncouple the challenge of food deprivation from the beneficial effects will allow a safe intervention feasible for a major portion of the population. Here we focus on healthspan interventions that are not chronic or do not require calorie restriction.

NODC Standard Format Marine Mammals of Coastal Alaska Data (1975-1976): Marine Mammal Sighting 2 (F026) (NODC Accession 0014151)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — NODC maintains data in three NODC Standard Format Marine Mammal Data Sets: Marine Mammal Sighting and Census (F127); Marine Mammal Specimens (F025); Marine Mammal...

Demonstration of a time-integrated short line of sight neutron imaging system for inertial confinement fusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simpson, R., E-mail: raspberry@lanl.gov; Danly, C.; Fatherley, V. E.; Merrill, F. E.; Volegov, P.; Wilde, C. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States); Christensen, K.; Fittinghoff, D.; Grim, G. P.; Izumi, N.; Jedlovec, D.; Skulina, K. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

2015-12-15

The Neutron Imaging System (NIS) is an important diagnostic for understanding implosions of deuterium-tritium capsules at the National Ignition Facility. While the detectors for the existing system must be positioned 28 m from the source to produce sufficient imaging magnification and resolution, recent testing of a new short line of sight neutron imaging system has shown sufficient resolution to allow reconstruction of the source image with quality similar to that of the existing NIS on a 11.6 m line of sight. The new system used the existing pinhole aperture array and a stack of detectors composed of 2 mm thick high-density polyethylene converter material followed by an image plate. In these detectors, neutrons enter the converter material and interact with protons, which recoil and deposit energy within the thin active layer of the image plate through ionization losses. The described system produces time-integrated images for all neutron energies passing through the pinhole. We present details of the measurement scheme for this novel technique to produce energy-integrated neutron images as well as source reconstruction results from recent experiments at NIF.

Myopic versus Far-Sighted Behaviors in Dynamic Supply Chain Coordination through Advertising with Reference Price Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yafei Zu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To better understand the different effects of the myopic and far-sighted behaviors on the advertising coordination in dynamic supply chain, this paper takes the reference price effect into consideration and formulates four differential game models for the two-level supply chain composed of a manufacturer and a retailer in the situation of Stackelberg game. In our models, the market demand is assumed to be affected by the goodwill, reference price, and the advertising investment, in which the advertising investment can promote the construction of goodwill and such goodwill can further enhance the reference price. The results show that the participating members in the supply chain should invest more in advertisement to improve the goodwill and the relative reference price reflected in the minds of consumers. A far-sighted manufacturer will invest more in the advertisement and charge a higher wholesale price regardless of the behavior choice of the retailer. However, such kind of ignorance leads to different results on the retail pricing strategies of the retailer. The numerical analyses are given in the end to verify the effectiveness of the conclusions which provide the theoretical support to the dynamic supply chain coordination in practice.

Learning to see again: biological constraints on cortical plasticity and the implications for sight restoration technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Beyeler, Michael; Rokem, Ariel; Boynton, Geoffrey M.; Fine, Ione

2017-10-01

The ‘bionic eye’—so long a dream of the future—is finally becoming a reality with retinal prostheses available to patients in both the US and Europe. However, clinical experience with these implants has made it apparent that the visual information provided by these devices differs substantially from normal sight. Consequently, the ability of patients to learn to make use of this abnormal retinal input plays a critical role in whether or not some functional vision is successfully regained. The goal of the present review is to summarize the vast basic science literature on developmental and adult cortical plasticity with an emphasis on how this literature might relate to the field of prosthetic vision. We begin with describing the distortion and information loss likely to be experienced by visual prosthesis users. We then define cortical plasticity and perceptual learning, and describe what is known, and what is unknown, about visual plasticity across the hierarchy of brain regions involved in visual processing, and across different stages of life. We close by discussing what is known about brain plasticity in sight restoration patients and discuss biological mechanisms that might eventually be harnessed to improve visual learning in these patients.

The 9.7 and 18 μm silicate absorption profiles towards diffuse and molecular cloud lines-of-sight

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Breemen, J.M.; Min, M.; Chiar, J.E.; Waters, L.B.F.M.; Kemper, F.; Boogert, A. C. A.; Cami, J.; Decin, L.; Knez, C.; Sloan, G.C.; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

2011-01-01

Context. Studying the composition of dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) is crucial for understanding the cycle of dust in our galaxy. Aims. The mid-infrared spectral signature of amorphous silicates, the most abundant dust species in the ISM, is studied in different lines-of-sight through the

Open and Distance Education in Global Environment: Opportunities for Collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. K. PULIST

2007-01-01

development at various levels. i.e. faculty development in educational institutions, human resource development in food processing industry and sustainable community development are some of the critical issues which have been discussed at length by the respective authors. Since the book is a compendium of articles submitted in ICDE International Conference on the theme ‘Open and Distance Education in Global Environment: Opportunities for Collaboration”, the sub-themes dealt with it have a restricted canvas in consonance with the sub-themes of the conference. The book will prove to be a rich resource of information and will be of immense help to the scholars and researchers in the area of open and distance education the world over.

THE DISTANCE TO M51

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McQuinn, Kristen B. W. [University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory, 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400 Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Skillman, Evan D. [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street, S.E., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Dolphin, Andrew E. [Raytheon Company, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States); Berg, Danielle [Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 1900 East Kenwood Boulevard, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Kennicutt, Robert, E-mail: kmcquinn@astro.as.utexas.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)

2016-07-20

Great investments of observing time have been dedicated to the study of nearby spiral galaxies with diverse goals ranging from understanding the star formation process to characterizing their dark matter distributions. Accurate distances are fundamental to interpreting observations of these galaxies, yet many of the best studied nearby galaxies have distances based on methods with relatively large uncertainties. We have started a program to derive accurate distances to these galaxies. Here we measure the distance to M51—the Whirlpool galaxy—from newly obtained Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging using the tip of the red giant branch method. We measure the distance modulus to be 8.58 ± 0.10 Mpc (statistical), corresponding to a distance modulus of 29.67 ± 0.02 mag. Our distance is an improvement over previous results as we use a well-calibrated, stable distance indicator, precision photometry in a optimally selected field of view, and a Bayesian Maximum Likelihood technique that reduces measurement uncertainties.

Operational trial of ParaSight-F (dipstick) in the diagnosis of falciparum malaria at the primary health care level.

Science.gov (United States)

Banchongaksorn, T; Prajakwong, S; Rooney, W; Vickers, P

1997-06-01

The rapid manual ParaSight-F test of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, an antigen capture test for detecting trophozoite-derived histidine rich protein-2 (PF HRP-2), is simple to perform and provides a definite diagnosis within 10 minutes. During an operational trial at health centers and mobile malaria units where microscopical diagnosis is not available and using defined symptom screening criteria, 3,361 subjects were tested yielding 618 positives (18.4%) for PF-HRP-2 by ParaSight-F. Microscopic examination of the same subjects by thick blood film examined 7 days later at a malaria clinic showed 578 falciparum, and 349 vivax and mixed infection (F+V) 41. The technology proved highly effective in detecting falciparum malaria at the peripheral levels where access to malaria laboratory services are difficult, thus allowing immediate administration of a complete course of treatment in the absence of a microscopic examination.

Using an iPad® App to Improve Sight Word Reading Fluency for At-Risk First Graders

Science.gov (United States)

Musti-Rao, Shobana; Lo, Ya-yu; Plati, Erin

2015-01-01

We used a multiple baseline across word lists design nested within a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the effects of instruction delivered using an iPad® app on sight word fluency and oral reading fluency of six first graders identified as at risk for reading failure. In Study 1, three students participated in…

A sight on protein-based nanoparticles as drug/gene delivery systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Salatin, Sara; Jelvehgari, Mitra; Maleki-Dizaj, Solmaz; Adibkia, Khosro

2015-01-01

Polymeric nanomaterials have extensively been applied for the preparation of targeted and controlled release drug/gene delivery systems. However, problems involved in the formulation of synthetic polymers such as using of the toxic solvents and surfactants have limited their desirable applications. In this regard, natural biomolecules including proteins and polysaccharide are suitable alternatives due to their safety. According to literature, protein-based nanoparticles possess many advantages for drug and gene delivery such as biocompatibility, biodegradability and ability to functionalize with targeting ligands. This review provides a general sight on the application of biodegradable protein-based nanoparticles in drug/gene delivery based on their origins. Their unique physicochemical properties that help them to be formulated as pharmaceutical carriers are also discussed.

Encyclopedia of distances

CERN Document Server

Deza, Michel Marie

2009-01-01

Distance metrics and distances have become an essential tool in many areas of pure and applied Mathematics. This title offers both independent introductions and definitions, while at the same time making cross-referencing easy through hyperlink-like boldfaced references to original definitions.

WALKING CAPACITY AND FALLS-EFFICACY CORRELATES WITH PARTICIPATION RESTRICTION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC STROKE: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neelam Nayak

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Mobility impairments seen after Stroke impact walking speed, endurance and balance. Almost all the individuals with Stroke have fear of fall. The physical impairments in balance and gait along with individual’s perception about his/her own abilities to maintain balance might have an impact on level of activity and participation in the community. The association of these variables with recovery of Stroke has been well studied. However, it is currently unknown which of these variables are most associated with activity and participation in the community. This study aimed to identify the correlation of walking capacity and perception of fall with activity & participation. Methods: 30 Subjects were assessed for - walking capacity (6 minute walk test & Self-efficacy for falls (Modified Falls Efficacy scale. Level of Activity Limitation (AL & Participation Restriction (PR was graded on validated ICF Measure of Participation and Activities. (IMPACT-S Results: Data was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient & regression model. Walking distance and Falls-efficacy is significantly correlated (r=-0.751 and -0.683, respectively with Participation restriction. Walking distance correlated with Activity Limitation (r=-0.714 significantly. Falls efficacy has a correlation coefficient of -0.642 with Activity Limitation. When put into Regression models, Walking Capacity & Gait Velocity was found to be independently associated with AL &PR. Conclusion: There is significant relationship between falls self-efficacy, walking capacity and Post-stroke activity & participation. Participation can be impacted by factors such as self-motivation and confidence about one's balance abilities. This is reflected by the correlation between falls efficacy and participation. Physical parameters such as the distance walked can contribute to participating in the community, and can predict variation in AL-PR

Marine Mammal Sighting and Census data from Coastal Alaska from 1985-05-05 to 1985-06-13 (NODC Accession 8600633)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Marine Mammal Sighting and Census data were collected from Coastal Alaska. Data were collected by Alaska Department of Fish and Game from 05 May 1985 to 13 June...

Restriction periods for carers, comforters and members of the public in the treatment of hyperthyroidism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minguez, P.; Genolla, J.; Celeiro, J.; Fombellida, J. C.

2013-01-01

People treated for hyperthyroidism are normally outpatients who pose a potential radiological risk to some members of the public. In this study, measurements of the uptake in 30 patients were used to estimate the values of the activity of 131 I in the whole body of patients, AWB, by using a model of two compartments. Restriction periods to be followed by patients for different values of the administered activity of 131 I were calculated. To perform calculations, the following were used: the curve obtained for AWB; the value of the dose rate at one metre from patients after the administration of the treatment; and the estimated time that carers, comforters and members of the public will spend at certain distances from patients. Results show that protection from radiation for carers, comforters and members of the public related to patients treated for hyperthyroidism can become a cumbersome matter as patients may have to follow very long restriction periods. (authors)

49 CFR 215.203 - Restricted cars.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Restricted cars. 215.203 Section 215.203..., DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RAILROAD FREIGHT CAR SAFETY STANDARDS Restricted Equipment § 215.203 Restricted cars. (a) This section restricts the operation of any railroad freight car that is— (1) More than 50...

Generating Inferences from Written and Spoken Language: A Comparison of Children with Visual Impairment and Children with Sight

Science.gov (United States)

Edmonds, Caroline J.; Pring, Linda

2006-01-01

The two experiments reported here investigated the ability of sighted children and children with visual impairment to comprehend text and, in particular, to draw inferences both while reading and while listening. Children were assigned into "comprehension skill" groups, depending on the degree to which their reading comprehension skill was in line…

49 CFR 383.95 - Restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... the skills test and the restriction, air brakes shall include any braking system operating fully or...; REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES Vehicle Groups and Endorsements § 383.95 Restrictions. (a) Air brake restrictions... skills test in a vehicle not equipped with air brakes, the State must indicate on the CDL, if issued...

Rayleigh Wave Ellipticity Modeling and Inversion for Shallow Structure at the Proposed InSight Landing Site in Elysium Planitia, Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Knapmeyer-Endrun, Brigitte; Golombek, Matthew P.; Ohrnberger, Matthias

2017-10-01

The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) instrument onboard the InSight mission will be the first seismometer directly deployed on the surface of Mars. From studies on the Earth and the Moon, it is well known that site amplification in low-velocity sediments on top of more competent rocks has a strong influence on seismic signals, but can also be used to constrain the subsurface structure. Here we simulate ambient vibration wavefields in a model of the shallow sub-surface at the InSight landing site in Elysium Planitia and demonstrate how the high-frequency Rayleigh wave ellipticity can be extracted from these data and inverted for shallow structure. We find that, depending on model parameters, higher mode ellipticity information can be extracted from single-station data, which significantly reduces uncertainties in inversion. Though the data are most sensitive to properties of the upper-most layer and show a strong trade-off between layer depth and velocity, it is possible to estimate the velocity and thickness of the sub-regolith layer by using reasonable constraints on regolith properties. Model parameters are best constrained if either higher mode data can be used or additional constraints on regolith properties from seismic analysis of the hammer strokes of InSight's heat flow probe HP3 are available. In addition, the Rayleigh wave ellipticity can distinguish between models with a constant regolith velocity and models with a velocity increase in the regolith, information which is difficult to obtain otherwise.

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis Reveals High Levels of Genetic Divergence Among the Light Organ Symbionts of Flashlight Fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, C J; Haygood, M G

1991-08-01

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms within the lux and 16S ribosomal RNA gene regions were used to compare unculturable bacterial light organ symbionts of several anomalopid fish species. The method of Nei and Li (1979) was used to calculate phylogenetic distance from the patterns of restriction fragment lengths of the luxA and 16S rRNA regions. Phylogenetic trees constructed from each distance matrix (luxA and 16S rDNA data) have similar branching orders. The levels of divergence among the symbionts, relative to other culturable luminous bacteria, suggests that the symbionts differ at the level of species among host fish genera. Symbiont relatedness and host geographic location do not seem to be correlated, and the symbionts do not appear to be strains of common, free-living, luminous bacteria. In addition, the small number of hybridizing fragments within the 16S rRNA region of the symbionts, compared with that of the free-living species, suggests a decrease in copy number of rRNA operons relative to free-living species. At this level of investigation, the symbiont phylogeny is consistent with the proposed phylogeny of the host fish family and suggests that each symbiont strain coevolved with its host fish species.

Learner characteristics involved in distance learning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cernicek, A.T.; Hahn, H.A.

1991-01-01

Distance learning represents a strategy for leveraging resources to solve educational and training needs. Although many distance learning programs have been developed, lessons learned regarding differences between distance learning and traditional education with respect to learner characteristics have not been well documented. Therefore, we conducted a survey of 20 distance learning professionals. The questionnaire was distributed to experts attending the second Distance Learning Conference sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory. This survey not only acquired demographic information from each of the respondents but also identified important distance learning student characteristics. Significant distance learner characteristics, which were revealed statistically and which influence the effectiveness of distance learning, include the following: reading level, student autonomy, and self-motivation. Distance learning cannot become a more useful and effective method of instruction without identifying and recognizing learner characteristics. It will be important to consider these characteristics when designing all distance learning courses. This paper will report specific survey findings and their implications for developing distance learning courses. 9 refs., 6 tabs.

Distance Magic-Type and Distance Antimagic-Type Labelings of Graphs

Science.gov (United States)

Freyberg, Bryan J.

Generally speaking, a distance magic-type labeling of a graph G of order n is a bijection l from the vertex set of the graph to the first n natural numbers or to the elements of a group of order n, with the property that the weight of each vertex is the same. The weight of a vertex x is defined as the sum (or appropriate group operation) of all the labels of vertices adjacent to x. If instead we require that all weights differ, then we refer to the labeling as a distance antimagic-type labeling. This idea can be generalized for directed graphs; the weight will take into consideration the direction of the arcs. In this manuscript, we provide new results for d-handicap labeling, a distance antimagic-type labeling, and introduce a new distance magic-type labeling called orientable Gamma-distance magic labeling. A d-handicap distance antimagic labeling (or just d-handicap labeling for short) of a graph G = ( V,E) of order n is a bijection l from V to the set {1,2,...,n} with induced weight function [special characters omitted]. such that l(xi) = i and the sequence of weights w(x 1),w(x2),...,w (xn) forms an arithmetic sequence with constant difference d at least 1. If a graph G admits a d-handicap labeling, we say G is a d-handicap graph. A d-handicap incomplete tournament, H(n,k,d ) is an incomplete tournament of n teams ranked with the first n natural numbers such that each team plays exactly k games and the strength of schedule of the ith ranked team is d more than the i + 1st ranked team. That is, strength of schedule increases arithmetically with strength of team. Constructing an H(n,k,d) is equivalent to finding a d-handicap labeling of a k-regular graph of order n.. In Chapter 2 we provide general constructions for every d for large classes of both n and k, providing breadfth and depth to the catalog of known H(n,k,d)'s. In Chapters 3 - 6, we introduce a new type of labeling called orientable Gamma-distance magic labeling. Let Gamma be an abelian group of order

Pre-licensed driving experience and car crash involvement during the learner and restricted, licence stages of graduated driver licensing: Findings from the New Zealand drivers study.

Science.gov (United States)

Begg, Dorothy J; Langley, John D; Brookland, Rebecca L; Ameratunga, Shanthi; Gulliver, Pauline

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether pre-licence driving experiences, that is driving before beginning the licensing process, increased or decreased crash risk as a car driver, during the learner or the restricted licence stages of the graduated driver licensing system (GDLS). Study participants were 15-24 year old members of the New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) - a prospective cohort study of newly licensed car drivers. The interview stages of the NZDS are linked to, the three licensing stages of the GDLS: learner, restricted and full. Baseline demographic (age, ethnicity, residential location, deprivation), personality (impulsivity, sensation seeking, aggression) and, behavioural data, (including pre-licensed driving behaviour), were obtained at the learner licence interview. Data on distance driven and crashes that occurred at the learner licence and restricted licence stages, were reported at the restricted and full licence interviews, respectively. Crash data were also obtained from police traffic crash report files and this was combined with the self-reported crash data. The analysis of the learner licence stage crashes, when only supervised driving is allowed, was based on the participants who had passed the restricted licence test and undertaken the NZDS, restricted licence interview (n=2358). The analysis of the restricted licence stage crashes, when unsupervised driving is first allowed, was based on those who had passed the full licence test and completed the full licence interview (n=1428). After controlling for a range of demographic, personality, behavioural variables and distance driven, Poisson regression showed that the only pre-licence driving behaviour that showed a consistent relationship with subsequent crashes was on-road car driving which was associated with an increased risk of being the driver in a car crash during the learner licence period. This research showed that pre-licensed driving did not reduce crash risk among learner or

Distance-transitive graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cohen, A.M.; Beineke, L.W.; Wilson, R.J.; Cameron, P.J.

2004-01-01

In this chapter we investigate the classification of distance-transitive graphs: these are graphs whose automorphism groups are transitive on each of the sets of pairs of vertices at distance i, for i = 0, 1,.... We provide an introduction into the field. By use of the classification of finite

A Pilot Investigation of the Perceived Motor Competence of Children with Visual Impairments and Those Who Are Sighted

Science.gov (United States)

Brian, Ali S.; Haegele, Justin A.; Bostick, Laura; Lieberman, Lauren J.; Nesbitt, Danielle

2018-01-01

Because children with visual impairments tend to be inactive, they are 1.5 times more likely to be considered overweight or obese than are their sighted peers. Although some barriers to physical activity have been identified (for example, lack of opportunity and transportation issues); little has been done to empirically identify predictors of…

THE EFFECT OF LINE-OF-SIGHT TEMPERATURE VARIATION AND NOISE ON DUST CONTINUUM OBSERVATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shetty, Rahul; Kauffmann, Jens; Goodman, Alyssa A.; Ercolano, Barbara; Schnee, Scott

2009-01-01

We investigate the effect of line-of-sight temperature variations and noise on two commonly used methods to determine dust properties from dust-continuum observations of dense cores. One method employs a direct fit to a modified blackbody spectral energy distribution (SED); the other involves a comparison of flux ratios to an analytical prediction. Fitting fluxes near the SED peak produces inaccurate temperature and dust spectral index estimates due to the line-of-sight temperature (and density) variations. Longer wavelength fluxes in the Rayleigh-Jeans part of the spectrum (∼> 600 μm for typical cores) may more accurately recover the spectral index, but both methods are very sensitive to noise. The temperature estimate approaches the density-weighted temperature, or 'column temperature', of the source as short wavelength fluxes are excluded. An inverse temperature-spectral index correlation naturally results from SED fitting, due to the inaccurate isothermal assumption, as well as noise uncertainties. We show that above some 'threshold' temperature, the temperatures estimated through the flux ratio method can be highly inaccurate. In general, observations with widely separated wavelengths, and including shorter wavelengths, result in higher threshold temperatures; such observations thus allow for more accurate temperature estimates of sources with temperatures less than the threshold temperature. When only three fluxes are available, a constrained fit, where the spectral index is fixed, produces less scatter in the temperature estimate when compared to the estimate from the flux ratio method.

Outlier detection by robust Mahalanobis distance in geological data obtained by INAA to provenance studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Jose O. dos, E-mail: osmansantos@ig.com.br [Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia de Sergipe (IFS), Lagarto, SE (Brazil); Munita, Casimiro S., E-mail: camunita@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Soares, Emilio A.A., E-mail: easoares@ufan.edu.br [Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM (Brazil). Dept. de Geociencias

2013-07-01

The detection of outlier in geochemical studies is one of the main difficulties in the interpretation of dataset because they can disturb the statistical method. The search for outliers in geochemical studies is usually based in the Mahalanobis distance (MD), since points in multivariate space that are a distance larger the some predetermined values from center of the data are considered outliers. However, the MD is very sensitive to the presence of discrepant samples. Many robust estimators for location and covariance have been introduced in the literature, such as Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) estimator. When MCD estimators are used to calculate the MD leads to the so-called Robust Mahalanobis Distance (RD). In this context, in this work RD was used to detect outliers in geological study of samples collected from confluence of Negro and Solimoes rivers. The purpose of this study was to study the contributions of the sediments deposited by the Solimoes and Negro rivers in the filling of the tectonic depressions at Parana do Ariau. For that 113 samples were analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) in which were determined the concentration of As, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, U, Yb, Ta, Tb, Th and Zn. In the dataset was possible to construct the ellipse corresponding to robust Mahalanobis distance for each group of samples. The samples found outside of the tolerance ellipse were considered an outlier. The results showed that Robust Mahalanobis Distance was more appropriate for the identification of the outliers, once it is a more restrictive method. (author)

Outlier detection by robust Mahalanobis distance in geological data obtained by INAA to provenance studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Jose O. dos; Munita, Casimiro S.; Soares, Emilio A.A.

2013-01-01

The detection of outlier in geochemical studies is one of the main difficulties in the interpretation of dataset because they can disturb the statistical method. The search for outliers in geochemical studies is usually based in the Mahalanobis distance (MD), since points in multivariate space that are a distance larger the some predetermined values from center of the data are considered outliers. However, the MD is very sensitive to the presence of discrepant samples. Many robust estimators for location and covariance have been introduced in the literature, such as Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) estimator. When MCD estimators are used to calculate the MD leads to the so-called Robust Mahalanobis Distance (RD). In this context, in this work RD was used to detect outliers in geological study of samples collected from confluence of Negro and Solimoes rivers. The purpose of this study was to study the contributions of the sediments deposited by the Solimoes and Negro rivers in the filling of the tectonic depressions at Parana do Ariau. For that 113 samples were analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) in which were determined the concentration of As, Ba, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, U, Yb, Ta, Tb, Th and Zn. In the dataset was possible to construct the ellipse corresponding to robust Mahalanobis distance for each group of samples. The samples found outside of the tolerance ellipse were considered an outlier. The results showed that Robust Mahalanobis Distance was more appropriate for the identification of the outliers, once it is a more restrictive method. (author)

High Throughput Line-of-Sight MIMO Systems for Next Generation Backhaul Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Xiaohang; Cvetkovski, Darko; Hälsig, Tim; Rave, Wolfgang; Fettweis, Gerhard; Grass, Eckhard; Lankl, Berthold

2017-09-01

The evolution to ultra-dense next generation networks requires a massive increase in throughput and deployment flexibility. Therefore, novel wireless backhaul solutions that can support these demands are needed. In this work we present an approach for a millimeter wave line-of-sight MIMO backhaul design, targeting transmission rates in the order of 100 Gbit/s. We provide theoretical foundations for the concept showcasing its potential, which are confirmed through channel measurements. Furthermore, we provide insights into the system design with respect to antenna array setup, baseband processing, synchronization, and channel equalization. Implementation in a 60 GHz demonstrator setup proves the feasibility of the system concept for high throughput backhauling in next generation networks.

Urban water restrictions: Attitudes and avoidance

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Bethany; Burton, Michael; Crase, Lin

2011-12-01

In most urban cities across Australia, water restrictions remain the dominant policy mechanism to restrict urban water consumption. The extensive adoption of water restrictions as a means to limit demand, over several years, means that Australian urban water prices have consistently not reflected the opportunity cost of water. Given the generally strong political support for water restrictions and the likelihood that they will persist for some time, there is value in understanding households' attitudes in this context. More specifically, identifying the welfare gains associated with avoiding urban water restrictions entirely would be a nontrivial contribution to our knowledge and offer insights into the benefits of alternative policy responses. This paper describes the results from a contingent valuation study that investigates consumers' willingness to pay to avoid urban water restrictions. Importantly, the research also investigates the influence of cognitive and exogenous dimensions on the utility gain associated with avoiding water restrictions. The results provide insights into the impact of the current policy mechanism on economic welfare.

Making Distance Visible: Assembling Nearness in an Online Distance Learning Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Jen; Gallagher, Michael Sean; Macleod, Hamish

2013-01-01

Online distance learners are in a particularly complex relationship with the educational institutions they belong to (Bayne, Gallagher, & Lamb, 2012). For part-time distance students, arrivals and departures can be multiple and invisible as students take courses, take breaks, move into independent study phases of a programme, find work or…

Love at first sight or friends first? Ties among partner personality trait similarity, relationship onset, relationship quality, and love

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barelds, Dick P. H.; Barelds-Dijkstra, Pieternel

The present study examined the relation between the type of relationship onset on the one hand and the degree to which partners have similar personalities and relationship quality on the other hand. It was hypothesized that partners who fell in love at first sight, relative to partners who got

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: Probability of bystander defibrillation relative to distance to nearest automated external defibrillator.

Science.gov (United States)

Sondergaard, Kathrine B; Hansen, Steen Moller; Pallisgaard, Jannik L; Gerds, Thomas Alexander; Wissenberg, Mads; Karlsson, Lena; Lippert, Freddy K; Gislason, Gunnar H; Torp-Pedersen, Christian; Folke, Fredrik

2018-03-01

Despite wide dissemination of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), bystander defibrillation rates remain low. We aimed to investigate how route distance to the nearest accessible AED was associated with probability of bystander defibrillation in public and residential locations. We used data from the nationwide Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry and the Danish AED Network to identify out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and route distances to nearest accessible registered AED during 2008-2013. The association between route distance and bystander defibrillation was described using restricted cubic spline logistic regression. We included 6971 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases. The proportion of arrests according to distance in meters (≤100, 101-200, >200) to the nearest accessible AED was: 4.6% (n=320), 5.3% (n=370), and 90.1% (n=6281), respectively. For cardiac arrests in public locations, the probability of bystander defibrillation at 0, 100 and 200m from the nearest AED was 35.7% (95% confidence interval 28.0%-43.5%), 21.3% (95% confidence interval 17.4%-25.2%), and 13.7% (95% confidence interval 10.1%-16.8%), respectively. The corresponding numbers for cardiac arrests in residential locations were 7.0% (95% confidence interval -2.1%-16.1%), 1.5% (95% confidence interval 0.002%-2.8%), and 0.9% (95% confidence interval 0.0005%-1.7%), respectively. In public locations, the probability of bystander defibrillation decreased rapidly within the first 100m route distance from cardiac arrest to nearest accessible AED whereas the probability of bystander defibrillation was low for all distances in residential areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the requirements of geographical data for blind and partially sighted people to make journeys more independently.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler, Edward; Worsfold, John

2013-11-01

Previous research has highlighted that blind and partially sighted people find various factors inhibit their abilities to make journeys. This paper proposes that the lack of accurate, appropriate and usable geographical data is one of the reasons for this and these can be tracked back to core human factors issues such as situational awareness, mental workload and environmental ergonomics. Following a review of applicable literature a hierarchical task analysis was performed to better understand the problems in terms of the complexity of various journey types and to identify the geographical data requirements in order to make successful journeys. The task analysis produced a number of results including highlighting four underlying principles which have an impact on the data requirements during any given journey. Finally the need for accessible and accurate geographical data requirements is introduced as a result of the literature review and the task analysis. These highlight the information required in order to facilitate more accessible travel for blind and partially sighted people by providing geographical information about their surroundings in a relevant, meaningful and usable way. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Communication Opportunities for Students with Deafblindness in Specialized and Inclusive Settings: A Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Correa-Torres, Silvia Maria

2008-01-01

Many students with deafblindness now are educated in less restricted educational environments with their hearing and sighted peers. However, that less restricted education setting does not guarantee deafblind students opportunities for communication and social interactions. The author observed 4 students with deafblindness and gathered information…

Niche Differentiation and Prey Selectivity among Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus Sighted in St. George Sound, Gulf of Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel M. Wilson

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Two groups of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus have been identified within St. George Sound, Florida, USA: high site-fidelity individuals (HSF which are individuals sighted multiple times in the region (i.e., ≥2 months, ≥2 seasons, and ≥2 years, and low site-fidelity individuals (LSF, which are individuals sighted fewer than 2 months, in 2 different seasons among 2 different years. Our goal was to determine whether differences in foraging behaviors were correlated with differences in sighting frequency and overall usage of St. George Sound by the two groups. We used carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes and niche hypervolume metrics to model the foodweb of St. George Sound. Mixing model results indicated that croaker, mojarra, pigfish, pinfish, and silverperch were the most important prey items for dolphins. The hypervolume metrics demonstrate niche partitioning between HSFs and LSFs, with the HSFs relying more heavily on pinfish, pigfish, and mojarra, while the LSFs relied more on silverperch. Plankton, benthic diatoms, seagrass, and epiphytes all contributed to secondary production within St. George Sound. This diversity of source utilization by seagrass-associated consumers supported by a high rate of total production likely sustains high secondary productivity despite the potential for competition in this system. Zooplankton was the most important basal source to the system, followed by seagrass and benthic primary production (as indicated by a sanddollar proxy. The reliance of dolphins on seagrass-dependent prey indicates that alteration of seagrass habitat would significantly impact the dolphin community foraging in St. George Sound and suggests that preservation of seagrass habitat is an important component of an effective management strategy for dolphin populations in the region.

Steiner Distance in Graphs--A Survey

OpenAIRE

Mao, Yaping

2017-01-01

For a connected graph $G$ of order at least $2$ and $S\\subseteq V(G)$, the \\emph{Steiner distance} $d_G(S)$ among the vertices of $S$ is the minimum size among all connected subgraphs whose vertex sets contain $S$. In this paper, we summarize the known results on the Steiner distance parameters, including Steiner distance, Steiner diameter, Steiner center, Steiner median, Steiner interval, Steiner distance hereditary graph, Steiner distance stable graph, average Steiner distance, and Steiner ...

Theoretical Principles of Distance Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Keegan, Desmond, Ed.

This book contains the following papers examining the didactic, academic, analytic, philosophical, and technological underpinnings of distance education: "Introduction"; "Quality and Access in Distance Education: Theoretical Considerations" (D. Randy Garrison); "Theory of Transactional Distance" (Michael G. Moore);…

THE DISTANCE TO M104

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McQuinn, Kristen B. W. [University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory, 2515 Speedway, Stop C1400 Austin, TX 78712 (United States); Skillman, Evan D. [Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street, SE, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Dolphin, Andrew E. [Raytheon Company, 1151 E. Hermans Road, Tucson, AZ 85756 (United States); Berg, Danielle [Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 1900 East Kenwood Boulevard, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States); Kennicutt, Robert, E-mail: kmcquinn@astro.as.utexas.edu [Institute for Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)

2016-11-01

M104 (NGC 4594; the Sombrero galaxy) is a nearby, well-studied elliptical galaxy included in scores of surveys focused on understanding the details of galaxy evolution. Despite the importance of observations of M104, a consensus distance has not yet been established. Here, we use newly obtained Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging to measure the distance to M104 based on the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method. Our measurement yields the distance to M104 to be 9.55 ± 0.13 ± 0.31 Mpc equivalent to a distance modulus of 29.90 ± 0.03 ± 0.07 mag. Our distance is an improvement over previous results as we use a well-calibrated, stable distance indicator, precision photometry in a optimally selected field of view, and a Bayesian maximum likelihood technique that reduces measurement uncertainties. The most discrepant previous results are due to Tully–Fisher method distances, which are likely inappropriate for M104 given its peculiar morphology and structure. Our results are part of a larger program to measure accurate distances to a sample of well-known spiral galaxies (including M51, M74, and M63) using the TRGB method.

The Distance to M51

Science.gov (United States)

McQuinn, Kristen. B. W.; Skillman, Evan D.; Dolphin, Andrew E.; Berg, Danielle; Kennicutt, Robert

2016-07-01

Great investments of observing time have been dedicated to the study of nearby spiral galaxies with diverse goals ranging from understanding the star formation process to characterizing their dark matter distributions. Accurate distances are fundamental to interpreting observations of these galaxies, yet many of the best studied nearby galaxies have distances based on methods with relatively large uncertainties. We have started a program to derive accurate distances to these galaxies. Here we measure the distance to M51—the Whirlpool galaxy—from newly obtained Hubble Space Telescope optical imaging using the tip of the red giant branch method. We measure the distance modulus to be 8.58 ± 0.10 Mpc (statistical), corresponding to a distance modulus of 29.67 ± 0.02 mag. Our distance is an improvement over previous results as we use a well-calibrated, stable distance indicator, precision photometry in a optimally selected field of view, and a Bayesian Maximum Likelihood technique that reduces measurement uncertainties. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained from the Data Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Are contemporary tourists consuming distance?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Gunvor Riber

2012. Background The background for this research, which explores how tourists represent distance and whether or not distance can be said to be consumed by contemporary tourists, is the increasing leisure mobility of people. Travelling for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives is increasing...... of understanding mobility at a conceptual level, and distance matters to people's manifest mobility: how they travel and how far they travel are central elements of their movements. Therefore leisure mobility (indeed all mobility) is the activity of relating across distance, either through actual corporeal...... metric representation. These representations are the focus for this research. Research Aim and Questions The aim of this research is thus to explore how distance is being represented within the context of leisure mobility. Further the aim is to explore how or whether distance is being consumed...

New Maximal Two-distance Sets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lisonek, Petr

1996-01-01

A two-distance set in E^d is a point set X inthe d-dimensional Euclidean spacesuch that the distances between distinct points in Xassume only two different non-zero values. Based on results from classical distance geometry, we developan algorithm to classify, for a given dimension, all maximal...... (largest possible)two-distance sets in E^d.Using this algorithm we have completed the full classificationfor all dimensions less than or equal to 7, andwe have found one set in E^8 whosemaximality follows from Blokhuis' upper bound on sizes of s-distance sets.While in the dimensions less than or equal to 6...

Prevalence and incidence of blindness and other degrees of sight impairment in patients treated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration in a well-defined region of the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckle, M; Lee, A; Mohamed, Q; Fletcher, E; Sallam, A; Healy, R; Stratton, I; Tufail, A; Johnston, R L

2015-03-01

This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of blindness, sight impairment, and other visual acuity (VA) states in patients receiving ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in Gloucestershire. Serial VA and injection data for all treatment-naive patients receiving their first intravitreal injections of ranibizumab for nAMD in the Gloucestershire National Health Service Ophthalmology department between 2008 and 2010 were extracted from an electronic medical record system. The prevalence of blindness (VA in the better-seeing eye ≤25 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters) at the time of first intravitreal injection was 0.8%, increasing to 3.5% after 3 years. The prevalence of sight impairment (VA in the better-seeing eye 26-39 ETDRS letters) increased from 4.1% at baseline to 5.5% after 3 years. The incidence of initiating ranibizumab treatment for nAMD in people aged ≥50 years in Gloucestershire was 111 people per 100 000 population in 2009, and 97 people in 2010. The incidence of patients meeting the visual criteria for blindness and sight impairment registration from treated nAMD in people aged ≥50 years in Gloucestershire was 3.5 and 9.7 people, respectively per 100 000 population in 2010. This is the first real-world study on the incidence and prevalence of eligibility for blindness and sight impairment registration in treated nAMD in the UK based on VA data. The incidence and prevalence of eligibility for certification of blindness or sight impairment in patients treated with ranibizumab for nAMD is low in Gloucestershire, with only 3.6% of the incident population progressing to blindness in 2010.

Distance learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarina Pucelj

2006-12-01

Full Text Available I would like to underline the role and importance of knowledge, which is acquired by individuals as a result of a learning process and experience. I have established that a form of learning, such as distance learning definitely contributes to a higher learning quality and leads to innovative, dynamic and knowledgebased society. Knowledge and skills enable individuals to cope with and manage changes, solve problems and also create new knowledge. Traditional learning practices face new circumstances, new and modern technologies appear, which enable quick and quality-oriented knowledge implementation. The centre of learning process at distance learning is to increase the quality of life of citizens, their competitiveness on the workforce market and ensure higher economic growth. Intellectual capital is the one, which represents the biggest capital of each society and knowledge is the key factor for succes of everybody, who are fully aware of this. Flexibility, openness and willingness of people to follow new IT solutions form suitable environment for developing and deciding to take up distance learning.

Word Reading and Processing of the Identity and Order of Letters by Children with Low Vision and Sighted Children

Science.gov (United States)

Gompel, Marjolein; van Bon, Wim H. J.; Schreuder, Robert

2004-01-01

Two aspects of word reading were investigated in two word-naming experiments: the identification of the constituent letters of a word and the processing of letter-order information. Both experiments showed qualitative differences between children with low vision and sighted children, but no quantitative or qualitative differences within the group…

SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FORMING MOTOR SKILLS NECESSARY TO SIGHT-READING PIANO LESSONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROMAN RUSLANA

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on one of the urgent problems of forming a pianist – the development of score reading skills, in parti­cular the development of motor skills required for this aptitude. Since this ability is not innate, the formation of score reading skills becomes one of the central problems of musical education. Sight-reading is a complex process, requiring the development of complex musical abilities: skills in piano technique, musical and auditory representations, internal hearing. The article pre­sents a series of exercises that can serve as a solid basis for the formation and development of score reading skills.

Placental weight and birth weight to placental weight ratio in monochorionic and dichorionic growth-restricted and non-growth-restricted twins

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Mariângela Alves Souza

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare the placental weight and birth weight/placental weight ratio for intrauterine growth-restricted and non-intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and dichorionic twins. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of placentas from twin pregnancies. Placental weight and the birth weight/placental weight ratio were compared in intrauterine growth-restricted and non-intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and dichorionic twins. The association between cord insertion type and placental lesions in intrauterine growth-restricted and non-intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and dichorionic twins was also investigated. RESULTS: A total of 105 monochorionic (intrauterine growth restriction=40; non-intrauterine growth restriction=65 and 219 dichorionic (intrauterine growth restriction=57; non-intrauterine growth restriction=162 placentas were analyzed. A significantly lower placental weight was observed in intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic (p=0.022 and dichorionic (p<0.001 twins compared to non-intrauterine growth-restricted twins. There was no difference in the birth weight/placental weight ratio between the intrauterine growth restriction and non-intrauterine growth restriction groups for either monochorionic (p=0.36 or dichorionic (p=0.68 twins. Placental weight and the birth weight/placental weight ratio were not associated with cord insertion type or with placental lesions. CONCLUSION: Low placental weight, and consequently reduced functional mass, appears to be involved in fetal growth restriction in monochorionic and dichorionic twins. The mechanism by which low placental weight influences the birth weight/placental weight ratio in intrauterine growth-restricted monochorionic and dichorionic twins needs to be determined in larger prospective studies.

Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED): A new class of adaptable distance transforms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, Theo E.; van den Broek, Egon

2014-01-01

A new unique class of foldable distance transforms of digital images (DT) is introduced, baptized: Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) transforms. FEED class algorithms calculate the DT starting directly from the definition or rather its inverse. The principle of FEED class algorithms is

Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) : A new class of adaptable distance transforms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, Theo E.; van den Broek, Egon L.

2014-01-01

A new unique class of foldable distance transforms of digital images (DT) is introduced, baptized: Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) transforms. FEED class algorithms calculate the DT startingdirectly from the definition or rather its inverse. The principle of FEED class algorithms is introduced,

Distance covariance for stochastic processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Matsui, Muneya; Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; Samorodnitsky, Gennady

2017-01-01

The distance covariance of two random vectors is a measure of their dependence. The empirical distance covariance and correlation can be used as statistical tools for testing whether two random vectors are independent. We propose an analog of the distance covariance for two stochastic processes...

Design and development of radiation absorber for sighting beam line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sridhar, R.; Shukla, S.K.

2005-01-01

During the commissioning of Indus-2 , it is necessary to view the synchrotron radiation that will be emanating from the dipole exit ports. The 10 0 beam line from dipole 11 was earmarked for sighting beam line. The synchrotron radiation power density would be around 340 watts on the photon absorber inside the radiation absorber module, at the specified beam power of Indus-2. The beam striking on this photon absorber produces x-rays and Bremsstrahlung radiation. These are to be stopped and absorbed by radiation absorber. The photon absorber and the radiation absorber are integrated in a single vacuum chamber and actuated by a pneumatic cylinder connected using a bellow. Radiation absorber was needed to isolate the diagnostic components and to protect them from radiation a well as heat when they were not in use. The paper describes the design, calculation and development of the dynamic photon cum radiation absorber. The ultimate vacuum performance is also described. (author)

Managing Time, Workload and Costs in Distance Education: Findings from a Literature Review of "Distances et Médiations des Savoirs" (Formerly "Distances et Savoirs")

Science.gov (United States)

Moeglin, Pierre; Vidal, Martine

2015-01-01

The purpose of this review, spanning over 12 years of publication of "Distances et Médiations des Savoirs" ("DMS"), formerly "Distance et Savoirs" ("DMS") (2003-2014), is guided by the question why and how French-speaking researchers addressed the issues of time, workload and costs in distance learning, and…

Critical Points in Distance Learning System

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Airina Savickaitė

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose – This article presents the results of distance learning system analysis, i.e. the critical elements of the distance learning system. The critical points of distance learning are a part of distance education online environment interactivity/community process model. The most important is the fact that the critical point is associated with distance learning participants. Design/methodology/approach – Comparative review of articles and analysis of distance learning module. Findings – A modern man is a lifelong learner and distance learning is a way to be a modern person. The focus on a learner and feedback is the most important thing of learning distance system. Also, attention should be paid to the lecture-appropriate knowledge and ability to convey information. Distance system adaptation is the way to improve the learner’s learning outcomes. Research limitations/implications – Different learning disciplines and learning methods may have different critical points. Practical implications – The information of analysis could be important for both lecturers and students, who studies distance education systems. There are familiar critical points which may deteriorate the quality of learning. Originality/value – The study sought to develop remote systems for applications in order to improve the quality of knowledge. Keywords: distance learning, process model, critical points. Research type: review of literature and general overview.

Planned Products of the Mars Structure Service for the InSight Mission to Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Panning, Mark P.; Lognonné, Philippe; Bruce Banerdt, W.; Garcia, Raphaël; Golombek, Matthew; Kedar, Sharon; Knapmeyer-Endrun, Brigitte; Mocquet, Antoine; Teanby, Nick A.; Tromp, Jeroen; Weber, Renee; Beucler, Eric; Blanchette-Guertin, Jean-Francois; Bozdağ, Ebru; Drilleau, Mélanie; Gudkova, Tamara; Hempel, Stefanie; Khan, Amir; Lekić, Vedran; Murdoch, Naomi; Plesa, Ana-Catalina; Rivoldini, Atillio; Schmerr, Nicholas; Ruan, Youyi; Verhoeven, Olivier; Gao, Chao; Christensen, Ulrich; Clinton, John; Dehant, Veronique; Giardini, Domenico; Mimoun, David; Thomas Pike, W.; Smrekar, Sue; Wieczorek, Mark; Knapmeyer, Martin; Wookey, James

2017-10-01

The InSight lander will deliver geophysical instruments to Mars in 2018, including seismometers installed directly on the surface (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, SEIS). Routine operations will be split into two services, the Mars Structure Service (MSS) and Marsquake Service (MQS), which will be responsible, respectively, for defining the structure models and seismicity catalogs from the mission. The MSS will deliver a series of products before the landing, during the operations, and finally to the Planetary Data System (PDS) archive. Prior to the mission, we assembled a suite of a priori models of Mars, based on estimates of bulk composition and thermal profiles. Initial models during the mission will rely on modeling surface waves and impact-generated body waves independent of prior knowledge of structure. Later modeling will include simultaneous inversion of seismic observations for source and structural parameters. We use Bayesian inversion techniques to obtain robust probability distribution functions of interior structure parameters. Shallow structure will be characterized using the hammering of the heatflow probe mole, as well as measurements of surface wave ellipticity. Crustal scale structure will be constrained by measurements of receiver function and broadband Rayleigh wave ellipticity measurements. Core interacting body wave phases should be observable above modeled martian noise levels, allowing us to constrain deep structure. Normal modes of Mars should also be observable and can be used to estimate the globally averaged 1D structure, while combination with results from the InSight radio science mission and orbital observations will allow for constraint of deeper structure.

General Education Teachers' Ratings of the Academic Engagement Level of Students Who Read Braille: A Comparison with Sighted Peers

Science.gov (United States)

Bardin, Julie A.; Lewis, Sandra

2011-01-01

English and language arts teachers of braille-reading students in general education classes rated these students' academic engagement and the academic achievement of low- and average-achieving sighted students in the same classrooms. The braille readers were found to be statistically similar to the low-achieving students with regard to effort,…

Connecting long distance: semantic distance in analogical reasoning modulates frontopolar cortex activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Adam E; Kraemer, David J M; Fugelsang, Jonathan A; Gray, Jeremy R; Dunbar, Kevin N

2010-01-01

Solving problems often requires seeing new connections between concepts or events that seemed unrelated at first. Innovative solutions of this kind depend on analogical reasoning, a relational reasoning process that involves mapping similarities between concepts. Brain-based evidence has implicated the frontal pole of the brain as important for analogical mapping. Separately, cognitive research has identified semantic distance as a key characteristic of the kind of analogical mapping that can support innovation (i.e., identifying similarities across greater semantic distance reveals connections that support more innovative solutions and models). However, the neural substrates of semantically distant analogical mapping are not well understood. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during an analogical reasoning task, in which we parametrically varied the semantic distance between the items in the analogies. Semantic distance was derived quantitatively from latent semantic analysis. Across 23 participants, activity in an a priori region of interest (ROI) in left frontopolar cortex covaried parametrically with increasing semantic distance, even after removing effects of task difficulty. This ROI was centered on a functional peak that we previously associated with analogical mapping. To our knowledge, these data represent a first empirical characterization of how the brain mediates semantically distant analogical mapping.

Random Tagging Genotyping by Sequencing (rtGBS, an Unbiased Approach to Locate Restriction Enzyme Sites across the Target Genome.

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Elena Hilario

Full Text Available Genotyping by sequencing (GBS is a restriction enzyme based targeted approach developed to reduce the genome complexity and discover genetic markers when a priori sequence information is unavailable. Sufficient coverage at each locus is essential to distinguish heterozygous from homozygous sites accurately. The number of GBS samples able to be pooled in one sequencing lane is limited by the number of restriction sites present in the genome and the read depth required at each site per sample for accurate calling of single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Loci bias was observed using a slight modification of the Elshire et al.some restriction enzyme sites were represented in higher proportions while others were poorly represented or absent. This bias could be due to the quality of genomic DNA, the endonuclease and ligase reaction efficiency, the distance between restriction sites, the preferential amplification of small library restriction fragments, or bias towards cluster formation of small amplicons during the sequencing process. To overcome these issues, we have developed a GBS method based on randomly tagging genomic DNA (rtGBS. By randomly landing on the genome, we can, with less bias, find restriction sites that are far apart, and undetected by the standard GBS (stdGBS method. The study comprises two types of biological replicates: six different kiwifruit plants and two independent DNA extractions per plant; and three types of technical replicates: four samples of each DNA extraction, stdGBS vs. rtGBS methods, and two independent library amplifications, each sequenced in separate lanes. A statistically significant unbiased distribution of restriction fragment size by rtGBS showed that this method targeted 49% (39,145 of BamH I sites shared with the reference genome, compared to only 14% (11,513 by stdGBS.

Restrictive annuloplasty to treat functional mitral regurgitation: optimize the restriction to improve the results?

Science.gov (United States)

Totaro, Pasquale; Adragna, Nicola; Argano, Vincenzo

2008-03-01

Today, the 'gold standard' treatment of functional mitral regurgitation (MR) is the subject of much discussion. Although restrictive annuloplasty is currently considered the most reproducible technique, the means by which the degree of annular restriction is optimized remains problematic. The study was designed in order to identify whether the degree of restriction of the mitral annulus could influence early and midterm results following the treatment of functional MR using restrictive annuloplasty. A total of 32 consecutive patients with functional MR grade > or = 3+ was enrolled, among whom the mean anterior-posterior (AP) mitral annulus diameter was 39 +/- 3 mm. Restrictive mitral annuloplasty (combined with coronary artery bypass grafting) was performed in all patients using a Carpentier-Edwards Classic or Physio ring (size 26 or 28). The degree of AP annular restriction was calculated for each patient, and correlated with early and mid-term residual MR and left ventricular (LV) reverse remodeling (in terms of LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) reduction). All surviving patients were examined at a one-year follow up. The mean AP mitral annulus restriction achieved was 48 +/- 4%. Intraoperatively, transesophageal echocardiography showed no residual MR in any patient. Before discharge from hospital, transthoracic echocardiography confirmed an absence of residual MR and showed significant LV reverse remodeling (LVEDV from 121 +/- 25 ml to 97 +/- 26 ml; LVEDD from 55 +/- 6 mm to 47 +/- 8 mm). A significant correlation (r = 0.57, p 40% of preoperative) appears to have a favorable influence on early postoperative LV reverse remodeling, and also allows for complete resolution of functional MR. In addition, 'no tolerance' of early residual MR seems to have a favorable influence on mid-term results, leading to a reduction in the one-year recurrence of significant MR.

Which visual sight skill tested and developed the interaction between central and peripheral vision case duels dribbling soccer skills

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Zerf Mohammed

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present paper analyses the effects of visual keep sight to test and develop the interaction between central and peripheral vision the case of duels dribbling among soccer under 17 years. Where This research aims to propose a method evaluating and coaching this skill in the absence of laboratory tests and virtual visual exercises as a way for Algerian coaches to control the progress of their players. From the principle that the team which wins the most duels has the best chance of winning the game. [1] Our research supports the hypothesis which confirms in one hand that Dynamic visual acuity is the combine between Peripheral and Central vision to have one eye on the ball and the other on the defined [2] . While some authors confirm that the Top-class football players do not watch their steps, but dribble with their heads up [3]. Whereas Previous studies confirm estimate of distance ball foot player is the strategy to master this skill [4] which requires the involvement of the commitment of peripheral vision for information and central vision to master the ball [5]. From the proof and results statistics applied in the current study, we confirm that narrow spaces require the interaction of central vision than peripheral vision. Otherwise, free spaces require peripheral vision than the central vision. Which leaves us to confirm that peripheral vision in the limited space [6] can suffer because the player needs to pay close attention to each contact with the ball [7].

Automatic Assistant for Better Mobility and Improved Cognition of Partially Sighted Persons

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TAPU, R.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In these paper we introduce a novel computer vision assistant for autonomous navigation of partially sighted people. We begin by detecting any type of static and dynamic obstacle present in the scene. Then, we introduce an adapted version of HOG (Histogram of Oriented Gradients descriptor incorporated into the BoVW (Bag of Visual Words retrieval framework and demonstrate how this combination can be used for obstacle classification. The design is completed with an acoustic feedback that alert user of potential hazards. The audio bone conduction is employed to allow the visually impaired to hear other sounds from the environment. At the hardware level, the system is totally integrated on a smartphone which makes it easy to wear, non-invasive and low-cost.

Evaluating a Computer Flash-Card Sight-Word Recognition Intervention with Self-Determined Response Intervals in Elementary Students with Intellectual Disability

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Cazzell, Samantha; Skinner, Christopher H.; Ciancio, Dennis; Aspiranti, Kathleen; Watson, Tiffany; Taylor, Kala; McCurdy, Merilee; Skinner, Amy

2017-01-01

A concurrent multiple-baseline across-tasks design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer flash-card sight-word recognition intervention with elementary-school students with intellectual disability. This intervention allowed the participants to self-determine each response interval and resulted in both participants acquiring…

A Remote PLC Laboratory (RLab) for Distance Practical Work of Industrial Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Haritman, E.; Somantri, Y.; Wahyudin, D.; Mulyana, E.

2018-02-01

A laboratory is an essential equipment for engineering students to do a useful practical work. Therefore, universities should provide an adequate facility for practical work. On the other hand, industrial automation laboratory would offer students beneficial experience by using various educational PLC kits. This paper describes the development of Web-based Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) remote laboratory called RLab. It provides an environment for learners to study PLC application to control the level of the non-interacting tank. The RLab architecture is based on a Moodle and Remote Desktop, which also manages the booking system of the schedule of practical work in the laboratory. The RLab equipped by USB cameras providing a real-time view of PLC environment. To provide a secured system, the RLab combines Moodle and Remote Desktop application for the authentication system and management of remote users. Moodle will send PartnerID and password to connect to TeamViewer. It has been examined that the laboratory requirement, time and flexibility restrictions constitute a significant obstacle facing traditional students desiring to finish the course. A remote access laboratory can be eliminating time and flexibility restrictions. The preliminary study of RLab usability proved that such system is adequate to give the learners a distance practical work environment.

Equivalence of massive propagator distance and mathematical distance on graphs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filk, T.

1992-01-01

It is shown in this paper that the assignment of distance according to the massive propagator method and according to the mathematical definition (length of minimal path) on arbitrary graphs with a bound on the degree leads to equivalent large scale properties of the graph. Especially, the internal scaling dimension is the same for both definitions. This result holds for any fixed, non-vanishing mass, so that a really inequivalent definition of distance requires the limit m → 0

Reduced Risk of Importing Ebola Virus Disease because of Travel Restrictions in 2014: A Retrospective Epidemiological Modeling Study

Science.gov (United States)

Otsuki, Shiori

2016-01-01

Background An epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) from 2013–16 posed a serious risk of global spread during its early growth phase. A post-epidemic evaluation of the effectiveness of travel restrictions has yet to be conducted. The present study aimed to estimate the effectiveness of travel restrictions in reducing the risk of importation from mid-August to September, 2014, using a simple hazard-based statistical model. Methodology/Principal Findings The hazard rate was modeled as an inverse function of the effective distance, an excellent predictor of disease spread, which was calculated from the airline transportation network. By analyzing datasets of the date of EVD case importation from the 15th of July to the 15th of September 2014, and assuming that the network structure changed from the 8th of August 2014 because of travel restrictions, parameters that characterized the hazard rate were estimated. The absolute risk reduction and relative risk reductions due to travel restrictions were estimated to be less than 1% and about 20%, respectively, for all models tested. Effectiveness estimates among African countries were greater than those for other countries outside Africa. Conclusions The travel restrictions were not effective enough to expect the prevention of global spread of Ebola virus disease. It is more efficient to control the spread of disease locally during an early phase of an epidemic than to attempt to control the epidemic at international borders. Capacity building for local containment and coordinated and expedited international cooperation are essential to reduce the risk of global transmission. PMID:27657544

Protein restriction and cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Jie; Ren, Wenkai; Huang, Xingguo; Li, Tiejun; Yin, Yulong

2018-03-26

Protein restriction without malnutrition is currently an effective nutritional intervention known to prevent diseases and promote health span from yeast to human. Recently, low protein diets are reported to be associated with lowered cancer incidence and mortality risk of cancers in human. In murine models, protein restriction inhibits tumor growth via mTOR signaling pathway. IGF-1, amino acid metabolic programing, FGF21, and autophagy may also serve as potential mechanisms of protein restriction mediated cancer prevention. Together, dietary intervention aimed at reducing protein intake can be beneficial and has the potential to be widely adopted and effective in preventing and treating cancers. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language distance and tree reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petroni, Filippo; Serva, Maurizio

2008-01-01

Languages evolve over time according to a process in which reproduction, mutation and extinction are all possible. This is very similar to haploid evolution for asexual organisms and for the mitochondrial DNA of complex ones. Exploiting this similarity, it is possible, in principle, to verify hypotheses concerning the relationship among languages and to reconstruct their family tree. The key point is the definition of the distances among pairs of languages in analogy with the genetic distances among pairs of organisms. Distances can be evaluated by comparing grammar and/or vocabulary, but while it is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify grammar distance, it is possible to measure a distance from vocabulary differences. The method used by glottochronology computes distances from the percentage of shared 'cognates', which are words with a common historical origin. The weak point of this method is that subjective judgment plays a significant role. Here we define the distance of two languages by considering a renormalized edit distance among words with the same meaning and averaging over the two hundred words contained in a Swadesh list. In our approach the vocabulary of a language is the analogue of DNA for organisms. The advantage is that we avoid subjectivity and, furthermore, reproducibility of results is guaranteed. We apply our method to the Indo-European and the Austronesian groups, considering, in both cases, fifty different languages. The two trees obtained are, in many respects, similar to those found by glottochronologists, with some important differences as regards the positions of a few languages. In order to support these different results we separately analyze the structure of the distances of these languages with respect to all the others

Language distance and tree reconstruction

Science.gov (United States)

Petroni, Filippo; Serva, Maurizio

2008-08-01

Languages evolve over time according to a process in which reproduction, mutation and extinction are all possible. This is very similar to haploid evolution for asexual organisms and for the mitochondrial DNA of complex ones. Exploiting this similarity, it is possible, in principle, to verify hypotheses concerning the relationship among languages and to reconstruct their family tree. The key point is the definition of the distances among pairs of languages in analogy with the genetic distances among pairs of organisms. Distances can be evaluated by comparing grammar and/or vocabulary, but while it is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify grammar distance, it is possible to measure a distance from vocabulary differences. The method used by glottochronology computes distances from the percentage of shared 'cognates', which are words with a common historical origin. The weak point of this method is that subjective judgment plays a significant role. Here we define the distance of two languages by considering a renormalized edit distance among words with the same meaning and averaging over the two hundred words contained in a Swadesh list. In our approach the vocabulary of a language is the analogue of DNA for organisms. The advantage is that we avoid subjectivity and, furthermore, reproducibility of results is guaranteed. We apply our method to the Indo-European and the Austronesian groups, considering, in both cases, fifty different languages. The two trees obtained are, in many respects, similar to those found by glottochronologists, with some important differences as regards the positions of a few languages. In order to support these different results we separately analyze the structure of the distances of these languages with respect to all the others.

Indoor Spatial Updating with Reduced Visual Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Legge, Gordon E; Gage, Rachel; Baek, Yihwa; Bochsler, Tiana M

2016-01-01

Spatial updating refers to the ability to keep track of position and orientation while moving through an environment. People with impaired vision may be less accurate in spatial updating with adverse consequences for indoor navigation. In this study, we asked how artificial restrictions on visual acuity and field size affect spatial updating, and also judgments of the size of rooms. Normally sighted young adults were tested with artificial restriction of acuity in Mild Blur (Snellen 20/135) and Severe Blur (Snellen 20/900) conditions, and a Narrow Field (8°) condition. The subjects estimated the dimensions of seven rectangular rooms with and without these visual restrictions. They were also guided along three-segment paths in the rooms. At the end of each path, they were asked to estimate the distance and direction to the starting location. In Experiment 1, the subjects walked along the path. In Experiment 2, they were pushed in a wheelchair to determine if reduced proprioceptive input would result in poorer spatial updating. With unrestricted vision, mean Weber fractions for room-size estimates were near 20%. Severe Blur but not Mild Blur yielded larger errors in room-size judgments. The Narrow Field was associated with increased error, but less than with Severe Blur. There was no effect of visual restriction on estimates of distance back to the starting location, and only Severe Blur yielded larger errors in the direction estimates. Contrary to expectation, the wheelchair subjects did not exhibit poorer updating performance than the walking subjects, nor did they show greater dependence on visual condition. If our results generalize to people with low vision, severe deficits in acuity or field will adversely affect the ability to judge the size of indoor spaces, but updating of position and orientation may be less affected by visual impairment.

Indoor Spatial Updating with Reduced Visual Information.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordon E Legge

Full Text Available Spatial updating refers to the ability to keep track of position and orientation while moving through an environment. People with impaired vision may be less accurate in spatial updating with adverse consequences for indoor navigation. In this study, we asked how artificial restrictions on visual acuity and field size affect spatial updating, and also judgments of the size of rooms.Normally sighted young adults were tested with artificial restriction of acuity in Mild Blur (Snellen 20/135 and Severe Blur (Snellen 20/900 conditions, and a Narrow Field (8° condition. The subjects estimated the dimensions of seven rectangular rooms with and without these visual restrictions. They were also guided along three-segment paths in the rooms. At the end of each path, they were asked to estimate the distance and direction to the starting location. In Experiment 1, the subjects walked along the path. In Experiment 2, they were pushed in a wheelchair to determine if reduced proprioceptive input would result in poorer spatial updating.With unrestricted vision, mean Weber fractions for room-size estimates were near 20%. Severe Blur but not Mild Blur yielded larger errors in room-size judgments. The Narrow Field was associated with increased error, but less than with Severe Blur. There was no effect of visual restriction on estimates of distance back to the starting location, and only Severe Blur yielded larger errors in the direction estimates. Contrary to expectation, the wheelchair subjects did not exhibit poorer updating performance than the walking subjects, nor did they show greater dependence on visual condition.If our results generalize to people with low vision, severe deficits in acuity or field will adversely affect the ability to judge the size of indoor spaces, but updating of position and orientation may be less affected by visual impairment.

Property Rights, Restrictions and Responsibilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

more to a social, ethical commitment or attitude to environmental sustainability and good husbandry. This paper provides an overall understanding of the concept of land administration systems for dealing with rights, restrictions and responsibilities in future spatially enabled government. Finally......Land Administration Systems are the basis for conceptualizing rights, restrictions and responsibilities related to people, policies and places. Property rights are normally concerned with ownership and tenure whereas restrictions usually control use and activities on land. Responsibilities relate...

K0-anti K0 mixing: Approaching its short-distance origin and heavy flavours through loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Picek, I.

1986-03-01

There have been three 'mysteries' in the history of the K-meson system: two of the pre-1964 physics as summarized by Feynman, 1) the unknown reasons for strangeness, 2) the unknown inner machinery of the K 0 -anti K 0 mixing, and the third, revealed to us in 1964, 3) CP violation. The attempts to explain these puzzles have been crucial in building the present, standard-model (SM) picture for understanding of elementary particle physics. As regards the first two points, I first want to illustrate how their study has opened the door to heavy flavours. Then I focus on some recently proposed short-distance K 0 -anti K 0 mixing mechanisms, and also remind the reader of the problem of separating short-distance (SD) from long-distance (LD) effects. As for CP violation 3), it is often considered to be just on the border of the SM. The observation of CP violation, still restricted to the K 0 meson, makes it that the K 0 -anti K 0 system is still one of the most intriguing systems in nature. The increasing body of data from heavy-quark physics have a chance to move the kaon from such a 'strange' (if not distinguished) place, and to provide a valuable test of the SM. (orig.)

Restricting wolves risks escape

Science.gov (United States)

Mech, L. David; Ballard, Warren; Bangs, Ed; Ream, Bob

2010-01-01

Implementing the proposal set forth by Licht and colleagues (BioScience 60: 147–153) requires restricting wolves to tiny "islands," areas that are magnitudes smaller than the ranges of most wolf populations. Wolves naturally have large ranges; restricting their spatial needs increases the risk of wolves escaping, exacerbating public relations and political and legal problems.

Natural Head Posture in the Setting of Sagittal Spinal Deformity: Validation of Chin-Brow Vertical Angle, Slope of Line of Sight, and McGregor's Slope With Health-Related Quality of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Lafage, Renaud; Challier, Vincent; Liabaud, Barthelemy; Vira, Shaleen; Ferrero, Emmanuelle; Diebo, Bassel G; Liu, Shian; Vital, Jean-Marc; Mazda, Keyvan; Protopsaltis, Themistocles S; Errico, Thomas J; Schwab, Frank J; Lafage, Virginie

2016-07-01

The maintenance of horizontal gaze is an essential function of upright posture and global sagittal spinal alignment. Horizontal gaze is classically measured by the chin-brow vertical angle (CBVA), which is not readily measured on most lateral spine radiographs. To evaluate relations between CBVA and the slope of the line of sight, the slope of McGregor's line (McGS), and Oswestry Disability Index. Patients were identified from a single center database of 531 spine patients who underwent full-body EOS x-rays. Correlations between CBVA, the slope of the line of sight, and McGS were assessed. Using a quadratic regression with Oswestry Disability Index and CBVA, windows of low disability were identified. Comparison of sagittal spinopelvic parameters was carried out between patients with "ascending gaze" and "neutral position." Three hundred three patients were included (74% female, mean age 54.8 years, body mass index 26.6 ± 6.0 kg/m). CBVA strongly correlated with the slope of the line of sight (r = 0.996) and McGS (r = 0.862). Regression studies between Oswestry Disability Index and CBVA yielded a range of values corresponding to low disability (-4.7 degrees to 17.7 degrees). Similarly, a low disability range for the slope of the line of sight (-5.1 degrees to 18.5 degrees) and McGS (-5.7 degrees to 14.3 degrees) was computed. Patients with "ascending gaze" had a worse spinopelvic alignment than "neutral position" patients. The slope of the line of sight and McGS correlated strongly with CBVA and can be used as surrogate measures. The range of values for these measures corresponding to low disability was identified. These values can be used as a general guideline to assess alignment for diagnostic purposes. Cervical compensatory mechanism may modify the natural head position in sagittally misaligned patients. CBVA, chin-brow vertical angleHRQoL, health-related quality of lifeMcGS, slope of McGregor's lineODI, Oswestry Disability IndexSLs, slope of the line of sight.

Interactive Distance Learning in Connecticut.

Science.gov (United States)

Pietras, Jesse John; Murphy, Robert J.

This paper provides an overview of distance learning activities in Connecticut and addresses the feasibility of such activities. Distance education programs have evolved from the one dimensional electronic mail systems to the use of sophisticated digital fiber networks. The Middlesex Distance Learning Consortium has developed a long-range plan to…

Motivation in Distance Leaming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Brečko

1996-12-01

Full Text Available It is estimated that motivation is one of the most important psychological functions making it possible for people to leam even in conditions that do not meet their needs. In distance learning, a form of autonomous learning, motivation is of outmost importance. When adopting this method in learning an individual has to stimulate himself and take learning decisions on his or her own. These specific characteristics of distance learning should be taken into account. This all different factors maintaining the motivation of partici­pants in distance learning are to be included. Moreover, motivation in distance learning can be stimulated with specific learning materials, clear instructions and guide-lines, an efficient feed back, personal contact between tutors and parti­cipants, stimulating learning letters, telephone calls, encouraging letters and through maintaining a positive relationship between tutor and participant.

9 CFR 92.3 - Movement restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Movement restrictions. 92.3 Section 92... ANIMAL PRODUCTS: PROCEDURES FOR REQUESTING RECOGNITION OF REGIONS § 92.3 Movement restrictions. Whenever... exist and the EC imposes prohibitions or other restrictions on the movement of animals or animal...

Machine learning enhanced optical distance sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, M. Junaid; Riza, N. A.

2018-01-01

Presented for the first time is a machine learning enhanced optical distance sensor. The distance sensor is based on our previously demonstrated distance measurement technique that uses an Electronically Controlled Variable Focus Lens (ECVFL) with a laser source to illuminate a target plane with a controlled optical beam spot. This spot with varying spot sizes is viewed by an off-axis camera and the spot size data is processed to compute the distance. In particular, proposed and demonstrated in this paper is the use of a regularized polynomial regression based supervised machine learning algorithm to enhance the accuracy of the operational sensor. The algorithm uses the acquired features and corresponding labels that are the actual target distance values to train a machine learning model. The optimized training model is trained over a 1000 mm (or 1 m) experimental target distance range. Using the machine learning algorithm produces a training set and testing set distance measurement errors of learning. Applications for the proposed sensor include industrial scenario distance sensing where target material specific training models can be generated to realize low <1% measurement error distance measurements.

Simultaneous neutron and x-ray imaging of inertial confinement fusion experiments along a single line of sight at Omega

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Danly, C. R.; Day, T. H.; Herrmann, H.; Kim, Y. H.; Martinez, J. I.; Merrill, F. E.; Schmidt, D. W.; Simpson, R. A.; Volegov, P. L.; Wilde, C. H. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544 (United States); Fittinghoff, D. N.; Izumi, N. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

2015-04-15

Neutron and x-ray imaging provide critical information about the geometry and hydrodynamics of inertial confinement fusion implosions. However, existing diagnostics at Omega and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) cannot produce images in both neutrons and x-rays along the same line of sight. This leads to difficulty comparing these images, which capture different parts of the plasma geometry, for the asymmetric implosions seen in present experiments. Further, even when opposing port neutron and x-ray images are available, they use different detectors and cannot provide positive information about the relative positions of the neutron and x-ray sources. A technique has been demonstrated on implosions at Omega that can capture x-ray images along the same line of sight as the neutron images. The technique is described, and data from a set of experiments are presented, along with a discussion of techniques for coregistration of the various images. It is concluded that the technique is viable and could provide valuable information if implemented on NIF in the near future.

About 'restriction', 'justified' and 'necessary'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Werlauff, Erik

2016-01-01

The article is an academic fairy tale about why and how all national corporate tax protection legislation should undergo a 3-part test to ensure its consistency with EU law. Each Member State introduce a compulsory 3-step test for each new (corporate) tax provision. The test is simple: (1) Does...... the tax provision constitute a restriction in the sense of EU law? (2) If the answer is yes: Is the restriction justified? (3) If the answer is yes: Is the restriction necessary?"...

Marine bird sighting and Other Data from HELICOPTER and Other Platforms from 1975-06-16 to 1976-08-15 (NODC Accession 7700327)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Marine bird sighting and other data were collected from helicopter and other platforms in the North Pacific Ocean from 16 June 1975 to 15 August 1976. Data were...

Epitopes associated with MHC restriction site of T cells. III. I-J epitope on MHC-restricted T helper cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asano, Y.; Nakayama, T.; Kubo, M.; Yagi, J.; Tada, T.

1987-01-01

I-J epitopes were found to be associated with the functional site of the class II MHC-restricted helper T (Th) cells: Virtually all of the H-2k-restricted Th cell function of H-2kxbF1 T cells was inhibited by the anti-I-Jk mAb, leaving the H-2b-restricted function unaffected. The I-Jk epitope was inducible in Th cells of different genotype origin according to the environmental class II antigens present in the early ontogeny of T cells. Although above results suggested that I-J is the structure reflecting the inducible MHC restriction specificity, further studies revealed some interesting controversies: First, the I-J phenotype did not always correlate with the class II restriction specificity, e.g., I-Ab-restricted Th from 5R was I-Jk-positive, whereas I-Ak-restricted Th of 4R was not. Second, there was no trans expression of parental I-J phenotypes and restriction specificities in F1 Th, e.g., the I-J phenotype was detected only on I-Ab-restricted Th of (4R X 5R)F1, whereas it was absent on I-Ak-restricted Th. This strict linkage between the restriction specificity and I-J phenotype was also found on Th cells developed in bone marrow chimera constructed with intra-H-2-recombinant mice. The expression of I-Jk was always associated with the restriction specificity of the relevant host. Thus, the restriction specificity of Th cells followed the host type, and the I-J expression on Th was exactly the same as that expressed by the host haplotype. These results indicate that I-J is an isomorphic structure adaptively expressed on Th cells that is involved in the unidirectional regulatory cell interactions, and that the polymorphism cannot be explained merely by the restriction specificity of the conventional T cell receptor heterodimer

Line-of-Sight Path Following for Dubins Paths with Adaptive Sideslip Compensation of Drift Forces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fossen, Thor Inge; Pettersen, Kristin Ytterstad; Galeazzi, Roberto

2015-01-01

guidance law is intended for maneuvering in the horizontal-plane at given speeds and typical applications are marine craft, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as well as other vehicles and craft where the goal is to follow a predefined parametrized curve without time......-sight (LOS) guidance principle used by ancient navigators, which is here extended to path following of Dubins paths. The unknown sideslip angle is treated as a constant parameter, which is estimated using an adaptation law. The equilibrium points of the cross-track and parameter estimation errors are proven...

Restrictive cardiomyopathy

Science.gov (United States)

... People with restrictive cardiomyopathy may be heart transplant candidates. The outlook depends on the cause of the ... www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. ...

21 CFR 203.20 - Sales restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sales restrictions. 203.20 Section 203.20 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) DRUGS: GENERAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG MARKETING Sales Restrictions § 203.20 Sales restrictions. Except as provided in § 203.22 or...

The two types of a loss of sight (blindness) exhibited by cats and dogs after local irradiation of heat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ushakov, I.B.; Razgovorov, B.L.

1985-01-01

After local irradiation of heads with doses of 50 to 100 Gy cats and dogs exhibited two types of a loss of sight: early blindness (during the first two hours) noted only in cats after a dose of 100 Gy, and delayed blindness in cats after a dose of 50 Gy, and in dogs after all doses under study

Exploring the Musical Interests and Abilities of Blind and Partially Sighted Children and Young People with Retinopathy of Prematurity

Science.gov (United States)

Matawa, Christina

2009-01-01

This study explores the musical interests and talents of children and young people who are blind or partially sighted as a result of retinopathy of prematurity (RoP). The results from questionnaires completed by 37 parents were analysed using methods drawn from Ockelford et al.'s (2006) study of the musical interests and abilities of children with…

Risk inSight catalogue d'exposition sciences, arts et société

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

De type sciences/arts/société, l'exposition Risk inSight veut faire réfléchir sur les risques et met en évidence pourquoi et comment ceux-ci jouent un rôle grandissant dans nos sociétés contemporaines. L'espace d'exposition s'articule en 4 modules thématiques: identifier les risques, habiter les risques, débattre des risques, vivre avec les risques. Installations visuelles et sonores, photographies, modélisations vidéo, interfaces interactives et film documentaire sont mis en dialogue avec une série de contributions de tous horizons scientifiques, pour partager les questionnements des chercheurs avec un large public.

Health Activities Project (HAP): Sight and Sound Module.

Science.gov (United States)

Buller, Dave; And Others

Contained within this Health Activities Project (HAP) learning packet are activities for children in grades 5-8. Design of the activities centers around the idea that students can control their own health and safety. Within this module are teacher and student folios describing six activities which involve students in restricting their vision by…

The z=0.0912 and z=0.2212 damped Ly alpha galaxies along the sight line toward the quasar OI 363

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turnshek, DA; Rao, S; Nestor, D; Lane, W; Monier, E; Bergeron, J; Smette, A

2001-01-01

New optical and infrared observations along the sight line toward the quasar OI 363 (0738+313) are presented and discussed. Excluding quasars selectively observed because they were known to be located behind gas-rich galaxies and systems which lack confirming UV spectroscopic observations of the

Evaluation of new and established age-related macular degeneration susceptibility genes in the Women's Health Initiative Sight Exam (WHI-SE) Study

Science.gov (United States)

To assess whether established and newly reported genetic variants, independent of known lifestyle factors, are associated with the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among women participating in the Women's Health Initiative Sight Exam (WHI-SE) Genetic Ancillary Study. This is a multice...

Long-distance calls in Neotropical primates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliveira Dilmar A.G.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Long-distance calls are widespread among primates. Several studies concentrate on such calls in just one or in few species, while few studies have treated more general trends within the order. The common features that usually characterize these vocalizations are related to long-distance propagation of sounds. The proposed functions of primate long-distance calls can be divided into extragroup and intragroup ones. Extragroup functions relate to mate defense, mate attraction or resource defense, while intragroup functions involve group coordination or alarm. Among Neotropical primates, several species perform long-distance calls that seem more related to intragroup coordination, markedly in atelines. Callitrichids present long-distance calls that are employed both in intragroup coordination and intergroup contests or spacing. Examples of extragroup directed long-distance calls are the duets of titi monkeys and the roars and barks of howler monkeys. Considerable complexity and gradation exist in the long-distance call repertoires of some Neotropical primates, and female long-distance calls are probably more important in non-duetting species than usually thought. Future research must focus on larger trends in the evolution of primate long-distance calls, including the phylogeny of calling repertoires and the relationships between form and function in these signals.

Robustness of Distance-to-Default

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jessen, Cathrine; Lando, David

2013-01-01

Distance-to-default is a remarkably robust measure for ranking firms according to their risk of default. The ranking seems to work despite the fact that the Merton model from which the measure is derived produces default probabilities that are far too small when applied to real data. We use...... simulations to investigate the robustness of the distance-to-default measure to different model specifications. Overall we find distance-to-default to be robust to a number of deviations from the simple Merton model that involve different asset value dynamics and different default triggering mechanisms....... A notable exception is a model with stochastic volatility of assets. In this case both the ranking of firms and the estimated default probabilities using distance-to-default perform significantly worse. We therefore propose a volatility adjustment of the distance-to-default measure, that significantly...

World Sight Day 2013 Memorandum - Farabi Statement on the Prevention of Blindness and Eye Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S-Farzad Mohammadi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The World Sight Day (WSD is held on the 2nd Thursday of October to emphasize the importance of sight and impact of vision impairment. This observance is a joint initiative of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB, the World Health Organization (WHO and other international non-governmental organizations.1 The celebration resonates with Vision 2020 initiative for the control of avoidable blindness by the year 2020. It can promote professional as well as public awareness about sight and vision impairment. This is wise as we know that most cases of visual impairment are preventable or treatable; nonetheless there are more than 280 million people, including 19 million children, who live with visual impairment.2 This is much more a priority for the developing countries because they inhabit 90% of the visually impaired.3 Epidemiological transition has already commenced in the developing world4-7 but they are not ready to take care of the age-related blinding conditions. Non-governmental and community organizations would probably be the ideal entities to organize and celebrate WSD on a national level. But participation from a wide range of state and humanitarian bodies and even leading figures and celebrities is conceivable and welcomed. This should culminate in community initiatives for wanting resources and fund raising, and should influence policy-makers to develop and implement blindness prevention programs. The WHO Action Plan 2013 on the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment has suggested the theme ‘Universal Eye Health’ for WSD 2013. The plan seeks “integration of comprehensive eye care (from promotion to rehabilitation services into health systems”, and expects to address equity challenge. The theme is so ambitious and encompassing that might continue as a consistent one in the next years, focusing on a different aspect of the theme each year. The call to action in 2013 was ‘Get your Eyes

Distance Education in Technological Age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R .C. SHARMA

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Distance Education in Technological AgeRomesh Verma (Editor, New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2005, ISBN 81-261-2210-2, pp. 419 Reviewed by R C SHARMARegional DirectorIndira Gandhi National Open University-INDIA The advancements in information and communication technologies have brought significant changes in the way the open and distance learning are provided to the learners. The impact of such changes is quite visible in both developed and developing countries. Switching over to online mode, joining hands with private initiatives and making a presence in foreign waters, are some of the hallmarks of the open and distance education (ODE institutions in developing countries. The compilation of twenty six essays on themes as applicable to ODE has resulted in the book, “Distance Education in Technological Age”. These essays follow a progressive style of narration, starting from describing conceptual framework of distance education, how the distance education was emerged on the global scene and in India, and then goes on to discuss emergence of online distance education and research aspects in ODE. The initial four chapters provide a detailed account of historical development and growth of distance education in India and State Open University and National Open University Model in India . Student support services are pivot to any distance education and much of its success depends on how well the support services are provided. These are discussed from national and international perspective. The issues of collaborative learning, learning on demand, life long learning, learning-unlearning and re-learning model and strategic alliances have also given due space by the authors. An assortment of technologies like communication technology, domestic technology, information technology, mass media and entertainment technology, media technology and educational technology give an idea of how these technologies are being adopted in the open universities. The study

Improved Iris Recognition through Fusion of Hamming Distance and Fragile Bit Distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollingsworth, Karen P; Bowyer, Kevin W; Flynn, Patrick J

2011-12-01

The most common iris biometric algorithm represents the texture of an iris using a binary iris code. Not all bits in an iris code are equally consistent. A bit is deemed fragile if its value changes across iris codes created from different images of the same iris. Previous research has shown that iris recognition performance can be improved by masking these fragile bits. Rather than ignoring fragile bits completely, we consider what beneficial information can be obtained from the fragile bits. We find that the locations of fragile bits tend to be consistent across different iris codes of the same eye. We present a metric, called the fragile bit distance, which quantitatively measures the coincidence of the fragile bit patterns in two iris codes. We find that score fusion of fragile bit distance and Hamming distance works better for recognition than Hamming distance alone. To our knowledge, this is the first and only work to use the coincidence of fragile bit locations to improve the accuracy of matches.

Partial distance correlation with methods for dissimilarities

OpenAIRE

Székely, Gábor J.; Rizzo, Maria L.

2014-01-01

Distance covariance and distance correlation are scalar coefficients that characterize independence of random vectors in arbitrary dimension. Properties, extensions, and applications of distance correlation have been discussed in the recent literature, but the problem of defining the partial distance correlation has remained an open question of considerable interest. The problem of partial distance correlation is more complex than partial correlation partly because the squared distance covari...

Making Distance Visible: Assembling Nearness in an Online Distance Learning Programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jen Ross

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Online distance learners are in a particularly complex relationship with the educational institutions they belong to (Bayne, Gallagher, & Lamb, 2012. For part-time distance students, arrivals and departures can be multiple and invisible as students take courses, take breaks, move into independent study phases of a programme, find work or family commitments overtaking their study time, experience personal upheaval or loss, and find alignments between their professional and academic work. These comings and goings indicate a fluid and temporary assemblage of engagement, not a permanent or stable state of either “presence” or “distance”. This paper draws from interview data from the “New Geographies of Learning” project, a research project exploring the notions of space and institution for the MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, and from literature on distance learning and online community. The concept of nearness emerged from the data analyzing the comings and goings of students on a fully online programme. It proposes that “nearness” to a distance programme is a temporary assemblage of people, circumstances, and technologies. This state is difficult to establish and impossible to sustain in an uninterrupted way over the long period of time that many are engaged in part-time study. Interruptions and subsequent returns should therefore be seen as normal in the practice of studying as an online distance learner, and teachers and institutions should work to help students develop resilience in negotiating various states of nearness. Four strategies for increasing this resilience are proposed: recognising nearness as effortful; identifying affinities; valuing perspective shifts; and designing openings.

Genetic Diversity among Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Trifolii Strains Revealed by Allozyme and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Demezas, David H.; Reardon, Terry B.; Watson, John M.; Gibson, Alan H.

1991-01-01

Allozyme electrophoresis and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses were used to examine the genetic diversity of a collection of 18 Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii, 1 R. leguminosarum bv. viciae, and 2 R. meliloti strains. Allozyme analysis at 28 loci revealed 16 electrophoretic types. The mean genetic distance between electrophoretic types of R. leguminosarum and R. meliloti was 0.83. Within R. leguminosarum, the single strain of bv. viciae differed at an average of 0.65 from strains of bv. trifolii, while electrophoretic types of bv. trifolii differed at a range of 0.23 to 0.62. Analysis of RFLPs around two chromosomal DNA probes also delineated 16 unique RFLP patterns and yielded genetic diversity similar to that revealed by the allozyme data. Analysis of RFLPs around three Sym (symbiotic) plasmid-derived probes demonstrated that the Sym plasmids reflect genetic divergence similar to that of their bacterial hosts. The large genetic distances between many strains precluded reliable estimates of their genetic relationships. PMID:16348600

Sightings of Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & D' Orbigny, 1844 and Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853 (Cetacea in South-eastern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Paula M. Di Beneditto

2001-09-01

Full Text Available Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & D' Orbigny, 1844 and Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853 have typically coastal habits and are sympatric in South-eastern Brazil. The purpose of this work was to record sightings and describe aspects concerning the behaviour of both species in this region, between 1993 and 1998. The sightings were accomplished by cruises and from a fixed point. Information provided by fishermen were also considered. In general, P. blainvillei was observed in all seasons of the year, up to five nautical miles away from the coast, up to 15 m deep and the groups comprised up to five specimens. The most part of the groups of S. fluviatilis, were observed in autumm and winter times and comprised up to 10 specimens. In about half of the sightings, the presence of calves and/or juveniles was noted. The cooperative (group fishing was the foranging behaviour most frequently noted for S. fluviatilis.Pontoporia blainvillei (Gervais & D’Orgigny, 1844 e Sotalia fluviatilis (Gervais, 1853 possuem hábitos tipicamente costeiros e são simpátricas no Sudeste do Brasil. O objetivo deste trabalho foi registrar avistagens e descrever aspectos relacionados ao comportamento de ambas as espécies na região, entre 1993 e 1998. As avistagens foram realizadas através de cruzeiros e ponto fixo. Informações fornecidas por pescadores também foram consideradas. Em geral, P. blainvillei foi observada em todas as estações do ano, a até cinco milhas náuticas de distância da linha da costa e 15 m de profundidade e, os grupos eram formados por até cinco espécimens. A maior parte dos grupos de S. fluviatilis foi observada no período de outono e inverno e, era formada por até 10 espécimens. Em metade das avistagens, a presença de filhotes e/ou juvenis foi verificada. A pesca cooperativa (em grupo foi o comportamento alimentar observado com maior freqüência para S. fluviatilis.

Molecular identification of similar species of the genus Biomphalaria (Mollusca: Planorbidae determined by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caldeira Roberta Lima

1998-01-01

Full Text Available The freshwater snails Biomphalaria straminea, B. intermedia, B. kuhniana and B. peregrina, are morphologically similar; based on this similarity the first three species were therefore grouped in the complex B. straminea. The morphological identification of these species is based on characters such as vaginal wrinkling, relation between prepuce: penial sheath:deferens vas and number of muscle layers in the penis wall. In this study the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism technique was used for molecular identification of these molluscs. This technique is based on the amplification of the internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 e ITS2 of the ribosomal RNA gene and subsequent digestion of these fragments by restriction enzymes. Six enzymes were tested: Dde I, Mnl I, Hae III, Rsa I, Hpa II e Alu I. The restriction patterns obtained with DdeI presented the best profile for separation of the four species of Biomphalaria. The profiles obtained with all the enzymes were used to estimate the genetic distances among the species through analysis of common banding patterns.

Deep Learning Based Solar Flare Forecasting Model. I. Results for Line-of-sight Magnetograms

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xin; Wang, Huaning; Xu, Long; Liu, Jinfu; Li, Rong; Dai, Xinghua

2018-03-01

Solar flares originate from the release of the energy stored in the magnetic field of solar active regions, the triggering mechanism for these flares, however, remains unknown. For this reason, the conventional solar flare forecast is essentially based on the statistic relationship between solar flares and measures extracted from observational data. In the current work, the deep learning method is applied to set up the solar flare forecasting model, in which forecasting patterns can be learned from line-of-sight magnetograms of solar active regions. In order to obtain a large amount of observational data to train the forecasting model and test its performance, a data set is created from line-of-sight magnetogarms of active regions observed by SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI from 1996 April to 2015 October and corresponding soft X-ray solar flares observed by GOES. The testing results of the forecasting model indicate that (1) the forecasting patterns can be automatically reached with the MDI data and they can also be applied to the HMI data; furthermore, these forecasting patterns are robust to the noise in the observational data; (2) the performance of the deep learning forecasting model is not sensitive to the given forecasting periods (6, 12, 24, or 48 hr); (3) the performance of the proposed forecasting model is comparable to that of the state-of-the-art flare forecasting models, even if the duration of the total magnetograms continuously spans 19.5 years. Case analyses demonstrate that the deep learning based solar flare forecasting model pays attention to areas with the magnetic polarity-inversion line or the strong magnetic field in magnetograms of active regions.

A Traffic Restriction Scheme for Enhancing Carpooling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Ding

2017-01-01

Full Text Available For the purpose of alleviating traffic congestion, this paper proposes a scheme to encourage travelers to carpool by traffic restriction. By a variational inequity we describe travelers’ mode (solo driving and carpooling and route choice under user equilibrium principle in the context of fixed demand and detect the performance of a simple network with various restriction links, restriction proportions, and carpooling costs. Then the optimal traffic restriction scheme aiming at minimal total travel cost is designed through a bilevel program and applied to a Sioux Fall network example with genetic algorithm. According to various requirements, optimal restriction regions and proportions for restricted automobiles are captured. From the results it is found that traffic restriction scheme is possible to enhance carpooling and alleviate congestion. However, higher carpooling demand is not always helpful to the whole network. The topology of network, OD demand, and carpooling cost are included in the factors influencing the performance of the traffic system.

Distance labeling schemes for trees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alstrup, Stephen; Gørtz, Inge Li; Bistrup Halvorsen, Esben

2016-01-01

We consider distance labeling schemes for trees: given a tree with n nodes, label the nodes with binary strings such that, given the labels of any two nodes, one can determine, by looking only at the labels, the distance in the tree between the two nodes. A lower bound by Gavoille et al. [Gavoille...... variants such as, for example, small distances in trees [Alstrup et al., SODA, 2003]. We improve the known upper and lower bounds of exact distance labeling by showing that 1/4 log2(n) bits are needed and that 1/2 log2(n) bits are sufficient. We also give (1 + ε)-stretch labeling schemes using Theta...

Measuring Motivation for Appetitive Behaviour: Food-Restricted Broiler Breeder Chickens Cross a Water Barrier to Forage in an Area of Wood Shavings without Food

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Laura M.; Brocklehurst, Sarah; Sandilands, Vicky; Bateson, Melissa; Tolkamp, Bert J.; D'Eath, Rick B.

2014-01-01

Broiler breeders (parents of meat chickens) are selected for fast growth and become obese if fed ad libitum. To avoid this and maintain good health and reproductive ability, they are feed restricted to about 1/3 of what they would eat ad libitum. As a result, they experience chronic hunger and exhibit abnormal behaviour patterns that may indicate stress and frustration. One approach to measuring hunger is to observe how much birds will work, such as pecking a key, for access to more or different types of food. However, the sight, smell, and feedback from consumption of the feed reward changes the context and may artificially raise feeding motivation. To avoid this, we tested broiler breeders in an apparatus in which they could work for access to a wooden platform covered in wood shavings by crossing a water runway which increased in length and depth in 8 successive tests. In the wood shavings area, they could perform exploratory and foraging behaviour (the appetitive phase of feeding) but were never rewarded with feed. Sixty birds were divided into three feed quantity treatments: commercial restriction (R), and twice (2R) or three times (3R) this amount. Overall, birds fed R worked harder to reach the wood shavings area (reached it in a larger number of tests) than 2R and 3R birds (P2R>3R). This indicates that restricted-fed birds were hungry and willing to work for the opportunity to forage even though food was never provided, suggesting that their motivation to perform the appetitive component of feeding behaviour (foraging/food searching) was sufficient to sustain their response. Thus food restriction in broiler breeders is a welfare concern. However these methods could be used to test alternative feeding regimes to attempt to find ways of alleviating hunger while still maintaining healthy growth and reproduction in these birds. PMID:25068283

Molecular motion in restricted geometries

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Molecular dynamics in restricted geometries is known to exhibit anomalous behaviour. Diffusion, translational or rotational, of molecules is altered significantly on confinement in restricted geometries. Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) offers a unique possibility of studying molecular motion in such systems. Both time ...

Tracking frequency laser distance gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phillips, J.D.; Reasenberg, R.D.

2005-01-01

Advanced astronomical missions with greatly enhanced resolution and physics missions of unprecedented accuracy will require laser distance gauges of substantially improved performance. We describe a laser gauge, based on Pound-Drever-Hall locking, in which the optical frequency is adjusted to maintain an interferometer's null condition. This technique has been demonstrated with pm performance. Automatic fringe hopping allows it to track arbitrary distance changes. The instrument is intrinsically free of the nm-scale cyclic bias present in traditional (heterodyne) high-precision laser gauges. The output is a radio frequency, readily measured to sufficient accuracy. The laser gauge has operated in a resonant cavity, which improves precision, can suppress the effects of misalignments, and makes possible precise automatic alignment. The measurement of absolute distance requires little or no additional hardware, and has also been demonstrated. The proof-of-concept version, based on a stabilized HeNe laser and operating on a 0.5 m path, has achieved 10 pm precision with 0.1 s integration time, and 0.1 mm absolute distance accuracy. This version has also followed substantial distance changes as fast as 16 mm/s. We show that, if the precision in optical frequency is a fixed fraction of the linewidth, both incremental and absolute distance precision are independent of the distance measured. We discuss systematic error sources, and present plans for a new version of the gauge based on semiconductor lasers and fiber-coupled components

ADULT LEARNERS IN DISTANCE HIGHER EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NORICA-FELICIA BUCUR

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts at identifying the main features that characterize distance higher education and adult education, respectively, in order to be able to establish to what extent adult learners can fit in distance higher education programs. The historical background of distance learning education, the factors that influence adult learners, and distance learning’s key objectives, effects, issues, advantages, and disadvantages are to be briefly investigated in order to reach the purpose of this paper. Recent developments in Information Technology have led to a new approach to teaching and learning, especially as far as adult learning and distance learning are concerned. Thus, this study will also focus on the consequences of using technology for course design, delivery, and the perception of adult learners participating in distance learning.

Distance and Cable Length Measurement System

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, Sergio Elias; Acosta, Leopoldo; Toledo, Jonay

2009-01-01

A simple, economic and successful design for distance and cable length detection is presented. The measurement system is based on the continuous repetition of a pulse that endlessly travels along the distance to be detected. There is a pulse repeater at both ends of the distance or cable to be measured. The endless repetition of the pulse generates a frequency that varies almost inversely with the distance to be measured. The resolution and distance or cable length range could be adjusted by varying the repetition time delay introduced at both ends and the measurement time. With this design a distance can be measured with centimeter resolution using electronic system with microsecond resolution, simplifying classical time of flight designs which require electronics with picosecond resolution. This design was also applied to position measurement. PMID:22303169

The sighting of Howarth’s Hairstreak (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae: Chrysozephyrus disparatus interpositus Howarth, 1957 from Tenga Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, India, extending its known range

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachit Pratap Singh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The butterfly subspecies, Chrysozephyrus disparatus interpositus is sighted at Tenga Valley, Western Arunachal Pradesh, 58 years after its original description, extending its known range eastwards by 350 km. 

Distance Education in Entwicklungslandern.

Science.gov (United States)

German Foundation for International Development, Bonn (West Germany).

Seminar and conference reports and working papers on distance education of adults, which reflect the experiences of many countries, are presented. Contents include the draft report of the 1979 International Seminar on Distance Education held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was jointly sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa…

Distance sampling methods and applications

CERN Document Server

Buckland, S T; Marques, T A; Oedekoven, C S

2015-01-01

In this book, the authors cover the basic methods and advances within distance sampling that are most valuable to practitioners and in ecology more broadly. This is the fourth book dedicated to distance sampling. In the decade since the last book published, there have been a number of new developments. The intervening years have also shown which advances are of most use. This self-contained book covers topics from the previous publications, while also including recent developments in method, software and application. Distance sampling refers to a suite of methods, including line and point transect sampling, in which animal density or abundance is estimated from a sample of distances to detected individuals. The book illustrates these methods through case studies; data sets and computer code are supplied to readers through the book’s accompanying website.  Some of the case studies use the software Distance, while others use R code. The book is in three parts.  The first part addresses basic methods, the ...

Anxiety and Resistance in Distance Learning

OpenAIRE

Nazime Tuncay; Huseyin Uzunboylu

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' anxiety and resistance towards learning through distance education.Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions: -What are the reasons of students not choosing distancelearning courses? -Which symptoms of anxiety, if any, do distance learner’s exhibit towards distance learning? Does genderhave any significant relationships with distance learners' perception of factors that affect their anxiety and resistance? A totalo...

Eliminating line of sight in elliptic guides using gravitational curving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleno, Kaspar H.; Willendrup, Peter K.; Knudsen, Erik; Lefmann, Kim

2011-01-01

Eliminating fast neutrons (λ<0.5A) by removing direct line of sight between the source and the target sample is a well established technique. This can be done with little loss of transmission for a straight neutron guide by horizontal curving. With an elliptic guide shape, however, curving the guide would result in a breakdown of the geometrical focusing mechanism inherent to the elliptical shape, resulting in unwanted reflections and loss of transmission. We present a new and yet untried idea by curving a guide in such a way as to follow the ballistic curve of a neutron in the gravitational field, while still retaining the elliptic shape seen from the accelerated reference frame of the neutron. Analytical calculations and ray-tracing simulations show that this method is useful for cold neutrons at guide lengths in excess of 100 m. We will present some of the latest results for guide optimization relevant for instrument design at the ESS, in particular an off-backscattering spectrometer which utilizes the gravitational curving, for 6.66 A neutrons over a guide length of 300 m.

Lexical references to sensory modalities in verbal descriptions of people and objects by congenitally blind, late blind and sighted adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chauvey, Valérie; Hatwell, Yvette; Verine, Bertrand; Kaminski, Gwenael; Gentaz, Edouard

2012-01-01

Some previous studies have revealed that while congenitally blind people have a tendency to refer to visual attributes ('verbalism'), references to auditory and tactile attributes are scarcer. However, this statement may be challenged by current theories claiming that cognition is linked to the perceptions and actions from which it derives. Verbal productions by the blind could therefore differ from those of the sighted because of their specific perceptual experience. The relative weight of each sense in oral descriptions was compared in three groups with different visual experience Congenitally blind (CB), late blind (LB) and blindfolded sighted (BS) adults. Participants were asked to give an oral description of their mother and their father, and of four familiar manually-explored objects. The number of visual references obtained when describing people was relatively high, and was the same in the CB and BS groups ("verbalism" in the CB). While references to touch were scarce in all groups, the CB referred to audition more frequently than the LB and the BS groups. There were, by contrast, no differences between groups in descriptions of objects, and references to touch dominated the other modalities. The relative weight of each modality varies according to the cognitive processes involved in each task. Long term memory, internal representations and information acquired through social communication, are at work in the People task, seem to favour visual references in both the blind and the sighted, whereas the congenitally blind also refer often to audition. By contrast, the perceptual encoding and working memory at work in the Objects task enhance sensory references to touch in a similar way in all groups. These results attenuate the impact of verbalism in blindness, and support (albeit moderately) the idea that the perceptual experience of the congenitally blind is to some extent reflected in their cognition.

Lexical references to sensory modalities in verbal descriptions of people and objects by congenitally blind, late blind and sighted adults.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valérie Chauvey

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Some previous studies have revealed that while congenitally blind people have a tendency to refer to visual attributes ('verbalism', references to auditory and tactile attributes are scarcer. However, this statement may be challenged by current theories claiming that cognition is linked to the perceptions and actions from which it derives. Verbal productions by the blind could therefore differ from those of the sighted because of their specific perceptual experience. The relative weight of each sense in oral descriptions was compared in three groups with different visual experience Congenitally blind (CB, late blind (LB and blindfolded sighted (BS adults. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants were asked to give an oral description of their mother and their father, and of four familiar manually-explored objects. The number of visual references obtained when describing people was relatively high, and was the same in the CB and BS groups ("verbalism" in the CB. While references to touch were scarce in all groups, the CB referred to audition more frequently than the LB and the BS groups. There were, by contrast, no differences between groups in descriptions of objects, and references to touch dominated the other modalities. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The relative weight of each modality varies according to the cognitive processes involved in each task. Long term memory, internal representations and information acquired through social communication, are at work in the People task, seem to favour visual references in both the blind and the sighted, whereas the congenitally blind also refer often to audition. By contrast, the perceptual encoding and working memory at work in the Objects task enhance sensory references to touch in a similar way in all groups. These results attenuate the impact of verbalism in blindness, and support (albeit moderately the idea that the perceptual experience of the congenitally blind is to some extent

Feedback control of tearing modes through ECRH with launcher mirror steering and power modulation using a line-of-sight ECE diagnostic

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hennen, B.A.; Westerhof, E.; Nuij, P.W.J.M.; Ayten, B.; Baar, de M.R.; Bongers, W.A.; Bürger, A.; Lazzari, De D.; Oosterbeek, J.W.; Thoen, D.J.; Steinbuch, M.

2010-01-01

A demonstration of real-time feedback control for autonomous tracking and stabilization of m/n = 2/1 tearing modes in a tokamak using Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating and Current Drive (ECRH/ECCD) is reported. The prototype system on TEXTOR combines in the same sight-line an Electron Cyclotron

Revised Distances to 21 Supernova Remnants

Science.gov (United States)

Ranasinghe, S.; Leahy, D. A.

2018-05-01

We carry out a comprehensive study of H I 21 cm line observations and 13CO line observations of 21 supernova remnants (SNRs). The aim of the study is to search for H I absorption features to obtain kinematic distances in a consistent manner. The 21 SNRs are in the region of sky covered by the Very Large Array Galactic Plane Survey (H I 21 cm observations) and Galactic Ring Survey (13CO line observations). We obtain revised distances for 10 SNRs based on new evidence in the H I and 13CO observations. We revise distances for the other 11 SNRs based on an updated rotation curve and new error analysis. The mean change in distance for the 21 SNRs is ≃25%, i.e., a change of 1.5 kpc compared to a mean distance for the sample of 6.4 kpc. This has a significant impact on interpretation of the physical state of these SNRs. For example, using a Sedov model, age and explosion energy scale as the square of distance, and inferred ISM density scales as distance.

A cognitively grounded measure of pronunciation distance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martijn Wieling

Full Text Available In this study we develop pronunciation distances based on naive discriminative learning (NDL. Measures of pronunciation distance are used in several subfields of linguistics, including psycholinguistics, dialectology and typology. In contrast to the commonly used Levenshtein algorithm, NDL is grounded in cognitive theory of competitive reinforcement learning and is able to generate asymmetrical pronunciation distances. In a first study, we validated the NDL-based pronunciation distances by comparing them to a large set of native-likeness ratings given by native American English speakers when presented with accented English speech. In a second study, the NDL-based pronunciation distances were validated on the basis of perceptual dialect distances of Norwegian speakers. Results indicated that the NDL-based pronunciation distances matched perceptual distances reasonably well with correlations ranging between 0.7 and 0.8. While the correlations were comparable to those obtained using the Levenshtein distance, the NDL-based approach is more flexible as it is also able to incorporate acoustic information other than sound segments.

Distance : between deixis and perspectivity

OpenAIRE

Meermann, Anastasia; Sonnenhauser, Barbara

2015-01-01

Discussing exemplary applications of the notion of distance in linguistic analysis, this paper shows that very different phenomena are described in terms of this concept. It is argued that in order to overcome the problems arising from this mixup, deixis, distance and perspectivity have to be distinguished and their interrelations need to be described. Thereby, distance emerges as part of a recursive process mediating between situation-bound deixis and discourse-level perspectivity. This is i...

Value of the asymmetric film-screen system InSight HC in chest imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haeussler, M.D.; Lenzen, H.; Reckels, C.; Peters, P.E.

1994-01-01

The asymmetric film-screen system InSight HC represents a development to optimize chest imaging. The purpose of the study was to compare the exposure range and the image quality of this new system with a conventional film-screen system. The optical density of images in both techniques was measured and the image quality of 100 chest images from 50 intensive-care patients was evaluated. 4 observers graded the image quality of organic, non-organic and pathological structures. Statistical evaluation was performed by interobserver analysis. The asymmetric film-screen system shows a larger exposure range and a superior image quality in the mediastinal field. The image quality in the peripheral field must be judged critically and improved especially because of the poor recognizability of pneumothoraces. (orig.) [de

WINROP algorithm for prediction of sight threatening retinopathy of prematurity: Initial experience in Indian preterm infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaurav Sanghi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To determine the efficacy of the online monitoring tool, WINROP (https://winrop.com/ in detecting sight-threatening type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP in Indian preterm infants. Methods: Birth weight, gestational age, and weekly weight measurements of seventy preterm infants (<32 weeks gestation born between June 2014 and August 2016 were entered into WINROP algorithm. Based on weekly weight gain, WINROP algorithm signaled an alarm to indicate that the infant is at risk for sight-threatening Type 1 ROP. ROP screening was done according to standard guidelines. The negative and positive predictive values were calculated using the sensitivity, specificity, and prevalence of ROP type 1 for the study group. 95% confidence interval (CI was calculated. Results: Of the seventy infants enrolled in the study, 31 (44.28% developed Type 1 ROP. WINROP alarm was signaled in 74.28% (52/70 of all infants and 90.32% (28/31 of infants treated for Type 1 ROP. The specificity was 38.46% (15/39. The positive predictive value was 53.84% (95% CI: 39.59–67.53 and negative predictive value was 83.3% (95% CI: 57.73–95.59. Conclusion: This is the first study from India using a weight gain-based algorithm for prediction of ROP. Overall sensitivity of WINROP algorithm in detecting Type 1 ROP was 90.32%. The overall specificity was 38.46%. Population-specific tweaking of algorithm may improve the result and practical utility for ophthalmologists and neonatologists.

28 CFR 804.3 - Restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Restrictions. 804.3 Section 804.3 Judicial Administration COURT SERVICES AND OFFENDER SUPERVISION AGENCY FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS § 804.3 Restrictions. (a) The Agency is not authorized to accept gifts of money, stock...

5 CFR 1304.4605 - Post-employment restrictions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Post-employment restrictions. 1304.4605 Section 1304.4605 Administrative Personnel OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES POST EMPLOYMENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST § 1304.4605 Post-employment restrictions. (a) General Restrictions Applicable...

The Use of an Autonomous Pedagogical Agent and Automatic Speech Recognition for Teaching Sight Words to Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Saadatzi, Mohammad Nasser; Pennington, Robert C.; Welch, Karla C.; Graham, James H.; Scott, Renee E.

2017-01-01

In the current study, we examined the effects of an instructional package comprised of an autonomous pedagogical agent, automatic speech recognition, and constant time delay during the instruction of reading sight words aloud to young adults with autism spectrum disorder. We used a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to…

Mapping the Heiles Supershell GSH 90-28-17

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Sharon Lynn; Beckey, Jacob Lucas; Welsh, Barry; Kuehne, John W.

2017-01-01

Large-diameter shells of neutral gas called superbubbles were first detected by the 21-cm radio surveys of Heiles (1979,1984) and are likely formed by stellar winds and supernova explosions. Some of these interstellar voids (including GSH 90-28-17) span more than 10 degrees of the sky. However, only a few studies have been able to identify the power source of a particular Heiles shell. The problem is that HI 21cm emission can arise at all distances along a given sight-line, so while we many know the speed at which neutral gas is moving, we do not know the distance of this gas. Indeed, a given line of sight may penetrate multiple shell walls making the interpretation of the radio data very challenging.Here we report on an absorption study of the interstellar absorption lines of NaI, CaII, CaI, CH and CH+ detected towards nine stellar continuum sources with sight-line distances increasing from 90 pc to >1kpc in the direction of the supershell GSH 90-28-17. Our observations, recorded with the Sandiford echelle spectrograph on the 2.1m telescope at the McDonald Observatory (Texas) in August 2016, reveal gas components with velocities between -10 and -50 km/s orginating from distances >400 pc that we can associate with the expansion of the GSH 90-28-17 shell.

The distances of the Galactic Novae

Science.gov (United States)

Ozdonmez, Aykut; Guver, Tolga; Cabrera-Lavers, Antonio; Ak, Tansel

2016-07-01

Using location of the RC stars on the CMDs obtained from the UKIDSS, VISTA and 2MASS photometry, we have derived the reddening-distance relations towards each Galactic nova for which at least one independent reddening measurement exists. We were able to determine the distances of 72 Galactic novae and set lower limits on the distances of 45 systems. The reddening curves of the systems are presented. These curves can be also used to estimate reddening or the distance of any source, whose location is close to the position of the nova in our sample. The distance measurement method in our study can be easily applicable to any source, especially for ones that concentrated along the Galactic plane.

Restrictive Cardiomyopathy

Science.gov (United States)

... up in the circulatory system. In time, the heart fails. What causes it? Restrictive cardiomyopathy is often caused by diseases in other parts of the body. One known cause is cardiac ... build up in the heart tissue, making the tissue stiff and thickened. Cardiac ...

ETUDE - European Trade Union Distance Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Creanor, Linda; Walker, Steve

2000-01-01

Describes transnational distance learning activities among European trade union educators carried out as part of the European Trade Union Distance Education (ETUDE) project, supported by the European Commission. Highlights include the context of international trade union distance education; tutor training course; tutors' experiences; and…

Repeated Sleep Restriction in Adolescent Rats Altered Sleep Patterns and Impaired Spatial Learning/Memory Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Su-Rong; Sun, Hui; Huang, Zhi-Li; Yao, Ming-Hui; Qu, Wei-Min

2012-01-01

Study Objectives: To investigate possible differences in the effect of repeated sleep restriction (RSR) during adolescence and adulthood on sleep homeostasis and spatial learning and memory ability. Design: The authors examined electroencephalograms of rats as they were subjected to 4-h daily sleep deprivation that continued for 7 consecutive days and assessed the spatial learning and memory by Morris water maze test (WMT). Participants: Adolescent and adult rats. Measurements and Results: Adolescent rats exhibited a similar amount of rapid eye movement (REM) and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep with higher slow wave activity (SWA, 0.5-4 Hz) and fewer episodes and conversions with prolonged durations, indicating they have better sleep quality than adult rats. After RSR, adult rats showed strong rebound of REM sleep by 31% on sleep deprivation day 1; this value was 37% on sleep deprivation day 7 in adolescents compared with 20-h baseline level. On sleep deprivation day 7, SWA in adult and adolescent rats increased by 47% and 33%, and such elevation lasted for 5 h and 7 h, respectively. Furthermore, the authors investigated the effects of 4-h daily sleep deprivation immediately after the water maze training sessions on spatial cognitive performance. Adolescent rats sleep-restricted for 7 days traveled a longer distance to find the hidden platform during the acquisition training and had fewer numbers of platform crossings in the probe trial than those in the control group, something that did not occur in the sleep-deprived adult rats. Conclusions: Repeated sleep restriction (RSR) altered sleep profiles and mildly impaired spatial learning and memory capability in adolescent rats. Citation: Yang SR; Sun H; Huang ZL; Yao MH; Qu WM. Repeated sleep restriction in adolescent rats altered sleep patterns and impaired spatial learning/memory ability. SLEEP 2012;35(6):849-859. PMID:22654204

7 CFR 322.28 - General requirements; restricted articles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false General requirements; restricted articles. 322.28... EQUIPMENT Importation and Transit of Restricted Articles § 322.28 General requirements; restricted articles. (a) The following articles from any region are restricted articles: (1) Dead bees of any genus; (2...