Analysis of finger movement coordination during the Variable Dexterity Test and comparative activities of daily living

Background/Aims: This study aimed to analyse and compare finger coordination patterns during the performance of the Variable Dexterity Test (VDT) and comparative daily tasks. Methods: An optoelectronic system was used to record the joint angles of 10 healthy participants performing the VDT and daily tasks. Joint angles from digits 1 to 5 were cross-correlated across the tasks, providing a measure of the degree of finger movement coordination. Results: Correlation coefficients showed identifiable coordination patterns among the finger movements under analysis. Low correlation coefficients suggested the presence of independent finger movements during the performance of the selected tasks. Conclusions: Finger movement coordination patterns observed during activities of daily living are comparable with the patterns observed during performance of the Variable Dexterity Test for the three grasping patterns analysed in the stud

The Relations Between the English and the Scottish Reformations

The purpose of the writer\u27s original investigation was to find out what influences and connections existed between the two Reformations. The purpose of this study is to show that before Henry VIII English efforts at union were almost wholly political. At least there is no mention of religious-political parties. War and conciliation were the diplomatic weapons. After Henry\u27s break with the Pope by the Act of Supremacy in 1534 and to 1707 when the final union of the crowns took place political and religious relations became closely entwined. Henry and his successors, particularly Elizabeth, used religion in fostering the political goal of union. Knox and the Scottish Protestant preachers also worked for a political union but they did so because they were convinced as Knox was convinced: “…humanly speaking, the fate of the whole Reformation movement was bound up with an alliance between a Protestant England and a Protestant Scotland.

THE INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

The purpose of this case study is to understand how management and leadership ideas that were present in Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky influenced management and leadership practices adopted by Scott County Public Schools during 2002-2011. Data for the study were collected during the summer of 2011, using individual and focus group interviews including teachers, administrators, community and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky employees; on-site participant observations, and documents. This study examined Scott County Public Schools implementation of the Quest for Useful Employment Skills for Tomorrow, the formation of The Center for Quality People and Organizations, changes in Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) curriculum, a shift to a global perspective, continuous improvement, and increased cooperation with business and community partners. Themes that emerged from the data includes: (a) the need to establish a continuous improvement model; (b) the creation and implementation of a continuous improvement model; (c) global perspectives; and (d) the pivotal role of school district leadership in developing corporate relationships and changing management and leadership practices. Findings suggest that a confluence of social, economic and political events contributed to situating a major, multinational corporation in a small Kentucky community that espoused a singular organizational and leadership philosophy to Scott County, positive public support for school improvement, and internal commitment of staff and administrators laid a foundation for the establishment of a continuous improvement model. This model created change that enhanced the professional practice of SCPS. This continuous improvement model or any model being successfully implemented in public schools comes down to the leadership of the Board of Education, district office staff, principals, and teachers-- but most importantly, the superintendent. “Success or failure of public schools has been directly linked to the influence of the district superintendent” (Bjork, 1993, p. 249)

The hand of Homo naledi

A nearly complete right hand of an adult hominin was recovered from the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. Based on associated hominin material, the bones of this hand are attributed to Homo naledi. This hand reveals a long, robust thumb and derived wrist morphology that is shared with Neandertals and modern humans, and considered adaptive for intensified manual manipulation. However, the finger bones are longer and more curved than in most australopiths, indicating frequent use of the hand during life for strong grasping during locomotor climbing and suspension. These markedly curved digits in combination with an otherwise human-like wrist and palm indicate a significant degree of climbing, despite the derived nature of many aspects of the hand and other regions of the postcranial skeleton in H. naledi

Astrobiological Complexity with Probabilistic Cellular Automata

Search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence constitutes one of the major endeavors in science, but has yet been quantitatively modeled only rarely and in a cursory and superficial fashion. We argue that probabilistic cellular automata (PCA) represent the best quantitative framework for modeling astrobiological history of the Milky Way and its Galactic Habitable Zone. The relevant astrobiological parameters are to be modeled as the elements of the input probability matrix for the PCA kernel. With the underlying simplicity of the cellular automata constructs, this approach enables a quick analysis of large and ambiguous input parameters' space. We perform a simple clustering analysis of typical astrobiological histories and discuss the relevant boundary conditions of practical importance for planning and guiding actual empirical astrobiological and SETI projects. In addition to showing how the present framework is adaptable to more complex situations and updated observational databases from current and near-future space missions, we demonstrate how numerical results could offer a cautious rationale for continuation of practical SETI searches.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables; added journal reference belo

Modelling and analysis of time dependent processes in a chemically reactive mixture

In this paper, we study the propagation of sound waves and the dynamics of local wave disturbances induced by spontaneous internal fluctuations in a reactive mixture. We consider a non-diffusive, non-heat conducting and non-viscous mixture described by an Eulerian set of evolution equations. The model is derived from the kinetic theory in a hydrodynamic regime of a fast chemical reaction. The reactive source terms are explicitly computed from the kinetic theory and are built in themodel in a proper way. For both time-dependent problems, we first derive the appropriate dispersion relation, which retains the main effects of the chemical process, and then investigate the influence of the chemical reaction on the properties of interest in the problems studied here. We complete our study by developing a rather detailed analysis using the Hydrogen–Chlorine system as reference. Several numerical computations are included illustrating the behavior of the phase velocity and attenuation coefficient in a low-frequency regime and describing the spectrum of the eigenmodes in the small wavenumber limit.The paper is partially supported by the Research Centre of Mathematics of the University of Minho, with the Portuguese Funds from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Project UID/MAT/00013/2013. We wish to thank the anonymous Referees for their valuable comments and suggestions that helped us to improve the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Measurement of CP-violation asymmetries in D0 to Ks pi+ pi-

We report a measurement of time-integrated CP-violation asymmetries in the resonant substructure of the three-body decay D0 to Ks pi+ pi- using CDF II data corresponding to 6.0 invfb of integrated luminosity from Tevatron ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The charm mesons used in this analysis come from D*+(2010) to D0 pi+ and D*-(2010) to D0bar pi-, where the production flavor of the charm meson is determined by the charge of the accompanying pion. We apply a Dalitz-amplitude analysis for the description of the dynamic decay structure and use two complementary approaches, namely a full Dalitz-plot fit employing the isobar model for the contributing resonances and a model-independent bin-by-bin comparison of the D0 and D0bar Dalitz plots. We find no CP-violation effects and measure an asymmetry of ACP = (-0.05 +- 0.57 (stat) +- 0.54 (syst))% for the overall integrated CP-violation asymmetry, consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 15 page

Expression of Mcm2, geminin and Ki67 in normal oral mucosa, oral epithelial dysplasias and their corresponding squamous-cell carcinomas

Proteins necessary for the normal regulation of the cell cycle include minichromosome maintenance protein 2 (Mcm2) and geminin. These are overexpressed in several premalignant and malignant tumours. The Mcm2/Ki67 ratio can be used to estimate the population of cells that are in early G1 (licensed to proliferate), and the geminin/Ki67 ratio can determine the relative length of G1. A high ratio indicates a short G1 and a high rate of cell proliferation. Mcm2 and geminin have been scarcely explored in oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and oral squamous-cell carcinoma (OSCC). The purpose of this study was to identify the expression pattern of Mcm2, Ki67 and geminin in normal oral mucosa (NOM), OED and their subsequent OSCC, to determine if expression could help predict the prognosis of OED. Paraffin sections of 41 OED cases that progressed to carcinoma, 40 OED without malignant progression, 38 OSCC and 15 NOM were immunostained with antibodies against Mcm2, geminin and Ki67. Labelling indices (LIs) increased progressively from NOM, OED and OSCC (Mcm2, Po0.001; geminin, Po0.001 and Ki67, Po0.001). In all the OED cases (n ¼ 81) the levels of expression of Mcm2 (LI, 73.6), geminin (LI, 24.4) and Ki67 (LI, 44.5) were elevated indicating a constant cellcycle re-entry. When the OED groups were compared, Mcm2 protein expression was higher in the OED with malignant progression (P ¼ 0.04), likewise there was a significant increase in the Mcm2/Ki67 and geminin/Ki67 ratios (P ¼ 0.04 and 0.02 respectively). Mcm2 and geminin proteins seem to be novel biomarkers of growth and may be useful prognostic tools for OED