Laser induced fluoroescence from algae: Results of a ship-borne field test

A basis is provided for the feasibility of air-borne laser fluorosensing not only of chlorophyll but also of pollutants such as oils and chemicals. There was a satisfactory correlation between the laser data and those obtained manually. The absolute determination of the chlorophyll concentration is discussed

PuLSE-I: Deriving instances from a product line infrastructure

Reusing assets during application engineering promises to improve the efficiency of systems development. However, in order to benefit from reusable assets, application engineering processes must incorporate when and how to use the reusable assets during single system development. However, when and how to use a reusable asset depends on what types of reusable assets have been created.Product line engineering approaches produce a reusable infrastructure for a set of products. In this paper, we present the application engineering process associated with the PuLSE product line software engineering method - PuLSE-I. PuLSE-I details how single systems can be built efficiently from the reusable product line infrastructure built during the other PuLSE activities

Six Instructional Best Practices for Online Engagement and Retention

Despite the growing popularity of online classes, lower retention rates have raised concerns about the quality of online higher education. This article outlines six instructional practices to enhance online engagement and retention. Specific strategies to build community and student centered environments are discussed

Knowledge sharing and language diversity in organisations: Influence of code switching and convergence

Individual-level knowledge sharing is an important collaborative activity that is critical for organisational performance. As multilingual workplaces are becoming common, it has become increasingly important to understand the impact of language on knowledge sharing. Although previous research on knowledge management acknowledges the influence of language on knowledge sharing, the language use (practices) that actually conditions this effect remains largely unexamined. In this paper, we introduce two types of language practice, known as code switching and convergence, in sociolinguistics. By using insights on language from sociolinguistics, we attempt to show how code switching and convergence by organisational employees may influence individual-level knowledge sharing in multilingual organisations. We also suggest some new research directions for language and knowledge sharing in both theoretical and methodological terms. Understanding the influence of code switching and convergence on knowledge sharing is one step toward a better understanding of knowledge sharing as a whole in multilingual organisations. It would enhance the odds of developing knowledge management strategies that may neutralise or at least limit the negative influence of language diversity on knowledge sharing.<br/

Organisasi sosial lokal suku bangsa dayak ngaju di kalimantan tengah

Buku ini berisi tentang organisasi sosial lokal suku bangsa dayak ngaju di Kalimantan Tengah. Kekuatan pemerintah daerah ini akan sangat terbantu bilamana ada organisasi-organisas1 sosial lokal yang bersifat tradisional yang masih aktif, peran organisasi sosial tradisional ini pada umumnya merupakan suatu kearifan lokal yang secara langsung berkaitan erat dengan kehidupan sosial budaya masyarakat, khususnya masalah-masalah sosial kemasyarak;itan

Services for reducing duration of hospital care for acute stroke patients

&lt;p&gt;Background: Stroke patients conventionally receive a substantial part of their rehabilitation in hospital. Services have now been developed which offer patients in hospital an early discharge with rehabilitation at home (early supported discharge (ESD)).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Objectives: To establish the effects and costs of ESD services compared with conventional services.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Search methods: We searched the trials registers of the Cochrane Stroke Group (January 2012) and the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group, MEDLINE (2008 to 7 February 2012), EMBASE (2008 to 7 February 2012) and CINAHL (1982 to 7 February 2012). In an effort to identify further published, unpublished and ongoing trials we searched 17 trial registers (February 2012), performed citation tracking of included studies, checked reference lists of relevant articles and contacted trialists.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials recruiting stroke patients in hospital to receive either conventional care or any service intervention which has provided rehabilitation and support in a community setting with an aim of reducing the duration of hospital care.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Data collection and analysis: The primary patient outcome was the composite end-point of death or long-term dependency recorded at the end of scheduled follow up. Two review authors scrutinised trials and categorised them on their eligibility.We then sought standardised individual patient data from the primary trialists. We analysed the results for all trials and for subgroups of patients and services, in particular whether the intervention was provided by a co-ordinated multidisciplinary team (co-ordinated ESD team) or not.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Main results: Outcome data are currently available for 14 trials (1957 patients). Patients tended to be a selected elderly group withmoderate disability. The ESD group showed significant reductions (P &#61; 0.0001) in the length of hospital stay equivalent to approximately seven days. Overall, the odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) for death, death or institutionalisation, death or dependency at the end of scheduled follow-up were OR 0.91 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.25, P = 0.58), OR 0.78 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.00, P = 0.05) and OR 0.80 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.97, P = 0.02) respectively. The greatest benefits were seen in the trials evaluating a co-ordinated ESD team and in stroke patients with mild to moderate disability. Improvements were also seen in patients’ extended activities of daily living scores (standardised mean difference 0.12, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.25, P = 0.05) and satisfaction with services (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.08 to 2.38, P = 0.02) but no statistically significant differences were seen in carers’ subjective health status, mood or satisfaction with services. The apparent benefits were no longer statistically significant at five-year follow-up.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Authors’ conclusions: Appropriately resourced ESD services provided for a selected group of stroke patients can reduce long-term dependency and admission to institutional care as well as reducing the length of hospital stay. We observed no adverse impact on the mood or subjective health status of patients or carers.&lt;/p&gt

Brief Report: Is Impaired Classification of Subtle Facial Expressions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Related to Atypical Emotion Category Boundaries?

Impairments in recognizing subtle facial expressions, in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may relate to difficulties in constructing prototypes of these expressions. Eighteen children with predominantly intellectual low-functioning ASD (LFA, IQ <80) and two control groups (mental and chronological age matched), were assessed for their ability to classify emotional faces, of high, medium and low intensities, as happy or angry. For anger, the LFA group made more errors for lower intensity expressions than the control groups, classifications did not differ for happiness. This is the first study to find that the LFA group made more across-valence errors than controls. These data are consistent with atypical facial expression processing in ASD being associated with differences in the structure of emotion categories

Field Immune Assessment during Simulated Planetary Exploration in the Canadian Arctic

Dysregulation of the immune system has been shown to occur during space flight, although the detailed nature of the phenomenon and the clinical risks for exploration class missions has yet to be established. In addition, the growing clinical significance of immune system evaluation combined with epidemic infectious disease rates in third world countries provides a strong rationale for the development of field-compatible clinical immunology techniques and equipment. In July 2002 NASA performed a comprehensive field immunology assessment on crewmembers participating in the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island in the high Canadian Arctic. The purpose of the study was to evaluate mission-associated effects on the human immune system, as well as to evaluate techniques developed for processing immune samples in remote field locations. Ten HMP-2002 participants volunteered for the study. A field protocol was developed at NASA-JSC for performing sample collection, blood staining/processing for immunophenotype analysis, wholeblood mitogenic culture for functional assessments and cell-sample preservation on-location at Devon Island. Specific assays included peripheral leukocyte distribution; constitutively activated T cells, intracellular cytokine profiles and plasma EBV viral antibody levels. Study timepoints were L-30, midmission and R+60. The protocol developed for immune sample processing in remote field locations functioned properly. Samples were processed in the field location, and stabilized for subsequent analysis at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The data indicated that some phenotype, immune function and stress hormone changes occurred in the HMP field participants that were largely distinct from pre-mission baseline and post-mission recovery data. These immune changes appear similar to those observed in Astronauts following spaceflight. The sample processing protocol developed for this study may have applications for immune assessment during exploration-class space missions or in remote terrestrial field locations. The data validate the use of the HMP as a ground-based spaceflight/planetary exploration analog for some aspects of human physiology

The development of emotion recognition from facial expressions and non-linguistic vocalizations during childhood

Sensitivity to facial and vocal emotion is fundamental to children's social competence. Previous research has focused on children's facial emotion recognition, and few studies have investigated non-linguistic vocal emotion processing in childhood. We compared facial and vocal emotion recognition and processing biases in 4- to 11-year-olds and adults. Eighty-eight 4- to 11-year-olds and 21 adults participated. Participants viewed/listened to faces and voices (angry, happy, and sad) at three intensity levels (50%, 75%, and 100%). Non-linguistic tones were used. For each modality, participants completed an emotion identification task. Accuracy and bias for each emotion and modality were compared across 4- to 5-, 6- to 9- and 10- to 11-year-olds and adults. The results showed that children's emotion recognition improved with age; preschoolers were less accurate than other groups. Facial emotion recognition reached adult levels by 11 years, whereas vocal emotion recognition continued to develop in late childhood. Response bias decreased with age. For both modalities, sadness recognition was delayed across development relative to anger and happiness. The results demonstrate that developmental trajectories of emotion processing differ as a function of emotion type and stimulus modality. In addition, vocal emotion processing showed a more protracted developmental trajectory, compared to facial emotion processing. The results have important implications for programmes aiming to improve children's socio-emotional competence

Social representation of “loud music” in young adults: A cross-cultural study

Background: Exposure to recreational noise, particularly music exposure, is considered one of the biggest public health hazards of our time. Some important influencing factors such as socioeconomic status, educational background, and cross-cultural perspectives have previously been found to be associated with attitudes toward loud music and the use of hearing protection. Although culture seems to play an important role, there is relatively little known about how it influences perceptions regarding loud music exposure in young adults. Purpose: The present study was aimed to explore cross-cultural perceptions of and reactions to loud music in young adults (18‐25 yr) using the theory of social representations. Research Design:The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Study Sample: The study sample included young adults (n = 534) from five different countries (India, Iran, Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom) who were recruited using convenience sampling. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a content analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and also χ2 analysis. Results: Fairly equal numbers of positive and negative connotations (∼40%) were noted in all countries. However, the χ2 analysis showed significant differences between the countries (most positive connotations were found in India and Iran, whereas the most negative connotations were found in the United Kingdom and Portugal) regarding the informants’ perception of loud music. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category “negative emotions and actions” occurred most frequently, immediately followed by the category “positive emotions and actions.” The other most frequently occurring categories included “acoustics,” “physical aliment,” “location,” and “ear and hearing problems.” These six categories formed the central nodes of the social representation of loud music exposure in the global index. Although some similarities and differences were noted among the social representations toward loud music among countries, it is noteworthy that more similarities than differences were noted among countries. Conclusions: The study results suggest that “loud music” is perceived to have both positive and negative aspects within society and culture. We suggest that the health promotion strategies should focus on changing societal norms and regulations to be more effective in decreasing the noise- and/or music-induced auditory symptoms among young adults