Identification Of Different Levels Research Articles

A psychological study of Cantonese tone confusion based on computer experimental data

The paper is based on computer experimental data and aims at investigating the pronunciation of Cantonese tones by 40 participants in Guancheng. Accordingly, three methods, namely, the preparatory pronunciation, pronunciation experiment and perception experiment were applied to examine the tones. The methods correspond to three levels of psychological identification. As the result, confusions of Cantonese tones were summarized and the related reasons were analyzed. The psychological identification of different levels was found to show different trends in the confusion of the tone. Moreover, according to the preparatory experiment, as shallow level psychological identity, the similarity of the adjustment and modulation can be argued to be the internal reason of the confusion. As the medium level psychological identity, the pronunciation experiment suggested that the weakening of socialized pronunciation can lead to tone confusion. Finally, as the deep psychological identity, the experimental study of perception demonstrated the perceptual similarity as the direct psychological motivation of the confusion..

Transcending boundaries: Unleashing the potential of multi-organ point-of-care ultrasound in acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome characterized by a rapid increase in serum creatinine levels or a decrease in urine output or both. In spite of thorough history-taking, physical examination, and laboratory analysis, there are limitations in the diagnostic process and clinical monitoring of AKI. Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS), a limited ultrasound study performed by clinicians at the bedside, has emerged as a valuable tool in different clinical settings. In this discussion, we explore the potential of POCUS performed by nephrologists to address specific questions encountered in the diagnosis and management of AKI patients. POCUS not only aids in excluding hydronephrosis but also provides real-time insights into hemodynamics, enabling formulation of individualized treatment plans. Further studies are required to assess the impact of multi-organ POCUS on pragmatic patient outcomes related to AKI, as well as its potential in risk stratification and identification of different levels of AKI severity and pathophysiological signatures.

The Mechanical Characterization of Pyroclastic Deposits for Landslide Early Warning Systems

Broad mountainous areas in the western Campania (southern Italy), where young pyroclastic deposits extensively outcrop, frequently experience rainfall-induced slope movements of different degrees of mobility, causing heavy damage and fatalities. Such landslides cannot be easily mitigated, and the implementation of physically based early warning systems is still not able to predict the post-failure evolution of slope movements and the exposed areas at risk. This paper is devoted to overcoming this limit. To this end, the mechanical characterization of pyroclastic soil, carried out through an extensive laboratory testing program, is presented and compared with those of two other ashy soils of different depositional mechanisms. The results show that the depositional mode influences soil properties; to begin with, it affects the unsaturated shear strength, whose intercept of cohesion is up to 5 kPa higher in ashes of flow deposition than in airfall ash deposits. The saturated undrained soil response allowed for the identification of different levels of susceptibility to the liquefaction of pyroclastic deposits, which is one of the main factors governing the post-failure evolution of landslides. Gathering all the acquired information, including saturated and unsaturated soil shear strength, permeability function, and water retention curves, into a soil database, it was possible to present all data under a unitary framework. Finally, the implementation of the proposed flowchart for a simplified assessment of post-failure evolution to be employed in regional early warning systems can enhance our knowledge of the areas at risk.

Walkable Cities: Using the Smart Pedestrian Net Method for Evaluating a Pedestrian Network in Guimarães, Portugal

Evidence for the benefits of walking has attracted the attention of researchers and practitioners and encouraged them to develop healthier and more sustainable walkable cities. Many methods and approaches have been developed to measure walkability; namely, by using land use attributes. This paper examines the transferability of the Geographic Information System (GIS) based multi-criteria method developed in the Smart Pedestrian Net (SPN) research project to evaluate the level of walkability in a pedestrian network in Guimarães, Portugal. The method involves the assessment of 19 built environment and streetscape attributes, which were scored by a group of experts following the analytic hierarchy process. The method proved to be efficient in evaluating the pedestrian network and in mapping walkability in the study area. Around 65% of the street lengths scored above 0.60, indicating that the overall pedestrian conditions are favourable, with the best performance criteria being those related to accessibility and street connectivity. The method also allowed for the identification of different levels of walkability within the study area and the lack of a pedestrian network of highly scored streets. According to the results, the SPN method could be replicated in other cities to evaluate walkability and could be a useful planning tool to support policies towards developing more walkable cities.

Multipartner alliances among small firms promoted by external managers: Risk and governance mechanisms

External managers may be key to setting up and managing multi-partner alliances (MPAs) among small firms, but their role has not yet been integrated in previous literature on risk and governance structures. This longitudinal matched-pair case study investigates the dynamics between relational and performance risks and control-based and trust-based governance mechanisms, in MPAs promoted and managed by external managers. The integration of external managers allows the identification of different levels of trust and control among partners. This is also the case between such partners and the external manager who controls/trusts, who is controlled/trusted, and how this changes over time. Our results show that trust and control are influenced by both the external actor and partner’s risk perceptions; they also complement each other to manage high performance and relational risks in a dynamic process. We extend prior knowledge by showing that the analysis of control/trust complementarity must take into consideration both partner-partner and partner-manager relationships.

Color approach to the analysis of white crystal cane sugar for the detection of solid impurities.

Sugar is consumed worldwide and so the quality control of sugar cane is necessary. Solid impurities are an inherent part of industrial sugar processing. Dark particles and adulteration with sand must be controlled. Sixty-four samples of white crystal cane sugar analysis in the presence of both kinds of impurities (dark particles and sand) were assessed using an affordable digital image system and a multivariate calibration strategy. The quality parameters for the multivariate calibration models obtained to estimate sugar content were remarkable. Color descriptors from digital images allowed identification of different levels of sugar content for the following three ranges: 0-49.99 wt%, 50.03-78.99 wt%, and 82.99-100 wt%. The multivariate model using red (R), green (G), Blue (B), and luminosity (L) color descriptors showed low standard errors of cross-validation (SECV) and validation (SEV) of 7.63 and 6.01 wt%, respectively. The method is affordable and reliable, and might aid quick screening in situations where access to a laboratory or instrumentation is restricted. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to expand and standardize the assessment of quality-of-life following a stroke: proposal for the use of codes and qualifiers

Purpose Propose a way of coding and qualifying HRQoL following a stroke using the codes and qualifiers of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Methods An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted involving 51 individuals with hemiparesis resulting from a stroke. ICF codes related to the Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SS-QOL) scale were listed and subsequently classified using the generic ICF qualifiers, which range from .0 – no impairment to .4 – complete impairment. A simple mathematic calculation was proposed to convert the SS-QOL scores into ICF qualifiers. Results The use of the ICF qualifiers revealed that the individuals exhibited a moderate level (.2) of quality of life, with mild impairment (.1) regarding upper limb function, language, self-care, and vision as well as severe impairment (.3) regarding social relations. Conclusions The proposal presented in this study allowed qualifying 43 ICF codes related to quality of life after a stroke in a simple, standardized manner, enabling the identification of different levels of impairment on each of the domains of the SS-QOL scale. This coding standardizes the evaluation, facilitates communication between healthcare providers, and systematizes the collection of data and information on health. Implications for rehabilitation Proposal for qualifying concepts related to body functions, activity & participation, and environmental factors in a simple, standardized manner. The proposed mathematic calculation is simple and easy to understand, which minimizes the occurrence of errors. Possibility to identify different levels of impairment in each of the domains of the Stroke Specific Quality of Life scale, facilitating the establishment of individualized, longitudinal care. The ICF codes standardize the evaluation, facilitate communication between healthcare providers, and systematize the collection of data and information on health and functioning.

Pattern recognition of EMG signals for low level grip force classification

Grasping of the objects is the most frequent activity performed by the human upper limb. The amputations of the upper limb results in the need for prosthetic devices. The myoelectric prosthetic devices use muscle signals and apply control techniques for identification of different levels of hand gesture and force levels. In this study; a different level force contraction experiment was performed in which Electromyography (EMGs) signals and fingertip force signals were acquired. Using this experimental data; a two-step feature selection process is applied for the designing of a pattern recognition algorithm for the classification of different force levels. The two step feature selection process consist of generalized feature ranking using ReliefF, followed by personalized feature selection using Neighborhood Component Analysis (NCA) from the shortlisted features by earlier technique. The classification algorithms applied in this study were Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Random Forest (RF). Besides feature selection; optimization of the number of muscles during classification of force levels was also performed using designed algorithm. Based on this algorithm; the maximum classification accuracy using SVM classifier and two muscle set was achieved as high as 99%. The optimal feature set consisted features such as Auto Regressive coefficients, Willison Amplitude and Slope Sign Change. The mean classification accuracy for different subjects, achieved using SVM and RF was 94.5% and 91.7% respectively.

TAXONOMIC ANALYSIS OF DIVERSITY OF LOCAL LABOUR MARKETS IN POLAND

The situation in the labour market is conditioned by many factors that often have a local dimension. Identification of different levels of development of labour demand as well as potential of labour supply on the local level is a crucial element of diagnosis of reasons for regional and local diversity and implementation of an appropriate labour market policy. As there is available a variety of indicators describing regional labour relations, there is a need to create synthetic measure to include different aspects of the labour market situation. The aim of the paper is identification of the diversity of the situation in the local labour markets of all 16 Polish voivodeships. At the first step, a synthetic measure including eight variables was created. At the second stage 16 Polish voivodeships were clustered following Ward’s and k-means methods. As the authors assume that the position of voivodeship labour markets is connected with the position of capital cities, the analysis was deepened by ranking voivodeship cities based on Hellwig’s method. As a result of conducted research and the classification of Polish voivodeships and their capital cities in the context of the situation in the labour market, there have been identified the reasons of regions’ positions and proposed recommendations for the labour market policy.

The Effects of Location on Firm Innovation Capacity

This research seeks to ascertain the extent of the effects of location on the innovation capacities of companies across different industrial sectors. We thus answer the question: Does company location near an urban centre enable innovation capacities? This article argues that company location does wield an effect on innovation capacities, and it is therefore correspondingly relevant to fill this current gap in the literature. Based upon a sample of 884 companies, the econometric models estimated report location as a variable bearing influence on the innovative capacities prevailing in companies. Our results also confirm that the greater the geographic proximity of a company to urban centres, the greater their capacity to innovate. The study also enabled the identification of different levels and types of innovation in accordance with the respective company location.

The study and analysis of value creating criteria of performance assessment in identification of different levels of financial health: Evidence from Iran

The present research aims at studying the significant differences of the performance assessment value creation in different levels of financial health of companies. Companies in this research have been divided into three groups of healthy, intermediate and distressed. The Economic Value Added (EVA), Market value Added (MVA) and Cash Value Added (CVA) differences of these three levels have been analyzed. From the 37 industrial entities and 224 Iranian companies, 84 companies have been selected through Cochran formula and they have been divided into 16 healthy, 45 intermediate and 19 distressed companies. The Excel software and SPSS software was used to test the hypotheses and Kruskal-Wallis statistical method was applied to compare the value added classified ratios at the level of 5% error. Research finding shows the significant statistical differences among the companies at different levels of financial health using MVA and EVA criteria, but there is no significant different in CVA of the above mentioned companies.

The study and analysis of value creating criteria of performance assessment in identification of different levels of financial health: Evidence from Iran

The present research aims at studying the significant differences of the performance assessment value creation in different levels of financial health of companies. Companies in this research have been divided into three groups of healthy, intermediate and distressed. The Economic Value Added (EVA), Market value Added (MVA) and Cash Value Added (CVA) differences of these three levels have been analyzed. From the 37 industrial entities and 224 Iranian companies, 84 companies have been selected through Cochran formula and they have been divided into 16 healthy, 45 intermediate and 19 distressed companies. The Excel software and SPSS software was used to test the hypotheses and Kruskal-Wallis statistical method was applied to compare the value added classified ratios at the level of 5% error. Research finding shows the significant statistical differences among the companies at different levels of financial health using MVA and EVA criteria, but there is no significant different in CVA of the above mentioned companies.

Application of Latent Class Analysis to the Investigation of Customer Loyalty in Service Companies

Loyalty as a strategic goal presents important returns for the organization. The existence of a base of loyal customers shields the company against actions from competitors, thus, ensuring medium- and long-term survival. Unfortunately, detection of truly loyal customers is not an easy task. Current research has clearly shown that the so-called “direct” or “behavioral” measurements ( Berné, 1997 ; Jacoby & Chesnut, 1978 ) are not sufficient for this purpose, given that they can lead to identifying as loyalty patterns of repetitive purchasing that do not imply a real commitment to the service providers. It has also been shown that indirect measurements ( Berné, 1997 ) can lead to interpreting as loyalty attitudes and intentions that never materialize in a real purchasing pattern. In our view, both approaches should be combined to reach the goal of detecting and describing different segments of consumers according to their loyalty to the service provided. The most important finding of this research focuses on the identification of different levels of loyalty, based on the attitudinal and behavioral measurements employed. Six different segments of consumers with varying characteristics emerged (true loyalty, latent loyalty, superficial loyalty, repetitive purchasing, forced loyalty and absence of loyalty).

Typical performance of elderlypatients with Alzheimer disease on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological assessment tool designed to assess executive functions, frequently used in cases of cognitive disorders. However, Brazilian neuroscientific settings lack standardization studies of psychological assessment instruments, especially in the neuropsychological area. Thus, the assessment of clinical groups including dementias and particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, may be compromised by the lack of analytical references.ObjectiveTo characterize the performance of elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease on the WCST, aiming at establishing preliminary evaluative norms.MethodThirty-six elderly patients (mean age of 75.8 years) with mild AD from a teaching hospital were assessed using the printed form of the WCST.ResultsThe elderly patients with AD had impaired performance on the various WCST technical indicators, highlighting cognitive deficit with traces of stereotyped behavior and failures in working memory, conceptualization and learning. The results allowed preliminary norms to be defined for elderly AD patients on the various WCST indicators, grading their performance in eight diagnostic areas and yielding the identification of different levels of impairment of executive functions in these elderly patients.ConclusionsThe results demonstrated specific aspects of performance on the WCST by elderly people with AD, highlighting the effect of the disease on cognitive performance and executive functioning. Those normative references, although preliminary make a significant contribution to the neuropsychological assessment of AD patients in the Brazilian context, within the informative scope of the WCST.

Text comprehension, cognitive resources and aging

Aging brings cognitive changes. Language is not immune to these changes. The use of compensation strategies may permit older adults to achieve a performance level identical to the one obtained by younger adults. This research aims to study text comprehension in aging and the reading strategies used for by older and younger adults. Kintsch's cognitive model (1988) allows the identification of different levels of representation within text treatment (linguistic form, macrostructure, microstructure and situation model) and predicts the underlying cognitive components. Eye-tracking analyses during reading permit inference about the moments of reading treatment and detection of reading strategies. Sixty highly educated participants were assessed. They were divided in two age groups (20-40 and 60-80 years old). Participants were asked to read and understand three texts constructed to highlight the features of text comprehension within each one of the different levels of text representation. The amount of detail and the necessity of updating the situation model varied for each text. Eye movements were registered by an eye-tracker (Cambridge research) during the reading process. Specific complementary tasks were administered to evaluate working memory, long-term memory, and executive functions. Variances analyses showed significantly lower performance by older adults regarding: 1) recall of the microstructure of the two texts with a high degree of detail, 2) macrostructure of the text with fewer details, and 3) performance on all tasks that evaluated cognitive components. Aging influenced treatment of levels of text representation depending on text characteristics. However, cluster analysis of the text comprehension and eye-tracker data revealed a group of older adults whose performance in reading comprehension was identical to the performance of younger adults, with the same reading profile. This result seems to show that use of compensation strategies by older adults at the onset of signs of cognitive deterioration is not necessary in reading.

Skeletal quality assessment of reared and wild sharpsnout sea bream and pandora juveniles

In this study, skeletal descriptors of wild and reared juveniles of sharpsnout sea bream ( Diplodus puntazzo) and pandora ( Pagellus erythrinus) were compared to assess the quality of farmed individuals. A total of 1016 wild and reared juveniles of sharpsnout sea bream and pandora were inspected for skeletal abnormalities and a qualitative evaluation of aquaculture production was achieved. The applied approach was based on the analysis of meristic character counts, and incidence and pattern of skeletal anomalies. Correspondence Analysis (CA), Multi-Response Permutation Procedure (MRPP) and Indicator Species Analysis were performed on a data matrix. Such methodology allowed the identification of different levels of disturbance generated by the captive conditions.

A set of corpus-based text-to-speech synthesis technologies for Mandarin Chinese

This paper presents a set of corpus-based text-to-speech synthesis technologies for Mandarin Chinese. A large speech corpus produced by a single speaker is used, and the speech output is. synthesized from waveform units of variable lengths, with desired linguistic properties, retrieved from this corpus. Detailed methodologies were developed for designing phonetically rich and prosodically rich corpora by automatically selecting sentences from a large text corpus to include as many desired phonetic combinations and prosodic features as possible. Automatic phonetic labeling with iterative correction rules and automatic prosodic labeling with a multi-pass top-down procedure were also developed such that the labeling process for the corpora can be completely automatic. A hierarchical prosodic structure for an arbitrary desired text sentence is then generated based on the identification of different levels of break indices, and the prosodic feature sets and appropriate waveform units are finally selected and retrieved from the corpus, modified if necessary, and concatenated to produce the output speech. The special structure of Mandarin Chinese has been carefully considered in all these technologies, and preliminary assessments indicated very encouraging synthesized speech quality.

Gender Comparisons in Strategic Decision‐Making: An Empirical Analysis of the Entrepreneurial Strategy Matrix

The strategic decision‐making of male and female small businesspersons and entrepreneurs has been investigated in prior research, but the findings are mixed. This article reports on a gender comparison testing of the Entrepreneurial Strategy Matrix, a situational model which suggests strategies for new and ongoing ventures in response to the identification of different levels of venture innovation and risk. A national sample of 184 small firm owers (59 percent male/41 percent female) was tested. Results indicate that there are no significant gender differences in venture innovation/risk situation or in strategies chosen by business owners. Male respondents did indicate a higher overall satisfaction with venture performance than did females.

Auto-organisation et connaissance dans la firme

Self-organization and cognition constitute an interesting reference to understand the evolution of knowledge within the firm. Our aim is to identify some conditions which lead to such a coherent evolution. The identification of different levels of analysis allows us to underline the cognitive foundations of diversity. In order to explain the knowledge transfers as well as learning processes, we need to specify the very nature of individual interactions. Finally, the entrepreneurial business conception seems to be a key notion in understanding how an organizational coherence can emerge.

The use of monoclonal gene rearrangement for detection of minimal residual disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood.

Sensitive quantification of minimal residual disease (MRD) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is strongly predictive of outcome in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), with MRD levels at the end of induction therapy of >10(-3) predicting a poor outcome. Methods for sensitive quantification are, however, complicated and time-consuming. Detection by PCR of monoclonal immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) and T cell receptor (TCR) gene rearrangements is simple and can be used in routine laboratories but is non-quantitative and of lower but uncertain sensitivity. The aim of this study was to determine the value of detection of monoclonality in identification of different levels of MRD. We looked for monoclonality in 64 bone marrow aspirates which had been obtained from 31 patients with B lineage ALL at various times during induction therapy and for which levels of MRD had been determined by limiting dilution analysis using patient-specific PCR primers. Detection of monoclonality identified levels of MRD of > or =10(-3) during induction with a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 93%. The positive and negative predictive values were 0.86 and 0.88, respectively. The sensitivity of detection of a monoclonal IgH rearrangement was greater than that for the TCRgamma locus during induction as an IgH rearrangement was detected more often than a TCRgamma rearrangement in patients who had both IgH and TCRgamma rearrangement at diagnosis. Detection of monoclonality is therefore a simple and quick test applicable to the majority of patients with ALL and it may be useful in identifying high-risk patients at the end of induction and in identifying relapsing patients later during therapy.