Total Picture Research Articles

SOUNDS ELISION BY TAIWANESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PRONOUNCING ENGLISH PHRASES

The study aims to figure out the phonological variations of sounds elision realized by Taiwanese university students in pronouncing several English phrases. Eight native Taiwanese students were chosen to support the analysis of the study. They consisted of 8 males and 8 females from the college of humanities and literature of Chung Chen University and from the faculty of foreign languages of Asia University, Taiwan. The study used a descriptive qualitative design. According to Ary, Jacob and Sorensen (2010), qualitative researchers seek to understand a phenomenon by focusing on the total picture rather than breaking it down into variables. The goal is a holistic picture and depth of understanding rather than a numeric analysis of data. After analyzing the data, it was found that the pronunciation of the elision of initial /h/, final /t/ and final /d/ sound realized by the Taiwanese university students were varied. Some still pronounced them and some elided them.

Symptoms and signs of colorectal cancer, with differences between proximal and distal colon cancer: a prospective cohort study of diagnostic accuracy in primary care

BackgroundIn an abdominal symptom study in primary care in six European countries, 511 cases of cancer were recorded prospectively among 61,802 patients 16 years and older in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland. Colorectal cancer is one of the main types of cancer associated with abdominal symptoms; hence, an in-depth subgroup analysis of the 94 colorectal cancers was carried out in order to study variation in symptom presentation among cancers in different anatomical locations.MethodInitial data capture was by completion of standardised forms containing closed questions about symptoms recorded during the consultation. Follow-up data were provided by the GP after diagnosis, based on medical record data made after the consultation. GPs also provided free text comments about the diagnostic procedure for individual patients. Fisher’s exact test was used to analyse differences between groups.ResultsAlmost all symptoms recorded could indicate colorectal cancer. ‘Rectal bleeding’ had a specificity of 99.4% and a PPV of 4.0%. Faecal occult blood in stool (FOBT) or anaemia may indicate gastrointestinal bleeding: when these symptoms and signs were combined, sensitivity reached 57.5%, with 69.2% for cancer in the distal colon. For proximal colon cancers, none of 18 patients had ‘Rectal bleeding’ at the initial consultation, but three of the 18 did so at a later consultation. ‘Abdominal pain, lower part’, ‘Constipation’ and ‘Distended abdomen, bloating’ were less specific and also less sensitive than ‘Rectal bleeding’, and with PPV between 0.7% and 1.9%.ConclusionsApart from rectal bleeding, single symptoms did not reach the PPV 3% NICE threshold. However, supplementary information such as a positive FOBT or persistent symptoms may revise the PPV upwards. If a colorectal cancer is suspected by the GP despite few symptoms, the total clinical picture may still reach the NICE PPV threshold of 3% and justify a specific referral.

Bifurcation Analysis of Spatial Xenon Oscillations in Large Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors Using Multipoint Reactor Kinetics with Thermal-Hydraulic Feedback

Conventionally, the stability of xenon oscillations is estimated by solution of the time-dependent neutron diffusion equation, coupled with iodine and xenon equations, by finding out the damping ratios in each case. This is performed for different initial perturbations and core burnup conditions and is a very time-consuming and tedious process. Some earlier studies include linear stability estimation, which is valid for small perturbations, but not much work has been done in nonlinear stability analysis for spatial xenon oscillations in particular. In this paper, an approach for carrying out bifurcation analysis of xenon oscillations in large pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) is demonstrated using reduced-order models. The reduced-order model for studying spatial xenon oscillations consists of multipoint kinetic equations coupled with xenon and iodine equations along with explicit fuel and coolant temperature feedback. Both subcritical Hopf bifurcation and supercritical Hopf bifurcation in different parameter planes exist, which leads to unstable limit cycles in the linearly stable region (subcritical Hopf bifurcation) and stable limit cycles in the linearly unstable region (supercritical Hopf bifurcation). The stability map provides a total picture of the stability of the out-of-phase oscillations in a PHWR. Depending on the value of the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity and coolant temperature coefficient of reactivity, one can determine the operating power level above which the out-of-phase xenon oscillations start to grow. This model can be used to analyze nonlinear stability characteristics without spatial power control, which is helpful in identification of stable/unstable regimes in different parameter spaces and is likely to aid in reactor design.

Morphological Transformation In Poor Lighting Images For Image Contrast Enhancement

The paper presents a novel algorithm for the computation of the image decomposition using a morphological filter with reconstruction. The target applications are image contrast enhancement especially those with high dynamic content. Both bright and dark regions contrast enhancement were considered. A new hardware efficient implementation of decomposition is presented. Following decomposition in 5 levels of detail a local contrast enhancement is performed. The new reconstruction algorithm and its hardware implementation as proposed is shown to be independent on structural element size and that it results in a predictable time frame operation. A mixed schematic and VHDL/Verilog description of the decomposition filters was synthesized and results show far higher speed performance compared with solutions found in recent literature.
 Image organizing strategies are essentially required to the pictures captured by satellites. The grey levels in the image captured by satellites need to be normalized for improving picture contrast. The pictures captured by satellites are generally poor in quality and the contrast levels are also very less. In this manuscript a differentiation approach dependent on scientific morphology called rotational morphological transformations are proposed using Modified Opening by Reconstruction Method (MORM). This methodology upgrade pictures with poor contrast and unable to recognize the objects in the image. In the images with poor lightening, morphological operations are performed to improve its clarity and contrast. Picture enhancement has been done by applying morphological operations on the satellite images considered. The technique utilizes data from picture by squares, while the morphological methods change the strategy using the contrast enhancement activity, which is utilized to characterize the multi-foundation poor lightening pictures. The total picture handling procedure is implemented utilizing MATLAB reproduction model. The MORM method is compared with the traditional methods and the results show that the proposed method is better in improving the accuracy rate.

Remove the negatives or highlight the positives? The effect of negativity bias in food preferences

PurposeThe interest of food consumers in improved quality, healthiness, freshness, and authenticity results in a growing introduction of new food products featuring a variety of “positive” (e.g. “Enriched with Vitamin D”) and “negative” (e.g. “Low in Fat”) label claims. It's the goal of this paper to uncover how the presence of positive and absence of negative benefits or attributes balance in the minds of consumers, determine which label claims would have the greatest impact on consumers' intention to buy milk, and understand the role of stating these in either a positive or a negative frame.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the objectives of this paper, we utilize (1) descriptive study to identify which claims are currently used by the dairy marketing practitioners, (2) focus group to identify the importance of positive and negative product claims, and (3) online survey including discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine the effect of positive and negative claims on consumer food choices.FindingsWe provide evidence of negative bias in consumers facing the choice between foods with enriched positive ingredients vs foods that are free-from negative ingredients. Specifically, we find that consumers have a general tendency toward giving negative attributes more weight than positive ones.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted in one food category.Practical implicationsThis research should encourage food marketers to include more positive statements about their products rather than the current focus on negatives such as no GMOs or no hormones. the authors understand these negative attributes need to be made but there should also be positive attributes.Social implicationsConsumers will get a total picture of the product values and not skewed to one point.Originality/valueThe concept of negative bias has not be adequately explored in the food category on product labels.

Implementations of Evidence-Based eHealth Interventions for Caregivers of People With Dementia in Municipality Contexts (Myinlife and Partner in Balance): Evaluation Study.

BackgroundVery few evidence-based eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia are implemented into practice. Municipalities are one promising context in which to implement these interventions due to their available policy and innovation incentives regarding (dementia) caregiving and prevention. In this study, two evidence-based eHealth interventions for caregivers of people with dementia (Partner in Balance and Myinlife) were implemented in 8 municipalities in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine. Partner in Balance is a blended care, 8-week, self-management intervention intervention designed to aid caregivers of people with dementia in adapting to their new roles that is delivered through coaches in participating health care organizations who are trained to use it to offer online support to their clients. Myinlife is an eHealth/mHealth intervention integrated into the Dutch Alzheimer’s Association website and available from the App Store or Google Play, designed to help caregivers of people with dementia use their social network to better organize care and share positive (caregiving) experiences.ObjectiveThis study’s objectives were to evaluate the success of the implementation of Myinlife and Partner in Balance and investigate determinants of their successful implementation in the municipality context.MethodsThis study collected eHealth use data, Partner in Balance coach evaluation questionnaires, and information on implementation determinants. This was done by conducting interviews with the municipality officials based on the measurement instrument for determinants of implementation (MIDI). These data from multiple sources and perspectives were integrated and analyzed to form a total picture of the determinants (barriers and facilitators to implementation in the municipality context).ResultsThe municipality implementation of Partner in Balance and Myinlife showed varying levels of success. In the end, 3 municipalities planned to continue the implementation of Partner in Balance, while none planned to continue the implementation of Myinlife. The 2 Partner in Balance municipalities that did not consider the implementation to be successful viewed the implementation as an external project. For Myinlife, it was clear that more face-to-face contact was needed to engage the implementing municipality and target groups. Successful implementations were linked to implementer self-efficacy and sense of ownership, which seemed to be absent in unsuccessful implementations.ConclusionsThe experiences of implementing these interventions suggested that this implementation context was feasible regarding the required budget and infrastructure. The need to foster sense of ownership and self-efficacy in implementers will be integrated into future implementation protocols as part of standard implementation materials for municipalities and organizations implementing Myinlife and Partner in Balance.

Post-Encoding Stress Does Not Enhance Memory Consolidation: The Role of Cortisol and Testosterone Reactivity.

In contrast to the large body of research on the effects of stress-induced cortisol on memory consolidation in young people, far less attention has been devoted to understanding the effects of stress-induced testosterone on this memory phase. This study examined the psychobiological (i.e., anxiety, cortisol, and testosterone) response to the Maastricht Acute Stress Test and its impact on free recall and recognition for emotional and neutral material. Thirty-seven healthy young men and women were exposed to a stress (MAST) or control task post-encoding, and 24 h later, they had to recall the material previously learned. Results indicated that the MAST increased anxiety and cortisol levels, but it did not significantly change the testosterone levels. Post-encoding MAST did not affect memory consolidation for emotional and neutral pictures. Interestingly, however, cortisol reactivity was negatively related to free recall for negative low-arousal pictures, whereas testosterone reactivity was positively related to free recall for negative-high arousal and total pictures. This study provides preliminary evidence about a different reactivity of testosterone and cortisol to the MAST as well as on their effects on consolidation. Our results suggest a different pattern of relationships between these steroid hormones and the arousal of the negative images.

Severe multimorbidity is prevalent in those with cognitive decline, which challenges neurologists and family physicians: A clinical decision‐support software (CDSS) platform provides guidance

AbstractBackgroundMultimorbidity is the concurrent occurrence of two or more chronic diseases, with severe multimorbidity (abbreviated here as SMM) meaning three or more. Patients have chronic diseases that fall into different domains (e.g., cardiovascular or endocrine), and many of these diseases themselves, such as diabetes, contribute to the onset and progression of cognitive decline. Chronic diseases may interact, curtailing compensatory mechanisms and increasing the likelihood of physical and cognitive decline. Physicians often miss diagnoses of cognitive decline when addressing SMM, while cognitive decline, in turn, can reduce a person’s ability to manage SMM. This becomes a vicious cycle.MethoduMETHOD Health has developed a CDSS platform to address cognitive decline (i.e., dementia, MCI, and mild AD) through the creation of personalized, multidomain treatment plans. Across a population of 2,079 individual 65 years or older, the platform evaluated 19 chronic disease conditions (the three most frequent: CKD, hypertension, and dyslipidemia), plus diseases detected in CBC serum analysis (such as macrocytosis and thrombocytopenia) and CMP serum analysis (such as hypercupremia and hypernatremia). Disease status was determined by physicians’ diagnoses or by the software, through analyzing lab reports, vital signs, medications, and medical status.ResultIn this population, 7.2% individuals had no comorbid chronic diseases. 64.5% had three or more chronic diseases (that is, SMM), with two people having 14 concurrently (mean: 3.85 chronic diseases, std: 2.63). 64.3% of the 2,079 had cognitive decline. A symmetry (by coincidence) emerged when considering cognitive decline: 75% of those with SMM had cognitive decline; 75% of those with cognitive decline had SMM. Lastly, the percentage of people with cognitive decline increased as the number of concurrent chronic diseases increased.ConclusionTreatment plans for cognitive decline are already multivariable, and must address multidomain SMM as part of their coverage. Neurologists need processes for developing comprehensive care plans that address cognitive decline and comorbidities in concordance, and coordinating care with other physicians simultaneously caring for a given patient. This CDSS platform generates effective and highly‐usable guidelines for identifying and prioritizing concurrent chronic diseases, and giving guidance on the total picture: what needs to happen, how, and when.

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Absent Cavum Septi Pellucidi

Internally regulated eating style: a comprehensive theoretical framework.

Internally regulated eating style, the eating style that is driven by internal bodily sensations of hunger and satiation, is a concept that has received increasing attention in the literature and health practice over the last decades. The various attempts that have been made so far to conceptualise internally regulated eating have taken place independently of one another, and each sheds light on only parts of the total picture of what defines internally regulated eating. This has resulted in a literature that is rather fragmented. More importantly, it is not yet clear which are the characteristics that comprise this eating style. In this paper, we identify and describe the full spectrum of these characteristics, namely, sensitivity to internal hunger and satiation signals, self-efficacy in using internal hunger and satiation signals, self-trusting attitude for the regulation of eating, relaxed relationship with food and tendency to savour the food while eating. With this research, we introduce a common language to the field and we present a new theoretical framework that does justice not just to the full breadth of characteristics that are necessary for the internally regulated eating style but also to the associations between them and the potential mechanisms by which they contribute to this eating style.

UAV Based Image Acquisition Data for 3D Model Application

The UAV mapping has a huge potential for a number of sectors including construction, agriculture, mining, infrastructure inspection and real estate. The demand for high quality aerial data capture from UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is growing fast and increase rapidly. In civil application, UAVs are used as an assisting tools for a large scale aerial mapping of the building which in general it’s a challenging task for surveyor to do because of the unreachable access area, time consuming and often cost expensive due to the limited resources and equipment. In this thesis, the UAV based mapping is introduce to overcome this problem. The selected place to do the research is the building around Taman Sri Layang, Mentakab Pahang. A flight mission plan was developed in two path that is path A and path B and uploaded in UAV. In this study, the DJI Mavic Pro drone is used to do the mapping process. Besides that, the UAV will capture and collecting visual image when flying from different flight path. Both flight path covers 6 acres area, with 80% overlap and 70% side lap. The total picture is captured using path A and path B around 157 and 147 figures respectively.

Ameliorative Effect of Zeolite Packaging on Shelf Life of Milk

Recently, many trials to perform new films are used as food packaging to better quality and/or higher safety products. Zeolite-X [Faujasite-NaX (ZX)] and ZX modified by ionic exchange with silver nanoparticles (ZX-AgNPs) were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and were then employed in the starch composite films at 0, 0.5, and 1% concentrations. The prepared films were investigated for its effect on the shelf life of laboratory pasteurized milk by detection of pH and using clot on boiling test, the antimicrobial activity, and the migration of silver to milk during refrigeration storage detected using Inductively Coupled Emission Spectrometer (ICAP). Then, we explored the impact of experimental feeding of packaged milk to laboratory rats on the hematological, biochemical parameters, and pathological effects. The results revealed that the ZX-AgNPs films showed significant reduction in the count of aerobic bacteria, psychrotrophes, coliforms, yeast, and mold, and nearly complete inhibition to Staphylococcal count at 5th day at 4 °C of storage period (2 weeks). The highest migration amount of silver recorded at 15th day was 0.497 ± 0.005 mg/l for 1% ZX-AgNPs films. Also, there are non-significant pathological lesions in the liver and kidney or clinicopathological changes of their functions as well as total protein, albumen, globulin, and blood picture at this migration amount. Therefore, the study was recommended to use ZX-AgNPs films at 0.5% as food packaging due to the existence of AgNPs which reinforcement for ZX also, nearly no silver migration occurred and by extension no hazards plus its antimicrobial characteristics which mainly ameliorate the food safety and the expiry duration of food products.

Prussian blue and its analogues as advanced supercapacitor electrodes

Remarkable attention has been directed to Prussian blue (PB) and its analogues (PBA) as one of the most widely used metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) especially in the field of energy storage devices due to their fabulous features such as 3D open framework, high surface area, controllable distribution of pores and the low cost. Nevertheless, their depressed conductivity causes some insulation when being used as an electrode for supercapacitors leading to be restricted in further applications particularly the electronics. To the best of our knowledge, our review aimed primarily to give a total picture of the research that was done on utilizing PB and PBA for fabricating the electrodes of supercapacitor, studying their synthesis approaches in addition to the hybridization with other materials such as graphene, CNTs and conducting polymer. It also addresses the transformation of PB or PBA into other interesting nanostructures such as oxides, sulfides, and bicomponent of graphitic carbon nitride/metal oxides, as well. Furthermore, It exhibits various avenues for overcoming their disadvantages of bad cycle life, retention rate and not achieving the desired values of energy/power densities opening the door for enlarging the number of researches on their application as supercapacitors. According to the superb features of PB or PBA, we overviewed their synthesis designs and the utilization as electrodes for supercapacitors. For overcoming their drawbacks, this review suggests the key points for improving their electrochemical performance in the field of energy storage.

Threshold and saturation pressures of baroreflex-mediated myocardial interstitial acetylcholine release in rats.

Cardiac microdialysis allows the assessment of cardiac efferent vagal nerve activity from myocardial interstitial acetylcholine (ACh) levels with minimal influence on the neural control of the heart; however, a total picture of the baroreflex-mediated myocardial interstitial ACh release including the threshold and saturation pressures has yet to be quantified. In eight anesthetized Wistar-Kyoto rats, we implanted microdialysis probes in the left ventricular free wall and measured the myocardial interstitial ACh release simultaneously with efferent sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) during a carotid sinus baroreceptor pressure input between 60 and 180mmHg. The baroreflex-mediated ACh release approximated a positive sigmoid curve, and its threshold and saturation pressures were not significantly different from those of an inverse sigmoid curve associated with the baroreflex-mediated SNA response (threshold: 94.3±8.6 vs. 99.3±6.0mmHg; saturation: 150.0±10.3 vs. 158.8±5.8mmHg). The sympathetic and vagal systems have certain levels of activities across most of the normal pressure range.

Journalistic representation of women in the reportage of military operations against Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeriao Haram in Northeast Nigeria

The role of women in the reportage of military operations against the Boko Haram insurgents and their portrayal in news reports were investigated in this study. Radical Feminist Theory and Feminist Muted Group Theory were used to elucidate the research. Using content analysis, online editions of four Nigerian newspapers―Daily Trust, Premium Times, The Nation, and Vanguard―from January 2014 to December 2016 were investigated to reveal how women were presented in news reports. Findings produced 185 news stories; women were included in 10 % of the total pictures used. Women made up 8 % of the bylines and 4% of the sources, with 59 % of the women mentioned in the news presented as kidnap and rescued victims. The study found an underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women in news reports, which were attributed to the male-dominated journalism field that preferred using their male sources to the detriment of issues affecting women.

Rolex Learning Centre at EPFL, Lausanne

The Rolex Learning Centre has been overly announced, published and praised as ‘landscape’ as architecture. Completed in 2010, it is the largest scale international building of Japanese Architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), and it quickly becomes clear the designer’s explicit aim was to solve a complex programmatic and spatial request with an artificial landscape. The commitment of the building to the creation of landscape explains the choice of the project for this study (5.1.). The context of the project in the EPFL campus of Lausanne and its insertion in the lake Geneva landscape deserve some explanation as well as the specific need for it and how that was answered by the design (5.2.). The impression from the field-trip will be described in the next section (5.3.). The challenging form led to a relatively long planning and building process in which quite unusual techniques and structural design were used for concrete reinforcements, formwork and even pouring at high local building standards (5.4.). My 4 layer analysis can be executed in a pure and complete manner (5.5.). The specific analytical method used for Rolex Learning Centre is a visual space analysis of this project with a 3D isovist software tool, a method I will introduce in the respective section (5.6). My exploration of the landscape architectural attitudes will also stress the important role of these spatial aspects among landscape architectural approaches (5.7.). My critique will engage the total picture to understand this creation of landscape as architecture and its extension of our conceptual understanding of landscape strategies (5.8.).

KARAKTERISTIK BAKTERI ASAM LAKTAT YANG DIISOLASI DARI SUSU KUDA SUMBA

The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify the lactic acid bacteria found in Sumba mares milk. This research will be carried out from September to November 2017 at the Veterinary Laboratory of the Livestock Service Office of East Nusa Tenggara Province. The research stages are isolation of lactic acid bacteria from Sumba mares milk by growing lactic acid bacteria on MRS agar media, and identifying lactic acid bacteria with gram staining, catalase test, motility test, and total plate count testing. Based on the results of the study, the presence of lactic acid bacteria originating from Sumba mares milk was characterized by the presence of colonies of lactic acid bacteria from Sumba mares milk which grew on MRS media agar as a selective medium for lactic acid bacteria. Based on the results of testing the characteristics of lactic acid bacteria Sumba mares milk has Gram positive, the negative results in the catalase test are characterized by not forming gas bubbles when the bacteria are added with H2O2. Based on the motility test obtained negative results or bacteria are non-motile and the number of lactic acid bacteria that can be a total picture of lactic acid bacteria that exist in Sumba mares milk in milliliter of milk. The conclusion are lactic acid bacteria isolated from Sumba mares milk has characteristic as Gram positive, basil or stem shaped, negative catalase and non motile, and has a total lactic acid bacteria of 3.5 x 108 cfu/ml (est).
 
 

Contexts in Quantum Measurement Theory

State transformations in quantum mechanics are described by completely positive maps which are constructed from quantum channels. We call a finest sharp quantum channel a context. The result of a measurement depends on the context under which it is performed. Each context provides a viewpoint of the quantum system being measured. This gives only a partial picture of the system which may be distorted and in order to obtain a total accurate picture, various contexts need to be employed. We first discuss some basic definitions and results concerning quantum channels. We briefly describe the relationship between this work and ontological models that form the basis for contextuality studies. We then consider properties of channels and contexts. For example, we show that the set of sharp channels can be given a natural partial order in which contexts are the smallest elements. We also study properties of channel maps. The last section considers mutually unbiased contexts. These are related to mutually unbiased bases which have a large current literature. Finally, we connect them to completely random channel maps.

The punished and the lamenting body

The 5 lamentations, when read as a single biblical book, outline several interacting bodies in a similar way that dotted lines present the silhouettes and aspects of a total picture. Each also represents action, building into a plot that can be interpreted psychoanalytically to render its depth and colour content. In addition, by focusing on the body and its sensations, this study can facilitate the visceral experience of the suffering of collective and individual bodies by the recipient.

Rolex Learning Centre at EPFL, Lausanne

The Rolex Learning Centre has been overly announced, published and praised as ‘landscape’ as architecture. Completed in 2010, it is the largest scale international building of Japanese Architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA), and it quickly becomes clear the designer’s explicit aim was to solve a complex programmatic and spatial request with an artificial landscape. The commitment of the building to the creation of landscape explains the choice of the project for this study (5.1.). The context of the project in the EPFL campus of Lausanne and its insertion in the lake Geneva landscape deserve some explanation as well as the specific need for it and how that was answered by the design (5.2.). The impression from the field-trip will be described in the next section (5.3.). The challenging form led to a relatively long planning and building process in which quite unusual techniques and structural design were used for concrete reinforcements, formwork and even pouring at high local building standards (5.4.). My 4 layer analysis can be executed in a pure and complete manner (5.5.). The specific analytical method used for Rolex Learning Centre is a visual space analysis of this project with a 3D isovist software tool, a method I will introduce in the respective section (5.6). My exploration of the landscape architectural attitudes will also stress the important role of these spatial aspects among landscape architectural approaches (5.7.). My critique will engage the total picture to understand this creation of landscape as architecture and its extension of our conceptual understanding of landscape strategies (5.8.).