Properties of a hand-printed Chinese character recognizer based on contexted vector quantization

A hand-printed Chinese character recognizer based on Contextual Vector Quantization (CVQ) has been built previously. In this paper, several properties of the recognizer will be discussed and the recognizer of 4516 Chinese characters has a successful rate of 91.0%. Then the output of the recognizer is passed to a language model which when applied to recognize a passage of about 1200 characters raises the rate from 91.5% to 97.5%.published_or_final_versio

Is the Femoral Neck Geometry Adequate for Placement of the Proximal Femoral Nail in the Malaysian Population? A Review of 100 Cases

SUMMARY Issues that had been encountered during proximal femoral fracture fixation using proximal femoral nail include i) the adequacy of the femoral neck width in the local population and ii) the potential difficulty encountered during fixation in certain prefixed angles as determined by the implant. This was a retrospective, descriptive study evaluating the anterior-posterior pelvic radiographs of 100 consecutive patients, from January to August 2007, managed at University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The femoral neck width in the population studied was adequate for placement of femoral neck screw and anti-rotation pin or hip pin using the proximal femoral nail implant. (mean = 34.0±3.7mm, min = 24.6mm). There was no significant difference between the working area using an implant angled at 130º or 135º (P=0.91). Both femoral neck width and neck shaft angle of the Malaysian population studied were not a factor influencing the placement of femoral neck lag screws and anti-rotation pin

Apparent soil electrical conductivity as an indicator of paddy soil productivity (Konduktiviti elektrik berkelihatan sebagai petunjuk produktiviti tanah padi)

Abstract Paddy soils are naturally heterogeneous in terms of their physico-chemical properties which influence rice productivity. Currently, uniform application of agricultural fertilizers for the entire field is not efficient and could result in either insufficient or excess nutrient supply. Good agricultural practices can be achieved if soil and nutrient variations within a farm are considered, and a soil-yield interrelationship is established. Simple, rapid and accurate methods to characterize these variations are needed. This study was conducted in MARDI Seberang Perai Research Station located at the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. Soil samples were collected at regular grid spacing from the upper (0-20 cm) and lower (30 -50 cm) soil layers. These samples were analysed for their soil texture and chemical properties. Crop cutting test yields were taken at the same soil sampling locations. Geo-referenced apparent electrical conductivity (EC a ) measurements were obtained by using Veris 3100 cart equipped with a data logger and a differential global positioning system (DGPS). The relationship between grain yield and EC a was examined for three crop seasons in scatter plots. A boundary line using log-normal function was fitted to the upper edge of the data in the scatter plots. Significant relationships between potential grain yield and EC a were found with r 2 >0.58. The significant correlations of temporal soil EC a and measurements implied that soil EC a within field do not tend to change significantly over time. Comparison of potential yield (Y po ) and observed yield (Y ob ) led to classification of farm areas into different management zones and allows for discriminate management practices particularly to low yield areas due to less than ideal field conditions

Moderate traumatic brain injury is linked to acute behaviour deficits and long term mitochondrial alterations

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Mild TBI may lead to neuropsychiatric sequelae, including memory loss and motor impairment. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress have a contributory role in several neurological disorders; however, their association with mitophagy in mild TBI is unclear. TBI was induced in female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats using a New York University Impactor (10 g, impactor head 2.5 mm diameter, weight drop 50 mm) and compared to sham surgery controls. The novel object recognition and error ladder tests were performed at 24 hours and for 6 weeks post injury, and the brains were examined histologically to confirm the extent of injury. Mitochondria manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes I-V (CI-CV), as well as mitophagy markers, dynamin related protein 1 (DRP-1), LC3A/B and PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK-1), were measured in the penumbra by western blot. At 24 hours sham rats performed as expected on a novel object recognition test while TBI rats showed cognitive deficits at the early time points. TBI rats also showed more early motor deficits on a horizontal ladder, compared with the sham rats. MnSOD, OXPHOS CI, CIII and CV protein levels were significantly lower in the TBI group at 24 hours. DRP-1, LC3A/B I and II, and PINK-1 were increased at 6 weeks suggesting abnormal mitophagy. Moderate TBI caused immediate cognitive and mild motor functional deficits in the rats that did not persist. Reduced antioxidative capacity and possibly compromised mitochondrial function may affect the long term functional recovery

Interest-driven creator theory: towards a theory of learning design for Asia in the twenty-first century

Asian education is known for its examination-driven orientation, with the downsides of distorting the processes of learning and teaching, diminishing students’ interest in learning, and failing to nurture twenty-first century competencies among students. As a group of Asian researchers, we have been developing Interest-Driven Creator (IDC) Theory, a design theory based on three anchored concepts, namely interest, creation, and habit. Each of these anchored concepts is represented by a loop composed of three components. In the interest loop, the three components are triggering, immersing, and extending. The components of the creation loop are imitating, combining, and staging. The habit loop consists of cuing environment, routine, and harmony. These three loops are interconnected in various ways, with their characteristics revealed by the design process. We hypothesize that technology-supported learning activities that are designed with reference to IDC Theory will enable students to develop interest in learning, be immersed in the creation process, and, by repeating this process in their daily routines, strengthen habits of creation. Furthermore, students will excel in learning performance, develop twenty-first century competencies, and become lifelong interest-driven creators. To sharpen our understanding and further the development of the theory, we need more discussion and collaborative efforts in the community. Hypotheses arising from this theory can be tested, revised, or refined by setting up and investigating IDC Theory-based experimental sites. By disseminating the framework, foundations, and practices to the various countries and regions of Asia, we hope that it will bring about compelling examples and hence a form of quality education for the twenty-first century, which is an alternative to the examination-driven education system. In this paper, we present an overall introduction to IDC Theory and its history, and discuss some of the steps for advancing it in the future

A multidimensional platform for the purification of non-coding RNA species

A renewed interest in non-coding RNA (ncRNA) has led to the discovery of novel RNA species and post-transcriptional ribonucleoside modifications, and an emerging appreciation for the role of ncRNA in RNA epigenetics. Although much can be learned by amplification-based analysis of ncRNA sequence and quantity, there is a significant need for direct analysis of RNA, which has led to numerous methods for purification of specific ncRNA molecules. However, no single method allows purification of the full range of cellular ncRNA species. To this end, we developed a multidimensional chromatographic platform to resolve, isolate and quantify all canonical ncRNAs in a single sample of cells or tissue, as well as novel ncRNA species. The applicability of the platform is demonstrated in analyses of ncRNA from bacteria, human cells and plasmodium-infected reticulocytes, as well as a viral RNA genome. Among the many potential applications of this platform are a system-level analysis of the dozens of modified ribonucleosides in ncRNA, characterization of novel long ncRNA species, enhanced detection of rare transcript variants and analysis of viral genomes.Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and TechnologyNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES017010)National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (ES002109

A new class of pluripotent stem cell cytotoxic small molecules

10.1371/journal.pone.0085039PLoS ONE93-POLN

IDC theory: habit and the habit loop

Interest-driven creator (IDC) theory is a design theory that intends to inform the design of future education in Asia. It consists of three anchored concepts, namely, interest, creation, and habit. This paper presents the third anchored concept habit as well as the habit loop. IDC theory assumes that learners, when driven by interest, can be engaged in knowledge creation. Furthermore, by repeating such process in their daily learning routines, learners will form interest-driven creation habits. The habit loop, the process of building such a habit, consists of three component concepts— cuing environment, routine, and harmony. The cuing environment is a habit trigger that tells the students’ brain to get prepared and go into an automatic mode, letting learning behavior unfold. Routine refers to the behavioral patterns the students repeat most often, literally etched into their neural pathways. Harmony refers to the affective outcome of the routine activity as well as the integration or stabilization of habits; that is, through the routine behavior and action, students may feel that their needs get fulfilled, feel satisfied, and experience inner peace. It is our hope that such habitual behavior of creating knowledge can be sustained so long that students ultimately become lifelong interest-driven creators. This paper focuses on the description of the three components of the habit loop and discusses how these components are related to the interest loop and the creation loop in supporting learners in developing their interest-driven creation capability