Compact Virtual Keyboard for Abugida Scripts and Efficient Word Completion for Agglutinative Languages

Abugida scripts are scripts in which letters are written as a combination of a base grapheme (e.g., consonant) and a modifying grapheme (e.g., vowel sound). Keyboards for abugida languages are complex and often feature flickering (switching) layouts to accommodate the large numbers of letters. Using Tamil as an example abugida script, this disclosure proposes an intuitive, static, keyboard that more efficiently accepts grapheme inputs. Agglutinative languages are languages in which tense, tense-aspects, number, person, conjugation, inflections, prepositions, etc., are expressed by adding suffixes or prefixes to a stem word. Using Tamil as an example agglutinative language, this disclosure proposes more efficient and accurate word-completion techniques

Sri Lanka: Human Rights in the Context of Civil War

Violations of human rights in Sri Lanka have been fairly well documented. Unfortunately, the conflict in Sri Lanka, despite its intensity, has not attracted appropriate international attention. This article is a review of the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka in the context of civil war. The article also evaluates the prospects for peace building amidst heightening ethnic tensions, emergency regulations, and the lack of democratic governance in the southern part a region which is outside the conflict zone.La documentations sur les violations des droits humains au Sri Lanka peut être qualifiée de satisfaisante. Malheureusement, le conflit dans ce pays n'a pas attiré l'attention internationale appropriée, en dépit de son intensité. Le présent article passe en revue la présente situation des droits humains au Sri Lanka, dans le contexte de la guerre civile. L'article évalue aussi les possibilités de pacification au milieu de tensions ethniques allant en s'intensifiant, les consignes d'urgence, et le manque de gestion démocratique dans la zone sud de l'Ile, une région extérieure au foyer du conflit

Poetry After Libricide and Genocide

This is my personal reflection on the genocidal violence of Sri Lanka and how I responded to it through my works of literature.Una reflexión personal del autor de la violencia y genocidio de Sri Lanka y su respuesta literaria a estos hechos

Surface free energy and microarray deposition technology

Microarray techniques use a combinatorial approach to assess complex biochemical interactions. The fundamental goal is simultaneous, large-scale experimentation analogous to the automation achieved in the semiconductor industry. However, microarray deposition inherently involves liquids contacting solid substrates. Liquid droplet shapes are determined by surface and interfacial tension forces, and flows during drying. This article looks at how surface free energy and wetting considerations may influence the accuracy and reliability of spotted microarray experiments

Exploring the Mechanisms of Interaction between Human Consciousness and Networks of Living Neurons

oai:jnonlocality.journals.sfu.ca:article/3Can the human mind interact directly with objects, inanimate or living? Preliminary experiments performed by Dr. Larissa-Emilia Cheran at the Biosensors Laboratory, University of Toronto have shown a strong influence of human intention on cultures of neuron cells, grown on the surface of high-sensitivity sensors vibrating at 9 MHz frequency. The TSM sensor (Transverse Shear Mode Sensor) is a quartz crystal in which transverse shear mode oscillations are induced using 2 gold electrodes plated on the surfaces of the quartz crystal. The shifts in resonant frequency and motional resistance at the interface with the neuron cells are measured with high resolution and accuracy. Based on these results, future research directions are proposed

The Extent of Drone Education Being Taught in ASC Schools to 4-Year Construction Students

The technology of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) is growing rapidly in many fields and has become one of the skills in demand in the industry. Universities are one of the primary sources of teaching drone technology with a career-oriented approach. The goal of this study is to investigate the content of the drone curriculum being taught in Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) schools. This includes the topics covered, practical training offered, and the key deliverables taught. This information serves as a foundation for the schools that are looking forward to start drone courses in their department. The research found that there are only 50% ASC schools that teach any drone course in one of their departments. The analysis of syllabi collected from the Universities offering a UAS course show that Part 107, flight training, photogrammetry, and data collection are the common topics being offered which resonate with the curriculum in the schools of the FAA CTI group. The interviews with universities with well-developed courses mentioned that the UAS course needs a champion and the curriculum can be created from a wide range of resources. Part 107 is one of the primary topics covered by the universities with a focus on at least one deliverable aimed toward a career path. The local regulations, waivers, weather conditions, and privacy concerns should be made well aware to the students. Starting the course small with a basic budget is the most vocal advice by the faculty. Funding and administrational support are mentioned to be the predominant barriers to the implementation of the course and the new faculty should work closely towards addressing them

Acoustic Signatures of Shipping, Weather and Marine Life: Comparison of NE Pacific and Arctic Soundscapes

Acoustic signatures of shipping, weather and marine life are relatively well constrained, but there are strong variations with their oceanographic context and human activities. We investigate two contrasted settings, for timescales up to a year and frequencies up to 2 kHz. Arctic data from NOAA Noise Reference Station(NRS) NRS01, 500 m deep in the Arctic Chukchi Sea and away from major shipping areas is compared with measurements from Folger Deep, part of the Ocean Networks Canada network, 95 m deep and close to shipping lanes. PAMGuide is used to quantify broadband Sound Pressure Levels (SPLs), Third-Octave band Levels (TOLs), Power Spectral Densities (PSDs) and percentile contributions. The Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) is an emerging metric to measure the apparent acoustic biodiversity, and we use its Seewaveimplementation. We compare the third-octave bands centred on 63 Hz and 125 Hz (“shipping” bands of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive) in each environment and assess their use in the presence of heavy ice and little to no shipping. Metrics designed for open waters are not directly applicable to icyenvironments, or at least not on their own. They must be supplemented with multivariate analyses of context-specific third-octave bands