Wireless Biosensing Network for Drivers' Health Monitoring

Biosensors integrated into the vehicle controller area network are used for detecting symptoms such as anxiety, pain, and fatigue that may affect driving safety. The proposed system provides a flexible option for implementation in a diverse range of mass-produced automotive accessories without affecting the driver's movement

狂與死論果戈里《狂人日記》和《外套》的悲劇意識

悲劇 (Tragedy)，本來是古希臘戲劇類型的一種。但隨著各種文體的不斷發展，悲劇已不再局限於戲劇的領域，而成為共具有審美價值的悲劇，也就是說即使詩歌、小說、繪畫、雕塑等只要其情節內涵或主題思想具有悲劇的元素，均可視為悲劇作品。多臣(D. M. Dodson) 曾說：「悲劇超越文學之類型與形式，因為它具備獨有的哲學性內容，而這些內容，可以用任何具備情節的文體如戲劇、小說、甚至敘事詩來表達。」1 所以，本論文將會用「悲劇」來討論果戈里的兩篇小說。 果戈里(Nikolay Vasilevich Gogol, 1809-1852) 2 是十九世紀俄國著名的小說家、戲劇家。他在俄國危機重重的時代成長，並懷著滿腔熱情，充滿幻想地走進理想中的首都彼得堡。現實和理想之間的差距，使他大為失望。他在寄給母親的信中說：「彼得堡並不如我所想像般，我把它想像得過份美麗堂皇了，過去人們說有關它的傳說都是假的。」3 他認為俄國正處於一個「病入膏育的不健康時代」，「處處亂七八糟」、「一切都不可靠」。4 他在小說〈涅夫斯基大街〉中曾這樣說： 最奇怪的是涅斯夫基大街上所發生的事情，千萬別去相信這條涅夫斯基大街啊!當我走過這條街的時候，我總會把斗薘裹得更緊些，盡量不去看見迎面所遇到的東西。一切都是欺騙，一切都是幻影，一切都是表面上我們所看到的樣子不同! ......涅夫斯基大街老是在撒謊。(頁61-62) 5 涅夫斯基大街是彼得堡一條重要的街道，它用美麗繁華的外殼來遮掩骯髒腐朽的內核。果戈里對此大街的描寫，正真實地反映山當時俄國社會表裡不一的虛假面貌。在揭開這個假具後，果戈里開始以現實生活的小人物為題材，並為他們作了各種特寫，把他們的窮困生活、悲慘的遭遇、痛苦的掙扎細緻地描繪山來。 〈狂人日記〉和〈外套〉就分別描寫了兩個地位低微的九品官的命運。〈狂人日記〉講述主人公波普里西金 (以下稱他為狂人) 每天在部裡為部長削鵝毛筆，收入微薄，四十來歲，還沒有能力娶妻。後來戀上了部長的千金莎菲，卻受到上司的嚴厲斥責。後因壓抑過度而發了瘋。瘋狂後，更把自己幻想成西班牙皇帝，對部裡的人胡言亂語，最後被關進瘋人院，受盡種種折磨。而〈外套〉則講述主人公阿加基忠於自己的工作，但卻經常被人欺負，受盡上級冷酷的對待，而且還過著十分貧窮的生活。他歷盡千辛萬苦地儲蓄，做一件聊以過冬的新外套，卻在製成的第一天被人搶去。向警察局長和有力人士求助，反遭侮辱和斥責。最後，在絕望中一命嗚呼！後來，阿加基的鬼魂出現，要尋固自己被搶去的外套，到他搶走有力人士的外套後，使再沒有被鬼魂搶外套的事件發生。 這兩個悲劇不同於古典悲劇。古典悲劇中的主角都是一些英雄人物，他們對於苦難都有自覺的抗爭意識，面對無法抵抗的力量時，明知自己必然會打敗，甚至因此而犧牲性命，但仍與惡勢力鬥爭到底，表現出一種豪邁、悲壯、威武的崇高美。6 而波普里西金和阿加基都只是一些「不為任何人所庇護的，誰也不會愛惜的，誰也不會去關心的」小人物 (頁128)。在十八世紀以前，這些小人物根本不可能成為悲劇的主角，但自德國啟蒙運動家萊辛 (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1729-1781) 7 提倡「市民悲劇」以後，微不足道的小人物和地位卑微的下層人民都得以進身悲劇主人公的行列。雖然他們對自身的悲劇命運缺乏認識，對苦難的反抗和忍受也沒有悲劇英雄那麼明顯，但他們的形象仍具有強烈的悲劇性。 以下將會先對小人物悲劇作一簡單介紹，然後再集中討論果戈里〈狂人日記〉和〈外套〉的悲劇意識，當中分別會從悲劇的衝突、悲劇人物和悲劇效果三方面加以論述

Information, Trading and Stock Returns: Lessons from Dually-Listed Securities

This paper compares the intra-day patterns on the NYSE and AMEX of volatility, trading volume and bid-ask spreads for European dually- listed stocks, Japanese dually-listed stocks also listed in London, and Japanese dually-listed stocks not listed in London with American stocks of comparable average trading volume and volatility. It is shown that the intra-day patterns for these stocks are remarkably similar even though the public information flows differ markedly across these stocks during the trading day. In the morning, Japanese stocks have the greatest volatility and volume, followed by European stocks and American stocks. These rankings are reversed in the afternoon. We argue that these patterns are consistent with markets reacting to the overnight accumulation of public information which is greatest for Japanese stock and smallest for American stocks and inconsistent with the view that early morning volatility can be attributed to monopolistic specialist behavior.

AN ANKLE SPRAIN RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING ANKLE SPRAIN MOTION FROM OTHER NORMAL MOTION USING MOTION SENSOR

The purpose of this study was to develop an ankle sprain recognition system which identifies ankle sprain motions from other normal motions. Six healthy male subjects performed a total of 600 simulated ankle sprain motions and normal sports motions. Eight motion sensors were attached to cover the whole foot segment to monitor the linear velocity and angular accelerations of the segment. The data obtained from the motion sensor at the medial calcaneus selected to train up the Support Vector Machine (SVM). The trained SVM model was then verified by another 600 trials from other six healthy male subjects. Among the 300 sprain trials, 291 (97.0%) of them were identified correctly. However, there was still a 14.3% false alarm which normal trials being identified as sprain trails. In general, a good accuracy of 91.3% was achieved

Study of family violence poly-victimization in China: design and preliminary findings

Session G4 - Panel 47: Family Violence Poly-Victimization in ChinaThe population survey adopts a combined approach in using school and household-based approaches. The school-based approach is more appropriate to gather information from children aged 15 – 17 to estimate the prevalence of child victimization experienced by them. The household-based approach, with both children aged 15 – 17 and parents with children aged below 18 were interviewed, is adopted. The household approach is the only viable option for interviewing parents and to collect information on child victimization experienced by children under age 15. The primary objective of this approach is to collect data to better estimate of prevalence rates of CSA and child victimization experienced by children under age 15, and to test a comprehensive profile of individual and family risk factors correlating to CSA and child victimization. From the school survey, a cohort of about 13,000 secondary students aged 15-17 will be interviewed in schools. From the household survey, a cohort of about 5,000 parents or guardians of children aged 0 – 17 and about 2,000 young persons aged 15 – 17 drawn from large representative samples from households in Hong Kong and 5 Mainland provinces will be interviewed face-to-face by trained interviewers. Data collection will be completed in June, 2010. Prevalence rates of IPV, elder abuse, in-law violence and child poly-victimization will be presented.postprin

Computerized Simulation of Case Management with Deaf Clients: Tools for Instruction and Evaluation of Information Gathering Strategies

Many counselors and case managers working with individuals who are deaf have incomplete knowledge about the complex factors that affect case management, learning primarily through trail-and-error what information is really necessary to develop effective rehabilitation plans. Computer-based training using simulations of cases involving management of deaf individuals allows trainees to try out various strategies and receive expert feedback about “best practices” for the simulated cases without harming actual clients. A brief description of simulations currently utilized in rehabilitation training is presented, the development of a deafness-specific case is described and current training applications using that simulation are discussed. The development, validation, and dissemination of a library of cases by the Northern Illinois University Research ad Training Center on Traditionally Underserved Persons Who are Deaf is in progress. Possible future directions for case management simulation with clients who are deaf are discussed

The associations between diurnal cortisol patterns, self-perceived social support, and sleep behavior in Chinese breast cancer patients

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Anxiety, but not depression, mediates stress and somatic symptoms in Chinese

Posters: abstract no. 2980Conference Theme: Stretching the Boundaries: From Mechanisms of Disease to Models of Healthpublished_or_final_versio

A visual model for subband image coding

In this paper, we propose a visual model for the general subband coding system. This model is a generalization of Watson's visual model for DCT. Based on this model, a new perceptual distortion is proposed which can be used together with an efficient bit allocation algorithm to determine the quantizer stepsizes of subband coders. Simulation results and subjective viewing tests demonstrate that the proposed approach is very effective in improving the subjective quality of the encoded image at low bit rate.published_or_final_versio