Camera-assisted Fingerprint Registration and Authentication

This disclosure describes the use of a camera, e.g., webcam, during fingerprint registration and fingerprint based authentication of users on laptops. Images from the camera are utilized to guide finger placement and fingerprint capture during fingerprint registration and to provide additional information during subsequent fingerprint based authentication. A user interface is provided to guide the user to position the laptop lid at an angle such that the fingerprint reader lies within an angle of view of the laptop webcam. Images obtained from the webcam are utilized to estimate the position of the finger placement and to determine the fingerprint model associated with the user. During fingerprint authentication, the webcam is used to estimate finger identity and position to determine an order of checking the acquired fingerprint against the registered fingerprint templates. This enables secure authentication since additional time can be allocated to the authentication algorithm for each match attempt. Motion detection is utilized to determine that a user is about to perform fingerprint based authentication to automatically activate the webcam

L’hémisphère cérébral droit : un atout en anglais de spécialité

À l’ère de la pluridisciplinarité, il semble fondamental que toute pratique pédagogique et/ou didactique tienne compte des apports des neurosciences – l’anglais de spécialité ne dérogeant pas à ce postulat. Tout apprenant de langue étrangère est conditionné linguistiquement (cérébralement) à sa langue maternelle et met en jeu ses deux hémisphères cérébraux, et ce quelle que soit sa préférence manuelle, lors de l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde. D’où l’intérêt de mieux connaître les rôles distinctifs, mais néanmoins complémentaires, dévolus à l’hémisphère droit et à l’hémisphère gauche en ce qui concerne le traitement cérébral de la parole. Bien que nombre d’études privilégient l’importance de l’hémisphère gauche dans l’acte de parole, le rôle capital de l’hémisphère droit ne peut être passé sous silence. Dans un premier temps, une synthèse des données obtenues en recherche fondamentale dans des domaines aussi variés que la linguistique, l’acoustique, la neurologie et la neuropsychologie, domaines divers s’avérant cependant très complémentaires, sera proposée. Puis, dans un deuxième temps, ces données théoriques et comportementales seront exploitées à des fins pédagogiques et didactiques, ceci afin de mieux cerner les problèmes des étudiants en anglais de spécialité et de tenter de mieux répondre à leurs attentes.Any genuinely multidisciplinary approach in pedagogical and/or didactical practices needs to take into account the contributions of the neurosciences. Foreign language learners run into specific difficulties which can only be remedied if analysed from the point of view of neurolinguistics. Whatever his/her mastery of the foreign language and the use he has for it, each foreign language learner is linguistically – that is cerebrally – conditioned by his/her mother tongue and uses both his/her left and right cerebral hemispheres. The role of each cerebral hemisphere in the processing of speech must be clearly understood, since, even if they work in close collaboration, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere do not process the same kind of speech information. Moreover, the crucial role of the right hemisphere in speech processing should not be ignored, in spite of the emphasis laid by most studies upon the role of the left hemisphere. The present paper will begin by a synthesis of fundamental research data in different but complementary fields such as neurology, acoustics, psycholinguistics and linguistics. Then, these theoretical data will be exploited from a pedagogical and didactical point of view and some solutions to the difficulties encountered by foreign language learners will be proposed

Heteromodal brain areas common to production, listening and reading tasks at the word Level: an fMRI study of 144 right-handers from the BIL&GIN

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The Integration of Prosodic Speech in High Functioning Autism: A Preliminary fMRI Study

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a specific triad of symptoms such as abnormalities in social interaction, abnormalities in communication and restricted activities and interests. While verbal autistic subjects may present a correct mastery of the formal aspects of speech, they have difficulties in prosody (music of speech), leading to communication disorders. Few behavioural studies have revealed a prosodic impairment in children with autism, and among the few fMRI studies aiming at assessing the neural network involved in language, none has specifically studied prosodic speech. The aim of the present study was to characterize specific prosodic components such as linguistic prosody (intonation, rhythm and emphasis) and emotional prosody and to correlate them with the neural network underlying them.We used a behavioural test (Profiling Elements of the Prosodic System, PEPS) and fMRI to characterize prosodic deficits and investigate the neural network underlying prosodic processing. Results revealed the existence of a link between perceptive and productive prosodic deficits for some prosodic components (rhythm, emphasis and affect) in HFA and also revealed that the neural network involved in prosodic speech perception exhibits abnormal activation in the left SMG as compared to controls (activation positively correlated with intonation and emphasis) and an absence of deactivation patterns in regions involved in the default mode.These prosodic impairments could not only result from activation patterns abnormalities but also from an inability to adequately use the strategy of the default network inhibition, both mechanisms that have to be considered for decreasing task performance in High Functioning Autism

Did the London Initiative Zone investment programme affect general practice structure and performance in East London? A time series analysis of cervical screening coverage and asthma prescribing

A programme of incentives was set up in the London Initiative Zones to improve primary care in inner London based on the findings of the Tomlinson Enquiry in 1992. This descriptive study is a 4-y time series analysis of changes in general practice structure in East London as the result of London Initiative Zone investment, and an exploration of the possible effect of investment on practice performance.We used routinely available administrative data for the whole analysis. General practice characteristics and two selected performance indicators: the asthma prophylaxis to bronchodilator ratio and cervical cytology screening rate, for all practices in the East London and the City Health Authority for 4 y, 1993-1996, were used. Both reflect practice efficiency, but relate to different aspects of practice performance. The prescribing indicator is more indicative of the quality of clinical practise, whereas cervical screening coverage relates more to the characteristics of the practice population and to practice organisation. Repeated measures analyses were used to identify trends and to explore the relationship between changes in practice characteristics and performance. Graphical methods were used to compare East London trends with the rest of England.There were significant improvements in practice structure as the consequence of London Initiative Zone investment. There was a positive association with improvements in practice performance, but East London still lagged some way behind national patterns. The findings suggest that while improvements in asthma prescribing follow the national trend, practices have difficulty in achieving and sustaining the 80% target for cervical cytology screening, and that an overall population coverage of 80% may be in doubt.Increased investment in practice staffing may be influential in improving some aspects of performance. However, in common with other inner cities, a greater effort and more innovative strategies may be needed to achieve a standard of performance equal to the best

Assessing prosodic skills in five European languages: Cross-linguistic differences in typical and atypical populations

Following demand for a prosody assessment procedure, the test Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C), has been translated from English into Spanish, French, Flemish and Norwegian. This provides scope to examine receptive and expressive prosodic ability in Romance (Spanish and French) as well as Germanic (English and Flemish) languages, and includes the possibility of assessing these skills with regard to lexical tone (Norwegian). Cross-linguistic similarities and differences relevant to the translation are considered. Preliminary findings concerning 8-year-old neurotypical children speaking the five languages are reported. The appropriateness of investigating contrastive stress in Romance as well as Germanic languages is considered: results are reported for assessing this skill in Spanish and English speakers and suggest that in Spanish it is acquired much later than in English. We also examine the feasibility of assessing and comparing prosodic disorder in the five languages, using assessments of prosody in Spanish and English speakers with Williams syndrome as an example. We conclude that, with caveats, the original design of the UK test may indicate comparable stages of prosodic development in neurotypical children and is appropriate for the evaluation of prosodic skills for adults and children, both neurotypical and with impairment, in all five languages. 2009 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited.casl12pub1233pub

Cognitive mediators of school-related socio-adaptive behaviors in children and adolescents with ASD: A pilot study.

International audienceSchool inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is still a research challenge. Promoting school inclusion notably requires the understanding of cognitive underpinnings of ASD related limitations in school adaptive behaviors. More, such knowledge might provide relevant intervention’s targets for fostering school inclusion of youths with ASD. Our study aimed at exploring the relationships between school-related adaptive behaviors and cognitive functioning in youths with ASD according to the distinction of general (IQ, age) and specific cognitive factors (social-emotional skills, executive functions).Forty-five participants were recruited in specialized classrooms, including 27 with ASD (mean age = 14.26), and 18 with intellectual and/or learning disability (non-ASD) (mean age = 14.17). The participants, their parents and/or the specialized teachers answered to a set of tests measuring the cognitive functioning, school-related socio-adaptive behaviors and quality of life. After group comparisons on each measure, we performed multiple regression analyses for determining whether general and/or specific cognitive factors may predict school-related socio-adaptive behaviors and quality of life, which constitute hallmarks of school disability.Both groups exhibited equal performances on socio-emotional and executive measures. By contrast, youths with ASD showed more difficulties in socio-adaptive behaviors than youths in no-ASD group. Regression analyses revealed a single strong contribution of socio-emotional skills for predicting such limitations in the ASD group, while IQ and age were the best contributors in the non-ASD group. The low quality of life reported in both groups was slightly predicted by executive performances. These results emphasized the critical role of socio-emotional skills in the socio-adaptive functioning of youths with ASD at school, as well as the role of executive functioning in school-related quality of life

Mycena species can be opportunist-generalist plant root invaders

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank Karl-Henrik Larsson and Arne Aronsen for provisions of specimens from the Natural History Museum of Oslo and help with the identification of field specimens from Svalbard. We further thank Cecilie Mathiesen and Mikayla Jacobs for technical assistance in the laboratory, Brendan J. Furneaux for valuable input to the R script, and the curators of H, TUR, and OULU. The Mycena ITS sequences originating from the specimens deposited in H, TUR, and OULU were produced as part of the Finnish Barcode of Life Project (FinBOL) funded by the Ministry of Environment, Finland (YM23/5512/2013), Otto A Malm's Donationsfond, and the Kone Foundation. We thank the European Commission (grant no. 658849) and the Carlsberg Foundation (grant no. CF18-0809) for grants to C.B. Harder that made this research possible. C.B. Harder was financed by a grant from the Danish Independent Research Fund DFF/FNU 2032-00064B (SapMyc) at the time of writing. Research Funding Carlsbergfondet. Grant Number: CF18-0809 Danish Independent Research Fund. Grant Number: 2032-00064B European Commission. Grant Number: 658849 Ministry of Environment, Finland. Grant Number: YM23/5512/2013Peer reviewedPublisher PD