Visuomotor adaptation in young adults with and without motor difficulties

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD) have shown motor learning deficits in visuomotor adaptation tasks, and the failure of detecting errors seems to be the key that impedes motor learning. Recent studies suggested that presenting larger feedback improves the rate and extent of motor learning in healthy subjects and stroke patients. The present study recruited young adults with and without motor difficulties and aimed to examine their adaptability in visuomotor adaptation tasks with either regular (30° rotation) or enlarged (30° + double error) visual feedbacks. Results revealed that participants with lower motor ability showed less adaptability than those with higher motor ability in the regular feedback condition. However, they were able to reach a similar level of adaptability compared to the controls in the enlarged feedback condition. It can be argued that participants with motor difficulties can successfully compensate for their noisy visuomotor mapping by relying more on their feedback processes

An Evaluation of Container Development Strategies in the Port of Taichung

AbstractThe objective of this study is to examine the container development strategies in the port of Taichung from the viewpoints of carriers, port authorities and shipping academics. The six most important strategic attributes from the all respondents perceptions are Enhancing the services of direct shipping with Mainland China, simplified customs procedures, simplified administrative procedures, developing service routes with Hong Kong and Mainland China, improving port information systems, and flexible rate to response market change. Based on a factor analysis, the findings reflect that price and incentive strategic dimension was the most import strategic dimension, followed by marketing and direct shipping with Mainland China as well as reorganization and information service strategic dimensions. In addition, the perceived implemented period for container development strategic attributes for the Taichung Port was also investigated in this study. Results indicated that four development strategies stood out as being short-term need to perform to all respondents were providing one-stop shopping services for carriers, flexible rate to response market change, enhancing employee training and knowledge, and strengthening port marketing and promotion. Theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings are discussed

The effectiveness of practical work in physics to improve students’ academic performances

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of physics practical work on students’ academic performances and to compare male and female students’ academic performances after the implementation of practical work in experimental group. This study was conducted in a secondary school at Semporna District in Sabah. A total of sixty-six (66) Form Four students (e.g., 16 years old) participated in this research; thirty-two (32) students were assigned to experimental group and thirty-four (34) students to control group. The experimental group and control group were taught by using practical work and traditional teaching method respectively. A quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Data on students’ academic performances were analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 22.0 and Mann-Whitney U Test was used. Before the treatment, students in both groups showed no significant difference in their academic performances (U = 489.00, p > 0.05 is not significant)indicated that the group of students is homogenous. Students’ academic performances, however, have a statistical difference after the implementation of practical work (U = 380.00, p < 0.05 is significant). Gender analysis was done where male students in experimental group performed better than female students (U = 60.00, p < 0.05 is significant). It is suggested that educators should conduct practical work as frequent as possible (once a week) and increase the time of practical work to enhance students’ understanding towards the physics concept

The effectiveness of practical work on students’ motivation and understanding towards learning physics

The study aimed to synthesis polyphenol glycoside through enzymatic transglycosylation reaction using cyclodextringlucanotransferase (CGTase) derived from culture of Trichoderma viride in the present of polyphenolic extract ofMoringa oleifera to evaluate its antioxidant activities of the polyphenol glycoside as transglycosylation product.Chemical structures of the enzymatically synthesized product were identified using nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR and 13C NMR) spectroscopy as gallic acid-4-O-ß-glucopyranoside (GAGP), ellagic acid-4-O-ß-glucopyranoside (EAGP), and catechin-4’-O-glucopyranoside (CGP), respectively. The EAGP was furthermore applied to investigate its effect on hypolipidemic and antidiabetic activity in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Blood glucose levels weremeasured significantly (p<0.05) increasing in all diabetic rats as compared to normal control rats. Three differentdosages of EAGP showed significantly decreasing (p<0.05) blood glucose levels of the diabetic rats as compared tountreated diabetic group. All diabetic groups presented significantly lower body weight as compared to normal rats as control. The diabetic groups administered with different dosages of EAGP showed improvement in weight gain ascompared to untreated diabetic group. All the hyperglycemic groups which were treated with EAGP recorded lower biochemical parameters of blood serum as compared to untreated diabetic group

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenging Capacities of Polyphenolics from Pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima

Thirteen polyphenolics were isolated from fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima using various methods of column chromatography. The structures of these polyphenolics were elucidated as gallic acid (1), methyl gallate (2), 6-O-galloyl-d-glucoside (3), methyl 6-O-galloyl-β-d-glucoside (4), methyl 3,6-di-O-galloyl-α-d-glucopyranoside (5), gentisic acid 5-O-α-d-(6′-O-galloyl)glucopyranoside (6), guaiacylglycerol 4-O-β-d-(6′-O-galloyl)glucopyranoside (7), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenol 1-O-β-d-(6′-O-galloyl) glucopyranoside (8), (+)-gallocatechin (9), (+)-catechin (10), (+)-gallocatechin 3-O-gallate (11), myricetin 3-rhamnoside (12), and ampelopsin (13). All isolated compounds were tested for their antioxidant activities in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, and peroxynitrite radicals scavenging assays. Among those compounds, 11, 12, and 2 exhibited the best DPPH-, hydroxyl-, and peroxynitrite radical-scavenging activities, respectively. Compound 7 is a new compound, and possesses better scavenging activities towards DPPH but has equivalent hydroxyl radical scavenging activity when compared to BHT. The paper is the first report on free radical scavenging properties of components of the fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima. The results obtained from the current study indicate that the free radical scavenging property of fresh pods of Caesalpinia pulcherrima may be one of the mechanisms by which this herbal medicine is effective in several free radical mediated diseases

Ontology-based Fuzzy Markup Language Agent for Student and Robot Co-Learning

An intelligent robot agent based on domain ontology, machine learning mechanism, and Fuzzy Markup Language (FML) for students and robot co-learning is presented in this paper. The machine-human co-learning model is established to help various students learn the mathematical concepts based on their learning ability and performance. Meanwhile, the robot acts as a teacher's assistant to co-learn with children in the class. The FML-based knowledge base and rule base are embedded in the robot so that the teachers can get feedback from the robot on whether students make progress or not. Next, we inferred students' learning performance based on learning content's difficulty and students' ability, concentration level, as well as teamwork sprit in the class. Experimental results show that learning with the robot is helpful for disadvantaged and below-basic children. Moreover, the accuracy of the intelligent FML-based agent for student learning is increased after machine learning mechanism.Comment: This paper is submitted to IEEE WCCI 2018 Conference for revie

Arresting rampant dental caries with silver diamine fluoride in a young teenager suffering from chronic oral graft versus host disease post-bone marrow transplantation: a case report

BACKGROUND: Rampant caries is an advanced and severe dental disease that affects multiple teeth. This case describes the management of rampant caries in a young teenager suffering from chronic oral graft versus host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 14-year-old Chinese boy suffering from β–thalassemia major was referred to the dental clinic for the management of rampant dental caries. An oral examination revealed pale conjunctiva, bruising of lips, and depapillation of tongue indicating an underlying condition of anemia. The poor oral condition due to topical and systemic immunosuppressants was seriously aggravated, and rampant caries developed rapidly, affecting all newly erupted, permanent teeth. The teeth were hypersensitive and halitosis was apparent. Strategies for oral health education and diet modification were given to the patient. Xylitol chewing gum was used to stimulate saliva flow to promote remineralization of teeth. Silver diamine fluoride was topically applied to arrest rampant caries and to relieve pain from hypersensitivity. Carious teeth with pulpal involvement were endodontically treated. Stainless steel crowns were provided on molars to restore chewing function, and polycarbonate crowns were placed on premolars, upper canines and incisors. CONCLUSION: This case report demonstrates success in treating a young teenager with severe rampant dental decay by contemporary caries control and preventive strategy