A Comparison of F2 Transitions in the Disfluent Speech of Persistent and Recovered Preschool Children Who Stutter

This study investigated second formant transition extent and direction in disfluent speech samples recorded close to stuttering onset in preschool age children. Comparisons were made among subgroups of children known to persist in stuttering, those who recovered from stuttering, and normally fluent control subjects. Twenty-eight subjects, eight persistent stutterers, eight recovered subjects, and twelve normally fluent subjects participated. These children were enrolled in the longitudinal Stuttering Research Project at the University of Illinois at Urbana. The initial consonant to vowel transition in the second formant of the repeated portion of the part-word repetition was compared to the transition in the final production. Ten transitions were analyzed for each subject in the stuttering subgroups, and between one and three transitions were analyzed for each control subject. The transitions were judged to be: 1) absent, 2) present/different direction, 3) present/same direction/non-target frequency, or 4) present/same direction/target frequency. A significant main effect was found for the number of absent F2 transitions produced (F=12.15; df=2; p=.0002). Further analysis using a Tukey HSD multiple comparisons post-hoc test showed significant difference existed between the control and persistent groups, and the control and recovered groups

Gender differences in physical activity and fitness—association with self-reported health and health-relevant attitudes in a middle-aged Swiss urban population

In Switzerland lack of exercise is common. To improve physical exercise in both women and men, campaigns should consider the motivation for physical activity with respect to gender. This study explores the patterns of self-reported sport activity, habitual physical activity and physical fitness, and associated indicators of self-reported health, health-relevant attitudes, and resources in an urban Swiss population. Using the Bern Lifestyle Panel questionnaire, 511 women and 413 men, aged 55-65years, in the German-speaking capital of Switzerland were assessed. From the three surveys carried out from 1996 to 1998, this study used the data from the 1997 survey for a cross-sectional analysis. Women demonstrated a lower prevalence of sport activity than men but a higher prevalence of habitual physical activity. Forty-six percent of the women but 80% of the men reported a high level of fitness. In the logistic regression analysis, sport activity in the women was significantly associated with indicators of health, health-relevant attitudes such as internal and external health locus of control, and social class. Among the men, no association with health-relevant orientation could be found. The probability of habitual physical activity among the women was associated with perceived good health, health-relevant orientation and social class, while related factors among the men were indicators of health. In both women and men, perceived good health was strongly associated with self-reported physical fitness. Additionally, women's fitness was related to perceived disease-related limitation and indicators of health status. The findings indicate a gender-specific distribution of sport activity, habitual physical activity and fitness. Compared to men, physical activity in women is associated more with health-relevant orientation. Along with indicators of health, attention should be paid to both female and male perception of health and self-reported attitudes when there is an attempt to improve physical activity. Since self-reported health status, disease-related limitations, and habitual physical activity, among others, are strongly affected by sociocultural and structural influences, caution should be kept in drawing general conclusions from the finding

Hydrologic and water quality collection for Colorado's Upper Arkansas River basin

January 2019

Анализ профессиональных рисков при уборке помещений

Приведены результаты анализа профессиональных рисков при уборке помещений. Отмечено, что данные риски могут быть реализованы при выполнении любой профессиональной деятельности. Идентифицированы риски при уборке и предложены меры управления ими.The results of the analysis of professional risks in cleaning the premises are presented. It is noted that these risks can be realized when performing any professional activity. Cleaning risks are identified and management measures are proposed

Sponge-Inspired Dibromohemibastadin Prevents and Disrupts Bacterial Biofilms without Toxicity

Since the banning of several families of compounds in antifouling (AF) coatings, the search for environmentally friendly AF compounds has intensified. Natural sources of AF compounds have been identified in marine organisms and can be used to create analogues in laboratory. In a previous study, we identified that dibromohemibastadin-1 (DBHB) is a promising AF molecule, leading to the inhibition of the activity of phenoloxidase, an enzyme involved in the attachment of mussels to surfaces. This paper describes the activity of the DBHB on biofilm formation and its detachment and on bacterial adhesion and communication: quorum sensing. DBHB has an anti-biofilm activity without affecting adhesion of marine and terrestrial bacteria at a dose of 10 µM. Moreover, DBHB activity on quorum sensing (QS) is demonstrated at doses of 8 and 16 µM. The activity of DBHB on QS is compared to kojic acid, a quorum sensing inhibitor already described. This compound is a promising environmentally friendly molecule potentially useful for the inhibition of microfouling

Church-Rosser Systems, Codes with Bounded Synchronization Delay and Local Rees Extensions

What is the common link, if there is any, between Church-Rosser systems, prefix codes with bounded synchronization delay, and local Rees extensions? The first obvious answer is that each of these notions relates to topics of interest for WORDS: Church-Rosser systems are certain rewriting systems over words, codes are given by sets of words which form a basis of a free submonoid in the free monoid of all words (over a given alphabet) and local Rees extensions provide structural insight into regular languages over words. So, it seems to be a legitimate title for an extended abstract presented at the conference WORDS 2017. However, this work is more ambitious, it outlines some less obvious but much more interesting link between these topics. This link is based on a structure theory of finite monoids with varieties of groups and the concept of local divisors playing a prominent role. Parts of this work appeared in a similar form in conference proceedings where proofs and further material can be found.Comment: Extended abstract of an invited talk given at WORDS 201

Modulations in martensitic Heusler alloys originate from nanotwin ordering

Heusler alloys exhibiting magnetic and martensitic transitions enable applications like magnetocaloric refrigeration and actuation based on the magnetic shape memory effect. Their outstanding functional properties depend on low hysteresis losses and low actuation fields. These are only achieved if the atomic positions deviate from a tetragonal lattice by periodic displacements. The origin of the so-called modulated structures is the subject of much controversy: They are either explained by phonon softening or adaptive nanotwinning. Here we used large-scale density functional theory calculations on the Ni2MnGa prototype system to demonstrate interaction energy between twin boundaries. Minimizing the interaction energy resulted in the experimentally observed ordered modulations at the atomic scale, it explained that a/b twin boundaries are stacking faults at the mesoscale, and contributed to the macroscopic hysteresis losses. Furthermore, we found that phonon softening paves the transformation path towards the nanotwinned martensite state. This unified both opposing concepts to explain modulated martensite