A Comparison of Drinking Water Contamination in Buried Slab Wells, Other Large-Diameter Wells, and Drilled Wells

This study presents the results of a statewide water well survey conducted by the Iowa Department of Public Health from 1993 to 1995 to determine whether there were statistically significant differences between well water contamination in buried slab wells, other large-diameter wells, and drilled wells. Wells were sampled for total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, nitrate, and atrazine. Staff collected water samples and completed a site survey at each well, which included an interview with the occupant or owner and actual observations of the wellhead and surrounding area. The study included 293 buried slab wells, 287 other large-diameter wells, and 445 drilled wells. Buried slab wells were significantly less likely than other large-diameter wells to be contaminated with total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, nitrate, and atrazine. The well type (buried slab versus other large-diameter) was a more significant variable than whether the well depth was greater than 15.2 m (50 ft) for all contaminants except for total coliform bacteria. When classified by depth (less than or equal to 15.2 m (50 ft) deep or greater than 15 .2 m (50 ft deep)), buried slab wells in each depth range were significantly less likely than other large-diameter wells to be contaminated by total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and nitrate. The rates of contamination for total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and atrazine were not significantly different for buried slab wells and drilled wells. In addition, the percentage of wells with a concentration of N03-N greater than 20 ppm or 30 ppm was not significantly different for buried slab wells and drilled wells. However, the mean concentration of N03-N (nitrate expressed as nitrogen) was significantly higher for buried slab wells compared to drilled wells, as was the percentage of wells with a concentration of N03-N greater than or equal to 3 ppm and greater than 10 ppm

Application of OptiTrack motion capture systems in human movement analysis A systematic literature review

With the spreading of motion analysis decisions to invest into a new system demand scientific reference applications. The aim of the present systematic review is to reveal the biomechanical scientific applications of OptiTrack motion capture systems and to overview documented usage conditions and purposes. Six major scientific literature databases were used (PubMed, PubMed Central, ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore, PLOS and Web Of Science). An OptiTrack camera system had to be used for human or biologically related motion capture. A total of 85 articles were included, 4 out of which dealt with the validation of OptiTrack systems and 81 utilized the system for biomechanical analyses. The data analysed and extracted from the system validation studies included: description of the validated and the reference system, measured features and observed errors. The data extracted from the utilizing studies also included: OptiTrack application, camera type and frequency, marker size, camera number, data processing software and the motion studied. The review offers a broad collection of biomechanical applications of OptiTrack motion capture systems as scientific references for certain motion studies. The review also summarizes findings on the accuracy of the systems. It concludes that the method descriptions of system usage are often underspecifie

Parameter Reduction in the Frequency Analysis of Center of Pressure in Stabilometry

During postural stability evaluation frequency analyses are applied on the motion of the foot center of pressure (CoP). In this study we compared the most widely used frequency type CoP parameters (median frequency, mean power frequency, bandwidth) including some newly defined parameters (frequency range power ratios, spectral power ratio between the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions, largest CoP amplitude with the corresponding frequency). The parameters were acquired from 25 young and healthy participants. Correlation analysis was used to exclude parameters that contain redundant information. Variance analysis was used to evaluate the behavior and usability of the parameters in different stance conditions (bipedal stance with eyes open and eyes closed, single leg stance with eyes open) where the balancing capability alters. Based on our results we recommend using the largest amplitude and frequency power ratios between specified frequency bands, spectral power ratio between anteroposterior and mediolateral direction and mean power frequency

Dynamics of multiple sexual signals in relation to climatic conditions

Question: Can trait-specific phenotypic plasticity in response to annual environmental variation lead to changes in the strength of sexual selection through the relative expression of sexual ornaments at the population level? Data description: We recorded breeding dates and the sizes of white forehead and wing patches of male collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis) from 1998 to 2005 in a nestboxbreeding population in the Pilis Mountains, Hungary. As environmental predictors, we used the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and local weather data, classified as direct or indirect effects relative to the moult of the given ornament. Search method: First, we used general linear mixed models to assess environmental effects on the within-individual changes and absolute yearly sizes of forehead and wing patches. We then used similar models to determine whether the relative sizes of the two plumage traits at the population level varied among years. Finally, we used multiple regressions to establish if the relative yearly expression of an ornament affected standardized sexual selection gradients on this ornament in the given year. Conclusions: Within-individual changes in forehead and wing patch size were predicted by the climate of their moulting season (winter and summer, respectively). There was also an indirect effect of previous winter climate on changes in wing patch size. Environmental effects on the absolute expression of ornaments at the population level followed the within-individual patterns. The relative population-level expression of forehead and wing patches fluctuated significantly among years. Sexual selection on a given ornament increased with its relative expression in that year

Basic efficiency measurement of Hungarian logistics centres using data envelopment analysis

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a non-parametric linear programming method capable of evaluating the efficiency of decision making units (DMUs) of various kinds. It is widely utilised for the ranking of companies operating in the transport sector. It is, however, not very often applied for the analysis of logistics centres, although its characteristics make it perfectly suitable for this purpose. The present article investigates how DEA can be used for the evaluation of Hungarian logistics centres. The statistic data of 26 DMUs have been collected and the sample has been corrected so as to include only the firms with sufficient data available for an extensive efficiency rating, leaving 12 logistics centres in the pool. Their efficiency was examined as based on the following inputs: surface size of offices, number of employees, surface of available storage space (excluding external storage facilities). The output considered was the volume of total sales revenue and in a second test, the tons of freight hand led. Aggregate, pure technical and scale efficiencies have also been determined

A különböző gátlósejttípusok hozzájárulása a hippokampális éleshullámok kialakulásához. = Contribution by distinct types of GABAergic interneuron to hippocampal sharp wave/ripple oscillations.

A hippokampusz neuronhálózatában spontán keletkeznek az éleshullámok, amelyek kulcsszerepet játszanak a memóriafolyamatokban. Egy in vitro modellt használva feltérképeztük az egyes idegsejttípusok bemeneti és kimeneti tulajdonságait az éleshullámok alatt. Az találtuk, hogy a legaktívabb gátlósejtek parvalbumint tartalmaztak, míg a piramissejtek többsége nem tüzelt. Meghatároztuk, hogy az éleshullámok alatti tüzelési aktivitás korrelált a serkentő szinaptikus bemenettel. Farmakológiai kísérletekkel kiderítettük, hogy a parvalbumin tartalmú gátlósejtek nagyfrekvenciás kisüléséből eredő periszomatikus gátló áramok generálják a lokális mezőpotenciálban mérhető éleshullámokat. Hasonlóan, ezek a gátlósejtek felelősek a gamma oszcillációk létrehozásáért is a hippokampális agyszeletekben. Ezen túlmenően megállapítottuk, hogy a kolinerg receptorok aktivációja, amely növeli a serkenthetőséget, de csökkenti a szinaptikus kommunikáció hatékonyságát, képes a hippokampusz alapműködését, az éleshullám-aktivitást átkapcsolni gamma oszcillációvá. Az eredményeink azt mutatják, hogy az éber állatra jellemző hálózati aktivitásokat, az éleshullámokat és a gamma oszcillációt ugyan az a hippokampális neuronhálózat generálja, amely a piramissejtek és a parvalbumin tartamú gátlósejtekből áll. | Sharp wave/ripple oscillations (SPW-Rs), that play a crucial role in memory formation, are spontaneously emerging synchronous network events in the hippocampal circuitry. Using an in vitro model, we uncovered that the input-output properties of distinct types of neurons during SPW-Rs. We found that the most active GABAergic cells were parvalbumin containing interneurons, while the vast majority of pyramidal cells was silent. Our analysis revealed that in all cell types the firing during SPW-Rs was driven by excitatory synaptic input. Pharmacological manipulations uncovered that perisomatic inhibitory currents predominantly originated from the high frequency discharge of parvalbumin containing interneurons generate the majority of the field potential that is seen as a sharp wave. Similarly, these GABAergic cells were found to generate the gamma oscillations in hippocampal slices as well. In addition, we elucidated that by cholinergic receptor activation, which increases the excitability, but reduces the efficiency of synaptic communication, the default mode of the hippocampal operation, the SPW-R state can be readily switched to gamma oscillation. Our results propose that the behaviorally relevant network activities, SPW-Rs and gamma oscillations are generated by the same neuronal circuitries in the hippocampus, comprised of pyramidal cells and parvalbumin containing interneurons

A referenciális attitűdkifejezések értelmezését determináló faktorok vizsgálata csecsemőkorban = Investigation of the factors determining the interpretation of referential attitude expressions in infancy

Kutatásunk a kulturális ismeretátadás humán-specifikus mechanizmusára vonatkozó ‚Természetes Pedagógia‘ hipotézis alapfeltevéseit tesztelte 10-, 14-, és 18-hónapos korban. Eredményeink igazolták, hogy az osztenzív-kommunikatív jegyek két beépített értelmezési előfeltevést aktiválnak a csecsemőkben (1. A referenciális ‚genericitás‘ elvét és 2. A ‚közös kultúrális tudás‘ elvét), melyek hatására a kommunikatív helyzetben megfigyelt deiktikus referensre irányuló új intencionális cselekvéseket a csecsemők általánosítható, generikus, illetve univerzálisan hozzáférhető közös tudást közvetítő kulturális ismeret-manifesztációként értelmezik. Ugyanezek a cselekvések nem-kommunikatív helyzetben megfigyelve epizódikus, személy- és helyzet-specifikus értelmezést kapnak. A jelen vizsgálatok az osztenzív-kommunikatív jegyek hipotetizált értelmezés-módosító hatásának csecsemőkori vizsgálatát a kulturális ismeretátadás két új területére terjesztették ki: a referenciális érzelemkifejezések tárgy-központú értelmezésére, illetve az eszközfajták funkció-alapú reprezentációjának kialakulására. Az osztenzív kommunikatív jegyek értelmezés-irányító szerepére irányuló hipotézisek mindkét területen igazolást nyertek. | This research project investigated two central assumptions of the theory of Natural Pedagogy that postulates a human-specific evolved social-communicative learning mechanism dedicated to the efficient intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge. We tested in 10-, 14-, and 18-month-olds the hypothesis that ostensive-communicative signals activate two built-in interpretiv biases in young infants (1. The assumption of genericity of referential content, and 2. The assumption of shared or common cultural knowledge) as a result of which when a novel intentional action directed to a deictically identified referent is observed in an ostensive-communicative context, infants interpret it as a manifestation of generalizable, generic, and universally shared and accessible cultural knowledge. The same actions when observed in a non-communicative context, however, are interpreted as episodic events inducing person- and situation-specific attributions only. Our present studies provided supporting evidence for both of these assumptions of Natural Pedagogy theory in two novel domain of knowledge acquisition: a) the early capacity to set up ‚object-centered‘ vs. ‚person-centered‘ interpretation for others‘ referential emotion-expressions, and b) the early capacity for function-based object individuation and function-based representation of artefact kinds