High efficiency low cost monolithic module for SARSAT distress beacons

The program objectives were to develop a highly efficient, low cost RF module for SARSAT beacons; achieve significantly lower battery current drain, amount of heat generated, and size of battery required; utilize MMIC technology to improve efficiency, reliability, packaging, and cost; and provide a technology database for GaAs based UHF RF circuit architectures. Presented in viewgraph form are functional block diagrams of the SARSAT distress beacon and beacon RF module as well as performance goals, schematic diagrams, predicted performances, and measured performances for the phase modulator and power amplifier

Interpersonal Competence and Service Leadership

According to the Hong Kong Institute of Service Leadership and Management, interpersonal competence is an important component of an effective service leader. The present paper introduces a lecture embedded in a service leadership subject that focuses on promoting students’ interpersonal competence. Several topics are covered in this lecture. First, concepts and theories about interpersonal competence are introduced. Second, the relevance of interpersonal competence to service leadership is outlined. Third, methods of developing interpersonal competence are presented, particularly different conflict management strategies and assertiveness skills. Finally, conclusions and reflections on students’ own interpersonal competence and its relevance to the service leadership in one’s professional field are discussed. Different activities have been designed and incorporated in the lecture to facilitate students’ active learning and self-reflection. Students are also encouraged to explore their own ways to promote the development of interpersonal competence

Chapter 9: Biomechanics

Biomechanics is a discipline. A discipline deals with understanding, predicting, and explaining phenomena within a content domain, and biomechanics is the study of the human body in motion. By applying principles from mechanics and engineering, biomechanists are able to study the forces that act on the body and the effects they produce (Bates, 1991). Hay (1973) describes biomechanics as the science that examines forces acting on and within a biological structure and the effects produced by such forces, whereas Alt (1967) describes biomechanics as the science that investigates the effect of internal and external forces on human and animal bodies in movement and at rest. Each of these definitions describes the essential relationship between humans and mechanics found in biomechanics

Prosocial Norms as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

Prosocial norms like reciprocity, social responsibility, altruism, and volunteerism are ethical standards and beliefs that youth development programs often want to promote. This paper reviews evolutionary, social-cognitive, and developmental theories of prosocial development and analyzes how young people learn and adopt prosocial norms. The paper showed that very few current theories explicitly address the issue of how prosocial norms, in form of feelings of moral obligations, may be challenged by a norm of self-interest and social circumstances when prosocial acts are needed. It is necessary to develop theories which put prosocial norms as a central construct, and a new social cognitive theory of norm activation has the potential to help us understand how prosocial norms may be applied. This paper also highlights how little we know about young people perceiving and receiving prosocial norms and how influential of school policies and peer influence on the prosocial development. Lastly, while training of interpersonal competence (e.g., empathy, moral reasoning, etc.) was commonly used in the youth development, their effectiveness was not systematically evaluated. It will also be interesting to examine how computer and information technology or video games may be used in e-learning of prosocial norms

Presupuesto participativo, desempeño laboral y su incidencia en la gestión municipal de la Municipalidad de La Molina, 2020

En el presente trabajo de investigación tuvo como objetivo general: Determinar la incidencia del Presupuesto participativo y el desempeño laboral en la Gestión municipal de la Municipalidad de La Molina, 2020. Para la variable Presupuesto participativo se consideró la teoría de la ley de municipalidades, Ley 28056 (2003), para la variable desempeño laboral se consideró a Chiavenato (2004) y la variable Gestión municipal la Ley 28440 de elecciones municipales. La metodología utilizada se basó en el paradigma positivista, enfoque cuantitativo de tipo básica, nivel descriptivo explicativo causal diseño no experimental, correlacional. La población estuvo integrada por una muestra de 100 trabajadores de la municipalidad de La Molina. Se utilizó el muestreo no probabilístico intencionado; se usó la técnica de la encuesta mediante cuestionarios tipo likert, previamente validados de las variables de estudio Presupuesto participativo, Desempeño Laboral y Gestión Municipal por 6 jueces expertos; para la confiabilidad se usó el Alpha de Crombach. Los resultados fueron procesados en forma descriptiva e inferencial mediante tablas y figuras, indicando que presupuesto participativo y del desempeño laboral inciden en la gestión municipal; lo cual ha sido demostrado con la prueba de verosimilitud, que indico un valor de significancia de 0.000 menor a 0.05 y, mediante el índice de Nagelkerke que indica que el presupuesto participativo y del desempeño laboral tiene una incidencia del 22.9% sobre la gestión municipal de la Municipalidad de La Molina

Regularity scalable image coding based on wavelet singularity detection

In this paper, we propose an adaptive algorithm for scalable wavelet image coding, which is based on the general feature, the regularity, of images. In pattern recognition or computer vision, regularity of images is estimated from the oriented wavelet coefficients and quantified by the Lipschitz exponents. To estimate the Lipschitz exponents, evaluating the interscale evolution of the wavelet transform modulus sum (WTMS) over the directional cone of influence was proven to be a better approach than tracing the wavelet transform modulus maxima (WTMM). This is because the irregular sampling nature of the WTMM complicates the reconstruction process. Moreover, examples were found to show that the WTMM representation cannot uniquely characterize a signal. It implies that the reconstruction of signal from its WTMM may not be consistently stable. Furthermore, the WTMM approach requires much more computational effort. Therefore, we use the WTMS approach to estimate the regularity of images from the separable wavelet transformed coefficients. Since we do not concern about the localization issue, we allow the decimation to occur when we evaluate the interscale evolution. After the regularity is estimated, this information is utilized in our proposed adaptive regularity scalable wavelet image coding algorithm. This algorithm can be simply embedded into any wavelet image coders, so it is compatible with the existing scalable coding techniques, such as the resolution scalable and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scalable coding techniques, without changing the bitstream format, but provides more scalable levels with higher peak signal-to-noise ratios (PSNRs) and lower bit rates. In comparison to the other feature-based wavelet scalable coding algorithms, the proposed algorithm outperforms them in terms of visual perception, computational complexity and coding efficienc

Drug-Drug Interactions in Subjects Enrolled in SWOG Trials of Oral Chemotherapy

Background Patients with cancer are at increased risk of drug-drug interactions (DDI), which can increase treatment toxicity or decrease efficacy. It is especially important to thoroughly screen DDI in oncology clinical trial subjects to ensure trial subject safety and data accuracy. This study determined the prevalence of potential DDI involving oral anti-cancer trial agents in subjects enrolled in two SWOG clinical trials. Methods Completed SWOG clinical trials of commercially available agents with possible DDI that had complete concomitant medication information available at enrollment were included. Screening for DDI was conducted through three methods: protocol-guided screening, Lexicomp® screening, and pharmacist determination of clinical relevance. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Results SWOG trials S0711 (dasatinib, n = 83) and S0528 (everolimus/lapatinib, n = 84) were included. Subjects received an average of 6.6 medications (standard deviation = 4.9, range 0–29) at enrollment. Based on the clinical trial protocols, at enrollment 18.6% (31/167) of subjects had a DDI and 12.0% (20/167) had a DDI that violated a protocol exclusion criterion. According to Lexicomp®, 28.7% of subjects (48/167) had a DDI classified as moderate or worse, whereas pharmacist review indicated that 7.2% of subjects (12/167) had a clinically relevant interaction. The majority of clinically relevant DDI identified were due to the coadministration of acid suppression therapies with dasatinib (83.3%, 10/12). Conclusions The high DDI prevalence in subjects enrolled on SWOG clinical trials, including a high prevalence that violate trial exclusion criteria, support the need for improved processes for DDI screening to ensure trial subject safety and trial data accuracy

Factors Affecting Spatial Autocorrelation in Residential Property Prices

Within housing literature, the presence of spatial autocorrelation (S.A.) in housing prices is typically examined horizontally in a two-dimensional setting. However, in the context of apartment buildings, there is also a vertical component of S.A. for housing units located on different floor levels. This paper therefore explores the determinants of both horizontal and vertical S.A. within residential property prices. First, we posit that S.A. in housing prices is a consequence of the price discovery process of real estate, in which property traders acquire price information from recent market transactions (i.e., comparables) to value a subject property. Furthermore, we contend that the extent to which property traders rely on comparables to determine housing prices is governed by the liquidity and volatility conditions of the market, which in turn affects the magnitude of the S.A. By developing and testing several spatial autoregressive hedonic models using open market transaction data for the Hong Kong residential property market, we find that market liquidity tends to increase both vertical and horizontal S.A., whilst market volatility is more prone to increase vertical S.A. but depress horizontal S.A

Recognition for Positive Behavior as a Critical Youth Development Construct: Conceptual Bases and Implications on Youth Service Development

Recognition for positive behavior is an appropriate response of the social environment to elicit desirable external behavior among the youth. Such positive responses, rendered from various social systems, include tangible and intangible reinforcements. The following theories are used to explain the importance of recognizing positive behavior: operational conditioning, observational learning, self-determination, and humanistic perspective. In the current work, culturally and socially desirable behaviors are discussed in detail with reference to Chinese adolescents. Positive behavior recognition is especially important to adolescent development because it promotes identity formation as well as cultivates moral reasoning and social perspective thinking from various social systems. The significance of recognizing positive behavior is illustrated through the support, tutorage, invitation, and subsidy provided by Hong Kong's social systems in recognition of adolescent volunteerism. The practical implications of positive behavior recognition on youth development programs are also discussed in this work