16,897 research outputs found
Temporal markers of prosodic boundaries in children's speech production
It is often thought that the ability to use prosodic features accurately is mastered in early childhood. However, research to date has produced conflicting evidence, notably about the development of children's ability to mark prosodic boundaries. This paper investigates (i) whether, by the age of eight, children use temporal boundary features in their speech in a systematic way, and (ii) to what extent adult listeners are able to interpret their production accurately and unambiguously. The material consists of minimal pairs of utterances: one utterance includes a compound noun, in which there is no prosodic boundary after the first noun, e.g. ‘coffee-cake and tea’, while the other utterance includes simple nouns, separated by a prosodic boundary, e.g. ‘coffee, cake and tea’. Ten eight-year-old children took part, and their productions were rated by 23 adult listeners. Two phonetic exponents of prosodic boundaries were analysed: pause duration and phrase-final lengthening. The results suggest that, at the age of 8, there is considerable variability among children in their ability to mark phrase boundaries of the kind analysed in the experiment, with some children failing to differentiate between the members of the minimal pairs reliably. The differences between the children in their use of boundary features were reflected in the adults' perceptual judgements. Both temporal cues to prosodic boundaries significantly affected the perceptual ratings, with pause being a more salient determinant of ratings than phrase-final lengthening
Development of the cancer-related loneliness assessment tool:Using the findings of a qualitative analysis to generate questionnaire items
The aim of this research was to develop a tool to identify and assess the qualities of cancer-related loneliness in adult cancer survivors who have completed treatment. In addition to reporting the development of the tool, we explicate the process of using the findings of a qualitative analysis to generate questionnaire items, as currently little guidance exists on this topic. The findings of our qualitative research exploring the experience of loneliness in adult cancer survivors who had completed treatment, together with the findings of our concept analysis of loneliness, were used to develop an assessment tool for cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion. Cognitive testing was undertaken to assess fidelity of comprehension and feasibility in administration. The Cancer-Related Loneliness Assessment Tool is a 10-item self-report questionnaire capturing the essential elements of cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion. Experts believed the questionnaire to be face-valid and usable in clinical practice, and preliminary cognitive testing indicated that the items generate the information intended and individuals have little trouble completing the tool. Following further development work, the tool could be employed to identify cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion. It could also aid with the development/adaptation and evaluation of person-centred interventions to address such loneliness.</p
Evolution of superconductivity by oxygen annealing in FeTe0.8S0.2
Oxygen annealing dramatically improved the superconducting properties of
solid-state-reacted FeTe0.8S0.2, which showed only a broad onset of
superconducting transition just after the synthesis. The zero resistivity
appeared and reached 8.5 K by the oxygen annealing at 200\degree C. The
superconducting volume fraction was also enhanced from 0 to almost 100%. The
lattice constants were compressed by the oxygen annealing, indicating that the
evolution of bulk superconductivity in FeTe0.8S0.2 was correlated to the
shrinkage of lattice.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure
In Orbit Attitude Determination, Control and Stabilization Performance of the STRL 1a and 1b MicroSatellites from the UK Defence Research Agency
This paper describes the in orbit performance of the Attitude, Determination, Control and Stabilization systems employed for the Satellite Technology Research Vehicles of the United Kingdom Defence Research Agency. These two satellites will be launched in June 1994 from an Ariane 4 launcher in to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. There is a requirement to ensure that the spin axis of the satellites is maintained in a position approximately 90 degrees to the Sun vector. The satellites are spin stabilized from launch by the 3rd stage launcher rotation and additionally STRV 1a uses cold gas zenon thrusters. Each satellite has a nutation damper and is fitted with a magnetotorquer coil for control actuation since aerodynamic torque correction is required. Full attitude determination is anticipated to be accurate to +/- 1 degree from lightweight, low-cost V-split Sun and Earth sensors. Telemetered control of the actuation system will be via time tagged commands due to the restricted visibility of the satellites to the ground stations
Transcutaneous measurement of volume blood flow
Blood flow velocity measurements, using Doppler velocimeter, are described. The ability to measure blood velocity using ultrasound is derived from the Doppler effect; the change in frequency which occurs when sound is reflected or transmitted from a moving target. When ultrasound of the appropriate frequency is transmitted through a moving blood stream, the blood cells act as point scatterers of ultrasonic energy. If this scattered ultrasonic energy is detected, it is found to be shifted in frequency according to the velocity of the blood cells, nu, the frequency of the incident sound, f sub o, the speed of sound in the medium, c, and the angle between the sound beam and the velocity vector, o. The relation describing this effect is known as the Doppler equation. Delta f = 2 f sub o x nu x cos alpha/c. The theoretical and experimental methods are evaluated
Staging superstructures in high- Sr/O co-doped LaSrCuO
We present high energy X-ray diffraction studies on the structural phases of
an optimal high- superconductor LaSrCuO tailored by
co-hole-doping. This is specifically done by varying the content of two very
different chemical species, Sr and O, respectively, in order to study the
influence of each. A superstructure known as staging is observed in all
samples, with the staging number increasing for higher Sr dopings . We
find that the staging phases emerge abruptly with temperature, and can be
described as a second order phase transition with transition temperatures
slightly depending on the Sr doping. The Sr appears to correlate the
interstitial oxygen in a way that stabilises the reproducibility of the staging
phase both in terms of staging period and volume fraction in a specific sample.
The structural details as investigated in this letter appear to have no direct
bearing on the electronic phase separation previously observed in the same
samples. This provides new evidence that the electronic phase separation is
determined by the overall hole concentration rather than specific Sr/O content
and concommittant structural details.Comment: 8 pages, incl. 4 figure
Local Structure and It's Effect on The Ferromagnetic Properties of LaSrCoO thin films}
We have used high-resolution Extended X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure and
diffraction techniques to measure the local structure of strained
LaSrCoO films under compression and tension. The lattice
mismatch strain in these compounds affects both the bond lengths and the bond
angles, though the larger effect on the bandwidth is due to the bond length
changes. The popular double exchange model for ferromagnetism in these
compounds provides a correct qualitative description of the changes in Curie
temperature , but quantitatively underestimates the changes. A microscopic
model for ferromagnetism that provides a much stronger dependence on the
structural distortions is needed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Development of ultrasonic methods for hemodynamic measurements
A transcutanous method to measure instantaneous mean blood flow in peripheral arteries of the human body was defined. Transcutanous and implanted cuff ultrasound velocity measurements were evaluated, and the accuracies of velocity, flow, and diameter measurements were assessed for steady flow. Performance criteria were established for the pulsed Doppler velocity meter (PUDVM), and performance tests were conducted. Several improvements are suggested
First-Order Electroweak Phase Transition in the Standard Model with a Low Cutoff
We study the possibility of a first-order electroweak phase transition (EWPT)
due to a dimension-six operator in the effective Higgs potential. In contrast
with previous attempts to make the EWPT strongly first-order as required by
electroweak baryogenesis, we do not rely on large one-loop thermally generated
cubic Higgs interactions. Instead, we augment the Standard Model (SM) effective
theory with a dimension-six Higgs operator. This addition enables a strong
first-order phase transition to develop even with a Higgs boson mass well above
the current direct limit of 114 GeV. The phi^6 term can be generated for
instance by strong dynamics at the TeV scale or by integrating out heavy
particles like an additional singlet scalar field. We discuss conditions to
comply with electroweak precision constraints, and point out how future
experimental measurements of the Higgs self couplings could test the idea.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. v2: corrected typos, improved discussion of the
case lambda<0 and added references. To be published in PR
Measuring Metacognition in Cancer: Validation of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 (MCQ-30)
Objective
The Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 assesses metacognitive beliefs and processes which are central to the metacognitive model of emotional disorder. As recent studies have begun to explore the utility of this model for understanding emotional distress after cancer diagnosis, it is important also to assess the validity of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 for use in cancer populations.
Methods
229 patients with primary breast or prostate cancer completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale pre-treatment and again 12 months later. The structure and validity of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 were assessed using factor analyses and structural equation modelling.
Results
Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses provided evidence supporting the validity of the previously published 5-factor structure of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30. Specifically, both pre-treatment and 12 months later, this solution provided the best fit to the data and all items loaded on their expected factors. Structural equation modelling indicated that two dimensions of metacognition (positive and negative beliefs about worry) were significantly associated with anxiety and depression as predicted, providing further evidence of validity.
Conclusions
These findings provide initial evidence that the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 is a valid measure for use in cancer populations
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