The perception of intonation questions and statements in Cantonese

In tone languages there are potential conflicts in the perception of lexical tone and intonation, as both depend mainly on the differences in fundamental frequency (F0) patterns. The present study investigated the acoustic cues associated with the perception of sentences as questions or statements in Cantonese, as a function of the lexical tone in sentence final position. Cantonese listeners performed intonation identification tasks involving complete sentences, isolated final syllables, and sentences without the final syllable (carriers). Sensitivity (d′ scores) were similar for complete sentences and final syllables but were significantly lower for carriers. Sensitivity was also affected by tone identity. These findings show that the perception of questions and statements relies primarily on the F0 characteristics of the final syllables (local F0 cues). A measure of response bias (c) provided evidence for a general bias toward the perception of statements. Logistic regression analyses showed that utterances were accurately classified as questions or statements by using average F0 and F0 interval. Average F0 of carriers (global F0 cue) was also found to be a reliable secondary cue. These findings suggest that the use of F0 cues for the perception of intonation question in tonal languages is likely to be language-specific. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America.published_or_final_versio

Participant perceptions of physical activity-enhancing interventions for adults with disability: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enshrines the rights of disabled people to access services in all areas of citizenship including participation in recreational, leisure and sport activities. Despite this protection, people with disabilities face multiple personal, environmental and social barriers to participation in physical activity (PA). As a result, disabled people are more likely to be inactive compared to the able bodied population and are at a greater risk of inactivity-related diseases. Thus, there is an urgent need for behaviour change interventions to increase PA by specifically addressing the situations of people with disabilities and their barriers to participation. This original meta-synthesis of qualitative research was undertaken to explore participants’ perceptions of PA-enhancing interventions for adults with physical disability. To identify published articles relevant to the meta-synthesis, a rigorous systematic search of electronic databases and hand search of relevant journals was undertaken. In total, 76 papers were read in full, and based on the inclusion criteria, 10 papers were included for review. Following a critical appraisal of the papers, methods of thematic synthesis were drawn upon to generate analytical themes through interpretation and conceptual synthesis. Seven interrelated analytical themes were constructed representing both components and outcomes of the interventions. These were: (i) social support; (ii) diversity; (iii) communication; (iv) behavioural strategies; (v) changing thoughts; (vi) knowledge; (vii) health and well-being. The results of this meta-synthesis provide significant new information that will help interventionists design more effective PA-enhancing interventions, and researchers to better identify and measure key mechanisms and outcomes associated with successful PA-enhancing interventions for people with disabilities

Effects of practice schedules on speech motor learning

postprin

Assessment of insulating package performance by mathematical modelling

A mathematical model has been developed in the present work to describe the temperature change in a typical insulated shipping container as a function of time. The model was created by combining steady state and transient models in a 2D geometry of a typical shipping container and was subsequently validated by an ice melt test and comparison of temperature change obtained from the model and experimental measurement. An excellent agreement was obtained between the computational model developed in this work and experimental results. In addition, a parametric study was also carried out to investigate various factors in controlling the insulation performance of the packaging. It was found that the model has capability of evaluating the effect of a wide range of packaging design parameters such as thermal conductivity, surface emissivity, packaging geometry, and sounding temperatur

INDELseek: Detection Of Complex Insertions And Deletions From Next-generation Sequencing Data

BACKGROUND: Complex insertions and deletions (indels) from next-generation sequencing (NGS) data were prone to escape detection by currently available variant callers as shown by large-scale human genomics studies. Somatic and germline complex indels in key disease driver genes could be missed in NGS-based genomics studies. RESULTS: INDELseek is an open-source complex indel caller designed for NGS data of random fragments and PCR amplicons. The key differentiating factor of INDELseek is that each NGS read alignment was examined as a whole instead of 'pileup' of each reference position across multiple alignments. In benchmarking against the reference material NA12878 genome (n = 160 derived from high-confidence variant calls), GATK, SAMtools and INDELseek showed complex indel detection sensitivities of 0%, 0% and 100%, respectively. INDELseek also detected all known germline (BRCA1 and BRCA2) and somatic (CALR and JAK2) complex indels in human clinical samples (n = 8). Further experiments validated all 10 detected KIT complex indels in a discovery cohort of clinical samples. In silico semi-simulation showed sensitivities of 93.7-96.2% based on 8671 unique complex indels in >5000 genes from dbSNP and COSMIC. We also demonstrated the importance of complex indel detection in accurately annotating BRCA1, BRCA2 and TP53 mutations with gained or rescued protein-truncating effects. CONCLUSIONS: INDELseek is an accurate and versatile tool for complex indel detection in NGS data. It complements other variant callers in NGS-based genomics studies targeting a wide spectrum of genetic variations.published_or_final_versio

A fixed-target platform for serial femtosecond crystallography in a hydrated environment.

For serial femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers, which entails collection of single-pulse diffraction patterns from a constantly refreshed supply of microcrystalline sample, delivery of the sample into the X-ray beam path while maintaining low background remains a technical challenge for some experiments, especially where this methodology is applied to relatively low-ordered samples or those difficult to purify and crystallize in large quantities. This work demonstrates a scheme to encapsulate biological samples using polymer thin films and graphene to maintain sample hydration in vacuum conditions. The encapsulated sample is delivered into the X-ray beam on fixed targets for rapid scanning using the Roadrunner fixed-target system towards a long-term goal of low-background measurements on weakly diffracting samples. As a proof of principle, we used microcrystals of the 24 kDa rapid encystment protein (REP24) to provide a benchmark for polymer/graphene sandwich performance. The REP24 microcrystal unit cell obtained from our sandwiched in-vacuum sample was consistent with previously established unit-cell parameters and with those measured by us without encapsulation in humidified helium, indicating that the platform is robust against evaporative losses. While significant scattering from water was observed because of the sample-deposition method, the polymer/graphene sandwich itself was shown to contribute minimally to background scattering

Effects of minerals (phyllosilicates and iron oxides) on the responses of aliphatic hydrocarbon containing kerogens (Type I and Type II) to analytical pyrolysis

Organic matter in sediments is dominated by kerogen, a high molecular weight geomacromolecule. Kerogen can be subdivided into Types I to IV that provide paleoenvironmental and petroleum potential information. Kerogen typing can be performed by several chemical methods including elemental analysis (H/C and O/C), FTIR and pyrolysis-gas chromatography techniques. However, kerogens occur naturally within mineral matrices and these can influence the chemical responses. We have examined the effects of a range of minerals (namely kaolinite, lizardite, ripidolite, illite, montmorillonite, haematite, goethite, limonite and magnetite) on the responses of kerogen to pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We used aliphatic hydrocarbon containing kerogen Types I and II from Carboniferous Midland Valley shales of Scotland and the Jurassic Oxford Clay of southern England, respectively, as well as a pure synthetic aliphatic polymer, polyethylene. We find that the aliphatic organic matter in Type I kerogens is transformed by interaction with minerals during pyrolysis to give a signal incorrectly suggesting more contributions from land plant-containing kerogens, such as a large number of aromatic molecules. Pyrolysis with goethite, limonite and magnetite leads to almost complete destruction of the organic matter. Hence, the mineral composition of sedimentary rocks during pyrolysis should be considered when assigning kerogen types. Failure to consider the effects of minerals can lead to incorrect assignment of kerogen type and, therefore, erroneous interpretations of paleoenvironments and petroleum potential

Post-streptococcal reactive arthritis in children: a distinct entity from acute rheumatic fever

There is a debate whether post-streptococcal reactive arthritis (PSRA) is a separate entity or a condition on the spectrum of acute rheumatic fever (ARF). We believe that PSRA is a distinct entity and in this paper we review the substantial differences between PSRA and ARF. We show how the demographic, clinical, genetic and treatment characteristics of PSRA differ from ARF. We review diagnostic criteria and regression formulas that attempt to classify patients with PSRA as opposed to ARF. The important implication of these findings may relate to the issue of prophylactic antibiotics after PSRA. However, future trials will be necessary to conclusively answer that question