Seeing a talking face matters to infants, children and adults : behavioural and neurophysiological studies

Everyday conversations typically occur face-to-face. Over and above auditory information, visual information from a speaker’s face, e.g., lips, eyebrows, contributes to speech perception and comprehension. The facilitation that visual speech cues bring— termed the visual speech benefit—are experienced by infants, children and adults. Even so, studies on speech perception have largely focused on auditory-only speech leaving a relative paucity of research on the visual speech benefit. Central to this thesis are the behavioural and neurophysiological manifestations of the visual speech benefit. As the visual speech benefit assumes that a listener is attending to a speaker’s talking face, the investigations are conducted in relation to the possible modulating effects that gaze behaviour brings. Three investigations were conducted. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that visual speech information facilitates speech perception, and this has implications for individuals who do not have clear access to the auditory speech signal. The results, for instance the enhancement of 5-month-olds’ cortical tracking by visual speech cues, and the effect of idiosyncratic differences in gaze behaviour on speech processing, expand knowledge of auditory-visual speech processing, and provide firm bases for new directions in this burgeoning and important area of research

Simulation For Performance Of Container Operations In The Yard Of Westport Klang

Seaports and container terminal operation is one of the most important assets for a country because it can contribute income to develop a country. Furthermore, it can help to make a country well known in a world because trading with other country throughports. The performance of the container terminal operation is very important. As we know that the container operation is a very complex and dynamic system. This is because each operation requires different resources and equipment assigned to it. Therefore the efficiency in the assigning and utilization of this equipment and resources will determine the performance of container terminal operation. In this research, simulation and modeling is used to study the performance of the container terminal operation in Westport, Klang because simulation and modeling is the best tool to study dynamic and complex operations. Furthermore, it will reduce the cost of the company because the users can use the simulation model to do some experimentation before real implementation. The simulation software, which is used in this study is called Arena Simulation Software. The container operation in Westport, Klang will be model in this software. This model will measure the performance of this port from the aspect of utilization and the busiest of the prime movers and Rubber Tyre Gantrys in the yard. Furthermore, this model can do a lot of experimentation or 'What-If' analysis so that the users can test it before real implementation is done. Therefore, this model will reduced the cost of the company

Tertiary-Treated Municipal Wastewater is a Significant Point Source of Antibiotic Resistance Genes Into Duluth-Superior Harbor

In this study, the impact of tertiary-treated municipal wastewater on the quantity of several antibiotic resistance determinants in Duluth-Superior Harbor was investigated by collecting surface water and sediment samples from 13 locations in Duluth-Superior Harbor, the St. Louis River, and Lake Superior. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to target three different genes encoding resistance to tetracycline (tet(A), tet(X), and tet(W)), the gene encoding the integrase of class 1 integrons (intI1), and total bacterial abundance (16S rRNA genes) as well as total and human fecal contamination levels (16S rRNA genes specific to the genus Bacteroides). The quantities of tet(A), tet(X), tet(W), intI1, total Bacteroides, and human-specific Bacteroides were typically 20-fold higher in the tertiary-treated wastewater than in nearby surface water samples. In contrast, the quantities of these genes in the St. Louis River and Lake Superior were typically below detection. Analysis of sequences of tet(W) gene fragments from four different samples collected throughout the study site supported the conclusion that tertiary-treated municipal wastewater is a point source of resistance genes into Duluth-Superior Harbor. This study demonstrates that the discharge of exceptionally treated municipal wastewater can have a statistically significant effect on the quantities of antibiotic resistance genes in otherwise pristine surface waters

A University and Community Partnership for Enhancing Rural Business Performance and Sustainability: The Iowa Retail Initiative

Rural communities and businesses are in need of fresh approaches aimed at enhancing business and community growth, entrepreneurship, resilient response to change, and sustainability. To address the need for a more coordinated approach to rural retail business assistance, we proposed and received significant funding for a university-community partnership model called the Iowa Retail Initiative (IRI). The IRI unites university researchers, faculty, Extension professionals, students, and community partners to fulfill the university’s land grant vision of combining science, technology, and creativity to improve the quality of life in Iowa by creating thriving rural communities

Markus Mikhail Jessica DNA Fingerprinting IQP

This IQP was designed to study the effects of DNA technology and examine its impact on society. The proper collection and storage methods for DNA evidence and the primary techniques for analyzing DNA were described. By documenting several landmark DNA court cases the authors were able to show the progression of legal precedence for admitting DNA evidence into US courts. Sensational DNA court cases were covered to demonstrate to the reader the power of DNA at solving crimes that are decades old, or where all conventional crime solving methods failed. The purpose of criminal and medical DNA databases, and the privacy rights issues surrounding them were discussed. Finally, the authors draw conclusions about this powerful technology

Unique geometry of sister kinetochores in human oocytes during meiosis I may explain maternal age-associated increases in chromosomal abnormalities

The first meiotic division in human oocytes is highly error-prone and contributes to the uniquely high incidence of aneuploidy observed in human pregnancies. A successful meiosis I (MI) division entails separation of homologous chromosome pairs and co-segregation of sister chromatids. For this to happen, sister kinetochores must form attachments to spindle kinetochore-fibres emanating from the same pole. In mouse and budding yeast, sister kinetochores remain closely associated with each other during MI, enabling them to act as a single unified structure. However, whether this arrangement also applies in human meiosis I oocytes was unclear. In this study, we perform high-resolution imaging of over 1900 kinetochores in human oocytes, to examine the geometry and architecture of the human meiotic kinetochore. We reveal that sister kinetochores in MI are not physically fused, and instead individual kinetochores within a pair are capable of forming independent attachments to spindle k-fibres. Notably, with increasing female age, the separation between kinetochores increases, suggesting a degradation of centromeric cohesion and/or changes in kinetochore architecture. Our data suggest that the differential arrangement of sister kinetochores and dual k-fibre attachments may explain the high proportion of unstable attachments that form in MI and thus indicate why human oocytes are prone to aneuploidy, particularly with increasing maternal age

A Multidisciplinary Investigation to Determine the Structure and Source of Dimeric Impurities in AMG 517 Drug Substance

In the initial scale-up batches of the experimental drug substance AMG 517, a pair of unexpected impurities was observed by HPLC. Analysis of data from initial LC-MS experiments indicated the presence of two dimer-like molecules. One impurity had an additional sulfur atom incorporated into its structure relative to the other impurity. Isolation of the impurities was performed, and further structural elucidation experiments were conducted with high-resolution LC-MS and 2D NMR. The dimeric structures were confirmed, with one of the impurities having an unexpected C-S-C linkage. Based on the synthetic route of AMG 517, it was unlikely that these impurities were generated during the last two steps of the process. Stress studies on the enriched impurities were carried out to further confirm the existence of the C-S-C linkage in the benzothiazole portion of AMG 517. Further investigation revealed that these two dimeric impurities originated from existing impurities in the AMG 517 starting material, N-acetyl benzothiazole. The characterization of these two dimeric impurities allowed for better quality control of new batches of the N-acetyl benzothiazole starting material. As a result, subsequent batches of AMG 517 contained no reportable levels of these two impuritie