Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test Scores of Selected Students at the University of Mississippi

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Using same-language machine translation to create alternative target sequences for text-to-speech synthesis

Modern speech synthesis systems attempt to produce speech utterances from an open domain of words. In some situations, the synthesiser will not have the appropriate units to pronounce some words or phrases accurately but it still must attempt to pronounce them. This paper presents a hybrid machine translation and unit selection speech synthesis system. The machine translation system was trained with English as the source and target language. Rather than the synthesiser only saying the input text as would happen in conventional synthesis systems, the synthesiser may say an alternative utterance with the same meaning. This method allows the synthesiser to overcome the problem of insufficient units in runtime

The enigma of facial asymmetry:is there a gender specific pattern of facedness?

Although facial symmetry correlates with facial attractiveness, human faces are often far from symmetrical with one side frequently being larger than the other (Kowner, 1998). Smith (2000) reported that male and female faces were asymmetrical in opposite directions, with males having a larger area on the left side compared to the right side, and females having a larger right side compared to the left side. The present study attempted to replicate and extend this finding. Two databases of facial images from Stirling and St Andrews Universities, consisting of 180 and 122 faces respectively, and a third set of 62 faces collected at Abertay University, were used to examine Smith's findings. Smith's unique method of calculating the size of each hemiface was applied to each set. For the Stirling and St Andrews sets a computer program did this automatically and for the Abertay set it was done manually. No significant overall effect of gender on facial area asymmetry was found. However, the St Andrews sample demonstrated a similar effect to that found by Smith, with females having a significantly larger mean area of right hemiface and males having a larger left hemiface. In addition, for the Abertay faces handedness had a significant effect on facial asymmetry with right-handers having a larger left side of the face. These findings give limited support for Smith's results but also suggest that finding such an asymmetry may depend on some as yet unidentified factors inherent in some methods of image collection

Improving Agricultural Irrigation on the Balkhab River, Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, where 80% of the population is rural, irrigated agriculture is important for satisfying subsistence needs. While most of the irrigated agriculture is fed by diversion canal systems which tap surface flows, legal and physical water infrastructure in the region is generally poor. A math programming model is used to optimize irrigation strategies under different water-availability and policy scenarios. It is found that the construction of a reservoir could increase net revenues to a representative farming community by up to 30%. However, even greater benefits may result from increasing distribution efficiencies, depending on the initial level of conveyance losses. Further, property rights schemes may be implemented to distribute wealth more evenly through various zones at minimal cost to the agricultural community as a whole. These results may prove useful to policymakers or water authorities in reestablishing water rights.linear programming, irrigation, Afghanistan, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development,

LONGITUDINAL FITNESS TESTING – SUPERVISION OF TRAINING IN YOUNG ALPINE SKI RACERS

Alpine ski racing demands a multitude of technical skills and excellent physical abilities. Longitudinal systematic fitness testing and supervision of training in young alpine ski racers is one key factor in the success of the Austrian ski teams. The established norm profiles for sport motor function and fitness tests in all age groups of ski racers can help in detecting fitness deficits early. Testing over the last 10 years has shown that Austrian young ski racers (e.g. boys) have an excellent conditioning level compared to other youth athletes from different sport disciplines. Testing of training efficiency demands that the coaches continually critique and revise their programs. Coordinated off/on snow courses and optimal intergroup communications under the supervision of the Austrian Ski Federation are important frameworks for a scientific based longitudinal training process

POWER TESTING IN ELITE SPORT AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING

The ability to produce force quickly is often a deciding factor in sport. Dynamic power assessment is related to complex aspects of muscle function as well as target performance in sports. In this sense, dynamic power testing includes multi-joint movements such as jumping under typical real life conditions. Testing of power is important, but understanding the results and ultimately using them to improve training is the goal of the testing process. The purpose of this paper is to describe a system of power testing and how the results are used in training

BIOMECHANIC ASPECTS OF SPORT SPECIFIC TESTING IN ELITE ALPINE SKI RACERS

The long record of consistent success in all age groups of Austrian alpine ski racers is due to an optimized training environment. One of many factors is physical preparation. The physical preparation program of the Austrian Ski Federation ski racers has for years included tests in which specially designed test devices and computer programs are utilized. The testing series for the Austrian ski team members include the following devices: Biodex balance and coordination tests, Isometric power tester (max. isometric strength tests of knee and hip extension), Back Check (max. isometric core strength tests). MLD (barbell squat jumps and counter movement jumps with varying loads), Kistler force plate (CMJ, special power jump tests & reactive strength). Contrex (concentric/eccentric maximal strength & strength endurance of the hip and knee extensors) & Ski start test (maximal force and impulse of right and left pole-pushes as well as the acceleration). The development of physical preparedness norms for ski racers at all age levels aids in performance prediction, but even of more consequence -assists in injury prevention. Necessary measures can then be undertaken to help the athlete make the gains needed

Leibniz and the rationality of the infinite

Part 1 Historically the term 'infinite' has had two apparently contrary meanings. On the one hand, it was taken by metaphysicians like Plotinus to mean that which " ... has never known measure and stands outside number, and so is under no limit either in regard to anything external or internal ... " (Branford 1949, V.5.11). 'Infinite' in this sense means 'irrevocably complete'. On the other hand, Aristotle defined it in this way: "A quantity is infinite if it is such that we can always take a part outside what has already been taken." (Hardie and Gaye 1941, 207a, 5-10) 'Infinite', in this second sense means, 'irrevocably incomplete'. Leibniz is someone who uses both these meanings. In particular, he identifies the irrevocably complete with God and the irrevocably incomplete with the world (as we know it). Given, firstly, that what is irrevocably complete includes everything and, secondly, that it excludes anything incomplete, the following conclusion can be drawn: Leibniz's philosophy of the infinite makes of the-world-as-we-know-it something that is logically dependent on God, but also something that exists in contradiction to 'him'. Leibniz cannot escape a kind of contradiction in what he says about God and the world but this is not a straightforward case of self-refutation. The reason turns on the consideration that to divorce the concept of the irrevocably complete from its object is to deprive this concept of its sense, specifically of its sense of completeness. For if the two are distinct, then there is something beyond the irrevocably complete, namely, how this is independently of its concept. It follows that to deny the irrevocably complete is, in the same breath, to affirm that very thing. Yet if we cannot quite deny the irrevocable complete, neither can we as human beings quite affirm it either-for the human mind is, we do not doubt, a limited one. Thus the irrevocably complete can neither be affirmed nor denied without contradiction. There is a strong resemblance between this paradox and the paradox of the liar: in both cases there is a thesis that says of itself that it is untrue and, in both cases, thesis and antithesis tum out to be equivalent. Part 2 Kant offers some powerful reasons to think that the paradox discussed in Part 1 involves no real contradiction. The critical philosophy suggests that the apparent contradiction is real, only if, per impossibile, we have some way to positively employ the concept of the world as it is independently of our conceptions of it. Kant's view of the infinite shares with Leibniz's the vice (if it is one) that it is paradoxical: both philosophers make use of a concept that cannot, strictly speaking, be possessed by the human mind. However each view has the significant virtue that it shows the difference between the irrevocably complete and the irrevocably incomplete to be not simply a logical difference. My overall conclusion is based on a synthesis of the Leibnizian and the Kantian philosophies of the infinite. According to Leibniz, neither the irrevocably complete, nor the irrevocably incomplete, can be eliminated from philosophy. According to Kant, infinity is-from a human perspective at least-something prior to conception; putting Leibniz and Kant together, I conclude that these modes of infinity combine to produce finitude, that they are the joint conditions under which difference, and therefore finitude, is possible. In particular, I argue that the irrevocably complete is the infinity of fullness, and that the irrevocably incomplete is the infinity of emptiness, and that logic is blind to any difference there might be between these, since both are, by definition, undifferentiated. Given that ethics, as well as logic, is dependent on finitude, I conclude, finally, that the perennial ambition to eliminate either the irrevocably complete or the irrevocably incomplete from philosophy is, not merely unrealisable, but potentially dangerous

An evidence-based framework for priority clinical research questions for COVID-19

Background On 31 December, 2019, the World Health Organization China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology. Since then, there have been over 75000 cases globally of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), 2000 deaths, and over 14000 cases recovered. Outbreaks of novel agents represent opportunities for clinical research to inform real-time public health action. In 2018, we conducted a systematic review to identify priority research questions for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Here, we review information available on COVID-19 and provide an evidenced-based framework for priority clinical research in the current outbreak. Methods Three bibliographic databases were searched to identify clinical studies published on SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV in the outbreak setting. Studies were grouped thematically according to clinical research questions addressed. In February 2020, available information on COVID19 was reviewed and compared to the results of the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV systematic review. Results From the research objectives for SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, ten themes in the literature were identified: Clinical characterisation, prognosis, diagnosis, clinical management, viral pathogenesis, epidemiological characterisation, infection prevention and control/transmission, susceptibility, psychosocial, and aetiology. For COVID19, some information on clinical presentation, diagnostic testing, and aetiology is available but many clinical research gaps have yet to be filled. Conclusions Based on a systematic review of other severe coronaviruses, we summarise the state of clinical research for COVID-19, highlight the research gaps, and provide recommendations for the implementation of standardised protocols. Databased on internationally standardised protocols will inform clinical practice real-time

Top predators, habitat complexity and the biodiversity of litter-dwelling ants

Trabalho final de mestrado integrado em Medicina (Geriatria), apresentado á Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de CoimbraA hipertensão arterial é o principal fator de risco modificável para a morbimortalidade por doenças cardiovasculares, a principal causa de morte a nível mundial. Dado o aumento da sua prevalência com a idade, a hipertensão arterial no idoso é uma patologia cada vez mais frequente. A rigidez arterial e a disfunção endotelial são a base fisiopatológica da hipertensão arterial no idoso, não devendo contudo ser descurada a maior incidência de causas secundárias. O tratamento farmacológico da hipertensão arterial no idoso é recomendado tendo em consideração o seu efeito na redução da mortalidade e morbilidade cardiovascular. O valor-alvo de tensão arterial recomendado para estes doentes é 150/90 mmHg, pela ausência de benefícios com um controlo tensional mais restrito. Não há evidência que suporte a utilização preferencial de uma classe ou combinação farmacológica, devendo o grande enfoque terapêutico ser a redução tensional e não os agentes utilizados. Doentes com comorbilidades ou pertencentes a populações especiais podem apresentar indicações farmacológicas específicas e valores-alvo diferentes. As reações adversas à terapêutica são mais frequentes no idoso. Assim, os idosos hipertensos devem manter vigilância para identificação precoce de reações adversas e aumentar a adesão terapêutica.The arterial hypertension is the main modifiable risk factor for morbimortality of cardiovascular diseases, the main cause of death worldwide. Given the increase of its prevalence with age, the arterial hypertension in the elderly is becoming increasingly frequent. The arterial stiffness and endothelial dysfunction are the pathophysiological basis of the arterial hypertension in the elderly, although it cannot be neglect the higher incidence of secondary causes. The pharmacological treatment of arterial hypertension in the elderly is recommended considering its effects on the reduction of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The blood pressure target recommended for these patients is 150/90 mmHg, due to the lack of benefits in a stricter blood pressure control. There is no evidence supporting the preferential utilization of a pharmacological class or combination. The major focus should be on blood pressure reduction and not on the agent used. Patients with comorbidities or from special populations may have specific pharmacologial indications and different target values. The therapy’s adverse reactions are more frequent in the elderly. Thus, the hypertensive elderly must maintain vigilance to identify early the adverse reactions and increase the therapeutic adherenc