82 research outputs found
Site selection, structural design, construction, management and production of floating cage culture system in Malaysia
No full textThe success of cage culture system is largely determined by correct selection of favourable sites, suitable cage size and facilities and management of the system. These three elements are considered in this paper in relation to culture systems in Malaysia
Audio files from WhatTCSay 3
No full text<p><span>This dataset contains wav files converted from the mp3 recorded for the WhatTCSay application.<br></span></p>
<p><span><span>It consists in 80 minutes of speech, reading </span><span>9146 syllables.</span></span></p>
<p><span>It was processed to serve as training data in Text To Speech experiments, and splitted into </span><span>4388 files used for training,</span><br><span>and 19 kept for testing. Results were published at LREC 2024 (Magistry, Wang & Lim, 2024)<br></span></p>
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The Relation on a First-name Basis in the Light of Corpus Data
No full textArtykuł przedstawia analizę tekstów korpusowych opisujących relację na ty w polskim społeczeństwie. Materiał badawczy stanowi ponad 600 tekstów z hasłem na ty oraz per ty zaczerpniętych z Narodowego Korpusu Języka Polskiego, które pozwalają zobrazować ogólny zarys relacji na ty. Zaprezentowana analiza pokazuje, że w relacji na ty istnieje jedna lub więcej z trzech więzi między rozmówcami: więź dla korzyści, więź dla swobody oraz więź uczuciowa. Więź dla korzyści łączy interlokutorów w realizowaniu wspólnego celu i taką relację na ty czasami można obserwować w środowisku politycznym. Niektóre teksty pokazały, że w dążeniu do swobody w interakcji również rodzi się więź łącząca osoby przechodzące na ty, a więź uczuciowa może dotyczyć rodziny czy długo znających się rozmówców. Przejście na ty można traktować jako akt potwierdzający istnienie jednej lub kilku z wyżej wymienionych więzi, nie zawsze jest on jednak równoznaczny z pozwoleniem na przekroczenie granicy prywatności. Wyniki analizy dowiodły również, że wyznaczniki społeczne takie jak wiek, hierarchia czy płeć mogą spowodować poczucie skrępowania przy przejściu na ty. Zasygnalizowane przez niniejszą analizę elementy stanowią istotną bazę do dalszych badań przedmiotu.The article presents an analysis of corpus texts describing the relation on a first-name basis in Polish society. The research is based on over 600 texts with the phrases na ty and per ty (eng. on a first-name basis) taken from the linguistic corpus of Polish. Such texts allow the author to illustrate the general frame of the relation on a first-name basis. The analysis has shown that the interlocutors in this type of relation share one or more bonds of the following kinds: a bond for benefits, a bond for ease of communication, and an emotional bond. The bond for benefits connects interlocutors in order to achieve a common goal, which can sometimes be observed as a relation on a first-name basis among politicians. Some texts have shown that people decide to switch to a first-name basis to simplify their interaction. The emotional bond, which also connects people addressing each other on a first-name basis, may be related to family groups or a long- term relation between interlocutors. Transition to a first-name basis can be treated as an act confirming the existence of one or more of the above-mentioned bonds, which does not always mean permission to cross the border of privacy. The results of the analysis have also shown that social markers such as age, hierarchy, and gender may cause uncomfortable feeling when switching to a first-name basis. The elements indicated by this analysis provide an important perspective for further research
Intervertebral disc characterization by shear wave elastography: an in-vitro preliminary study
No full textPatient-specific numerical simulation of the spine is a useful tool both in clinic and research. While geometrical personalization of the spine is no more an issue, thanks to recent technological advances, non-invasive personalization of soft tissue’s mechanical properties remains a challenge. Ultrasound elastography is a relatively recent measurement technique allowing the evaluation of soft tissue’s elastic modulus through the measurement of shear wave speed (SWS). The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of elastographic measurements in intervertebral disc (IVD). An in-vitro approach was chosen to test the hypothesis that SWS can be used to evaluate IVD mechanical properties and to assess measurement repeatability. Eleven oxtail IVDs were tested in compression to determine their stiffness and apparent elastic modulus at rest and at 400 N. Elastographic measurements were performed in these two conditions and compared to these mechanical parameters. The protocol was repeated six times to determine elastographic measurement repeatability. Average SWS over all samples was 5.3 ± 1.0 m/s, with a repeatability of 7 % at rest and 4.6 % at 400 N; stiffness and apparent elastic modulus were 266.3 ± 70.5 N/mm and 5.4 ± 1.1 MPa at rest, respectively, while at 400 N they were 781.0 ± 153.8 N/mm and 13.2 ± 2.4 MPa. Correlations were found between elastographic measurements and IVD mechanical properties; these preliminary results are promising for further in-vivo application.The authors are grateful to the ParisTech BiomecAM chair program on subject-specific musculoskeletal modelling for funding (with the support of Proteor, ParisTech and Yves Cotrel Foundations)
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Hong Kong: workfare in the world's freest economy
No full textWorkfare was introduced in many countries to suppress welfare dependency and reduce social security expenditures. However, workfare was launched in Hong Kong when there was only a relatively small social security budget and its citizens still strongly adhered to the ideologies of self-reliance. It was found that workfare has performed several functions in Hong Kong. Firstly, it has forced unemployed claimants to give up benefits so that Hong Kong's social security expenditures can be saved. Secondly, workfare had combined with Hong Kong's semi-democratic polity so that extremely stigmatising welfare measures were implemented. Thirdly, it has pushed poor citizens to the labour market without having any protection over wages and working hours. Thus, the combination of workfare and a semi-democratic polity has successfully suppressed Hong Kong's welfare demands and strengthened its self-help spirit. As a result, Hong Kong's minimal social security scheme and its low tax policy have been maintained
Methylene blue discoloration by heated persulfate in aqueous solution
No full textAdvanced oxidation process based on thermally activated sodium persulfate (SPS) is used in this work to degrade methylene blue (MB). The impact of temperature (30-70°C), MB concentration (15.6-311.8μM), SPS load (1-100mM) as well as phosphate buffer (PB) capacity were characterized in short term (1-2h) and long term (1-2weeks) experiments. Results showed complete MB discoloration under tested conditions. The observed degradation rates (kobs) from the pseudo-first order kinetics model changed upon concentration of MB and were found closely dependent on the [SPS]0-[MB]0 ratio. An acceptable Arrhenius behaviour was noticed for solutions of [SPS]0-[MB]0≥32 in which SPS is in excess. Upon addition of SPS to MB at room temperature, the solution turned purple due to the formation of a non-stable flocky precipitate. However, spectral analysis showed complete disappearance of MB and its derivative precipitate after heat as well. The HPLC-MS analysis indicated the formation of non-stable transformation products identified as sulfonic acid and hydroxylated MB derivatives via SO4-andHO oxidation. 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Tissue-specific calibration of extracellular matrix material properties by transforming growth factor-beta and Runx2 in bone is required for hearing
No full textPublisher version: http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v11/n10/full/embor2010135.htmlDA - 20100917 IS - 1469-3178 (Electronic) IS - 1469-221X (Linking) LA - ENG PT - JOURNAL ARTICLEDA - 20100917 IS - 1469-3178 (Electronic) IS - 1469-221X (Linking) LA - ENG PT - JOURNAL ARTICLEDA - 20100917 IS - 1469-3178 (Electronic) IS - 1469-221X (Linking) LA - ENG PT - JOURNAL ARTICLEPhysical cues, such as extracellular matrix stiffness, direct cell differentiation and support tissue-specific function. Perturbation of these cues underlies diverse pathologies, including osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms that establish tissue-specific material properties and link them to healthy tissue function are unknown. We show that Runx2, a key lineage-specific transcription factor, regulates the material properties of bone matrix through the same transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta)-responsive pathway that controls osteoblast differentiation. Deregulated TGFbeta or Runx2 function compromises the distinctly hard cochlear bone matrix and causes hearing loss, as seen in human cleidocranial dysplasia. In Runx2(+/-) mice, inhibition of TGFbeta signalling rescues both the material properties of the defective matrix, and hearing. This study elucidates the unknown cause of hearing loss in cleidocranial dysplasia, and demonstrates that a molecular pathway controlling cell differentiation also defines material properties of extracellular matrix. Furthermore, our results suggest that the careful regulation of these properties is essential for healthy tissue functio
Man in his native noblesse? : chivalry and the politics of the nobility in the tragedies of George Chapman
No full textIn this thesis I argue that the three plays under consideration - Bussy
D'Anbois, The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron, and The
Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois - illustrate Chapman's concern with the role of
chivalry in England following the debacle of the Essex Rebel lion in 1601.
My contention is that, for Chapman, the Essex Rebellion exposed the
fragility and the inconsistencies of Elizabethan chivalry and the political
threat represented by its preoccupation with martial values.
I suggest that in his plays, Chapman sets out to deconstruct the myth
of chivalry by exposing it as a romantic concept which is used by the
martial nobility as a means of Emphasizing their political rights. The
values of chivalry - prowess, honour, loyalty, generosity, courtesy and
independence - are shown, by the plays, to be incompatible with the
political ambitions of the nobility. By associating themselves with this
mythical concept of chivalry, political figures cane to identify their
factions with the values of chivalry. Chapman, I argue, shows haw the myth
is established and then exposes it for what it is, by portraying his
characters as unable to live up to their expected mythical ideals.
Chivalry is stripped of its mythical trappings and exposed as militaristic,
aggressive and politically motivated.
The thesis is divided into five chapters. In the first, I consider
Chapman alongside the Tacitean historians who were connected with the Essex
circle in the 1590s and show how, in The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles
Duke of Byron, the dramatist transformed the providentialist narrative of
his source into a play with Tacitean connotations, emphasizing the
relationship between chivalry and constitutional political theory. In the
second chapter I consider Chapman's interest in chivalry and discuss
generally the romantic concept of Elizabethan chivalry and its relationship
with the political concerns of the nobility. In Chapters Three to Five I
discuss Chapman's portrayal of chivalry and its political impliications
Large-eddy simulation of heat transfer from a single cube mounted on a very rough wall
No full textThe local thermal effects in the wake of a single cube, which represents a tall building in an urban area, are studied using large-eddy simulations (LES) for forced, mixed and free convection cases that are characterised by Richardson number, Ri. New wall models are implemented for momentum, temperature and rough surfaces. Comparison of the flow and thermal fields with the wind-tunnel data of Richards et al. (2006) shows fair agreement. Buoyancy effects are quite evident at high Ri and a significant increase in the turbulence levels is observed for such flows. The thermal boundary layer thickness was estimated for different heated surfaces of the cube and its variation with Ri was studied. The heat transfer coefficient for different degrees of thermal forcing was obtained and compared with earlier studies. Quadrant analysis was performed on momentum and heat along the shear layer behind the cube to identify the organised structures
Soft biometrics for surveillance: an overview
No full textBiometrics is the science of automatically recognizing people based on physical or behavioral characteristics such as face, fingerprint, iris, hand, voice, gait and signature. More recently, the use of soft biometric traits has been proposed to improve the performance of traditional biometric systems and allow identification based on human descriptions. Soft biometric traits include characteristics such as height, weight, body geometry, scars, marks and tattoos (SMT), gender, etc. These traits offer several advantages over traditional biometric techniques. Soft biometric traits can be typically described using human understandable labels and measurements, allowing for retrieval and recognition solely based on verbal descriptions. Unlike many primary biometric traits, soft biometrics can be obtained at a distance without subject cooperation and from low quality video footage, making them ideal for use in surveillance applications. This chapter will introduce the current state-of-the-art in the emerging field of soft biometric
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