518 research outputs found
Modified Kinematic Technique for Measuring Pathological Hyperextension and Hypermobility of the Interphalangeal Joints
No full textDynamic finger joint motion is difficult to measure using optical motion analysis techniques due to the limited surface area allowed for adequate marker placement. This paper describes an extension of a previously validated kinematic measurement technique using a reduced surface marker set and outlines the required calculations based on a specific surface marker placement to calculate flexion/extension and hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal, and distal interphalangeal joints. The modified technique has been assessed for accuracy using a series of static reference frames (absolute residual error = ±3.7°, cross correlation between new method and reference frames; r = 0.99). The method was then applied to a small group of participants with rheumatoid arthritis (seven females, one male; mean age = 62.8 years ± 12.04) and illustrated congruent strategies of movement for a participant and a large range of finger joint movement over the sample (5.8–71.1°, smallest to largest active range of motion). This method used alongside the previous paper [1] provides a comprehensive, validated method for calculating 3-D wrist, hand, fingers, and thumb kinematics to date and provides a valuable measurement tool for clinical research
Online youth networks: researching the experiences of 'peripheral' young people in using new media tools for creative participation and representation
No full textFor youth living outside national and global cultural and economic core centres new media technologies can enable access to multiple and diverse audiences, that may otherwise have not been reachable. Tanya Notley and Jo Tacchi explore how ‘peripheral youth’ can represent their local lives and explore different issues, identities and representations through participation in an online youth network
Restricted access : young people, online networks and school
No full textThere are some good reasons for prohibitive policies that restrict the Internet use of young people but we need to consider how prohibition can affect those who might already suffer from social inequalities. In 2008 the author surveyed young people\u27s Internet access in nine urban, rural and remote regions in Queensland, and analysed how 75 teenagers living in these places were using Internet-based networking environments in their everyday lives. Almost all of the participants liked to consider themselves technologically savvy, but the fact is that most were not and had exaggerated their skills when they completed the author\u27s questionnaire. The author also found that there were vast differences in levels of ICT access at home and in Internet provision and broadband uptake. This led her to think about the vital equalising role of computer and Internet access in schools, but when she looked at education policies and practices, however, she found that when an online network became popular the typical response of Education Queensland was to block its use in state schools. The author argues that these sorts of policies serve to widen social inequalities and that the new opportunities that ICT affords are being unevenly distributed. [Author abstract, ed
Validation and application of a computational model for wrist and hand movements using surface markers
No full textA kinematic model is presented based on surface marker placement generating wrist, metacarpal arch, fingers and thumb movements. Standard calculations are used throughout the model and then applied to the specified marker placement. A static trial involving eight unimpaired participants was carried out to assess inter-rater reliability. The standard deviations across the data were comparable to manual goniometers. In addition, a test retest trial of ten unimpaired participants is also reported to illustrate the variability of movement at the wrist joint, metacarpal arch, and index finger as an example of model output when repeating the same task many times. Light and heavyweight versions of the tasks are assessed and characteristics of individual movement strategies presented. The participant trial showed moderate correlation in radial/ulnar deviation of the wrist ( = 0 65), and strong correlation in both metacarpal arch joints ( = 075 and = 085), the MCP ( = 079), and PIP ( = 087) joints of the index finger. The results indicate that individuals use repeated strategies of movement when lifting light and heavyweight versions of the same object, but showed no obvious repeated pattern of movement across the population
Going back to our roots: the role of transformatory education in the battle against social exclusion
No full textIn the UK, the 1990s have seen the creation and honing of government generated discourses on social exclusion and lifelong learning. To a remarkable extent these discourses are discrete. The Social Exclusion Unit's recent report 'Bringing Britain together: a national strategy for neighbourhood renewal' addresses various educational issues yet fails to include the phrase 'lifelong learning'. Government publications on lifelong learning dedicate similarly negligible space to social exclusion. The Green Paper 'The Learning Age: a renaissance for a new Britain' suggests that learning 'contributes to social cohesion and fosters a sense of belonging, responsibility and identity' and 'builds local capacity to respond to change' (Uden 1998). Yet in spite of rhetoric espousing 'joined up thinking' to 'joined up problems', the potential of adult education approaches to combatting social exclusion still has to be identified and analysed. As McNair recently observed 'we have not yet got the role of adult learning firmly enough into the minds of those shaping broader social policy as the Social Exclusion Unit's report ... demonstrates' (McNair 1999). Recently completed research which we undertook at a voluntary sector family resource centre situated in a deprived neighbourhood presents some key ideas from which educators could design initiatives grounded in familiar transformatory praxis yet innovatory in the current social exclusion context. In this paper we explore the issues affecting policy and draw on the research findings to show how community education presents a means of reconfiguring the established problem/solution welfare nexus
Two Negations for the Price of One
No full textStandard English is typically described as a double negation language. In double negation languages, each negative marker contributes independent semantic force. Two negations in the same clause usually cancel each other out, resulting in an affirmative sentence. Other dialects of English permit negative concord. In negative concord sentences, the two negative markers yield a single semantic negation. This paper explores how English-speaking children interpret sentences with more than one negative element, in order to assess whether their early grammar allows negative concord. According to Zeijlstra’s (2004) typological generalization, if a language has a negative syntactic head, it will be a negative concord language. Since Standard English is often analysed as having a negative head, it represents an apparent exception to Zeijlstra’s generalization. This raises the intriguing possibility that initially, children recognize that English has a negative head (i.e., n’t) and, therefore, assign negative concord interpretations to sentences with two negations, despite the absence of evidence for this interpretation in the adult input. The present study investigated this possibility in a comprehension study with 20 3- to 5-year-old children and a control group of 15 adults. The test sentences were presented in contexts that made them amenable to either a double negation or a negative concord interpretation. As expected, the adult participants assigned the double negation interpretation of the test sentences the majority of the time. In contrast, the child participants assigned the alternative, negative concord interpretation the majority of the time. Children must jettison the negative concord interpretation of sentences with two negative markers, and acquire a double negation interpretation. We propose that the requisite positive evidence is the appearance of negative expressions like nothing in object position. Because such expressions exert semantic force without a second negation, this informs children that they are acquiring a double negation language. © 2016 The Author(s)
Optimal nonlinear filter to remove random impulses from Gaussian noise
No full textThis paper investigates the problem of removing random impulse noise from a white signal of Gaussian distribution. A nonlinear polynomial filter is used, whose coefficients are optimised using an exact least squares method. The method relies on exploiting the differing probability distributions of the impulsive noise and the Gaussian signal. The paper then looks at the effect of both the polynomial order and the normalised spike amplitude on the mean squared error and signal to noise ratio. The results are compared to the results found using a simple clipping filter. The results show that the optimal filter gives a much improved performance over the simple clipping filter in reducing the mean square error
Sticking together: teaching, learning and the art of research
No full textIn this paper we emphasise the importance for community educators of building bridges between emerging needs, research, teaching and learning. A case study of recent work is used to illustrate the way in which research in vocational education and training offers the potential for practical outcomes which are not necessarily defined by the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). We believe that fragmentation must be resisted: the glue securing teaching, learning and research must be preserved.
The project which functions as our case study concerned the education and training needs of youth and community arts practitioners. Situated in the north of England, the research was directed by a partnership comprising Yorkshire and Humberside Arts, West Yorkshire Youth Association, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, youth and community arts practitioners and the University of Huddersfield. This innovative collaboration led to pragmatic outcomes in course development, teaching and learning: a new postgraduate course is planned in direct response to the research, a conference was held to share the findings with practitioners whose input, using a focus group approach, was vital in the writing of the final report. We also envisage the work having a practical impact on future approaches to teaching and learning.
We analyse the glue which holds together the collaborative partnership and answer the question: what is the nature of cross-sectoral partnership and how do all the partners get what they want? We believe this brings us back to the good old fashioned idea that the purpose of educational research is to inspire change, and is not only to add to the sum of human knowledge. Sadly, all too often nowadays there is a tendency for research to serve the demands of the RAE
The relationship between upper limb activity and impairment in post-stroke hemiplegia
No full textPurpose. To investigate the relationship between upper limb impairments and activity limitation. Method. A cross sectional, single assessment observational study in which people with hemiplegia as a result of a stroke underwent a testing procedure in an instrumented wrist rig in which the following measures of impairment were recorded: Spasticity; motor control (ability to track a moving target); muscle activation patterns during tracking; stiffness; range of active movement and isometric muscle strength. Participants also performed clinical tests of upper limb activity (Action Research Arm Test) and hyper-tonicity (Modified Ashworth Scale). Results. Seventeen people with hemiplegia whose mean age was 57 (SD 13.4) took part. Their mean upper limb activity, measured by the Action Research Arm Test, was 19.3 (SD 11.2). Statistically significant positive relationships between level of activity and the negative features of the upper motor neuron syndrome such as motor control r = 0.710 (p = 0.003), active range of movement r = 0.540 (p = 0.025) and strength into flexion r = 0.515 (p = 0.034) and extension r = 0.575 (p = 0.016) were identified, but not with the positive features, such as spasticity or the secondary features such as stiffness. Conclusions. The negative features of the upper motor neuron syndrome appear more likely to affect upper limb activity than the positive or secondary features, but findings need confirming in different study populations, preferably with larger samples
The role of online networks in supporting young people's digital inclusion and the implications for Australian government policies
No full textThis study examines young people’s internet access and use in nine locations in Queensland, Australia. The primary aim of the research is to assess if internet use supports young people’s social inclusion: that is, if internet use supports young people to participate in society in ways they have most reason to value.\ud
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The research findings demonstrate that the digital divide in Queensland – the gap between citizens with and without access to ICTs – continues to inhibit young people’s ability to participate online. This divide is embedded within historic, economic, social and cultural inequalities. To address this, this study proposes that a digital inclusion framework, founded on the concept of social inclusion, offers the Australian federal and state governments an opportunity to extend digital divide policies so that they connect with and complement broader social policy goals.\ud
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The research outcomes also illustrate that creative uses of online networks provide a powerful means through which young people can participate in a networked society. While young people’s access to a range of ICTs impacts on their ability to use online networks, gradations of use, social networks and informal learning contexts frequently act as mediators to support effective internet use. This study contends that by understanding the social benefits of young people’s online network use and the role that mediators play in different environments, we can move towards a policy framework that supports equitable opportunities for young people’s digital inclusion
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