352 research outputs found
Student Expectations in the New Millennium
No full textHigher education has experienced vast changes as a result of global political and economic developments. Cultural and social changes in the last decade have also added to the continuing evolution of higher education. These changes inevitably lead to changing expectations of students entering higher education. An adequate understanding of student expectations is crucial in ensuring a good fit between higher educational institutions and their students. This study attempts to carry out a baseline descriptive-quantitative research on student expectations in the higher education of Hong Kong. Four scales have been developed to measure students’ attitude toward: 1. job-oriented curriculum design, 2. user-friendly course delivery method, 3. opportunities for lifelong learning, and 4. student consumerism. Students’ priority of what makes a good university, their reasons for going to university, and their self-perception of ability to cope with university life are also explored. The Student Expectations Questionnaire (developed by the author) was used to gather data from 857 first-year undergrads from nine institutions of higher education in Hong Kong. Analyses include, among others, gender, age, major of study as well as institution comparisons
Polypyrrole-coated fabric strain sensor with high sensitivity and good stability
No full textAuthor name used in this publication: Hing Yee J. TsangAuthor name used in this publication: C. W. M. YuenVersion of RecordPublishedVoR allowe
Clinical whole-exome sequencing reveals a common pathogenic variant in patients with CoQ10 deficiency: An underdiagnosed cause of mitochondriopathy
No full text[Background]: Primary CoQ deficiency occurs because of the defective biosynthesis of coenzyme Q, one of the key components of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Patients with this disease present with a myriad of non-specific symptoms and signs, posing a diagnostic challenge. Whole-exome sequencing is vital in the diagnosis of these cases.[Case]: Three unrelated cases presenting as either encephalopathy or cardiomyopathy have been diagnosed to harbor a common pathogenic variant c.370G > A in COQ4. COQ4 encodes a key structural component for stabilizing the multienzymatic CoQ biosynthesis complex. This variant is detected only among East and South Asian populations.[Conclusions]: Based on the population data and our case series, COQ4-related mitochondriopathy is likely an underrecognized condition. We recommend including the COQ4 c.370G > A variant as a part of the screening process for mitochondriopathy in Chinese populations.This work was supported by the S.K. Yee Medical Foundation, Hong Kong
Guthion
No full textprepared by Syracuse Research Corporation ; prepared for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Chemical manager(s)/author(s): Nickolette Roney, Selene Chou, Yee-Wan Stevens, ATSDR, Division of Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Antonio Quinones-Rivera, David Wohlers, Mario Citra, Syracuse Research Corporation, North Syracuse, NY. --p. ix."This toxicological profile is prepared in accordance with guidelines developed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The original guidelines were published in the Federal Register on April 17, 1987"--p. v.Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-176) and index.20081122
Build AI-Enhanced Audio Plugins with C++
No full textBuild AI-Enhanced Audio Plugins with C++ explains how to embed artificial intelligence technology inside tools that can be used by audio and music professionals, through worked examples using Python, C++ and audio APIs which demonstrate how to combine technologies to produce professional, AI-enhanced creative tools.
Alongside a freely accessible source code repository created by the author that accompanies the book for readers to reference, each chapter is supported by complete example applications and projects, including an autonomous music improviser, a neural network-based synthesizer meta-programmer and a neural audio effects processor. Detailed instructions on how to build each example are also provided, including source code extracts, diagrams and background theory.
This is an essential guide for software developers and programmers of all levels looking to integrate AI into their systems, as well as educators and students of audio programming, machine learning and software development
Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis
No full textMultiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis
Analysis of immune-related loci identifies 48 new susceptibility variants for multiple sclerosis
No full textUsing the ImmunoChip custom genotyping array, we analyzed 14,498 subjects with multiple sclerosis and 24,091 healthy controls for 161,311 autosomal variants and identified 135 potentially associated regions (P < 1.0 × 10−4). In a replication phase, we combined these data with previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from an independent 14,802 subjects with multiple sclerosis and 26,703 healthy controls. In these 80,094 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 48 new susceptibility variants (P < 5.0 × 10−8), 3 of which we found after conditioning on previously identified variants. Thus, there are now 110 established multiple sclerosis risk variants at 103 discrete loci outside of the major histocompatibility complex. With high-resolution Bayesian fine mapping, we identified five regions where one variant accounted for more than 50% of the posterior probability of association. This study enhances the catalog of multiple sclerosis risk variants and illustrates the value of fine mapping in the resolution of GWAS signals
Methodological Innovation in Practice-Based Design Doctorates
No full textThis article presents a selective review of recent design PhDs that identify and analyse the methodological innovation that is occurring in the field, in order to inform future provision of research training. Six recently completed design PhDs are used to highlight possible philosophical and practical models that can be adopted by future PhD students in design. Four characteristics were found in design PhD methodology: innovations in the format and structure of the thesis, a pick-and-mix approach to research design, situating practice in the inquiry, and the validation of visual analysis. The article concludes by offering suggestions on how research training can be improved. By being aware of recent methodological innovations in the field, design educators will be better informed when developing resources for future design doctoral candidates and assisting supervision teams in developing a more informed and flexible approach to practice-based research
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The Author's Two Bodies: Paratext in Early Chinese Textual Culture
No full textThis dissertation addresses the contentious issue of early authorship by proposing a new set of methodologies developed out of an engagement with both manuscript and transmitted sources. To tackle the questions of what constitutes a text and what constitutes an author in pre-imperial China (before 211 BCE), I adapt and expand the concept of “paratext,” namely the materials enveloping the main text such as titles, book covers, author names, and prefaces. In addition to demonstrating the role of paratext in demarcating textual boundaries, I also develop a system of criteria for identifying hitherto unrecognized forms of paratexts in early sources, such as the reiterations of zi yue (the Master said), branching catalogues, and author anecdotes. Reading these features as paratextual language helps uncover new evidence that shows how early textual producers sought to circumscribe words as textual units. While many scholars dismiss early author attributions as apocryphal, I argue that the representations of author figures, real or putative, perform an instrumental role in defining and delimiting both a text and a corpus. My case studies straddle the transition into the imperial period, from aphorism and anecdotes preserved in bamboo manuscripts (c. 300 BCE), to excavated and received compilations such as the Yinqueshan Sunzi bingfa, Zhuangzi, Hanfeizi, and the Chuci zhangju. In my final chapter, I trace the intriguing motif revolving around a zero-sum game between the author’s physical body and literary corpus.East Asian Languages and Civilization
Cosmological parameter estimation using Very Small Array data out to ℓ= 1500
No full textWe estimate cosmological parameters using data obtained by the Very Small Array (VSA) in its extended configuration, in conjunction with a variety of other cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and external priors. Within the flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model, we find that the inclusion of high-resolution data from the VSA modifies the limits on the cosmological parameters as compared to those suggested by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) alone, while still remaining compatible with their estimates. We find that Ωbh2= 0.0234+0.0012−0.0014, Ωdmh2= 0.111+0.014−0.016, h= 0.73+0.09−0.05, nS= 0.97+0.06−0.03, 1010AS= 23+7−3 and τ= 0.14+0.14−0.07 for WMAP and VSA when no external prior is included. On extending the model to include a running spectral index of density fluctuations, we find that the inclusion of VSA data leads to a negative running at a level of more than 95 per cent confidence ( nrun=−0.069 ± 0.032 ), something that is not significantly changed by the inclusion of a stringent prior on the Hubble constant. Inclusion of prior information from the 2dF galaxy redshift survey reduces the significance of the result by constraining the value of Ωm. We discuss the veracity of this result in the context of various systematic effects and also a broken spectral index model. We also constrain the fraction of neutrinos and find that fν < 0.087 at 95 per cent confidence, which corresponds to mν < 0.32 eV when all neutrino masses are equal. Finally, we consider the global best fit within a general cosmological model with 12 parameters and find consistency with other analyses available in the literature. The evidence for nrun < 0 is only marginal within this model
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