Check! a generic and specific industrial inspection tool

The authors present an overview of an `inspection and control' package to perform automatic quality control of industrial components, specifically electronic circuit boards. This application has grown out of a set of tools designed initially to aid the development of point distribution models (PDMs) and grey-level models (GLMs) pioneered at the Wolfson Image Analysis Unit in Manchester. These models are both generic and specific. Generic, because they can be applied to most image classification problems; specific, because they aim at the full interpretation of the variability of the objects to be modelled. The underlying vision processing techniques are based on statistical pattern matching. Two synergetic approaches have been followed. The system is trained to recognise the components from either their shape or their grey level appearance or both     

Disguise and the structured self-report assessment of psychopathology: I. An analogue investigation.

Explored the utility of disguise in structured self-report assessments of psychopathology in 3 experiments with 370 university students. Exp I used items from the Basic Personality Inventory (BPI); Exp II used the BPI, the Desirability scale of the Personality Research Form—Form E, and 4 criterion measures; and Exp III used 2 of the criterion measures and the BPI. Data indicate that under normal test-taking circumstances, the use of disguised test items was not advantageous. This relationship, however, was moderated by a number of dimensional parameters. When faking response sets in terms of desirability was induced, the use of disguised test item content was not useful. Data are interpreted in terms of the various strategies of test construction underlying the assessment of psychopathology. Results support a rational strategy of test construction emphasizing the use of relevant test item content. It is concluded that, in structured self-report assessments, the most valid results may be obtained through the use of direct questions with cooperative test respondents. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Groupwork and computers: task type and children's performance

Abstract In the majority of British primary schools, children use the computer in groups of two or three. This is partly due to the lack of resources, that is, most classrooms still only have one or two computers to share between around 30 children. Groupwork on computers is also justified for pedagogic reasons. Previous research comparing children working in groups or alone has revealed an advantage for children working in groups although the work undertaken has generally been problem solving tasks. This investigation examined the performance of pairs and individual 6-year old children on a drill and practice program using a pre-test, intervention, post-test design. In comparison to the problem solving evidence, individuals were found to have a significant advantage over pairs during the computer-based task.     

Benign nonpeptic esophageal strictures. Diagnosis and treatment

This article studies the causes and treatment of benign nonpeptic esophageal strictures. The authors also discuss various therapeutic techniques for esophageal strictures, including esophageal dilatation with various dilators and balloons. Although the goals of stricture therapy are to relieve dysphagia and prevent stricture reoccurrence, only the first of these goals (effective dilatation with bougienage or balloon dilatation) has been achieved. The prevention of stricture reoccurrence remains to be achieved.     

Coherence coding for photonic code-division multiple accessnetworks

We analyze a code-division multiple access technique where information is optically encoded by manipulating the coherence between a pair of transmitted signals. Key features are intrinsic security, operation of the receiver at only the bit rate of a single channel, and reconfiguration without switching optical delays, which are considerable advantages compared to previously proposed CDMA schemes. Experimental results demonstrating the basic operation of the scheme are presented. The performance limitations are calculated and novel implementations are proposed     

Combining teacher-Led and technology-assisted instruction to improve phoneme blending to read words for elementary students with disabilities

Technology-assisted instruction has potential for helping students improve their reading skills. In the current studies, PowerPoint software was used to supplement teacher-led reading instruction for elementary-aged students with disabilities who struggled with phoneme blending to read words. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using two multiple probe design studies across sets of words based on an onset-rime (word family) strategy. In Study 1, teacher-led instruction was paired with technology-assisted instruction for all intervention sessions for three students in first and second grade. In Study 2, teacher-led instruction occurred between baseline and technology-assisted intervention sessions for three students in third and fourth grade. During the initial instruction sessions, participants recorded their own voices onto PowerPoint slides so that their technology-assisted instruction included self-modelling. Results of both studies indicated that technology-assisted instruction can be effective for helping students learn how to blend phonemes to read words; however, performance varied and there were limitations in each study that should be addressed in future research. Relevant implications for classroom instruction are emphasized.     

Identifying the criterion spontaneously minimized during the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump through optimal synthesis

Optimal synthesis of human movement or the prediction of the kinematics of a new movement require not only that the multi-body system be modeled but also that a performance criterion is specified. For sub-maximal movements the selection of a suitable performance criterion, able to generate realistic dynamic behavior is difficult. A two-dimensional simulation model of the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump was developed to study the effect of criterion choice on the realism of simulated movements. A parametric optimization technique was employed to obtain solutions to the constrained equations of motion. Seven different criteria were evaluated, by comparing simulated movements with an actual performance, to identify the criterion which most closely approximated that spontaneously minimized by the athlete. Synthesis of the take-off phase of a sub-maximal long jump was found to be sensitive to the chosen criterion, with a criterion based on minimizing joint intersegmental forces found to perform well.     

Identification and evaluation of volatile compounds of vacuum and modified atmosphere packaged beef strip loins

Beef strip loins were packaged and stored for up to 28 days at 3°C in high-oxygen barrier film under vacuum and in 100% CO(2), 40% CO(2)/60% N(2) and 20% CO(2)/80% O(2). As storage progressed, loins packaged and stored in 20% CO(2)/80% O(2) developed strong off-odors. 1-hexene, methyl thiirane, ethyl acetate, benzene and 1-heptene were detected in these packaged loins beginning at 7 to 14 days of storage. With the exception of 1-hexene, these compounds were not consistently detected in loins stored in vacuum, in 100% CO(2), or in 40% CO(2)/60% N(2), and these packaged loins developed much less off-odor during storage than loins packaged and stored in 20% CO(2)/80% O(2). A large number of volatile compounds from the headspace of the packaged loins originated from the packaging material. Lactobacillus plantarum became the dominant flora on loins stored under vacuum and under 40% CO(2)/60% N(2) while Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides predominated in loins stored in 100% CO(2). Pseudomonas putida eventually dominated on loins stored in 20% CO(2)/80% O(2).     

Next Generation Cereal Crop Yield Enhancement: From Knowledge of Inflorescence Development to Practical Engineering by Genome Editing

Artificial domestication and improvement of the majority of crops began approximately 10,000 years ago, in different parts of the world, to achieve high productivity, good quality, and widespread adaptability. It was initiated from a phenotype-based selection by local farmers and developed to current biotechnology-based breeding to feed over 7 billion people. For most cereal crops, yield relates to grain production, which could be enhanced by increasing grain number and weight. Grain number is typically determined during inflorescence development. Many mutants and genes for inflorescence development have already been characterized in cereal crops. Therefore, optimization of such genes could fine-tune yield-related traits, such as grain number. With the rapidly advancing genome-editing technologies and understanding of yield-related traits, knowledge-driven breeding by design is becoming a reality. This review introduces knowledge about inflorescence yield-related traits in cereal crops, focusing on rice, maize, and wheat. Next, emerging genome-editing technologies and recent studies that apply this technology to engineer crop yield improvement by targeting inflorescence development are reviewed. These approaches promise to usher in a new era of breeding practice.