Why not test reading in three alphabets?

Comments on the article by G. Lukatela and M. T. Turvey (see record 1998-10886-004) which examined the reading process using written Serbo-Croatian language in its Cyrillic and Roman forms. The present author suggests that Lukatela and Turvey include a 3rd alphabet known as Slavica in their investigations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transfer of motor skills to machines

This paper deals with problems related to the capture of knowledge memorized in the form of skills, i.e. automatic and reflex biological motor actions. The broader goal is to develop skill based expert systems. Since methods for knowledge encoding at the cognitive level are not applicable in the case of skills, new approaches must be developed in order to design skill based expert systems. The principle of motion invariants and scene simplication is proposed as a guiding rule for the transfer of skills to machines. Applications of the above principles to the representation of skills related to manipulation, grasping and locomotion are presented. How the skill based AI system can improve the design of the intelligent robots with dextrous multifingered hands is outlined.     

Strong stabilization servo controller with optimization of performance criteria

Synthesis of a simple robust controller with a pole placement technique and a H_∞ metrics is the method used for control of a servo mechanism with BLDC and BDC electric motors. The method includes solving a polynomial equation on the basis of the chosen characteristic polynomial using the Manabe standard polynomial form and parametric solutions. Parametric solutions are introduced directly into the structure of the servo controller. On the basis of the chosen parametric solutions the robustness of a closed-loop system is assessed through uncertainty models and assessment of the norm ‖•‖_∞. The design procedure and the optimization are performed with a genetic algorithm differential evolution — DE. The DE optimization method determines a suboptimal solution throughout the optimization on the basis of a spectrally square polynomial and Šiljak’s absolute stability test. The stability of the designed controller during the optimization is being checked with Lipatov’s stability condition. Both utilized approaches: Šiljak’s test and Lipatov’s condition, check the robustness and stability characteristics on the basis of the polynomial’s coefficients, and are very convenient for automated design of closed-loop control and for application in optimization algorithms such as DE.     

Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Chrysin and Naringenin in a Drug-Induced Bone Loss Model in Rats

Oxidative stress (OS) mediators, together with the inflammatory processes, are considered as threatening factors for bone health. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of flavonoids naringenin and chrysin on OS, inflammation, and bone degradation in retinoic acid (13cRA)-induced secondary osteoporosis (OP) in rats. We analysed changes in body and uterine weight, biochemical bone parameters (bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC), markers of bone turnover), bone geometry parameters, bone histology, OS parameters, biochemical and haematological parameters, and levels of inflammatory cytokines. Osteoporotic rats had reduced bone Ca and P levels, BMD, BMC, and expression of markers of bone turnover, and increased values of serum enzymes alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Malondialdehyde (MDA) production in liver, kidney, and ovary was increased, while the glutathione (GSH) content and activities of antioxidant enzymes were reduced and accompanied with the enhanced release of inflammatory mediators TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and RANTES chemokine (regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted) in serum. Treatment with chrysin or naringenin improved bone quality, reduced bone resorption, and bone mineral deposition, although with a lower efficacy compared with alendronate. However, flavonoids exhibited more pronounced antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and phytoestrogenic activities, indicating their great potential in attenuating bone loss and prevention of OP.     

Design and evaluation of an adaptive icon toolbar

As information systems become increasingly important in many different domains, the potential to adapt them to individual users and their needs also becomes more important. Adaptive user interfaces offer many possible ways to adjust displays and improve procedures for a user's individual patterns of work. This paper describes an attempt to design an adaptive user interface in a computer environment familiar to many users. According to one classification of adaptive user interfaces, the adaptive bar described in this paper would be classified as a user-controlled self-adaptation system.At the user's convenience, the adaptive bar offers suggestions for adding or removing command icons, based on the frequency and probability of specific commands. It also implements these changes once the user has agreed to them. Beyond the adaptive bar, the general behavior of the whole user interface does not change, thereby allowing the user to maintain a clear general model of the system. This paper describes the decision-making algorithm implemented in the bar. It also describes the bar's self-adaptive behavior of displaying the frequency of each icon's use through the icon's size. Finally, we present some encouraging preliminary results of evaluations by users.     

Antimicrobial P(HEMA/IA)/PVP semi-interpenetrating network hydrogels

New semi-interpenetrating networks (semi-IPNHs) (P(HEMA/IA)/PVP) were prepared by free radical crosslinking copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and itaconic acid (IA, 5 mol%), in the presence of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP, 2, 5, and 10 mol%), as an interpenetrating agent. The structure of the semi-IPNHs was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and morphology study was performed by scanning electron microscopy, which revealed the characteristic porous morphology. The results obtained by dynamic mechanical analysis showed the improvement of mechanical properties with increasing PVP content in semi-IPNs. The maximum swelling was observed for all studied systems at a slightly acidic media (around pH 6), so it can be said that the content of PVP has no influence on the swelling behavior, in the PVP range investigated. Along with the pH sensitivity, which was expected due to the presence of IA, semi-IPNHs showed temperature-sensitive swelling properties, with the lower critical solution temperature value around 41 °C, which is in the physiologically interesting interval. The antimicrobial activity of the samples was tested using E. coli, S. aureus, and C. albicans pathogens. It was noticed that the antimicrobial potential depends on type of microbes, time of exposure, and PVP content in the samples. Due to their good antimicrobial and mechanical properties these stimuli-sensitive semi-IPNHs have potential to be used as biomaterials for the applications in medicine and pharmacy.     

The influence of the civil war in Yugoslavia on publishing in peer-reviewed journals

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of civil war during recent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia on scientific output, as measured by changes in numbers of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The articles published in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) were retrieved for the former Yugoslav republics. According to the census of 1991, the republics" populations were as follows: Serbia 9.7 million inhabitants, Croatia 4.7, Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) 4.3, Macedonia 2.0, Slovenia 1.9, and Montenegro 0.6. The annual numbers of articles from each were determined from 1988 to 2000. This period includes three prewar years, 5 years of civil war from 1991 to 1995, and the NATO military interventions in B&H (1995) and F.R. Yugoslavia (1999), which includes Serbia and Montenegro. In the late 1980s, Serbia produced more than 900 scientific articles per year and was well ahead, with twice as many publications as Slovenia. The number of publications from Croatia fell between that of Serbia and Slovenia. In the prewar period, the remaining republics had a relatively small scientific presence. The outputs from B&H decreased, from 50 articles in 1991, sharply during the war and continued to decrease. During the postwar period only 18 to 27 papers per year were published. In 1995, the output from Serbia dropped 33% in comparison to 1991. Slovenia produced more publications that year while Croatia was stagnant, and 3 most productive states had a similar output. In 1998, Serbia produced 1543 publications, Slovenia 1116, Croatia 1103, Macedonia 100, B&H 25, and Montenegro 12. The number of articles from Serbia dropped in 1999 and 2000 for 10.2% and 27.9%, respectively, in comparison to 1998. For the same two years, the number of publications was increased in Croatia (37.3% and 12,5%), Slovenia (10.9% and 52.8%), Macedonia (5% and 6%) and Montenegro (75% and 66%). The concentration of scientific research in well-established universities caused an uneven distribution of scientific output among various republics. Thus, the annual output of scientific papers per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 greatly varied in various republics. In Montenegro it was 1.79, B&H 1.95, Macedonia 2,36, Serbia 11.92, Croatia 18.40 and Slovenia 29.63. In 2000, the annual output per 100,000 inhabitants in these republics was 3.41, 0.61, 5.24, 11,34, 26.00 and 76.84, respectively. The scientific production in B&H and in Serbia was affected not only by the devastated economy, damaged communications, and hardship of everyday life during the war and postwar years, but because many scientists left the country, and the scientists in Serbia were isolated from the international scientific community. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.