Hand dexterity assessment based on mouse pointer trajectory measurements in children with learning disabilities

Universal Access in the Information Society - We present an investigation of the systematic differences in upper limb motor skills between children with learning disabilities (LDs) and children...     

OpenMP extensions for master–slave message passing computing

This paper presents a directive-based programming environment for master–slave message passing applications that enables the efficient execution of the same code on both shared and distributed memory multiprocessors. The environment exports an extension of the OpenMP workqueuing model, supports multiple levels of task parallelism and more than one master and provides transparent load balancing with a combination of static and dynamic scheduling of tasks. In addition, it operates exclusively through the available hardware on shared-memory machines and exploits MPI for explicit communication on clusters. Experimental results on a Linux-cluster demonstrate the successful combination of ease of programming with the performance of message passing.     

Y3Al5O12–SiO2 Glasses: Structure and Polyamorphism

Aerodynamic levitation and CO₂ laser melting have been used to synthesize the yttrium aluminosilicate glasses zY₂O₃–yAl₂O₃–xSiO₂ with z/y = 3/5 corresponding to the YAG (Y₃Al₅O₁₂) composition and x between ~5 and ~45 mol%. The low‐ and high‐density (LDA inclusion and HDA matrix) polyamorphic phases in glasses with less than ~14 mol% SiO₂ were identified with backscattering electron imaging. Polarized and depolarized Raman spectra show the formation of various Qⁿ SiO₄ species whose relative populations change smoothly as the SiO₂ content is altered. The AlOs (s = 4–6) and YOz (z = 6–9) polyhedra formed in the YAG glass are preserved upon silica additions while the terminal oxygens of the Q²AlO₄ tetrahedra are gradually bridged to the Qⁿ‐SiO₄ species. The low‐frequency Boson Peak overlaps with the vibrational spectrum and its maximum is redshifted with increasing silica content. Micro‐Raman spectra measured for the LDA and HDA amorphous phases are found to be similar to the spectra of the bulk glass indicating common structural characteristics. The stability of the LDA phase against crystallization appears to be lower than that of the HDA phase. The crystallinity on certain inclusions consisted of YAG microcrystals and a new unidentified microcrystalline phase within Y₄Al_2(1?x)Si_2xO_(9+x) solid solution.     

Performance evaluation of algorithms for mildly nonlinear elliptic problems

A number of numerical methods for mildly nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems on general domains is presented. The discretization procedures considered are: a fourth-order FFT-type method, collocation using Hermite bicubic splines and Galerkin with linear triangular as well as quadratic quadrilateral isoparametric elements. The linearized collocation and Galerkin equations are solved by various direct methods available in the ELLPACK system. A comparative study of the above equation solvers is presented for different domain geometries and compilers. The evaluation of software for the general mildly nonlinear elliptic equations is performed over 36 instances from a population of 16 parametrized problems with ‘real world’ and ‘mathematical’ behaviour. The performance data suggests that collocation is an effective method for such general problems, while Galerkin with quadratic quadrilateral isoparametric elements is uniformly superior to the one with linear elements.     

The equivalent circuit of a microstrip crossover in a dielectricsubstrate

A quasi-static analysis is carried out to examine the capacitive coupling between two nonintersecting orthogonal microstrip lines above a ground plane and in a dielectric substrate. The charge density along the width of each strip is described using a prescribed charge distribution. A pair of coupled integral equations is derived and solved by the method of moments to obtain the excess charge densities. The lumped excess capacitances are computed and compared to those obtained using wire lines with radii equal to the equivalent radii of the strips     

In situ Raman spectra of electrode products during electrolysis of HgCl2 in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic

Modulation and photon counting Raman spectroelectrochemical methods have been applied for studying amorphous carbon electrode surfaces during the electrolysis of HgCl₂ in LiCl–KCl eutectic at 370°C. A new Raman band measured at 152 cm^–1 was attributed to subvalent Hg₂Cl₂ species. The Raman signal arises from the melt solvent having appreciable Hg₂Cl₂ concentrations in the vicinity of the cathode.     

Use of a multileaf collimator for the production of intensity-modulated beams

The continuous release of nitric oxide (NO) from the constitutive, endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase (e-NOS) serves mainly to keep the vasculature in a continuous state of active vasodilation. Although it has been suggested that NO production from e-NOS might also be affected by hemorrhagic shock (HS), this relationship is still controversial. Therefore, the roles of NO in the pathophysiology in hemorrhagic shock were reviewed. According to the previous reports, NO might play an important role in the pathophysioliogy of HS. In the early phase of HS, it may be possible that NO delivered from e-NOS serves a cytoprotective function in preventing shock-induced organ injury. This opinion suggests that endothelial NO production has a significant modulatory effect on vascular tone during hemorrhage, and that inhibition of NO production permits greater vasconstrictor influences leading to organ injury. NO production in the late phases of HS has an adverse effect on survival rate in the HS model. Moreover, the findings from an animal study of prolonged periods of HS suggest that excessive NO formation, including those produced from i-NOS, induces vascular hypoactivity and they have suggested that NOS inhibitors may improve the therapeutic outcome for patients suffering from HS. Therefore, it may be suggested that NO might play a biphasic role, cytoprotective during the early phase and cytotoxic late in HS.     

The aperture admittance of a circumferential slot in a circularcylinder

A circumferential slot in an infinitely long cylinder when fed with a tangential electric field is considered. Parseval's theorem, in which Fourier integrals appear, is used to express the aperture admittance as the integral from zero to infinity of an infinite series. Recognizing that the first two terms of this infinite series have a nonintegrable singularity when the variable of integration w is equal to the wavenumber k, the authors distort slightly the contour of integration to avoid k. The terms of the infinite series are then approximated when w is close to k. A combination of numerical and analytical schemes employing both large and small argument approximations of Hankel functions is used to perform the integration. It has been found that these integration schemes work very well, and a simple and fast algorithm has resulted