Impact of Action Observation Therapy along with Usual Physiotherapy Intervention of Individual with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive impairments in the initial stage, which lead to severe cognitive dysfunction in the later stage. Action observation therapy (AOT) is a multisensory cognitive rehabilitation technique where the patient initially observes the actions and then tries to perform. The study aimed to examine the impact of AOT along with usual physiotherapy interventions to reduce depression, improve cognition and balance of a patient with AD. A 67 years old patient with AD was selected for this study because the patient has been suffering from depression, dementia, and physical dysfunction along with some other health conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Before starting intervention, a baseline assessment was done through the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) tool, the Mini-Cog Scale, and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). The patient received 12 sessions of AOT along with usual physiotherapy interventions thrice a week for four weeks, which included 45 minutes of each session. After four weeks of intervention, the patient demonstrated significant improvement in depression, cognition, and balance, whereas the BDI score declined from moderate 21/63 to mild 15/63 level of depression. The Mini-Cog score improved from 2/5 to 4/5, and the BBS score increased from 18/56 to 37/56. It is concluded that AOT along with usual physiotherapy intervention helps to reduce depression, improve cognition and balance of people with AD.

Climate change impact in the Western Himalaya:people's perception and adaptive strategies

The Himalaya represents a vast mountain system and globally valued for its significant role in regulation of global as well as regional climate that has direct impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services crucial for sustenance of millions of people in Himalaya and adjoining areas. However, mountain regions worldwide are impacted by climate change and at the same time represent distinctive area for the assessment of climate related impacts. Climate change impacts in Himalayan region have its implications on food production, natural ecosystems,retreat of glacier, water supply, human and animal health and overall human well being. The livelihood and food security of the people inhabited in region largely depend on climate sensitive sectors i.e.agriculture, livestock, forestry and their interlinkages with each other, and has the potential to break down food and nutritional security as well as livelihood support systems. People's perception and understanding of climate can be an important asset when it comes to adaptation to climate change impact;however it is not taken into consideration for the development of policy design and implementation of modern mitigation and adaptation strategies by governments and other civil society organizations.The knowledge of local people and farming communities for rural landscape management and sustainable use of bioresources is gaining credence as a key strategy to cope up with the climate change.Therefore, the present study analyzes the indigenous knowledge of local people and their perceptions on climate change, and also documented adaptation approaches at local level in mountain ecosystem of western Himalaya. The study could be useful to policy makers to design appropriate adaptation strategies to cope up with the impacts of climate change.

Climate Change: Trends and People’s Perception in Nepal

In the context of climate change, the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as floods and droughts will increase which could put tremendous challenges in water resources management in the coming days. While scientific knowledge on climate threats and changing climate patterns are essential, it is also important to consider the impacts in relation to how the threats are perceived and handled by local people. This paper intends to assess the trend and people’s perception on temperature and precipitation. Three focus groups’ discussion and a total number of 240 households were interviewed during field visit. The collected information was scaled from the least preferred-1 to the most preferred-5 based on their preferences. The trend of mean of annual average, maximum and minimum temperature indicates that the temperature has increased significantly and precipitation intensity and magnitude are also in increasing trend in the monsoon and postmonsoon seasons which may raise the extreme flood events. These facts were verified with the people’s perception. This finding could be useful for formulation of effective flood management policy and plan in this river basin as well as very applicable for other similar areas.

Do Observations during Patrolling Trips Detect Changes in Wildlife Presence & Diversity in National Parks?

Globally, mountains encompass spectacular landscapes and a great diversity of species. However, Savannah’s mountains in Sudan have been affected by the loss of diversity due to human activities and climate changes. Therefore, this study aims to assess changes in wildlife diversity in Jebel-Eldair Nation Park (JENP) based on only reports from patrolling activities, especially in the absence of regular wildlife monitoring programs. Reports of monthly wildlife observations during patrolling trips were used for the summer season in 2010 and 2018. Findings showed a moderate to high decline in the most important wildlife species (i.e. lion, wild dog, and crest porcupine). Six others are documented as rare species in reserve, including the civet, spotted hyena, striped hyena, jackal, seraval, and Siberian bird. Contrary and despite the diversity reduction, some species witnessed increases in their observation frequency, such as lesser kudu, caracal, monitor, and lunar bird. Moreover, human settlements, agricultural activities, and other anthropogenic factors were found to be the main drivers of biodiversity reduction in JENP. The study recommends adopting this method to detect changes in wildlife communities, especially in a situation of deficiency and lack of funding to conduct regular monitoring programs.

Fault detection for nonlinear networked control systems based on fuzzy observer

Security and reliability must be focused on control sys- tems firstly, and fault detection and diagnosis （FDD） is the main theory and technology. Now, there are many positive results in FDD for linear networked control systems （LNCSs）, but nonlinear networked control systems （NNCSs） are less involved. Based on the T-S fuzzy-modeling theory, NNCSs are modeled and network random time-delays are changed into the unknown bounded uncertain part without changing its structure. Then a fuzzy state observer is designed and an observer-based fault detection approach for an NNCS is presented. The main results are given and the relative theories are proved in detail. Finally, some simulation results are given and demonstrate the proposed method is effective.

Beyond Bloom’s: Students’ Perception of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its Convolution with Cognitive Load

Bloom’s taxonomy is widely used in educational research to categorize the cognitive skills required to answer exam questions.For this study,we analyzed how students categorize exam questions(high-level question or low-level question,)gathered data as to their rationale for categorization,and compared their categorizations to those of experts.We found that students consistently rank high-level questions incorrectly.We analyzed student reasons for their categorizations,and found that for many of the incorrectly categorized questions the students referred to reasons related to Cognitive Load Theory.This shows that cognitive load prevents students from accurately assessing the cognitive level of an exam question.Thus,extra cognitive load in exam questions may prevent those questions from accurately measuring the skills and knowledge of the student.This points to the need for instructors to eliminate cognitive load from their exams.

A MULTILAYER FEEDFORWARD NEURAL NETWORK MODEL FOR VISUAL MOTION PERCEPTION

The local visual motion detection mechanism used in the visual systems of primatescan only sense the motion component oriented perpendicularly to the contrast gradient of thebrightness pattern.But the visual system of higher animals can adaptively determine the actualdirection of motion through a learning process.In this paper a multilayered feedforward neuralnetwork model for perception of visual motion is presented.This model employs W.Reichardt’selementary motion detectors array and T.Kohonen’s self-organizing feature map.We explored theself-organizing principles for perception of visual motion.The computer simulations show thatthis neural network is able to recognize the true direction of motion through an unsupervisedlearning process.In addition,the neurons with the same or similar motion direction selectivitytend to appear in“functional columns”which seem to be qualitatively similar to the corticalmotion columns observed by electrophysiological and cytohistochemical studies in certain higherareas such as MT.It proves that motion-detection by spatio-temporal coherences,mapping,co-operation,competition,and Hebb rule may be the basic principles for the self-organization ofvisual motion perception networks.

The DNP: Knowledge and perceptions of students in an accelerated master’s program in nursing

While the nursing community generally agrees that the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree will strengthen nursing as an academic discipline, there is little known about students’ perceptions of the advanced degree. Nursing students enrolled in an accelerated master’s program in nursing (N = 45) were surveyed to assess their knowledge of the DNP degree while also identifying the perceived effect a DNP might have on their careers, on nursing as a discipline, and on public perceptions of nursing practice. In this study, 51% of participants supported the transition to the DNP as the standard degree for practice nursing while 29% were opposed. The majority of participants (71%) planned to pursue an advanced practice nursing degree/certification with 81% of this group signifying that they would do so even if a DNP is required. The majority of participants agreed that the DNP will improve public perception of advanced practice nursing, but 71% thought the title of “doctor” would confuse patients. While current nursing students are generally informed of the upcoming DNP transition, there is disagreement regarding its implications for their careers and for the extent of public understanding.

Interests of Livestock Activities within Agroforestry Systems in Guadeloupe: Stakeholders’ Opinions and Farmers’ Perceptions

The Valab project (Integrated Ecosystemic value-enhancement of the Guadeloupean Forest Agrobiodiversity) is a participatory action research that aims to explore the feasibility of diversification activities within the forest understorey. In the exploratory phase of the project, we studied stakeholders’ opinions on the positive and negative impacts of introducing livestock activities within a forest environment, as well as breeders’ constraints or motivations for setting up livestock units within agroforestry systems in the private forests of Guadeloupe. To establish a diagnosis of the current situation, 51 stakeholders (St) and 49 farmers (Fr) were interviewed on their perceptions, opinions, motivations and preferences. Forty-one percent of the St has had a generally positive appreciation of livestock activities, while on the opposite 31% have had a resolutely negative posture depending on their area of expertise. Their views on the possible positive effects or negative interactions between livestock and agroforestry activities were analysed in order to suggest possible approaches for the authorities or associations. Unanimously, the farmers replied that their motivations followed economic strategies: for self-consumption or sale. But their decision-making processes were also non-economic. Many of them (36% Fr) gave importance to their activity in the construction of their identity, whether it was through a desire to perpetuate traditions or to maintain family activities. The main constraints identified were natural constraints (61% Fr), including topography, climate and predators. While 28% of Fr notified their motivations for environmental protection. Another constraint was of a technical nature (44% Fr) since farmers asked for more technical references or support services. Further researches are required to study the interactions between animals and the undergrowth by describing their respective ecosystem services in order to enhance their positive interactions.

Empirical Research on Tourists' After-trip Perception of Landscape Preference in the Confucius Temple in Nanjing City

Thurstone’s Comparative Judgment Model was applied to measure characteristics of tourists’after-trip perception of landscape preference in the Confucius Temple,a famous historical block in Nanjing City.The results show that(a)as time goes by,the tourists’time perception differentiation has continuously sublimated from the general experience into the peak experience,and gradually evolved into the core experience element in the overall perception.In terms of content,perceptional contents of tourists decrease in sequence of the Confucian culture,the commercial culture and the culture of refined scholars.As a whole,tourists’after-trip perception differentiation has 3 sections:halo zone,sub-halo zone,and gray zone.(b)Because of tourism development,the Confucian culture is influenced by other cultures,and the commercial culture shows the trend of"over-generalization",and the culture of refined scholars has weakening carriers and modes of inheritance.Inheritance of its unique cultural connotations deserves increasing attention.

Ethics and Integrity in Building Employee＇s Perceptions

Malaysia has long been involved in the initiative of becoming a high income country by the year 2020. In this essence, fighting and eliminating any means of corruption in the public and private companies have been one of the key challenges in the long run. The globalization of businesses has somehow led to an increase in the number of unethical conduct and hazardous corruption. In the urge to enliven ethics and integrity in a company and among employees, the whole business processes and stakeholders should position code of ethics and integrity at its highest standard. However, can ethics and integrity really increase the company＇s reputation, strengthening its business operations and sustainability, and deliver trust amongst employees and employers？ The objective of this study is to analyze the perceptions of employees on issues pertaining ethics and integrity. The study has been conducted in one of the giant telecommunication companies in Malaysia where a sample of 7,056 employees were the participants involved in the survey. The study has used questionnaires to collect data. The data have then been analysed using the SPSS data analysis software. The findings explained that employees view the company as an ethical place to work where the finance department is deemed to have the highest level of integrity. While in matters of corruption risk areas, there are still practices of bribery. It is also founded that a majority of respondents about 93% agree that the company＇s initiatives are effective in building business integrity and that the level of business ethics and integrity has improved over the last two years. Running a business with ethics and integrity while selecting the fight business partners will create a corporation of ethics, integrity, and anti-corruption.

CHINA'S RISE IN THE EYES OF WESTERN OBSERVERS

An innate sensitivity to and phobia of China’s rise seem to have gripped someWestern observers for years.Early back in the 19th century,Napoleon warned the West to“let Chinasleep”.“There lies a sleeping giant,”begins his well-known remark.“Let hersleep.For when she wakes,she will shake the world.”In the 1990s,these

2011年腾冲M_(S)5.2地震前近场地球物理异常分析

2011年6月20日和8月9日,云南腾冲地区先后发生M_(S)5.2地震,构成腾冲M_(S)5.2双震。2次腾冲M_(S)5.2地震前,地震地球物理异常集中分布在震中100 km范围的近场区,对2次地震近场区内水位、形变(水平摆观测)、水氡、水温、流量等地球物理观测资料进行综合分析,分析发现:①大部分异常持续时间在3个月以上,部分异常始于2010年初,显著中期异常测项为腾冲滇19井水位和腾冲水平摆倾斜观测;②2次地震发震前2个月,龙陵邦腊掌水氡测项出现高值异常;③临震阶段,6月20日腾冲M_(S)5.2地震前,腾冲荷花塘、热海大滚锅出现明显宏观异常,震后异常强度和频率明显增强,对8月9日腾冲M_(S)5.2地震有明显指示意义。值得注意的是,在震中85 km范围内,2011年3月10日发生盈江M_(S)5.8地震,2次腾冲地震的中期异常成为此次盈江地震“共同的地震地球物理异常”,且震后部分异常持续,并出现新的异常,表现出异常时空演化过程与地震活动迁移相匹配的特征。

丽江与芦山两次M_(S)7.0地震震例回溯研究及亚失稳特征探讨

基于川滇地区的跨断层观测资料,采用多种形变分析方法,针对川滇地区监测状况较好的1996年丽江、2013年芦山两次M_(S)7.0地震开展震例回溯研究,并以亚失稳理论及实验室结果为指导,归纳总结跨断层观测获得的断层运动在亚失稳阶段的时空变化特征及可能的表现形式,寻找区域范围内断层运动协同化现象,探索地震进入亚失稳状态的跨断层识别标志。结果表明:两次地震前,震源区在震前数年主要表现为弱变形的状态,可能是孕震晚期发震断层闭锁、断层近场应力应变积累趋于极限的表现。震源区边缘附近300 km范围内在震前数月至3年出现显著的断层形变异常,断层活动具有协同化现象,但仅个别跨断层场地观测到了与实验室岩石破裂失稳过程类似的图像,大多数场地仅仅观测到了稳态(线性阶段)、亚稳态(偏离线性阶段)特征,亚失稳态特征并不清晰,分析可能与跨断层场地所处的构造位置及观测周期有一定关系。

新疆新25号泉H_(2)S自动观测技术方案及试验应用

为探索H_(2)S自动化观测的实现途径,制定了H_(2)S自动观测技术方案,对漂浮式脱气-集气装置及试验设备进行了改进,将该方案应用于新疆新25号泉进行试验。结果表明:使用这种报警检测设备代替人工H_(2)S测试是可行的,设置脱气-集气装置、采取适当技术措施避免气路堵塞是获取连续稳定观测数据的关键。

HQEFT框架内半轻衰变B_(s)→K_(2)(1820)lν-_(l)的相关研究

在重夸克有效场论(HQEFT)框架内,利用光锥求和规则(LCSR)对Bs到J^(PC)=2^(--)张量介子K_(2)(1820)半轻衰变进行了研究.首先,基于K_(2)(1820)光锥分布振幅,重夸克展开至领头阶,利用LCSR计算了Bs→K_(2)(1820)的跃迁形状因子.计算表明,与相应2++张量介子情形不同,在所取自由参数范围内,形状因子V_(2)<0.在此基础上,预言了半轻衰变B_(s)→K_(2)(1820)lν-_(l)的可观测量,包括分支比、纵向极化分数、前后不对称和微分前后不对称过零点.研究显示,电子和μ轻子末态分支比几乎相等,在10^(-5)量级,相应τ轻子末态分支比约为前者的1/5.纵向极化分数均>0.8,大于相应2^(++)张量介子情形.前后不对称随着末态带电轻子质量的增大而增大.这些结果有可能在将来被LHCb、BelleⅡ等更为精确的实验所检验.

基于参数辨识的DTP-PMSM无传感器控制

针对双三相永磁同步电动机(DTP-PMSM)在受到外界和电机内部影响时,会出现电气参数变化和传感器精度下降的问题,提出一种带参数辨识的无传感器控制方案。该方案通过MRAS来实现电阻和电感的在线辨识,为了减小谐波的影响,将其推广到静止坐标系中,采用Popov超稳定性理论设计出新的自适应律,并使用BP神经网络来优化自适应律的增益,实现增益的在线调节,提高系统的辨识精度。此外,为进一步提高系统的鲁棒性,提出了一种基于线性扩张状态观测器和滑模控制相结合的改进锁相环,通过Lyapunove函数证明其稳定性。仿真结果表明,提出的方法能够实现对电气参数的准确辨识,提高系统控制性能。

改进D-S算法的多感知机器人泄漏源识别研究

危化品泄漏场域环境复杂多变,泄漏源的识别受风速、光照强度、噪声等多重因素影响,当前多以智能机器人探测,利用嗅觉或视觉进行目标识别,但单类传感器识别结果可靠性差,提出一种改进Dempster-Shafer(D-S)证据理论的识别方法,模拟人类多感官识别机制,综合处理嗅觉、视觉和听觉识别信度;通过引入参考证据获取证据源全局信息,解决了经典D-S算法中存在的证据冲突问题,并在MATLAB中进行了算例验证。结果表明,相比嗅觉、视觉和听觉单类传感器识别信度分别提高了42.5%、51.2%和38.4%;对于冲突数据,克服了经典D-S算法、Yager算法融合失效的缺陷,相比Murphy算法识别信度提高了33%,可实现泄漏源的高信度识别,融合决策可靠性好。

Glycogen and amyloid-beta: key players in the shift from neuronal hyperactivity to hypoactivity observed in Alzheimer's disease?

Introduction：Alzheimer’s disease（AD）begins to develop decades prior to its clinical manifestation（Sperling et al.,2011）,and while it is the most common form of dementia,as of yet there is no cure.Two of the most researched pathological features contributing to disease development are the extracellular amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-beta proteins（Aβ）and neurofibrillary tangles of tau proteins.Another feature of AD is the progression of early neuronal excitability/hyperactivity to silencing/hypoactivity（Palop and Mucke,2010）,

Long-Term Geophysical Observations and Analysis of the World's Deepest Borehole

Objective In order to reduce the interfering noise from the earth surface, scientists have carried out multi-geophysical borehole observations and the related study. This study aims at improving signal-to-noise ratio obtained from the observation data to obtain zero noise data, which will be of great help to improve geophysical studies. Insights from this study will be significant for the earthquake disaster reduction, resource exploration and environmental protection.