Direct skeletal attachment prosthesis for the amputee athlete: the unknown potential

Lower limb amputees often experience complications with the use of conventional socket-type prostheses, which further reduce their already compromised ability to perform the activities of daily living, or to participate in sporting activities. During the last two decades, a new technology of direct skeletal attachment (osseointegration) of prosthesis to the femoral residuum has been developed. The aim of this research was to assess the implant design, surgery protocols, and functional testing of this new technology on the first 100 patients using the Integral Leg Prosthesis procedure. This new knowledge can guide future engineering developments of osseointegration within the sporting arena. Between 1999 and 2013, direct skeletal implantation was performed on 112 amputees, from two centres in Germany and Australia. From the experience of the surgical team, modifications were made to the implant design. This re-engineering of the implant has reduced the surgical revisions due to infection from 29 % with the early implant design down to 7 %. The functional testing of the 34 Australian cases were assessed pre- and 12 months post-implant with significant improvements of one complete K-scale; the Q-TFA measures increased (50.9–86.7), whilst the Timed Up and Go decreased significantly (12.43 s ± 3.89 to 8.03 s ± 2.80), and the 6 min walk increased (304.0–383.9 m). From these findings, osseointegration technology is realistically the way of the future for amputee athletes. Further refinement of the implant design and sports-specific functional testing are required to define the potential of this technology.     

Effect of blended learning and learners’ characteristics on students’ competence: An empirical evidence in learning oriental music

Blended learning emerged as the most popular instructional design strategy in the field of education since last decade to present date. In fact, it is well acknowledged that blended learning approach significantly elevate students’ engagement and competency in learning process. Despite immense potentiality, many countries are still lag behind adopting this instructional design, such as Sri Lanka. Therefore, the primary aims of this study are two fold, (a) to investigate the effect of blended learning and learners’ characteristics on students’ competence and (b) to investigate the effectiveness of blended learning in teaching Oriental Music. This study mainly carried out among the senior secondary schools students at Colombo, Sri Lanka. A mixed methods, experimental and survey, were carried out to test the effectiveness of blended learning and identifying the important factors for enhancing students’ competence in learning Oriental Music. Results of independent sample t-test confirmed that blended learning is effective in terms of improving students’ performance in learning Oriental Music. Similarly, regression analysis confirmed that attitude and motivation are the two most important determinants for improving students’ competence. This study fulfilled an existing research gap by utilizing blended learning to teach highly traditional abstract art. Results of the study contributes to the curriculum designing field with novel ideas to adapt in hybrid instructions to teach secondary level students effectively. The curriculum designers will make use of these findings during innovation and future researcher would be benefitted to overlook more possible platforms to deliver music instructions. It will help them to understand how their set objectives have been achieved in technology integrations and seek for improvement where necessary.     

Improved fast intra prediction algorithm of H.264/AVC

With advanced prediction modes of intra prediction, intra coding of H.264/AVC offers significant coding gains compared with previous video coding standards. It uses an important tool called Lagrangian rate-distortion optimization (RDO) technique to decide the best coding mode for a block, but the computational burden is extremely high. In this paper, we proposed an improved fast intra prediction algorithm including block type selection and mode decision algorithm based on analysis of edge feature of a block. Our algorithm filters out unlikely block type and candidate modes to reduce the RDO calculations. Experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm can reduce the computation complexity of intra prediction from 52.90% to 56.31%, with 0.04 dB PSNR degradation and 2% increase of bit rate.     

中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择

世界经济发展格局中存在着区位条件的差异，在对外直接投资过程中，正确的区位选择， 对企业获取生产要素，从而获取最佳投资收益至关重要。本文从理论和实践两方面，对影响中国企业对外直接投资区位选择的决定因素进行了分析，并对21世纪中国企业对外直接投资区位选择提出了一点建议。     

先秦文学中的爱国主义传统教育

中国文学的爱国主义传统,大量反映在先秦诗文中,有对自己祖国的热爱和向往,有对国事日非的忧患,有对献身报国行为的讴歌,有对败亡故国的凭吊与依恋,有倡导华夏的统一,抵御外族的入侵,还有"虽九死其犹未悔"的坚定与执著。高校所开设的"中国古代文学"专业课和素质教育选修课应在教学中精心设计教学专题,凸显爱国主义主题,激发学生的爱国情操,弘扬民族文化精神,提高学生民族文化素质。     

几何中的分类计数法

分类计数法是将题目中包含的全体对象,按几何结构特征分成若干类,然后逐类讨论计数,综合后得出正确答案的一种解题方法.下面举例说明如下:     

Triadic interaction in clinical task-based interviews with mathematics teachers

A clinical task-based interview can be seen as a situation where the interviewer–interviewee interaction on a task is regulated by a system of explicit and implicit norms, values, and rules. This paper describes how documenting and mapping triadic interaction among the interviewer, the interviewee, and the knowledge negotiated can be used to increase procedural replicability of the interview and accuracy of drawn conclusions about the interviewee’s thinking process. Excerpts from interviews with 25 inservice mathematics teachers working on a task to make up a problem whose solution requires division of two fractions are discussed. The excerpts illustrate the relationship between methodological decisions taken by the interviewer during the interview and the applicability of the interview output to the research questions. A divergent analysis of the interviews with these teachers, which spanned over two years and were conducted by four interviewers, is used to offer a framework for analyzing data collected in clinical task-based interviews.     

Giving Education a Bad Name: Bookish Boys in Contemporary American School Stories

This article discusses contemporary American school stories that appear to advocate learning and literacy as a democratic good, but actually undermine democratic possibilities by teaching young readers to think of academic inquiry as a means to selfish, petty ends. Since “learning” and “literacy” are catchwords for educators dedicated to remedying neoliberal inequities, it is understandable why authors of school fiction such as Andrew Clements and Tommy Greenwald are celebrated by educators for foregrounding the exploits of bookish characters. Yet, as is shown, the narrative arcs in works such as Frindle by Clements and Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading by Greenwald ultimately endorse the market consciousness, deregulation, and excessive individualism for which neoliberalism is known. Examining the ways in which these two novels intersect with ongoing debates over literacy standards, learning outcomes, and academic honesty, it is argued that the didactic-pedagogical imagination in contemporary American fiction for young people has a biased conception of student development and life preparedness, ideologically at odds with democratic curriculum provision.     

Visualization of structured packing with laser induced fluorescence technique: Two-dimensional measurement of liquid concentration distribution

A method of using laser induced fluorescence(LIF)technique was applied to two-dimensional measurement of the liquid concentration distribution in the 250Y structured packing sheet. The experimental structured packing sheet was made of perspex so that the laser could pass through it. The visualization of the distribution of the liquid concentration in the structured packing sheet was realized. The calibration of the thickness and liquid concentration was carried out firstly and the regression formula I=kcd was acquired, in which concentration c and the liquid film thickness d were both considered. Then the liquid feed of uniform tracer(rhodamine)concentration entered the perspex structured packing from the top under different spraying densities. The corresponding thickness of liquid film on the packing was calculated. Finally, tracer(rhodamine)with a high concentration was injected only at one fixed point of the structured packing under different spraying densities of the liquid. With the known liquid film thickness, the concentration distribution of the tracer can be calculated inside the structured packing sheet.