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Upper limb movements such as using chopsticks and writing require coordination. Hence, coordination tests such as the Purdue Pegboard test (Buddenberg & Davis, 2000) and the Moving Beans with Tweezers test (Shigematsu et al., 2001) have been developed (Ferslew et al., 1982; Noguchi et al., 2006; Nakafuji & Tsuji, 2001). Nagasawa et al. (2002) developed a controlled force exertion (CFE) test pur...

The human face has attracted attention in a number of areas including psychology, computer vision, human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer graphics (Chandrasiri et al, 2004). As facial expressions are the direct means of communicating emotions, computer analysis of facial expressions is an indispensable part of HCI designs. It is crucial for computers to be able to interact with the users...

The phytochemistry of the genus Piper is rich in terms of numbers of compounds discovered, but given the diversity of this genus and the intraspecific diversity of secondary metabolites in those species that have been examined, Piper chemistry has not been adequately investigated. The natural products chemistry that has been elucidated is well documented and has been the subject of extensive re...

In this paper we critique two recent studies that have been claimed to disprove the Out of Africa hypothesis for modern human origins (Hawks et al., 2000; Wolpoff et al., 2001). We show that the test prediction employed by Hawks et al. (2000) and Wolpff et al. (2001) is not relevant to many versions of the Out of Africa hypothesis, and that the key specimens they used are problematic in terms o...

Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. Driving ground vehicles is an area where human performance has proven to be reliable. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to co...

The Staphylococcus aureus agr quorum-sensing system plays a major role in the transition from the persistent to the virulent phenotype. S. aureus agr type I to IV strains are characterized by mutations in the sensor domain of the histidine kinase AgrC and differences in the sequences of the secreted autoinducing peptides (AIP). Here we demonstrate that interactions between the cytosolic domain ...

The integration of natural and social sciences has been recognized as a key aspect of Earth System (E.S.) research, a cross-disciplinary field involving the study of the geosphere, the biosphere, and society (IGBP, 2006; Leemans et al., 2009; Pfeiffer, 2008; Reid et al., 2010; Young, 2008). Because of societal and political correlates between environmental change and socio-economic development,...