Visualising the ends of identity: pre-birth and post-death on Instagram

This paper examines two ‘ends’ of identity online – birth and death – through the analytical lens of specific hashtags on the Instagram platform. These ends are examined in tandem in an attempt to surface commonalities in the way that individuals use visual social media when sharing information about other people. A range of emerging norms in digital discourses about birth and death are uncovered, and it is significant that in both cases the individuals being talked about cannot reply for themselves. Issues of agency in representation therefore frame the analysis. After sorting through a number of entry points, images and videos with the #ultrasound and #funeral hashtags were tracked for three months in 2014. Ultrasound images and videos on Instagram revealed a range of communication and representation strategies, most highlighting social experiences and emotional peaks. There are, however, also significant privacy issues as a significant proportion of public accounts share personally identifiable metadata about the mother and unborn child, although these issue are not apparent in relation to funeral images. Unlike other social media platforms, grief on Instagram is found to be more about personal expressions of loss rather than affording spaces of collective commemoration. A range of related practices and themes, such as commerce and humour, were also documented as a part of the spectrum of activity on the Instagram platform. Norms specific to each collection emerged from this analysis, which are then compared to document research about other social media platforms, especially Facebook.     

Prevalence of low bone health using quantitative ultrasound in Indian women aged 41–60 years: Its association with nutrition and other related risk factors

The purpose of this study was to find the prevalence of low bone health conditions and assess associated nutritional and other risk factors in Indian women aged 41–60 years. A total of 1,911 women participated in this cross-sectional study. Bone health was assessed using an Omnisense multisite quantitative ultrasound bone densitometer on two sites (radius and tibia). Crude prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis was found to be 30.09% and 19.89%, respectively. The Indian women were deficient in a majority of nutrients. Postmenopause, hysterectomy, hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, hypertension, low physical activity, low sun exposure, high stress levels, and low calcium levels were found to be independent risk factors of low bone health.     

数字多声束形成技术

医用超声诊断设备中存在两种声束形成技术。近年来在少数几个高档设备中使用了数字声束形成技术。正交分解是获得复包络信号的幅度和相位的关键，而数字延迟是数字电子聚焦所必须的。文中介绍了数字多声束形成的原理及应用。     

Supporting prostate cancer focal therapy: a multidisciplinary International Consensus of Experts (“ICE”)

Abstract:

Prostate cancer is a common malignancy among men, and the current screening, imaging and sampling approaches aim to detect early-stage, organ-confined disease. In such scenario, focal prostate cancer therapy currently relies on the index lesion concept as the dominant lesion that drives the disease natural history. Focal therapy demands the essential imaging and sampling techniques to strategically locate and qualify the disease, but, despite advances in technology, prostate imaging and biopsy have several limitations that need to be overcome if focal therapy is to be developed further. The I Prostate Cancer Focal Treatment International Symposium was convened to foster discussion on this topic that sits at the crossroads of multiple disciplines (Urology, Pathology, Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology) all of which were represented for this comprehensive multidisciplinary review of the current literature.     

The social stratification of tongue shape for postvocalic /r/ in Scottish English1

The sociolinguistic modelling of phonological variation and change is almost exclusively based on auditory and acoustic analyses of speech. One phenomenon which has proved elusive when considered in these ways is the variation in postvocalic /r/ in Scottish English. This study therefore shifts to speech production: we present a socioarticulatory study of variation of postvocalic /r/ in CVr (e.g. car) words, using a socially‐stratified ultrasound tongue imaging corpus of speech collected in eastern central Scotland in 2008. Our results show social stratification of /r/ at the articulatory level, with middle‐class speakers using bunched articulations, while working‐class speakers use greater proportions of tongue‐tip and tongue‐front raised variants. Unlike articulatory variation of /r/ in American English, the articulatory variants in our Scottish English corpus are both auditorily distinct from one another, and correlate with strong and weak ends of an auditory rhotic continuum, which also shows clear social stratification.     

拉普拉斯分布表面超声背向散射的研究

假设随机粗糙表面符合拉普拉斯分布，得出了来自粗糙表面的超声背向散射声强与物体表面粗糙度，超声频率和掠射角之间的闭形解析表达式，与Boyd^[1]等报道的实验结果进行了比较，其结果的近似程度在大掠射角时比献[2]预言的更好。     

Women in the Sandwich Generation:

The demands made upon 66 middle aged women by their elderly parents and the mediating role of adult children continuing to live at home were examined. Contrary to expectations, adult children played a strong supportive function for the women. The demands made upon the women and the supports provided by the adult children are described. Implications for human services practice are examined.     

超声波对椰奶中蛋白质功能性影响

研究超声波对椰奶中蛋白质的溶解度、持水性、乳化性、起泡性等功能性质的影响。结果表明超声波处理使溶解度增加约6%、持水性增加约26.7%、乳化能力提高约3.7%、泡沫体积提高约11.8%。pH为7,乳化能力提高近4.8倍。乳化能力随着蛋白质浓度的增加而增大。pH为5.0~8.0,超声波处理的样品有较好的起泡能力。     

超声辐射下大孔强碱树脂催化合成假性紫罗兰酮

研究了在超声辐射条件下,采用大孔强碱树脂催化柠檬醛与丙酮缩合制备假性紫罗兰酮的较佳条件,在反应温度为35℃,柠檬醛与丙酮的用量比为1：7（mol／mol）,柠檬醛与催化剂的用量比为1：2（w／W）时,超声反应2h,产率可达95．77％．     

Insulin-like growth factor-1 is a mediator of age-related decline of bone health status in men

Abstract

Objective: The role of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in bone health in men is debatable. This study aimed to determine whether IGF-1 is a mediator in age-related decline of bone health status measured by calcaneal speed of sound (SOS) in Malaysian men.

Methods: The study recruited 279 Chinese and Malay men. Their demographic data, weight, height, calcaneal SOS were taken and fasting blood was collected for total testosterone, sex-hormone binding globulin and IGF-1 assays. The associations between the studied variables were assessed using multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis. Mediator analysis was performed using Sobel test.

Results: There was a significant and parallel decrease of IGF-1 and SOS with age (p?<?0.05). Serum IGF-1 was significantly and positively associated with SOS (p < 0.05) but after further adjustment for age, the significance was lost (p?>?0.05). The strength of the association between age and SOS decreased after adjusting for IGF-1 level but it remained significant (p?<?0.05). Sobel test revealed that IGF-1 was a significant partial mediator in the relationship between age and SOS (z?=??4.3).

Conclusion: Serum IGF-1 is a partial mediator in the age-related decline of bone health in men as determined by calcaneal ultrasound. A prospective study should be performed to validate this relationship.