Search results for: visual improvement

Authors: Lisa Fox, Jill Aylott

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There is a global need to identify ways to engage doctors in non-clinical matters such as medical leadership, service improvement and health system transformation. Using the core principles of Realistic Evaluation (RE), this study examined what works, for doctors of different grades, specialities and experience in an acute NHS Hospital Trust in the UK. Realistic Evaluation is an alternative to more traditional cause and effect evaluation models and seeks to understand the interdependencies of Context, Mechanism and Outcome proposing that Context (C) + Mechanism (M) = Outcome (O). In this study, the context, mechanism and outcome were examined from within individual medical leaders to determine what enables levels of medical engagement in a specific improvement project to reduce hospital inpatient mortality. Five qualitative case studies were undertaken with consultants who had regularly completed mortality reviews over a six month period. The case studies involved semi-structured interviews to test the theory behind the drivers for medical engagement. The interviews were analysed using a theory-driven thematic analysis to identify CMO configurations to explain what works, for whom and in what circumstances. The findings showed that consultants with a longer length of service became more engaged if there were opportunities to be involved in the beginning of an improvement project, with more opportunities to affect the design. Those that are new to a consultant role were more engaged if they felt able to apply any learning directly into their own settings or if they could use it as an opportunity to understand more about the organisation they are working in. This study concludes that RE is a useful methodology for better understanding the complexities of motivation and consultant engagement in a trust wide service improvement project. The study showed that there should be differentiated and bespoke training programmes to maximise each individual doctor’s propensity for medical engagement. The RE identified that there are different ways to ensure that doctors have the right skills to feel confident in service improvement projects.

Keywords: realistic evaluation, medical leadership, medical engagement, patient safety, service improvement

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Authors: Lizhu Y. Davis, Gretchen Higginbottom, Vang Vang

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This presentation explores the adoption of library resources to engage students in a Visual Merchandising course during the 2016 spring semester. This study was a cross-disciplinary collaboration between the Fashion Merchandising Program and the Madden Library at California State University, Fresno. The goal of the project was to explore and assess the students’ use of library resources as a part of the Affordable Learning Solutions Initiative, a California State University (CSU) Office of the Chancellor Program that enables faculty to choose and provide high-quality, free or low-cost educational materials for their students. Students were interviewed afterwards and the results were generally favorable and provided insight into how students perceive and use library resources to support their research needs. This study reveals an important step in examining how open educational resources impact student learning.

Keywords: collaboration, library resources, open educational resources, visual merchandising

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Authors: Jason R. King, Hugh H. T. Liu

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This research presents simulation and experimental work in the visual servoing of a quadrotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to stabilize overtop of a moving target. Most previous work in the field assumes static or slow-moving, unpredictable targets. In this experiment, the target is assumed to be a friendly ground robot moving freely on a horizontal plane, which shares information with the UAV. This information includes velocity and acceleration information of the ground target to aid the quadrotor in its tracking task. The quadrotor is assumed to have a downward-facing camera which is fixed to the frame of the quadrotor. Only onboard sensing for the quadrotor is utilized for the experiment, with a VICON motion capture system in place used only to measure ground truth and evaluate the performance of the controller. The experimental platform consists of an ArDrone 2.0 and a Create Roomba, communicating using Robot Operating System (ROS). The addition of the target’s information is demonstrated to help the quadrotor in its tracking task using simulations of the dynamic model of a quadrotor in Matlab Simulink. A nested PID control loop is utilized for inner-loop control the quadrotor, similar to previous works at the Flight Systems and Controls Laboratory (FSC) at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). Experiments are performed with ground truth provided by an indoor motion capture system, and the results are analyzed. It is demonstrated that a velocity controller which incorporates the additional information is able to perform better than the controllers which do not have access to the target’s information.

Keywords: quadrotor, target tracking, unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, UAS, visual servoing

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Authors: Mohaammad Ahmadpanah, Amineh Akhondi, Mohammad Haghighi, Ali Ghaleiha, Leila Jahangard, Elham Salari

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Background: Working memory includes the capability to keep and manipulate information in a short period of time. This capability is the basis of complicated judgments and has been attended to as the specific and constant character of individuals. Children with attention deficit and hyperactivity are among the people suffering from deficiency in the active memory, and this deficiency has been attributed to the problem of frontal lobe. This study utilizes a new approach with suitable tasks and methods for training active memory and assessment of the effects of the trainings. Participants: The children participating in this study were of 7-15 year age, who were diagnosed by the psychiatrist and psychologist as hyperactive and attention deficit based on DSM-IV criteria. The intervention group was consisted of 8 boys and 6 girls with the average age of 11 years and standard deviation of 2, and the control group was consisted of 2 girls and 5 boys with an average age of 11.4 and standard deviation of 3. Three children in the test group and two in the control group were under medicinal therapy. Results: Working memory training meaningfully improved the performance in not-trained areas as visual-spatial working memory as well as the performance in Raven progressive tests which are a perfect example of non-verbal, complicated reasoning tasks. In addition, motional activities – measured based on the number of head movements during computerized measuring program – was meaningfully reduced in the medication group. The results of the second test showed that training similar exercise to teenagers and adults results in the improvement of cognition functions, as in hyperactive people. Discussion: The results of this study showed that the performance of working memory is improved through training, and these trainings are extended and generalized in other areas of cognition functions not receiving any training. Trainings resulted in the improvement of performance in the tasks related to prefrontal. They had also a positive and meaningful impact on the moving activities of hyperactive children.

Keywords: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, working memory, non-medical treatment, children

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Authors: Mouhoubi Nedjima, Sassi Boudemagh Souad

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In the framework of the modernization of the city of Constantine, and in order to restore its status as a regional metropolis and introduce it into the network of cities international metropolises, a major urban project was launched: project of modernization and of metropolitanization of the city of Constantine (PMMC). Our research project focuses on the management of the project for the modernization of the city of Constantine (PMMC) focusing on the management of some aspects of the urban project whose participation, with the objective assessment of the managerial approach business. Among the cases revealing taken into account in our research work on the question of participation of actors and their organizations, the operation relating to "the urban improvement in the city of the Brothers FERRAD in the district of Zouaghi". This operation with the objective of improving the living conditions of citizens has faced several challenges and obstacles that have been in major part the factors of its failure. Through this study, we examine the management process and the mode of organization of the actors of the project as well as the level of participation of the citizen to finally propose managerial solutions to conflict situations observed.

Keywords: the urban project, the urban improvement, participation, Constantine

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Authors: Shrutisingh Tomar, Madhu Sharan

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It has been an undisputed fact that the culture of a nation has always been reflected in its practice, visual content and in forms of its oral traditions. Regional and communal costumes in India since ancient times have worked as a strong repository for its people to comprehend not only the locality but also the community of the wearer. Such a strong visual language apparently was ordained to communicate basic details about the person such as age, marital status, and socio-cultural status. Most of the fragments of this visual vocabulary have been intensively investigated, recorded, diversified and revived, while a limited range of these has died a slow death. Some of the rare existent kinds of such threads have survived as a mainstream article of clothing: simpler, apparent and a product for daily life yet unique in their own kind. The paper intends to consider and elaborate the investigated repository pertinent to the Pacchedi weaving tradition of Gujarat. The research involved field surveys across seven districts of the two states of India namely Gujarat and Rajasthan. Ethnographic interviews, observations, recording of oral histories and archival research was conducted through multi-timed and multi-cited studies between from the year 2012 to 2015. The results include varied forms of Pacchedi based on the sartorial expressions in the male costume. The characteristic features of these textiles were accorded by the sumptuous use of brocaded cross borders and weft heavy ends along with the details on the languishing fabrication procedure.

Keywords: handloom weaving, material culture, sartorial expressions and vernacular textile craft

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Authors: Chieh-Ning Lan, Tzu-Shin Lin, Kun-Hao Lin

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Chinese handwriting skill is one of the basic skills of school-age children in Taiwan, which helps them to learn most academic subjects. Differ from the alphabetic language system, Chinese written language is a logographic script with a complicated 2-dimensional character structure as a morpheme. Visuospatial ability places a great role in Chinese handwriting to maintain good proportion and alignment of these interwoven strokes. In Taiwan, school-age students faced the challenge to recognize and write down Chinese characters, especially in children with written expression difficulties (CWWDs). In this study, we developed an instructional app to help CWWDs practice Chinese handwriting skills, and we aimed to apply the mobile assisted language learning (MALL) system in clinical writing strategies. To understand the feasibility and satisfaction of this auxiliary instructional writing app, we investigated the perceive and value both from school-age students and the clinic therapists, who were the target users and the experts. A group of 8 elementary school children, as well as 8 clinic therapists, were recruited. The school-age students were asked to go through a paper-based instruction and were asked to score the visual expression based on their graphic preference; the clinic therapists were asked to watch an introductive video of this instructional app and complete the online formative questionnaire. In the results of our study, from the perspective of user interface design, school-age students were more attracted to cartoon-liked pictures rather than line drawings or vivid photos. Moreover, compared to text, pictures which have higher semantic transparency were more commonly chosen by children. In terms of the quantitative survey from clinic therapists, they were highly satisfied with this auxiliary instructional writing app, including the concepts such as visual design, teaching contents, and positive reinforcement system. Furthermore, the qualitative results also suggested comprehensive positive feedbacks on the teaching contents and the feasibility of integrating the app into clinical treatments. Interestingly, we found that clinic therapists showed high agreement in approving CWWDs’ writing ability with using orthographic knowledge; however, in the qualitative section, clinic therapists pointed out that CWWDs usually have relative insufficient background knowledge in Chinese character orthographic rules, which because it is not a key-point in conventional handwriting instruction. Also, previous studies indicated that conventional Chinese reading and writing instructions were lacked of utilizing visual-spatial arrangement strategies. Based on the sharing experiences from all participants, we concluded several interesting topics that are worth to dedicate to in the future. In this undergoing app system, improvement and revision will be applied into the system design, and will establish a better and more useful instructional system for CWWDs within their treatments; enlightened by the opinions related to learning content, the importance of orthographic knowledge in Chinese character recognition should be well discussed and involved in CWWDs’ intervention in the future.

Keywords: auxiliary instructional app, children with writing difficulties, Chinese handwriting, orthographic knowledge

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Authors: Magali Mari, Fabrice Clement

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The present study investigated the influence of implicit stereotypes on adults’ visual information processing, using an eye-tracking device. Implicit stereotyping is an automatic and implicit process; it happens relatively quickly, outside of awareness. In the presence of a member of a social group, a set of expectations about the characteristics of this social group appears automatically in people’s minds. The study aimed to shed light on the cognitive processes involved in stereotyping and to further investigate the use of eye movements to measure implicit stereotypes. With an eye-tracking device, the eye movements of participants were analyzed, while they viewed everyday scenes depicting women and men in congruent or incongruent gender role activities (e.g., a woman ironing or a man ironing). The settings of these scenes had to be analyzed to infer the character’s role. Also, participants completed an implicit association test that combined the concept of gender with attributes of occupation (home/work), while measuring reaction times to assess participants’ implicit stereotypes about gender. The results showed that implicit stereotypes do influence people’s visual attention; within a fraction of a second, the number of returns, between stereotypical and counter-stereotypical scenes, differed significantly, meaning that participants interpreted the scene itself as a whole before identifying the character. They predicted that, in such a situation, the character was supposed to be a woman or a man. Also, the study showed that eye movements could be used as a fast and reliable supplement for traditional implicit association tests to measure implicit stereotypes. Altogether, this research provides further understanding of implicit stereotypes processing as well as a natural method to study implicit stereotypes.

Keywords: eye-tracking, implicit stereotypes, social cognition, visual attention

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Authors: Ankita R. Bansal, Naren S. Burade

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Idea is to create a cloud based virtual lab for Deaf Students, “A language acquisition program using Visual Phonics and Cued Speech” using VMware Virtual Lab. This lab will demonstrate students the sounds of letters associated with the Language, building letter blocks, making words, etc Virtual labs are used for demos, training, for the Lingual development of children in their vernacular language. The main potential benefits are reduced labour and hardware costs, faster response times to users. Virtual Computing Labs allows any of the software as a service solutions, virtualization solutions, and terminal services solutions available today to offer as a service on demand, where a single instance of the software runs on the cloud and services multiple end users. VMWare, XEN, MS Virtual Server, Virtuoso, and Citrix are typical examples.

Keywords: visual phonics, language acquisition, vernacular language, cued speech, virtual lab

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Authors: Kikuo Asai, Yuji Sugimoto

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We developed a prototype system for multiplayer RC-car driving in a collaborative Augmented Reality (AR) environment. The tele-existence environment is constructed by superimposing digital data onto images captured by a camera on an RC-car, enabling players to experience an augmented coexistence of the digital content and the real world. Marker-based tracking was used for estimating position and orientation of the camera. The plural RC-cars can be operated in a field where square markers are arranged. The video images captured by the camera are transmitted to a PC for visual tracking. The RC-cars are also tracked by using an infrared camera attached to the ceiling, so that the instability is reduced in the visual tracking. Multimedia data such as texts and graphics are visualized to be overlaid onto the video images in the geometrically correct manner. The prototype system allows a tele-existence sensation to be augmented in a collaborative AR environment.

Keywords: multiplayer, RC-car, collaborative environment, augmented reality

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Authors: Zelalem Markos Borko

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The quality of life of people with blindness is significantly influenced by the level of resilience they possess. A qualitative approach of the descriptive phenomenological design was employed to address basic study objectives. The researcher purposely selected three blind graduate students from Sidist Kilo Campus and conducted a semi-structured interview to gather data. Data were analyzed by using thematic coding techniques. The present study found that personal characteristics such as commitment, living hope, motivation, positive self-esteem, self-confidence, and communication have shaped resiliency for successful university students with visual disabilities. The finding showed that the school environment is the place in which blind students had developed/experienced social, psychological, and economical competency and hope for their academic and entire life success. Furthermore, the finding showed that blind students had experienced individual, family, school, and community-related risks in the success track. Therefore, governmental and non-governmental organizations should provide training for students with visual impairments that focus on the individual traits that shape resilience for academic success, such as commitment, living hope, motivation, positive self-esteem, self-confidence, and communication and also community-oriented training should be to break the social stigma and discriminations for the individuals with the visual impairment.

Keywords: blind students, risk and protective factors, lived experience, success

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Authors: Yara Bajnaid, Malak Zaidan, Eman Dakkak

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This research explores the use of Artificial Intelligence in Duolingo, a popular mobile application for language learning. Duolingo's success hinges on its gamified approach and adaptive learning system, both heavily reliant on AI functionalities. The research also analyzes user feedback regarding Duolingo's AI functionalities. While a significant majority (70%) consider Duolingo a reliable tool for language learning, there's room for improvement. Overall, AI plays a vital role in personalizing the learning journey and delivering interactive exercises. However, continuous improvement based on user feedback can further enhance the effectiveness of Duolingo's AI functionalities.

Keywords: AI, Duolingo, language learning, application

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Authors: Eva Tolmeijer, Emmanuelle Peters, Veena Kumari, Liam Mason

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Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is effective in many but not all patients, making it important to better understand the factors that determine treatment outcomes. To date, no studies have examined whether neuroimaging can make clinically useful predictions about who will respond to CBTp. To this end, we used machine learning methods that make predictions about symptom improvement at the individual patient level. Prior to receiving CBTp, 22 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia completed a social-affective processing task during functional MRI. Multivariate pattern analysis assessed whether treatment response could be predicted by brain activation responses to facial affect that was either socially threatening or prosocial. The resulting models did significantly predict symptom improvement, with distinct multivariate signatures predicting psychotic (r=0.54, p=0.01) and affective (r=0.32, p=0.05) symptoms. Psychotic symptom improvement was accurately predicted from relatively focal threat-related activation across hippocampal, occipital, and temporal regions; affective symptom improvement was predicted by a more dispersed profile of responses to prosocial affect. These findings enrich our understanding of the neurobiological underpinning of treatment response. This study provides a foundation that will hopefully lead to greater precision and tailoring of the interventions offered to patients.

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, machine learning, psychosis, schizophrenia

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Authors: Anna Amato

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Every child needs communication. If spoken language is not or not fully available due to congenital or acquired limitations, those affected need appropriate ways. These can be found in many possibilities of Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC). In the communication promotion of severely impaired children, who can use their own body communication forms only to a limited extent for the differentiated understanding, computers with eye control play an essential role. It takes some time to understand the individual forms of communication of the child. Children who depend on the AAC need competent support to learn to communicate in a motivated way in their everyday life. The aim of the present parents' survey (n = 4), which was evaluated descriptively, is to demonstrate the development of communicative abilities as well as the motivation to use complex communication aids with eye control by patients with atypical Rett Syndrome. An increase in communication skills, well-being, self-reliance, and self-esteem, an improvement in social participation, as well as a reduction in anger and screaming events, were noted. The complex visual communication tools were available daily for 3 out of 4 patients with atypical Rett Syndrome. It raises research questions regarding speech understanding and the ability to drive eye control technology in a larger group of atypical Rett Syndrome patients.

Keywords: augmentative and alternative communications, AAC, atypical Rett-syndrome, children, development

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Authors: Sandra Ghavam Shirazi, Mohsen Ramezan Shirazi, Mohammadreza Golhashem

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Nowadays by development of construction in modern world new techniques are introduced to civil engineering. As for geotechnical problems and demands of soil improvement, engineers are searching for decisive methods to ensure the safety of projects. As a popular material Geotextiles are used in almost every aspect of civil engineering. There is a vast variety of geotextiles and each kind has their own unique characteristics therefor to select the proper geotextile for a specific project their properties must be carefully examined. This review gathers and evaluates different parameters of geotextiles that are used in geotechnical field.

Keywords: geotextile, soft soils, fabric, stabilization, fiber

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Authors: Linette van der Merwe

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It is known that visual artists, performing artists, and literary artists have inspired each other since time immemorial. The enduring, symbiotic relationship between the various art genres is evident where words, colours, lines, and sounds act as metaphors, a physical separation of the transcendental reality of art. Simonides of Keos (c. 556-468 BC) confirmed this, stating that a poem is a talking picture, or, in a more modern expression, a picture is worth a thousand words. It can be seen as an ancient relationship, originating from the epigram (tombstone or artefact inscriptions), the carmen figuratum (figure poem), and the ekphrasis (a description in the form of a poem of a work of art). Visual artists, including Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Goethe, wrote poems and songs. Goya, Degas, and Picasso are famous for their works of art and for trying their hands at poetry. Afrikaans writers whose fine art is often published together with their writing, as in the case of Andries Bezuidenhout, Breyten Breytenbach, Sheila Cussons, Hennie Meyer, Carina Stander, and Johan van Wyk, among others, are not a strange phenomenon either. Imitating one art form into another art form is a form of translation, transposition, contemplation, and discovery of artistic impressions, showing parallel interpretations rather than physical comparison. It is especially about the harmony that exists between the different art genres, i.e., a poem that describes a painting or a visual text that portrays a poem that becomes a translation, interpretation, and rediscovery of the verbal text, or rather, from the word text to the image text. Poetry-film, as a form of such a translation of the word text into an image text, can be considered a hybrid, transdisciplinary art form that connects poetry and film. Poetry-film is regarded as an intertwined entity of word, sound, and visual image. It is an attempt to transpose and transform a poem into a new artwork that makes the poem more accessible to people who are not necessarily open to the written word and will, in effect, attract a larger audience to a genre that usually has a limited market. Poetry-film is considered a creative expression of an inverted ekphrastic inspiration, a visual description, interpretation, and expression of a poem. Research also emphasises that animated poetry-film is not widely regarded as a genre of anything and is thus severely under-theorized. This paper will focus on Afrikaans animated poetry-films as a multimodal transposition of a poem text to an animated poetry film, with specific reference to animated poetry-films in Filmverse I (2014) and Filmverse II (2016).

Keywords: poetry film, animated poetry film, poetic metaphor, conceptual metaphor, monomodal metaphor, multimodal metaphor, semiotic metaphor, multimodality, metaphor analysis, target domain, source domain

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Authors: Ehsan Abdolzadeh, Sanaz Nouri, Siamak Khalaj

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Today WSNs have many applications in different fields like the environment, military operations, discoveries, monitoring operations, and so on. Coverage size and energy consumption are the important challenges that these networks need to face. This paper tries to solve the problem of coverage with a requirement of k-coverage and minimum energy consumption. In order to minimize energy consumption, visual sensor networks have been used that observe and process just those targets that are located in their view direction. As a result, sensor rotations have decreased, and subsequently, energy consumption has been minimized. To solve the problem of coverage particle swarm optimization, coverage optimization has been able to ensure coverage requirement together with minimizing sensor rotations while meeting the problem requirement of k≤14. So energy consumption has decreased, and this could extend the sensors’ lifetime subsequently.

Keywords: K coverage, particle union optimization algorithm, wireless sensor networks, visual sensor networks

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Authors: Devika Tanna

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'Biometrics' means 'life measurement' but the term is usually associated with the use of unique physiological characteristics to identify an individual. It is important to secure the privacy of digital face image that is stored in central database. To impart privacy to such biometric face images, first, the digital face image is split into two host face images such that, each of it gives no idea of existence of the original face image and, then each cover image is stored in two different databases geographically apart. When both the cover images are simultaneously available then only we can access that original image. This can be achieved by using the XM2VTS and IMM face database, an adaptive algorithm for spatial greyscale. The algorithm helps to select the appropriate host images which are most likely to be compatible with the secret image stored in the central database based on its geometry and appearance. The encryption is done using GEVCS which results in a reconstructed image identical to the original private image.

Keywords: adaptive algorithm, database, host images, privacy, visual cryptography

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Authors: Sakae Suzuki

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Although Japanese students study English for six years in secondary schools, they demonstrate little success with it when they enter higher education. Learners’ beliefs can predict the future behavior of students, so it may be effective to investigate how learners’ beliefs limit their success and how beliefs might be nudged in a positive direction. While many researchers still depend on a questionnaire called BALLI to reveal explicit beliefs, alternative approaches, especially those designed to reveal implicit beliefs, might be helpful for promoting learning. The present study seeks to identify beliefs with a discursive approach using visual metaphors and narratives. Employing a sociocultural framework, this study investigates how students’ beliefs are revealed by drawings of themselves and their surrounding environments and artifacts while they are engaged in language learning. Research questions are: (1) Can we identify beliefs through an analysis of students’ visual narratives? (2) What environments and artifacts can be found in students’ drawings, and what do they mean? (3) To what extent do students see language learning as a solitary, rather than a social, activity? Participants are university students majoring in science and technology in Japan. The questionnaire was administered to 70 entering students in April, 2014. Data included students drawings of themselves as learners of English as well as written descriptions of students’ backgrounds, English-learning experiences, and analogies and metaphors that they used in written descriptions of themselves as learners. Data will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Anticipated results include students’ perceptions of themselves as language learners, including their sense of agency, awareness of artifacts, and social contexts of language learning. Comments will be made on implications for teaching, as well as the use of visual narratives as research tools, and recommended further research.

Keywords: drawings, learners' beliefs, metaphors, BALLI

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Authors: Mihai Duguleana, Florin Girbacia, Cristian Postelnicu, Raffaello Brodi, Marcello Carrozzino

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Augmented Reality (AR) has taken a big leap with the introduction of mobile applications which co-locate bi-dimensional (e.g. photo, video, text) and tridimensional information with the location of the user enriching his/her experience. This study presents the advantages of using Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) technologies in traveling applications, improving cultural heritage exploration. We propose a location-based AR application which combines co-location with the augmented visual information about Pisa monuments to establish a friendly navigation in this historic city. AR was used to render contextual visual information in the outdoor environment. The developed Android-based application offers two different options: it provides the ability to identify the monuments positioned close to the user’s position and it offers location information for getting near the key touristic objectives. We present the process of creating the monuments’ 3D map database and the navigation algorithm.

Keywords: augmented reality, electronic compass, GPS, location-based service

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Authors: A. Goodarzian, A. Ghasemipanah, R. Ziaie Moayed, H. Niroumand

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The problem of soil stabilization has been one of the important issues in geotechnical engineering. Nowadays, nanomaterials have revolutionized many industries. In this research, improvement of the Kerman fine-grained soil by nanozeolite and nanobentonite additives separately has been investigated using Atterberg Limits and unconfined compression test. In unconfined compression test, the samples were prepared with 3, 5 and 7% nano additives, with 1, 7 and 28 days curing time with strain control method. Finally, the effect of different percentages of nanozeolite and nanobentonite on the geotechnical behavior and characteristics of Kerman fine-grained soil was investigated. The results showed that with increasing the amount of nanozeolite and also nanobentonite to fine-grained soil, the soil exhibits more compression strength. So that by adding 7% nanozeolite and nanobentonite with 1 day curing, the unconfined compression strength is 1.18 and 2.1 times higher than the unstabilized soil. In addition, the failure strain decreases in samples containing nanozeolite, whereas it increases in the presence of nanobentonite. Increasing the percentage of nanozeolite and nanobentonite also increased the elasticity modulus of soil.

Keywords: nanoparticles, soil improvement, clayey soil, unconfined compression stress

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Authors: Zafar Iqbal, Nigel P. Grigg, K. Govindaraju, Nicola M. Campbell-Allen

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Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is structured approach. It has been used to improve the quality of products and process in a wide range of fields. Using this systematic tool, practitioners normally rank Voice of Customer ratings (VoCs) in order to produce Improvement Ratios (IRs) which become the basis for prioritising process / product design or improvement activities. In one matrix of the House of Quality (HOQ) competitors are rated. The method of obtaining improvement ratios (IRs) does not always integrate the competitors’ rating in a systematic way that fully utilises competitor rating information. This can have the effect of diverting QFD practitioners’ attention from a potentially important VOC to less important VOC. In order to enhance QFD analysis, we present a more systematic method for integrating competitor ratings, utilising the geometric mean of the customer rating matrix. In this paper we develop a new approach, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), in which we generating a matrix of multiple comparisons of all competitors, and derive a geometric mean for each competitor. For each VOC an improved IR is derived which-we argue herein - enhances the initial VOC importance ratings by integrating more information about competitor performance. In this way, our method can help overcome one of the possible shortcomings of QFD. We then use a published QFD example from literature as a case study to demonstrate the use of the new AHP-based IRs, and show how these can be used to re-rank existing VOCs to -arguably- better achieve the goal of customer satisfaction in relation VOC ratings and competitors’ rankings. We demonstrate how two dimensional AHP-based geometric mean derived from the multiple competitor comparisons matrix can be useful for analysing competitors’ rankings. Our method utilises an established methodology (AHP) applied within an established application (QFD), but in an original way (through the competitor analysis matrix), to achieve a novel improvement.

Keywords: quality function deployment, geometric mean, improvement ratio, AHP, competitors ratings

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Authors: Cecile Laval, Harriet Lowe

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Processing Instruction is a psycholinguistic pedagogical approach drawing insights from the Input Processing Model which establishes the initial innate strategies used by second language learners to connect form and meaning of linguistic features. With the ever-growing use of technology in Second Language Acquisition research, the present study uses eye-tracking to measure the effectiveness of Processing Instruction in the acquisition of French and its effects on learner’s cognitive strategies. The experiment was designed using a TOBII Pro-TX300 eye-tracker to measure participants’ default strategies when processing French linguistic input and any cognitive changes after receiving Processing Instruction treatment. Participants were drawn from lower intermediate adult learners of French at the University of Greenwich and randomly assigned to two groups. The study used a pre-test/post-test methodology. The pre-tests (one per linguistic item) were administered via the eye-tracker to both groups one week prior to instructional treatment. One group received full Processing Instruction treatment (explicit information on the grammatical item and on the processing strategies, and structured input activities) on the primary target linguistic feature (French past tense imperfective aspect). The second group received Processing Instruction treatment except the explicit information on the processing strategies. Three immediate post-tests on the three grammatical structures under investigation (French past tense imperfective aspect, French Subjunctive used for the expression of doubt, and the French causative construction with Faire) were administered with the eye-tracker. The eye-tracking data showed the positive change in learners’ processing of the French target features after instruction with improvement in the interpretation of the three linguistic features under investigation. 100% of participants in both groups made a statistically significant improvement (p=0.001) in the interpretation of the primary target feature (French past tense imperfective aspect) after treatment. 62.5% of participants made an improvement in the secondary target item (French Subjunctive used for the expression of doubt) and 37.5% of participants made an improvement in the cumulative target feature (French causative construction with Faire). Statistically there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the cumulative target feature; however, the variance approximately tripled between the pre-test and the post-test (3.9 pre-test and 9.6 post-test). This suggests that the treatment does not affect participants homogenously and implies a role for individual differences in the transfer-of-training effect of Processing Instruction. The use of eye-tracking provides an opportunity for the study of unconscious processing decisions made during moment-by-moment comprehension. The visual data from the eye-tracking demonstrates changes in participants’ processing strategies. Gaze plots from pre- and post-tests display participants fixation points changing from focusing on content words to focusing on the verb ending. This change in processing strategies can be clearly seen in the interpretation of sentences in both primary and secondary target features. This paper will present the research methodology, design and results of the experimental study using eye-tracking to investigate the primary effects and transfer-of-training effects of Processing Instruction. It will then provide evidence of the cognitive benefits of Processing Instruction in Second Language Acquisition and offer suggestion in second language teaching of grammar.

Keywords: eye-tracking, language teaching, processing instruction, second language acquisition

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Authors: Kaoru Tomita

Abstract:

This study explores how visual information helps us to learn foreign language pronunciation. Visual assistance and its effect for learning foreign language have been discussed widely. For example, simplified illustrations in textbooks are used for telling learners which part of the articulation organs are used for pronouncing sounds. Vowels are put into a chart that depicts a vowel space. Consonants are put into a table that contains two axes of place and manner of articulation. When comparing a still picture and a moving picture for visualizing learners’ pronunciation, it becomes clear that the former works better than the latter. The visualization of vowels was applied to class activities in which native and non-native speakers’ English was compared and the learners’ feedback was collected: the positions of six vowels did not scatter as much as they were expected to do. Specifically, two vowels were not discriminated and were arranged very close in the vowel space. It was surprising for the author to find that learners liked analyzing their own pronunciation by linking formant ones and twos on a sheet of paper with a pencil. Even a simple method works well if it leads learners to think about their pronunciation analytically.

Keywords: feedback, pronunciation, visualization, vowel

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Authors: T. G. Asmitha Chandini

Abstract:

Web-based image search re-ranking, as an successful method to get better the results. In a query keyword, the first stair is store the images is first retrieve based on the text-based information. The user to select a query keywordimage, by using this query keyword other images are re-ranked based on their visual properties with images.Now a day to day, people projected to match images in a semantic space which is used attributes or reference classes closely related to the basis of semantic image. though, understanding a worldwide visual semantic space to demonstrate highly different images from the web is difficult and inefficient. The re-ranking images, which automatically offline part learns dissimilar semantic spaces for different query keywords. The features of images are projected into their related semantic spaces to get particular images. At the online stage, images are re-ranked by compare their semantic signatures obtained the semantic précised by the query keyword image. The query-specific semantic signatures extensively improve both the proper and efficiency of image re-ranking.

Keywords: Query, keyword, image, re-ranking, semantic, signature

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Authors: Silvia Grassi, Stefano Schiavon, Ernestina Casiraghi, Cristina Alamprese

Abstract:

Dry-cured ham is an uncooked meat product particularly appreciated for its peculiar sensory traits among which lipid component plays a key role in defining quality and, consequently, consumers’ acceptability. Usually, fat content and distribution are chemically determined by expensive, time-consuming, and destructive analyses. Moreover, different sensory techniques are applied to assess product conformity to desired standards. In this context, visual systems are getting a foothold in the meat market envisioning more reliable and time-saving assessment of food quality traits. The present work aims at developing a simple but systematic and objective visual methodology to assess the fat amount of dry-cured ham slices, in terms of total, intermuscular and intramuscular fractions. To the aim, 160 slices from 80 PDO dry-cured hams were evaluated by digital image analysis and Soxhlet extraction. RGB images were captured by a flatbed scanner, converted in grey-scale images, and segmented based on intensity histograms as well as on a multi-stage algorithm aimed at edge enhancement. The latter was performed applying the Canny algorithm, which consists of image noise reduction, calculation of the intensity gradient for each image, spurious response removal, actual thresholding on corrected images, and confirmation of strong edge boundaries. The approach allowed for the automatic calculation of total, intermuscular and intramuscular fat fractions as percentages of the total slice area. Linear regression models were run to estimate the relationships between the image analysis results and the chemical data, thus allowing for the prediction of the total, intermuscular and intramuscular fat content by the dry-cured ham images. The goodness of fit of the obtained models was confirmed in terms of coefficient of determination (R²), hypothesis testing and pattern of residuals. Good regression models have been found being 0.73, 0.82, and 0.73 the R2 values for the total fat, the sum of intermuscular and intramuscular fat and the intermuscular fraction, respectively. In conclusion, the edge enhancement visual procedure brought to a good fat segmentation making the simple visual approach for the quantification of the different fat fractions in dry-cured ham slices sufficiently simple, accurate and precise. The presented image analysis approach steers towards the development of instruments that can overcome destructive, tedious and time-consuming chemical determinations. As future perspectives, the results of the proposed image analysis methodology will be compared with those of sensory tests in order to develop a fast grading method of dry-cured hams based on fat distribution. Therefore, the system will be able not only to predict the actual fat content but it will also reflect the visual appearance of samples as perceived by consumers.

Keywords: dry-cured ham, edge detection algorithm, fat content, image analysis

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Authors: Anna Ching-Yu Wong

Abstract:

This study aims to identify the quality and effectiveness of the adult programs provided by the public library using the ServQUAL Method and the National Library Public Programs Assessment guidelines (NIPPA, June 2019). ServQUAl covers several variables, namely: tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. NIPPA guidelines focus on program characteristics, particularly on the outcomes – the level of satisfaction from program participants. The reached populations were adults who participated in library adult programs at a small-town public library in Kansas. This study was designed as quantitative evaluative research which analyzed the quality and effectiveness of the library adult programs by analyzing the role of each factor based on ServQUAL and the NIPPA's library program assessment guidelines. Data were collected from November 2019 to January 2020 using a questionnaire with a Likert Scale. The data obtained were analyzed in a descriptive quantitative manner. The impact of this research can provide information about the quality and effectiveness of existing programs and can be used as input to develop strategies for developing future adult programs. Overall the result of ServQUAL measurement is in very good quality, but still, areas need improvement and emphasis in each variable: Tangible Variables still need improvement in indicators of the temperature and space of the meeting room. Reliability Variable still needs improvement in the timely delivery of the programs. Responsiveness Variable still needs improvement in terms of the ability of the presenters to convey trust and confidence from participants. Assurance Variables still need improvement in the indicator of knowledge and skills of program presenters. Empathy Variable still needs improvement in terms of the presenters' willingness to provide extra assistance. The result of program outcomes measurement based on NIPPA guidelines is very positive. Over 96% of participants indicated that the programs were informative and fun. They learned new knowledge and new skills and would recommend the programs to their friends and families. They believed that together, the library and participants build stronger and healthier communities.

Keywords: ServQual model, ServQual in public libraries, library program assessment, NIPPA library programs assessment

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Authors: Catherine Thompson, Maryam Jalali, Peter Hills

Abstract:

The allocation of visual attention is critical when driving and anything that limits attention will have a detrimental impact on safety. Engaging in a secondary task reduces the amount of attention directed to the road because drivers allocate resources towards this task, leaving fewer resources to process driving-relevant information. Yet the dangers associated with a secondary task do not end when the driver returns their attention to the road. Instead, the attentional settings adopted to complete a secondary task may persist to the road, affecting attention, and therefore affecting driver performance. This 'attentional inertia' effect was investigated in the current work. Forty drivers searched for hazards in driving video clips while their eye-movements were recorded. At varying intervals they were instructed to attend to a secondary task displayed on a tablet situated to their left-hand side. The secondary task consisted of three separate computer games that induced horizontal, vertical, and random eye movements. Visual search and hazard detection in the driving clips were compared across the three conditions of the secondary task. Results showed that the layout of information in the secondary task, and therefore the allocation of attention in this task, had an impact on subsequent search in the driving clips. Vertically presented information reduced the wide horizontal spread of search usually associated with accurate driving and had a negative influence on the detection of hazards. The findings show the additional dangers of engaging in a secondary task while driving. The attentional inertia effect has significant implications for semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles in which drivers have greater opportunity to direct their attention away from the driving task.

Keywords: attention, eye-movements, hazard perception, visual search

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Authors: Dung V. H. Pham, Kathryn Cullen

Abstract:

Introduction: 40% of adolescents with major depression (MDD) are unresponsive to 1st line antidepressant treatment. The neural mechanism underlying treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant depression in adolescent are unclear. Amygdala is important for emotion processing and has been implicated in mood disorders. Past research has shown abnormal amygdala connectivity in adolescents with MDD. This research study changes in amygdala resting-state functional connectivity to find neural correlates of successful antidepressant treatment. Methods: Thirteen adolescents aged 12-19 underwent rfMRI before and after 8-week antidepressant treatment and completed BDI-II at each scan. A whole-brain approach, using anatomically defined amygdala ROIs (1) identified brain regions that are highly synchronous with the amygdala, (2) correlated neural changes with changes in overall depression and specific symptom clusters within depression. Results: Some neural correlates were common across domains: (1) decreased amygdala RSFC with the default mode network (posterior cingulate, precuneus) is associated with improvement in overall depression and many symptom clusters, (2) increased amygdala RSFC with fusiform gyrus is associated with symptom improvement across many symptom clusters. We also found unique neural changes associated with symptom improvement in each symptom cluster. Conclusion: This is the first preliminary study that looks at neural correlates of antidepressant treatment response to overall depression as well as different clusters of symptoms of depression. The finding suggests both overlapping and distinct neural mechanisms underlying improvement in each symptom clusters within depression. Some brain regions found are also implicated in MDD among adults in previous literature.

Keywords: depression, adolescents, fMRI, antidepressants

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Authors: Vikram Singh

Abstract:

The objective of the study was to study the effectiveness of common yoga protocol on reaction time (simple visual reaction time-SVRT measured in milliseconds/seconds) of male football players in the age group of 15 to 21 years. The 40 boys were randomly assigned into two groups i.e. control and experimental. SVRT for both the groups were measured on day-1 and post intervention (common yoga protocol here) was measured after 45 days of training to the experimental group only. One way ANOVA (Univariate analysis) and Independent t-test using SPSS 23 statistical package was applied to get and analyze the results. There was a significant difference after 45 days of yoga protocol in simple visual reaction time of experimental group (p = .032), t (33.05) = 3.881, p = .000 (two-tailed). Null hypothesis (that there would be no post measurement differences in reaction times of control and experimental groups) was rejected. Where p<.05. Therefore alternate hypothesis was accepted.

Keywords: footballers, t-test, yoga protocol, reaction time

Procedia PDF Downloads 242