Search results for: technology enabled learning

Authors: Pedro M. A. Vitoriano, Tito. G. Amaral

Abstract:

Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) Systems are commonly used on Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) manufacturing. The use of this technology has been proven as highly efficient for process improvements and quality achievements. The correct extraction of the component for posterior analysis is a critical step of the AOI process. Nowadays, the Pattern Matching Algorithm is commonly used, although this algorithm requires extensive calculations and is time consuming. This paper will present an improved algorithm for the component localization process, with the capability of implementation in a parallel execution system.

Keywords: AOI, automated optical inspection, SMD, surface mounting devices, pattern matching, parallel execution

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: Lindsey D. Sams, Dean R. Gorman, Cathy D. Lirgg, Steve W. Dittmore, Jack C. Kern

Abstract:

Golf is a lifetime sport that provides numerous physical and psychological benefits. The game has struggled with attrition and retention within minority groups and this has exposed the lack of a modified introduction to the game that is uniformly accessible and developmentally appropriate. Factors that have been related to sport participatory behaviors include perceived competence, enjoyment and intention. The purpose of this study was to examine self-reported perception differences in competence and enjoyment between learners using modified and traditional equipment as well as the potential effects these factors could have on intent for future participation. For this study, SNAG Golf was chosen to serve as the scaled equipment used by the modified equipment group. The participants in this study were 99 children (24 traditional equipment users/ 75 modified equipment users) located across the U.S. with ages ranging from 7 to 12 years (2nd-5th grade). Utilizing a convenience sampling method, data was obtained on a voluntary basis through surveys measuring children’s golf participation and self-perceptions concerning perceived competence, enjoyment and intention to continue participation. The scales used for perceived competence and enjoyment included Susan Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) along with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES). Analysis revealed no significant differences for enjoyment, perceived competence or intention between children learning with traditional golf equipment and modified golf equipment. This was true even though traditional equipment users reported significantly higher experience levels than that of modified users. Intention was regressed on the enjoyment and perceived competence variables. Congruent with current literature, enjoyment was a strong predictor of intention to continue participation, for both groups. Modified equipment users demonstrated significantly lower experience levels but reported similar levels of competence, enjoyment and intent to continue participation as reported by the more experienced, and potentially more skilled, traditional users. The ability to immediately generate these positive affects suggests the potential adoption of a more effective way to learn golf and a method that is conducive to participatory behaviors related to attrition and retention. These implications in turn, highlight an equipment candidate ideal for inception into physical education programs where new learners are introduced to various sports in safe and developmentally appropriate environments. A major goal of this study was to provide foundational research that instigates the further examination of golf’s introductory teaching methodologies, as there is a lack of its presence in current literature. Future research recommendations range from improvements in the current research design to expansive approaches related to the topic, such as progressive skill development, knowledge of the game’s tactical and strategic concepts, playing ability and teaching effectiveness when utilizing modified versus traditional equipment.

Keywords: adaptive sports, enjoyment, golf participation, modified equipment, perceived competence, SNAG golf

Procedia PDF Downloads 340

Authors: Sara Ignoto, Elena M. Scalisi, Carmen Sica, Martina Contino, Greta Ferruggia, Antonio Salvaggio, Santi C. Pavone, Gino Sorbello, Loreto Di Donato, Roberta Pecoraro, Maria V. Brundo

Abstract:

The new fifth generation technology (5G), which should favor high data-rate connections (1Gbps) and latency times lower than the current ones (<1ms), has the characteristic of working on different frequency bands of the radio wave spectrum (700 MHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and 26.5-27.5 GHz), thus also exploiting higher frequencies than previous mobile radio generations (1G-4G). The higher frequency waves, however, have a lower capacity to propagate in free space and therefore, in order to guarantee the capillary coverage of the territory for high reliability applications, it will be necessary to install a large number of repeaters. Following the introduction of this new technology, there has been growing concern in recent years about the possible harmful effects on human health and several studies were published using several animal models. This study aimed to observe the possible short-term effects induced by 5G-millimeter waves on heartbeat of early life stages of Danio rerio using DanioScope software (Noldus). DanioScope is the complete toolbox for measurements on zebrafish embryos and larvae. The effect of substances can be measured on the developing zebrafish embryo by a range of parameters: earliest activity of the embryo’s tail, activity of the developing heart, speed of blood flowing through the vein, length and diameters of body parts. Activity measurements, cardiovascular data, blood flow data and morphometric parameters can be combined in one single tool. Obtained data are elaborate and provided by the software both numerical as well as graphical. The experiments were performed at 27 GHz by a no commercial high gain pyramidal horn antenna. According to OECD guidelines, exposure to 5G-millimeter waves was tested by fish embryo toxicity test within 96 hours post fertilization, Observations were recorded every 24h, until the end of the short-term test (96h). The results have showed an increase of heartbeat rate on exposed embryos at 48h hpf than control group, but this increase has not been shown at 72-96 h hpf. Nowadays, there is a scant of literature data about this topic, so these results could be useful to approach new studies and also to evaluate potential cardiotoxic effects of mobile radiofrequency.

Keywords: Danio rerio, DanioScope, cardiotoxicity, millimeter waves.

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Anna Dziubinska

Abstract:

The applications of magnesium alloys in transport include all kinds of vehicle wheels for cars, motorcycles, bicycles, trolleys, etc. Modern technologies of manufacturing products from these materials have been noticeably improved recently, creating new possibilities for their application. Continuously developed technologies for forming Mg alloys must not be overlooked, which make it possible to manufacture products with better properties compared to those obtained by casting only. The article reviews the specialized literature on magnesium wheel forming and presents a concept of technology for forging magnesium wheels for light vehicles from cast preforms. The research leading to these results has received funding from the Norway Grants 2014-2021 via the National Centre for Research and Development.

Keywords: forming, forging, magnesium alloy, wheels, vehicles

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: Malika Yaici, Feriel Lalaoui, Lydia Belhoul

Abstract:

As a new distributed point-to-point (P2P) technology, blockchain has become a very broad field of research, addressing various challenges, including privacy preserving, as is the case in all other technologies. In this work, a study of the existing solutions to the problems related to private life in general and in blockchains in particular is performed. User anonymity and transaction confidentiality are the two main challenges to the protection of privacy in blockchains. Mixing mechanisms and cryptographic solutions respond to this problem but remain subject to attacks and suffer from shortcomings. Taking into account these imperfections and the synthesis of our study, we present a mixing model without trusted third parties, based on group signatures, allowing reinforcing the anonymity of the users, the confidentiality of the transactions, with minimal turnaround time and without mixing costs.

Keywords: anonymity, blockchain, mixing coins, privacy

Procedia PDF Downloads 12

Authors: Muchun Yu, Xue Gao, Qian Chen

Abstract:

As a novel passive vibration isolation technology, molecular spring isolator (MSI) is investigated in this paper. An MSI consists of water and hydrophobic zeolites as working medium. Under periodic excitation, water molecules intrude into hydrophobic pores of zeolites when the pressure rises and water molecules extrude from hydrophobic pores when pressure drops. At the same time, energy is stored, released and dissipated. An MSI of piston-cylinder structure was designed in this work. Experiments were conducted to investigate the stiffness properties of MSI. The results show that MSI exhibits high-static-low dynamic (HSLD) stiffness. Furthermore, factors such as the quantity of zeolites, temperature, and ions in water are proved to have an influence on the stiffness properties of MSI.

Keywords: hydrophobic zeolites, molecular spring, stiffness, vibration isolation

Procedia PDF Downloads 476

Authors: M. Hemnath, S. Kannan, R. Kiran, K. Thanigaivelu

Abstract:

This paper is based on exploring the possible opportunities and applications using Power Line Communication (PLC) for security and surveillance operations. Various research works are done for introducing PLC into onboard vehicle communication and networking (CAN, LIN etc.) and various international standards have been developed. Wireless power transfer (WPT) is also an emerging technology which is studied and tested for recharging purposes. In this work we present a system which embeds the detection and the response into one which eliminates the need for dedicated network for data transmission. Also we check the feasibility for integrating wireless power transfer system into this proposed security system for transmission of power to detection unit wirelessly from the response unit.

Keywords: power line communication, wireless power transfer, surveillance

Procedia PDF Downloads 535

Authors: Mohammed Kafaji

Abstract:

This paper aims to investigate the influence of quality of education and quality of research, provided by local educational institutions, on the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in managing business operations for companies in Saudi market. A model was developed and tested using data collected from 138 CEO’s of foreign companies in diverse business sectors. The data is analysed and managed using multivariate approaches through standard statistical packages. The results showed that educational quality has little contribution to the ICT adoption while research quality seems to play a more prominent role. These results are analysed in terms of business environment and market constraints and further extended to the perceived effectiveness of applied pedagogical approaches in schools and universities.

Keywords: quality of education, quality of research, mediation, domestic competition, ICT adoption

Procedia PDF Downloads 456

Authors: S. Mahdi Sadatmansouri, Maryam Khalili

Abstract:

World, nowadays, encounters serious water scarcity problem. During the past few years, by advent of Smart Energy and Water Meter (SEWM) and its installation at the electro-pumps of the water wells, one had believed that it could be the golden key to address the groundwater resources over-pumping issue. In fact, implementation of these Smart Meters managed to control the water table drawdown for short; but it was not a sustainable approach. SEWM has been considered as law enforcement facility at first; however, for solving a complex socioeconomic problem like shared groundwater resources management, more than just enforcement is required: participation to conserve common resources. The well owners or farmers, as water consumers, are the main and direct stakeholders of this system and other stakeholders could be government sectors, investors, technology providers, privet sectors or ordinary people. Designing a socio-technical system not only defines the role of each stakeholder but also can lubricate the communication to reach the system goals while benefits of each are considered and provided. Farmers, as the key participators for solving groundwater problem, do not trust governments but they would trust a fair system in which responsibilities, privileges and benefits are clear. Technology could help this system remained impartial and productive. Social aspects provide rules, regulations, social objects and etc. for the system and help it to be more human-centered. As the design methodology, Design Thinking provides probable solutions for the challenging problems and ongoing conflicts; it could enlighten the way in which the final system could be designed. Using Human Centered Design approach of IDEO helps to keep farmers in the center of the solution and provides a vision by which stakeholders’ requirements and needs are addressed effectively. Farmers would be considered to trust the system and participate in their groundwater resources management if they find the rules and tools of the system fair and effective. Besides, implementation of the socio-technical system could change farmers’ behavior in order that they concern more about their valuable shared water resources as well as their farm profit. This socio-technical system contains nine main subsystems: 1) Measurement and Monitoring system, 2) Legislation and Governmental system, 3) Information Sharing system, 4) Knowledge based NGOs, 5) Integrated Farm Management system (using IoT), 6) Water Market and Water Banking system, 7) Gamification, 8) Agribusiness ecosystem, 9) Investment system.

Keywords: human centered design, participatory management, smart energy and water meter (SEWM), social object, socio-technical system, water table drawdown

Procedia PDF Downloads 294

Authors: LuoJiaoyang, Yu Hongyang

Abstract:

In this paper, we experimented with a new approach to multimodal identification using RGB, RGB-D and voice data. The multimodal combination of RGB and voice data has been applied in tasks such as emotion recognition and has shown good results and stability, and it is also the same in identity recognition tasks. We believe that the data of different modalities can enhance the effect of the model through mutual reinforcement. We try to increase the three modalities on the basis of the dual modalities and try to improve the effectiveness of the network by increasing the number of modalities. We also implemented the single-modal identification system separately, tested the data of these different modalities under clean and noisy conditions, and compared the performance with the multimodal model. In the process of designing the multimodal model, we tried a variety of different fusion strategies and finally chose the fusion method with the best performance. The experimental results show that the performance of the multimodal system is better than that of the single modality, especially in dealing with noise, and the multimodal system can achieve an average improvement of 5%.

Keywords: multimodal, three modalities, RGB-D, identity verification

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: T. Santiboon, S. Tongbu, P. S. Saihong

Abstract:

This study focuses on investigating students' perceptions of their physics classroom learning environments of their individualizations and their interactions with the instructional practicum in teaching physics of the master science trainee educational students for improving and creating attitude skills’ sustainable development toward physics for upper secondary educational students in Thailand. Associations between these perceptions and students' attitudes toward physics were also determined. The learning environment perceptions were obtained using the 35-item Physics Laboratory Environment Inventory (PLEI) modified from the original Science Laboratory Environment Inventory. The 25-item Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) was assessed those dimensions which distinguish individualized physics classrooms from convention on individualized open and inquiry-based education Teacher-student interactions were assessed with the 48-item Questionnaires on Teacher Interaction (QTI). Both these questionnaires have an Actual Form (assesses the class as it actually is) and a Preferred Form (asks the students what they would prefer their class to be like - the ideal situation). Students’ creating attitude skills’ sustainable development toward physics were assessed with the Test Of Physics-Related Attitude (TOPRA) modified from the original Test Of Science-Related Attitude (TOSRA) The questionnaires were administered in three phases with the Custer Random Sampling technique to a sample consisted of 989 students in 28 physics classes from 10 schools at the grade 10, 11, and 12 levels in the Secondary Educational Service Area 26 (Maha Sarakham Province) and Area 27 (Roi-Et). Statistically significant differences were found between the students' perceptions of actual-1, actual-2 and preferred environments of their physics laboratory and distinguish individualized classrooms, and teacher interpersonal behaviors with their improving and creating attitudes skills’ sustainable development to their physics classes also were found. Predictions of the monitoring and evaluation of master science trainee educational students of their practicum in teaching physics; students’ skills developments of their physics achievements’ sustainable for the set of actual and preferred environments as a whole and physics related attitudes also were correlated. The R2 values indicate that 58%, 67%, and 84% of the variances in students’ attitudes to their actuale-1, actual-2 and preferred for the PLEI; 42%,science trainee educational students of their practicum in teaching physics; students’ skill developments of their physics achievements’ sustainable for the set of actual and preferred environments as a whole and physics related attitudes also were correlated. The R2 values indicate that 58%, 67%, and 84% of the variances in students’ attitudes to their actuale-1, actual-2 and preferred for the PLEI; 42%, 63%, and 72% for the ICEQ, and 38%, 59%, and 68% for the QTI in physics environment classes were attributable to their perceptions of their actual and preferred physics environments and their developing creative science skills’ sustainable toward physics, consequently. Based on all the findings, suggestions for improving the physics laboratory and individualized classes and teacher interpersonal behaviors with students' perceptions are provided of their improving and creating attitude skills’ sustainable development by the master science trainee educational students ’ instructional administrations.

Keywords: promotion, instructional model, qualitative method, reflective thinking, trainee teacher student

Procedia PDF Downloads 268

Authors: Sachin Singh, Thomas Penzel, Dinesh Nandan

Abstract:

Accurate identification of Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrom Diagnosis is difficult problem for human expert because of variability among persons and unwanted noise. This paper proposes the diagonosis of Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS) using airflow, ECG, Pulse and SaO2 signals. The features of each type of these signals are extracted using statistical methods and ANN learning methods. These extracted features are used to approximate the patient's Apnea Hypopnea Index(AHI) using sample signals in model. Advance signal processing is also applied to snore sound signal to locate snore event and SaO2 signal is used to support whether determined snore event is true or noise. Finally, Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) event is calculated as per true snore event detected. Experiment results shows that the sensitivity can reach up to 96% and specificity to 96% as AHI greater than equal to 5.

Keywords: neural network, AHI, statistical methods, autoregressive models

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Evonne Kaplan-Liss, Val Lantz-Gefroh

Abstract:

Arts and humanities are often incorporated into medical education to help deepen understanding of the human condition and the ability to communicate from a place of compassion. However, a gap remains in our knowledge of compassionate communication training for postgraduate medical professionals (as opposed to students and residents); how training opportunities include and impact the artists themselves, and how train-the-trainer models can support learners to become teachers. In this report, the authors present results from a pilot evaluation of the UC San Diego Health: Sanford Compassionate Communication Fellowship, a 60-hour experiential program that uses theater, narrative reflection, poetry, literature, and journalism techniques to train a multidisciplinary cohort of medical professionals and artists in compassionate communication. In the culminating project, fellows design and implement their own projects as teachers of compassionate communication in their respective workplaces. Qualitative methods, including field notes and 30-minute Zoom interviews with each fellow, were used to evaluate the impact of the fellowship. The cohort included both artists (n=2) and physicians representing a range of specialties (n=7), such as occupational medicine, palliative care, and pediatrics. The authors coded the data using thematic analysis for evidence of how the multidisciplinary nature of the fellowship impacted the fellows’ experiences. The findings show that the multidisciplinary cohort contributed to a greater appreciation of compassionate communication in general. Fellows expressed that the ability to witness how those in different fields approached compassionate communication enhanced their learning and helped them see how compassion can be expressed in various contexts, which was both “exhilarating” and “humbling.” One physician expressed that the fellowship has been “really helpful to broaden my perspective on the value of good communication.” Fellows shared how what they learned in the fellowship translated to increased compassionate communication, not only in their professional roles but in their personal lives as well. A second finding was the development of a supportive community. Because each fellow brought their own experiences and expertise, there was a sense of genuine ability to contribute as well as a desire to learn from others. A “brave space” was created by the fellowship facilitators and the inclusion of arts-based activities: a space that invited vulnerability and welcomed fellows to make their own meaning without prescribing any one answer or right way to approach compassionate communication. This brave space contributed to a strong connection among the fellows and reports of increased well-being, as well as multiple collaborations post-fellowship to carry forward compassionate communication training at their places of work. Results show initial evidence of the value of a multidisciplinary fellowship for promoting compassionate communication for both artists and physicians. The next steps include maintaining the supportive fellowship community and collaborations with a post-fellowship affiliate faculty program; scaling up the fellowship with non-physicians (e.g., nurses and physician assistants); and collecting data from family members, colleagues, and patients to understand how the fellowship may be creating a ripple effect outside of the fellowship through fellows’ compassionate communication.

Keywords: compassionate communication, communication in healthcare, multidisciplinary learning, arts in medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Achim Kampker, Peter Burggräf, Moritz Krunke, Hanno Voet

Abstract:

As a reaction to current challenges in factory planning, many companies think about introducing factory standards to lower planning times and decrease planning costs. If these factory standards are set-up with a high level of modularity, they are defined as modular factory systems. This paper deals with the main current problems in the application of modular factory systems in practice and presents a solution approach with its basic models. The methodology is based on methods from factory planning but also uses the tools of other disciplines like product development or technology management to deal with the high complexity, which the development of modular factory systems implies. The four basic models that such a methodology has to contain are introduced and pointed out.

Keywords: factory planning, modular factory systems, factory standards, cost-benefit analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 595

Authors: Amir Ngah, Masita Abdul Jalil, Zailani Abdullah

Abstract:

The aim of software maintenance is to maintain the software system in accordance with advancement in software and hardware technology. One of the early works on software maintenance is to extract information at higher level of abstraction. In this paper, we present the process of how to design an information extraction tool for software maintenance. The tool can extract the basic information from old program such as about variables, based classes, derived classes, objects of classes, and functions. The tool have two main part; the lexical analyzer module that can read the input file character by character, and the searching module which is user can get the basic information from existing program. We implemented this tool for a patterned sub-C++ language as an input file.

Keywords: extraction tool, software maintenance, reverse engineering, C++

Procedia PDF Downloads 492

Authors: Reemiah Alotaibi, Muthu Ramachandran, Ah-Lian Kor, Amin Hosseinian-Far

Abstract:

In the past decade, developers of Web 2.0 technologies have shown increasing interest in the topic of e-government. There has been a rapid growth in social media technology because of its significant role in backing up some essential social needs. Its importance and power is derived from its capacity to support two-way communication. Governments are curious to get engaged in these websites, hoping to benefit from the new forms of communication and interaction offered by such technology. Greater participation by the public can be viewed as a chief indicator of effective government communication. Yet, the level of public participation in government 2.0 is not quite satisfactory. In general, it is still at the early stage in most developing countries, including Saudi Arabia. Although it is a fact that Saudi people are among the most active in using social media, the number of people who use social media to communicate with the public institutions is not high. Furthermore, most of the governmental organisations are not using social media tools to communicate with the public. They use these platforms to disseminate information. Our study focuses on the factors affecting citizens’ adoption of social media in Saudi Arabia. Our research question is: what are the factors affecting Saudi citizens’ use of social media to communicate with the government? To answer this research question, the research aims to validate the UTAUT model for examining social media tools from the citizen perspective. An amendment will be proposed to fit the adoption of social media platforms as a communication channel in government by using a developed conceptual model which integrates constructs from the UTAUT model and others external variables based on the literature review. The set of potential factors that affect these citizens' decisions to adopt social media to communicate with their government has been identified as perceived encouragement, trust and cultural influence. The connection between the above-mentioned constructs from the basis for the research hypothesis will be examined in the light of a quantitative methodology. Data collection will be performed through a survey targeting a number of Saudi citizens who are social media users. The data collected from the primary survey will later be analysed by using statistical methods. The outcomes of this research project are argued to have potential contributions to the fields of social media and e-Government adoption, both on the theoretical and practical levels. It is believed that this research project is the first of its type that attempts to identify the factors that affect citizens’ adoption of social media to communicate with the government. The importance of identifying these factors stems from the potential use of them to enhance the government’s implementation of social media and help in making more accurate decisions and strategies based on comprehending the most important factors that affect citizens’ decisions.

Keywords: social media, adoption, citizen, UTAUT model

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Shuge Lei, Haonan Hu, Dasheng Sun, Huabin Zhang, Kehong Yuan, Jian Dai, Yan Tong

Abstract:

It remains challenging to measure reliability from classification results from different machine learning models. This paper proposes a reliable soup optimization algorithm based on the model weight fusion algorithm Model Soup, aiming to improve reliability by using dual-channel reliability as the objective function to fuse a series of weights in the breast ultrasound classification models. Experimental results on breast ultrasound clinical datasets demonstrate that reliable soup significantly enhances the reliability of breast ultrasound image classification tasks. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was verified via multicenter trials. The results from five centers indicate that the reliability optimization algorithm can enhance the reliability of the breast ultrasound image classification model and exhibit low multicenter correlation.

Keywords: breast ultrasound image classification, feature attribution, reliability assessment, reliability optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: Zi-Gui Huang, Shen-Hsien Hu

Abstract:

This study proposes a fabrication of phononic-crystal acoustic wave device. A graphene-like atomic structure was adopted as the main research subject, and a graphene-like structure was designed using piezoelectric material zinc oxide and its periodic boundary conditions were defined using the finite element method. The effects of a hexagonal honeycomb structure were investigated regarding the band gap phenomenon. The use of micro-electromechanical systems process technology to make the film etched micron graphics, designed to produce four kinds of different piezoelectric structure (plat, periodic, single defect and double defects). Frequency response signals and phase change were also measured in this paper.

Keywords: MEMS, phononic crystal, piezoelectric material, Zinc oxide

Procedia PDF Downloads 538

Authors: Prince Dacosta Aboagye, Ayyoob Sharifi

Abstract:

Cities respond to climate concerns mainly through their climate action plans (CAPs). A comprehensive content analysis of the dynamics in existing urban CAPs is not well represented in the literature. This literature void presents a difficulty in appreciating the strengths and weaknesses of urban CAPs. Here, we perform a qualitative content analysis (QCA) on CAPs from 278 cities worldwide and use text-mining tools to map and visualize the relevant data. Our analysis showed a decline in the number of CAPs developed and published following the global COVID-19 lockdown period. Evidently, megacities are leading the deep decarbonisation agenda. We also observed a transition from developing mainly mitigation-focused CAPs pre-COP21 to both mitigation and adaptation CAPs. A lack of inclusiveness in local climate planning was common among European and North American cities. The evidence is a catalyst for understanding the trends in existing urban CAPs to shape future urban climate planning.

Keywords: urban, climate action plans, strengths, weaknesses

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Li Ni, Pen ManMan, Li KenLi

Abstract:

Clustering is an intensive research for some years because of its multifaceted applications, such as biology, information retrieval, medicine, business and so on. The expectation maximization (EM) is a kind of algorithm framework in clustering methods, one of the ten algorithms of machine learning. Traditionally, optimization of objective function has been the standard approach in EM. Hence, research has investigated the utility of evolutionary computing and related techniques in the regard. Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) is a recently established method. So the property embedded in CRO is used to solve optimization problems. This paper presents an algorithm framework (EM-CRO) with modified CRO operators based on EM cluster problems. The hybrid algorithm is mainly to solve the problem of initial value sensitivity of the objective function optimization clustering algorithm. Our experiments mainly take the EM classic algorithm:k-means and fuzzy k-means as an example, through the CRO algorithm to optimize its initial value, get K-means-CRO and FKM-CRO algorithm. The experimental results of them show that there is improved efficiency for solving objective function optimization clustering problems.

Keywords: chemical reaction optimization, expection maimization, initia, objective function clustering

Procedia PDF Downloads 715

Authors: Hsin-Yi Lien

Abstract:

The study explored the role of metacognition in foreign language anxiety on a sample of 411 Taiwanese students of English as a Foreign Language. The reading strategy inventory was employed to evaluate the tertiary learners’ level of metacognitive awareness and a semi-structured background questionnaire was also used to examine the learners’ perceptions of their English proficiency and satisfaction of their current English learning. In addition, gender and academic level differences in employment of reading strategies were investigated. The results showed the frequency of reading strategy use increase slightly along with academic years and males and females actually employ different reading strategies. The EFL tertiary learners in the present study utilized cognitive strategies more frequently than metacognitive strategies or support strategies. Male students use metacognitive strategy more often while female students use cognitive and support strategy more frequently.

Keywords: cognitive strategy, gender differences, metacognitive strategy, support strategy

Procedia PDF Downloads 415

Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah, Jianing Mi, Cheng Feng

Abstract:

The patronage of e-government services (demand side of e-government) is vital to the successful implementation of e-government initiatives. The purpose of this study is to explore the predictors determining the willingness of African students in China to adopt and use e-government services. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) will be used as the theoretical foundation for this research. Research instrument will be developed and administered to 500 African students in China. Factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and culture will be investigated to determine its significant impact on the willingness to use e-government services. This study is a research in progress. The outcome of this study will provide valuable recommendations to improve the provision of public services through e-government.

Keywords: e-government, e-government services, predictors, UTAUT

Procedia PDF Downloads 600

Authors: Soha A. Bahanshal, Byung G. Kim

Abstract:

Identification of patients at high risk for hospital readmission is of crucial importance for quality health care and cost reduction. Predicting hospital readmissions among diabetic patients has been of great interest to many researchers and health decision makers. We build a prediction model to predict hospital readmission for diabetic patients within 30 days of discharge. The core of the prediction model is a modified k Nearest Neighbor called Hybrid Fuzzy Weighted k Nearest Neighbor algorithm. The prediction is performed on a patient dataset which consists of more than 70,000 patients with 50 attributes. We applied data preprocessing using different techniques in order to handle data imbalance and to fuzzify the data to suit the prediction algorithm. The model so far achieved classification accuracy of 80% compared to other models that only use k Nearest Neighbor.

Keywords: machine learning, prediction, classification, hybrid fuzzy weighted k-nearest neighbor, diabetic hospital readmission

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Michael J. Haslip

Abstract:

Character strength application improves performance and well-being in adults across industries, but the potential impact of character strength training among early childhood educators is mostly unknown. To explore how character strengths are applied by early childhood educators at work, a qualitative study was completed alongside professional development provided to a group of in-service teachers of children ages 0-5 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Study participants (n=17) were all female. The majority of participants were non-white, in full-time lead or assistant teacher roles, had at least ten years of experience and a bachelor’s degree. Teachers were attending professional development weekly for 2 hours over a 10-week period on the topic of social and emotional learning and child guidance. Related to this training were modules and sessions on identifying a teacher’s character strength profile using the Values in Action classification of 24 strengths (e.g., humility, perseverance) that have a scientific basis. Teachers were then asked to apply their character strengths to help resolve current workplace challenges. This study identifies which character strengths the teachers reported using most frequently and the nature of the workplace challenges being resolved in this context. The study also reports how difficult these challenges were to the teachers and their success rate at resolving workplace challenges using a character strength application plan. The study also documents how teachers’ own use of character strengths relates to their modeling of these same traits (e.g., kindness, teamwork) for children, especially when the nature of the workplace challenge directly involves the children, such as when addressing issues of classroom management and behavior. Data were collected on action plans (reflective templates) which teachers wrote to explain the work challenge they were facing, the character strengths they used to address the challenge, their plan for applying strengths to the challenge, and subsequent results. Content analysis and thematic analysis were used to investigate the research questions using approaches that included classifying, connecting, describing, and interpreting data reported by educators. Findings reveal that teachers most frequently use kindness, leadership, fairness, hope, and love to address a range of workplace challenges, ranging from low to high difficulty, involving children, coworkers, parents, and for self-management. Teachers reported a 71% success rate at fully or mostly resolving workplace challenges using the action plan method introduced during professional development. Teachers matched character strengths to challenges in different ways, with certain strengths being used mostly when the challenge involved children (love, forgiveness), others mostly with adults (bravery, teamwork), and others universally (leadership, kindness). Furthermore, teacher’s application of character strengths at work involved directly modeling character for children in 31% of reported cases. The application of character strengths among early childhood educators may play a significant role in improving teacher well-being, reducing job stress, and improving efforts to model character for young children.

Keywords: character strengths, positive psychology, professional development, social-emotional learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 105

Authors: Adam Majczak, Grzegorz Barański, Marcin Szlachetka

Abstract:

Environmental considerations necessitate the search for new energy sources. One of the available solutions is a partial replacement of diesel fuel by compressed natural gas (CNG) in the compression ignition engines. This type of the engines is used mainly in vans and trucks. These units are also gaining more and more popularity in the passenger car market. In Europe, this part of the market share reaches 50%. Diesel engines are also used in industry in such vehicles as ship or locomotives. Diesel engines have higher emissions of nitrogen oxides in comparison to spark ignition engines. This can be currently limited by optimizing the combustion process and the use of additional systems such as exhaust gas recirculation or AdBlue technology. As a result of the combustion process of diesel fuel also particulate matter (PM) that are harmful to the human health are emitted. Their emission is limited by the use of a particulate filter. One of the method for toxic components emission reduction may be the use of liquid gas fuel such as propane and butane (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG). In addition to the environmental aspects, there are also economic reasons for the use of gaseous fuels to power diesel engines. A total or partial replacement of diesel gas is possible. Depending on the used technology and the percentage of diesel fuel replacement, it is possible to reduce the content of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas even by 30%, particulate matter (PM) by 95 % carbon monoxide and by 20%, in relation to original diesel fuel. The research object is prototype gas injector designed for direct injection of compressed natural gas (CNG) in compression ignition engines. The construction of the injector allows for it positioning in the glow plug socket, so that the gas is injected directly into the combustion chamber. The cycle analysis of the four-cylinder Andoria ADCR engine with a capacity of 2.6 dm3 for different crankshaft rotational speeds allowed to determine the necessary time for fuel injection. Because of that, it was possible to determine the required mass flow rate of the injector, for replacing as much of the original fuel by gaseous fuel. To ensure a high value of flow inside the injector, supply pressure equal to 1 MPa was applied. High gas supply pressure requires high value of valve opening forces. For this purpose, an injector with hydraulic control system, using a liquid under pressure for the opening process was designed. On the basis of air pressure measurements in the flow line after the injector, the analysis of opening and closing of the valve was made. Measurements of outflow mass of the injector were also carried out. The results showed that the designed injector meets the requirements necessary to supply ADCR engine by the CNG fuel.

Keywords: CNG, diesel engine, gas flow, gas injector

Procedia PDF Downloads 493

Authors: Aynur Charkasova

Abstract:

The scientific and economic contributions of international students cannot be underestimated. International education continues to be a competitive global industry, and many countries are seeking to recruit the best and the brightest to reinforce scientific innovations, boost intercultural learning, and bring more funding to the universities and colleges. Substantial changes in international educational policies and migration regulations have been made in the hopes of recruiting global talent. This paper explores and compares recruitment strategies, employment opportunities, and a legal path to permanent residency policies related to international students in the United States of America and Canada. This study will utilize the legal information available by the government websites of both countries, peer-reviewed scholarly articles and will highlight which approach promises a better path in recruiting and retention of international students. The findings from the study will be discussed and recommendations will be provided.

Keywords: international students, current immigration policies, STEM, visa reforms for international students

Procedia PDF Downloads 62

Authors: Haeng A. Seo, Changseok Oh, Seung Jun Yoo

Abstract:

This study attempts to examine the disparities in S&T innovation capacity from 14 developing countries to discuss how to support specific features in national innovation systems. It includes East-Asian, Middle-Asian, Central American and African countries. Here, we particularly focus on five dimensions- resources, activities, network, environment and performance- with 37 indicators. They were derived as structuring components of the relevant diagnostic model, which encompasses the whole process of S&T innovation from the input of resources to the output of economically valuable results. For many developing nations, economic industries remain weaker than actual S&T capabilities, and relevant regulatory authorities may not exist. This paper will be helpful to provide basic evidence and to set directions for better national S&T Innovation capacities and toward national competitiveness.

Keywords: developing countries, measurement, NIS, S&T innovation capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Abdul Rofiq Badril Rizal M. Z.

Abstract:

Reading becomes one of the most important skills in teaching and learning English. The purpose of this research was to improve the students' active participation, and reading comprehension achievement by using Know, Want to Know, Learned (KWL) strategy. The research design was Classroom Action Research. The area and participants of this research were chosen by using purposive method. The data were collected by observation, a reading comprehension test, interview, and documentation. The results showed that there was significant improvement in Cycle 1 to Cycle 2 of the research. In cycle 1, the students’ active participation increased 49.77% from 28% to 77.77. In addition, in cycle 2, the students’ active participation also increased by 14.17% from 77.77% to 81.94%. The students’ reading comprehension achievement also increased by 52.14% from 25% to 77.14% in Cycle 1 and increased by 5.71% from 77.14% to 82.85% in cycle 2. It indicated that using Know, Want to Know, Learned (KWL) strategy could enhance the Seventh C grade students’ descriptive text reading comprehension achievement, and active participation.

Keywords: active participation, reading comprehension, classroom action research, Indonesian folktales

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Berlian Eka Kurnia, Mohamad Very Setiawan, Rahmat Fadhli

Abstract:

Archives play an important role in organization’s continuity, especially related to the learning activities in the past. Archive management is considered accessible when the archive can be used when needed. University archive can support research activities for institutions, besides, archive management services also have to pay attention to the accessibility that became a barometer of how easy users get the data or information from an archive, use and understand it. This study identifies about the accessibility of archive services at the Universitas Gadjah Mada, with case study method. Universitas Gadjah Mada archives not only provide a service to the academicians, but also for public. Universitas Gadjah Mada archive can be traced online and offline. Online searching archives can be acceessed through an application “SIKS” and offline searching can be accessed by "finding aids" printed. Although Universitas Gadjah Mada Archives has its own procedures to access the archive directly, but they also remain guided by National Archive of Indonesia.

Keywords: archival institution, university archive, archive’s accessibility, archive management

Procedia PDF Downloads 321

Authors: Fakieh Alrabai

Abstract:

This study investigated the effects on learner anxiety of anxiety-reducing strategies utilized by English as foreign language teachers in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, sources of foreign language anxiety for Saudi learners of English (N = 596) were identified using The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). In the second stage, 465 learners who were divided almost equally into two groups (experimental vs. control) and 12 teachers were recruited. Anxiety-reducing strategies were implemented exclusively in the treatment group for approximately eight weeks. FLCAS was used to assess learners’ FL anxiety levels before and after treatment. Statistical analyses (e.g. ANOVA and ANCOVA) were used to evaluate the study findings. These findings revealed that the intervention led to significantly decreased levels of FL anxiety for learners in the experimental group compared with increased levels of anxiety for those in the control group.

Keywords: communication apprehension, EFL teaching/learning, fear of negative evaluation, foreign language anxiety

Procedia PDF Downloads 356