Search results for: positive realness property

Authors: Gen Sakoda, Hideki Takayasu, Misako Takayasu

Abstract:

Waste reduction is a fundamental problem for sustainability. Methods for waste reduction with point-of-sales (POS) data are proposed, utilizing the knowledge of a recent econophysics study on a statistical property of POS data. Concretely, the non-stationary time series analysis method based on the Particle Filter is developed, which considers abnormal fluctuation scaling known as Taylor's law. This method is extended for handling incomplete sales data because of stock-outs by introducing maximum likelihood estimation for censored data. The way for optimal stock determination with pricing the cost of waste reduction is also proposed. This study focuses on the examination of the methods for large sales numbers where Taylor's law is obvious. Numerical analysis using aggregated POS data shows the effectiveness of the methods to reduce food waste maintaining a high profit for large sales numbers. Moreover, the way of pricing the cost of waste reduction reveals that a small profit loss realizes substantial waste reduction, especially in the case that the proportionality constant  of Taylor’s law is small. Specifically, around 1% profit loss realizes half disposal at =0.12, which is the actual  value of processed food items used in this research. The methods provide practical and effective solutions for waste reduction keeping a high profit, especially with large sales numbers.

Keywords: Food waste reduction, particle filter, point of sales, sustainable development goals, Taylor's Law, time series analysis.

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Authors: Faraidoon Rahmanzai, Mizuki Takigawa, Yu Bomura, Shigeyuki Date

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To obtain the high quality and essential workability of mortar, different types of superplasticizers are used. The superplasticizers are the chemical admixture used in the mix to improve the fluidity of mortar. Many factors influenced the superplasticizer to disperse the cement particle in the mortar. Nature and amount of replaced cement by slag, mixing procedure, delayed addition time, and heat stimulation technique of superplasticizer cause the varied effect on the fluidity of the cementitious material. In this experiment, the superplasticizers were heated for 1 hour under 60 °C in a thermostatic chamber. Furthermore, the effect of delayed addition time of heat stimulated superplasticizers (SP) was also analyzed. This method was applied to two types of polycarboxylic acid based ether SP (precast type superplasticizer (SP2) and ready-mix type superplasticizer (SP1)) in combination with a partial replacement of normal Portland cement with blast furnace slag (BFS) with 30% w/c ratio. On the other hands, the fluidity, air content, fresh density, and compressive strength for 7 and 28 days were studied. The results indicate that the addition time and heat stimulation technique improved the flow and air content, decreased the density, and slightly decreased the compressive strength of mortar. Moreover, the slag improved the flow of mortar by increasing the amount of slag, and the effect of external temperature of SP on the flow of mortar was decreased. In comparison, the flow of mortar was improved on 5-minute delay for both kinds of SP, but SP1 has improved the flow in all conditions. Most importantly, the transition points in both types of SP appear to be the same, at about 5±1 min.  In addition, the optimum addition time of SP to mortar should be in this period.

Keywords: Combined effect, delayed addition, heat stimulation, flow of mortar.

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Authors: Masimuddin Mohd Khaled

Abstract:

This paper subsidizes to the discussion of Six Sigma in the Aerospace Industry. The main aim of this report is to study the literature review of Six Sigma emphasizing on the aerospace industry. The implementation of Six Sigma stages are studied and how the improvement cycle ‘Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control cycle’ (DMAIC) and the design process is ‘Define, Measure, Analyze, Design and Verify cycle’ (DMADV) is used. The focus is also done by studying how the implementation of Six Sigma on an aerospace company has brought a positive effect to the company.

Keywords: Six Sigma, DMAIC, DMADV, aerospace.

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Authors: Mukul Shukla, Rasheedat M. Mahamood, Esther T. Akinlabi, Sisa. Pityana

Abstract:

Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing process with capabilities that include: producing new part directly from 3 Dimensional Computer Aided Design (3D CAD) model, building new part on the existing old component and repairing an existing high valued component parts that would have been discarded in the past. With all these capabilities and its advantages over other additive manufacturing techniques, the underlying physics of the LMD process is yet to be fully understood probably because of high interaction between the processing parameters and studying many parameters at the same time makes it further complex to understand. In this study, the effect of laser power and powder flow rate on physical properties (deposition height and deposition width), metallurgical property (microstructure) and mechanical (microhardness) properties on laser deposited most widely used aerospace alloy are studied. Also, because the Ti6Al4V is very expensive, and LMD is capable of reducing buy-to-fly ratio of aerospace parts, the material utilization efficiency is also studied. Four sets of experiments were performed and repeated to establish repeatability using laser power of 1.8 kW and 3.0 kW, powder flow rate of 2.88 g/min and 5.67 g/min, and keeping the gas flow rate and scanning speed constant at 2 l/min and 0.005 m/s respectively. The deposition height / width are found to increase with increase in laser power and increase in powder flow rate. The material utilization is favoured by higher power while higher powder flow rate reduces material utilization. The results are presented and fully discussed.

Keywords: Laser Metal Deposition, Material Efficiency, Microstructure, Ti6Al4V.

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Authors: B. B. M. Moasheri, S. Azadinia

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Wavelets have provided the researchers with significant positive results, by entering the texture defect detection domain. The weak point of wavelets is that they are one-dimensional by nature so they are not efficient enough to describe and analyze two-dimensional functions. In this paper we present a new method to detect the defect of texture images by using curvelet transform. Simulation results of the proposed method on a set of standard texture images confirm its correctness. Comparing the obtained results indicates the ability of curvelet transform in describing discontinuity in two-dimensional functions compared to wavelet transform

Keywords: Curvelet, Defect detection, Wavelet.

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Authors: K. Eryesil, O. Esmen, A. Beduk

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In this study, it has been studied to determine the relationship between business performance and strategic flexibility, which is defined to be the strategic choice that provides the ability of rapidly responding the changes of the dynamic environment of the companies, for having competitive advantages. In this context a field study has been conducted over 56 companies, which are active in informatics and electronics sectors in TEKNOKENT. As a result of the study it has been determined that; strategic flexibility has an effect on business performance and there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between strategic flexibility and business performance.

Keywords: Sustainable Competition Advantage, Strategic Flexibility, Firm Performance, TEKNOKENT.

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Authors: Yiming Jin, Yuanhao Gao

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In this paper, using the method of multiple scales, the second sub-harmonic resonance in vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of a marine pipeline close to the seabed is investigated based on a developed wake oscillator model. The amplitude-frequency equations are also derived. It is found that the oscillation will increase all the time when both discriminants of the amplitude-frequency equations are positive while the oscillation will decay when the discriminants are negative.

Keywords: Vortex-induced vibrations, marine pipeline, seabed, sub-harmonic resonance.

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Authors: Ali Eryılmaz

Abstract:

In this research it is aimed that the effect of some demographic factors on Turkish Adolescents' subjective well being is investigated. 432 adolescents who are 247 girls and 185 boys are participated in this study. They are ages 15-17, and also are high school students. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale are used for measuring adolescents' subjective well being. The ANOVA method is used in order to examine the effect of ages. For gender differences, independent t-test method is used, and finally the Pearson Correlation method is used so as to examine the effect of socio economic statues of adolescents' parents. According to results, there is no gender difference on adolescents' subjective well being. On the other hand, SES and age are effect significantly lover level on adolescents' subjective well being.

Keywords: Subjective wellbeing, adolescents, and age, gender, SES.

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Authors: Akram Mahdaviparsa, Tamera McCuen, Vahideh Karimimansoob

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Fire service is responsible for protecting life, assets, and natural resources from fire and other hazardous incidents. Search and rescue in unfamiliar buildings is a vital part of firefighters’ responsibilities. Providing firefighters with precise building information in an easy-to-understand format is a potential solution for mitigating the negative consequences of fire hazards. The negative effect of insufficient knowledge about a building’s indoor environment impedes firefighters’ capabilities and leads to lost property. A data rich building information modeling (BIM) is a potentially useful source in three-dimensional (3D) visualization and data/information storage for fire emergency response. Therefore, this research’s purpose is prioritizing the required information for firefighters from the most important information to the least important. A survey was carried out with firefighters working in the Norman Fire Department to obtain the importance of each building information item. The results show that “the location of exit doors, windows, corridors, elevators, and stairs”, “material of building elements”, and “building data” are the three most important information specified by firefighters. The results also implied that the 2D model of architectural, structural and way finding is more understandable in comparison with the 3D model, while the 3D model of MEP system could convey more information than the 2D model. Furthermore, color in visualization can help firefighters to understand the building information easier and quicker. Sufficient internal consistency of all responses was proven through developing the Pearson Correlation Matrix and obtaining Cronbach’s alpha of 0.916. Therefore, the results of this study are reliable and could be applied to the population.

Keywords: BIM, building fire response, ranking, visualization.

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Authors: Shu-Hsien. Liao, Chi-Chuan. Wu, Da-Chian. Hu, Guang An. Tsuei

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This study investigates the roles of knowledge acquisition, absorptive capacity, and innovation capability in finance and manufacturing industries. With 362 valid questionnaires from manufactures and financial industries in Taiwan, we examine the relationships between absorptive capacity, knowledge acquisition and innovation capability using a structural equation model. The results indicate that absorptive capacity is the mediator between knowledge acquisition and innovation capability, and that knowledge acquisition has a positive effect on absorptive capacity.

Keywords: Absorptive capacity, knowledge acquisition, innovation capability.

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Authors: Abhijit Mitra, Bhargav Kumar Mitra, Biswajoy Chatterjee

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We present a novel scheme to recognize isolated speech signals using certain statistical parameters derived from those signals. The determination of the statistical estimates is based on extracted signal information rather than the original signal information in order to reduce the computational complexity. Subtle details of these estimates, after extracting the speech signal from ambience noise, are first exploited to segregate the polysyllabic words from the monosyllabic ones. Precise recognition of each distinct word is then carried out by analyzing the histogram, obtained from these information.

Keywords: Isolated speech signals, Block overlapping technique, Positive peaks, Histogram analysis.

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Authors: Sharan Badiger, Prema T. Akkasaligar, Patil LS, Manish Patel, Biradar MS

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Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a global pandemic with cases reporting from virtually every country and continues to be a common infection in developing country like India. Microalbuminuria is a manifestation of human immunodeficiency virus associated nephropathy. Therefore, microalbuminuria may be an early marker of human immunodeficiency virus associated nephropathy, and screening for its presence may be beneficial. A strikingly high prevalence of microalbuminuria among human immunodeficiency virus infected patients has been described in various studies. Risk factors for clinically significant proteinuria include African - American race, higher human immunodeficiency virus ribonucleic acid level and lower CD4 lymphocyte count. The cardiovascular risk factors of increased systolic blood pressure and increase fasting blood sugar level are strongly associated with microalbuminuria in human immunodeficiency virus patient. These results suggest that microalbuminuria may be a sign of current endothelial dysfunction and micro-vascular disease and there is substantial risk of future cardiovascular disease events. Positive contributing factors include early kidney disease such as human immunodeficiency virus associated nephropathy, a marker of end organ damage related to co morbidities of diabetes or hypertension, or more diffuse endothelial cells dysfunction. Nevertheless after adjustment for non human immunodeficiency virus factors, human immunodeficiency virus itself is a major risk factor. The presence of human immunodeficiency virus infection is independent risk to develop microalbuminuria in human immunodeficiency virus patient. Cardiovascular risk factors appeared to be stronger predictors of microalbuminuria than markers of human immunodeficiency virus severity person with human immunodeficiency virus infection and microalbuminuria therefore appear to potentially bear the burden of two separate damage related to known vascular end organ damage related to know vascular risk factors, and human immunodeficiency virus specific processes such as the direct viral infection of kidney cells.The higher prevalence of microalbuminuria among the human immunodeficiency virus infected could be harbinger of future increased risks of both kidney and cardiovascular disease. Further study defining the prognostic significance of microalbuminuria among human immunodeficiency virus infected persons will be essential. Microalbuminuria seems to be a predictor of cardiovascular disease in diabetic and non diabetic subjects, hence it can also be used for early detection of micro vascular disease in human immunodeficiency virus positive patients, thus can help to diagnose the disease at the earliest.

Keywords: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, Human immunodeficiency virus, Microalbuminuria.

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Authors: Yuji Mizuno, Hiroshi Mabuchi

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Initial values of reference vectors have significant influence on recognition accuracy in LVQ. There are several existing techniques, such as SOM and k-means, for setting initial values of reference vectors, each of which has provided some positive results. However, those results are not sufficient for the improvement of recognition accuracy. This study proposes an ACO-used method for initializing reference vectors with an aim to achieve recognition accuracy higher than those obtained through conventional methods. Moreover, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method by applying it to the wine data and English vowel data and comparing its results with those of conventional methods.

Keywords: Clustering, LVQ, ACO, SOM, k-means.

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Authors: A. G. Silva Sobrinho, G. M. Manzi, N. L. L. Lima, F. A. Almeida, V. Endo, N. M. B. L. Zeola

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tissue composition and carcass muscularity of 32 legs of Ile de France lambs fed with diets containing sunflower seeds and vitamin E, with mean body weight of 15 kg, lodged in individual pens at 15 kg and slaughtered at 32 kg of body weight. The treatments influenced (P<0,05) leg weight, femur length and muscle:bone ratio, being the highest values (2,13 kg, 16,19 cm and 7,38, respectively) in lambs that received diet without sunflower seeds and vitamin E. The other variables were not affected (P>0,05) by the treatments. The interaction of the sunflower and vitamin E was positive for bone total weights and intermuscular fat.

Keywords: sheep, conformation, feedlot, nutrition, sugar-cane

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Authors: Entela Haloci, Stefano Manfredini, Vilma Toska, Silvia Vertuani, Paola Ziosi, Irma Topi, Henri Kolani

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Antifungal activities of ether and methanolic extracts of volatiles oils of Nigella Sativa seeds were tested against pathogenic bacterias and fungies strains.The volatile oil were found to have significant antifungal and antibacterial activities compare to tetracycline, cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin positive controls.The ether and methanolic esxtracts were compared to each other for antifungal and antibacterial activities and ether extracts showed stonger activity than methanolic one.

Keywords: Antifungal, antibacterial, essential oils, extraction, Nigella Sativa.

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Authors: Juan Sepúlveda

Abstract:

Energy is a fundamental component in sustainability, the access and use of this resource is related with economic growth, social improvements, and environmental impacts. In this sense, energy efficiency has been studied as a factor that enhances the positive impacts of energy in communities; however, the implementation of efficiency requires strong policy and strategies that usually rely on individual measures focused in independent dimensions. In this paper, the problem of energy efficiency as a multi-objective problem is studied, using scientometric analysis to discover trends and patterns that allow to identify the main variables and study approximations related with a further development of models to integrate energy efficiency and MCA into policy making for small communities.

Keywords: Energy efficiency, MCA, Scientometrics, trends.

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Authors: U K Chakrabarti, Jigisha Parikh

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Hazardous Material transportation by road is coupled with inherent risk of accidents causing loss of lives, grievous injuries, property losses and environmental damages. The most common type of hazmat road accident happens to be the releases (78%) of hazardous substances, followed by fires (28%), explosions (14%) and vapour/ gas clouds (6 %.). The paper is discussing initially the probable 'Impact Zones' likely to be caused by one flammable (LPG) and one toxic (ethylene oxide) chemicals being transported through a sizable segment of a State Highway connecting three notified Industrial zones in Surat district in Western India housing 26 MAH industrial units. Three 'hotspots' were identified along the highway segment depending on the particular chemical traffic and the population distribution within 500 meters on either sides. The thermal radiation and explosion overpressure have been calculated for LPG / Ethylene Oxide BLEVE scenarios along with toxic release scenario for ethylene oxide. Besides, the dispersion calculations for ethylene oxide toxic release have been made for each 'hotspot' location and the impact zones have been mapped for the LOC concentrations. Subsequently, the maximum Initial Isolation and the protective zones were calculated based on ERPG-3 and ERPG-2 values of ethylene oxide respectively which are estimated taking the worst case scenario under worst weather conditions. The data analysis will be helpful to the local administration in capacity building with respect to rescue / evacuation and medical preparedness and quantitative inputs to augment the District Offsite Emergency Plan document.

Keywords: Hotspot, Ethylene Oxide, LPG, MAH (MajorAccident Hazard).

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Authors: B. Nassar, W. Hussein, M. Mokhtar

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The critical concern of satellite operations is to ensure the health and safety of satellites. The worst case in this perspective is probably the loss of a mission, but the more common interruption of satellite functionality can result in compromised mission objectives. All the data acquiring from the spacecraft are known as Telemetry (TM), which contains the wealth information related to the health of all its subsystems. Each single item of information is contained in a telemetry parameter, which represents a time-variant property (i.e. a status or a measurement) to be checked. As a consequence, there is a continuous improvement of TM monitoring systems to reduce the time required to respond to changes in a satellite's state of health. A fast conception of the current state of the satellite is thus very important to respond to occurring failures. Statistical multivariate latent techniques are one of the vital learning tools that are used to tackle the problem above coherently. Information extraction from such rich data sources using advanced statistical methodologies is a challenging task due to the massive volume of data. To solve this problem, in this paper, we present a proposed unsupervised learning algorithm based on Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The algorithm is particularly applied on an actual remote sensing spacecraft. Data from the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) was acquired under two operation conditions: normal and faulty states. The models were built and tested under these conditions, and the results show that the algorithm could successfully differentiate between these operations conditions. Furthermore, the algorithm provides competent information in prediction as well as adding more insight and physical interpretation to the ADCS operation.

Keywords: Space telemetry monitoring, multivariate analysis, PCA algorithm, space operations.

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Authors: Y. Harold Robinson, M. Rajaram

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Wireless mesh networking is rapidly gaining in popularity with a variety of users: from municipalities to enterprises, from telecom service providers to public safety and military organizations. This increasing popularity is based on two basic facts: ease of deployment and increase in network capacity expressed in bandwidth per footage; WMNs do not rely on any fixed infrastructure. Many efforts have been used to maximizing throughput of the network in a multi-channel multi-radio wireless mesh network. Current approaches are purely based on either static or dynamic channel allocation approaches. In this paper, we use a hybrid multichannel multi radio wireless mesh networking architecture, where static and dynamic interfaces are built in the nodes. Dynamic Adaptive Channel Allocation protocol (DACA), it considers optimization for both throughput and delay in the channel allocation. The assignment of the channel has been allocated to be codependent with the routing problem in the wireless mesh network and that should be based on passage flow on every link. Temporal and spatial relationship rises to re compute the channel assignment every time when the pattern changes in mesh network, channel assignment algorithms assign channels in network. In this paper a computing path which captures the available path bandwidth is the proposed information and the proficient routing protocol based on the new path which provides both static and dynamic links. The consistency property guarantees that each node makes an appropriate packet forwarding decision and balancing the control usage of the network, so that a data packet will traverse through the right path.

Keywords: Wireless mesh network, spatial time division multiple access, hybrid topology, timeslot allocation.

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Authors: Amalia Triantafillidou, Georgios Lappas, Prodromos Yannas, Alexandros Kleftodimos

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In this paper, an experiment was conducted to assess the impact of online deliberation on citizens’ attitudes. Specifically, this research compared pre and post deliberation opinions of participants who deliberated online via an asynchronous platform regarding the issue of political opinion polls. Results indicate that online deliberation had a positive effect on citizens’ attitudes since it was found that following deliberation participants changed their views regarding public opinion polls. Specifically, online deliberation improved discussants perceptions regarding the reliability of polls, while suppressing their negative views about the misuse of polls by media, polling organizations and politicians.

Keywords: Online deliberation, attitudes change, opinion polls, e-democracy.

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Authors: Elragig Aiman, Dreiwi Hanan, Townley Stuart, Elmabrook Idriss

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In this paper, we reconsider the analysis of the Oregonator model. We highlight an error in this analysis which leads to an incorrect depiction of the parameter region in which diffusion driven instability is possible. We believe that the cause of the oversight is the complexity of stability analyses based on eigenvalues and the dependence on parameters of matrix minors appearing in stability calculations. We regenerate the parameter space where Turing patterns can be seen, and we use the common Lyapunov function (CLF) approach, which is numerically reliable, to further confirm the dependence of the results on diffusion coefficients intensities.

Keywords: Diffusion driven instability, common Lyapunov function (CLF), turing pattern, positive-definite matrix.

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Authors: Tahereh Naji, Mahsa Jassemi

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In this investigation, the antibacterial effects of ethanolic and 7:3 isopropyl –hexane mixture extracts of Zingiber officinale were evaluated against three Gram positive bacteria, B. cereus, S.epidermidis, S. aureus and three Gram negative bacteria, E. coli, K.pneumonia and P.areuginosa. Utilizing paper disk diffusion and well methods in-vitro, MIC and MBC were determined by macrodilution. The results showed that ethanolic rhizome extract of ginger had significantly active than Isopropyl –hexan extract. Further work needs to be done in these extracts including fractionation to isolate active constituents and subsequent pharmacological evaluation.

Keywords: Antibacterial, Medicinal plant extract, Zingiberofficinale.

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Authors: Glenn M. Calaguas

Abstract:

To investigate the possible correlation between peer aggression and peer victimization, 148 sixth-graders were asked to respond to the Reduced Aggression and Victimization Scales (RAVS). RAVS measures the frequency of reporting aggressive behaviors or of being victimized during the previous week prior to the survey. The scales are composed of six items each. Each point represents one instance of aggression or victimization. Specifically, the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PMCC) was used to determine the correlations between the scores of the sixthgraders in the two scales, both in individual items and total scores. Positive correlations were established and correlations were significant at the 0.01 levels.

Keywords: correlation, peer aggression, peer victimization, sixth-graders.

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Authors: Ahmet Ay, Hakan Acet, Ceyhun Can Özcan

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Economic freedoms, most emphasized issue in the recent years, are considered to affect economic growth and performance via institutional structure. In this context, a model that includes Turkey and Middle East Countries, and where the effects of economic freedom on growth are examined, was formed. For the groups of countries determined, in the study carried out by using the dataset belonging the period of 2004 - 2009, between economic freedoms and growth, a negative relationship was observed as group. In the sense of individual effects, it was identified that there was a positive relationship in terms of some Middle East Countries and Turkey.

Keywords: Economic Freedoms, Economic Growth, Freedoms.

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Authors: Comingstarful Marthong, Deba Kumar Sarma

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Concrete is strong in compression however weak in tension. The tensile strength as well as ductile property of concrete could be improved by addition of short dispersed fibers. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber obtained from hand cutting or mechanical slitting of plastic sheets generally used as discrete reinforcement in substitution of steel fiber. PET fiber obtained from the former process is in the form of straight slit sheet pattern that impart weaker mechanical bonding behavior in the concrete matrix. To improve the limitation of straight slit sheet fiber the present study considered two additional geometry of fiber namely (a) flattened end slit sheet and (b) deformed slit sheet. The mix for plain concrete was design for a compressive strength of 25 MPa at 28 days curing time with a watercement ratio of 0.5. Cylindrical and beam specimens with 0.5% fibers volume fraction and without fibers were cast to investigate the influence of geometry on the mechanical properties of concrete. The performance parameters mainly studied include flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). Test results show that geometry of fiber has a marginal effect on the workability of concrete. However, it plays a significant role in achieving a good compressive and tensile strength of concrete. Further, significant improvement in term of flexural and energy dissipation capacity were observed from other fibers as compared to the straight slit sheet pattern. Also, the inclusion of PET fiber improved the ability in absorbing energy in the post-cracking state of the specimen as well as no significant porous structures.

Keywords: Concrete matrix, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers, mechanical bonding, mechanical properties, UPV.

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Authors: Jafreezal Jaafar, Hasiah Mohamed, Hazida Razali

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This paper focuses on the 3D reconstruction of the architectural design of Darul Ridzuan Museum. It has concentrated on designing exterior part of the building according to colored digital photo of the real museum. Besides viewing the architecture, walkthroughs are generated for the user to control it in an easier way. User can travel through the museum to get the feel of the environment and to explore the design of the museum as a whole; both exterior and interior. The result has shown positive result in terms of realism, navigation, collision detection, suitability, usability and user-s acceptance. In brief, the 3D virtual museum has provided an alternative to present a real museum.

Keywords: Virtual Heritage, 3D Modelling, Virtual Museum, Usability Evaluation

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Authors: Hoa Pham

Abstract:

The literature on language teaching and second language acquisition has been largely driven by monolingual ideology with a common assumption that a second language (L2) is best taught and learned in the L2 only. The current study challenges this assumption by reporting learners' positive perceptions of tertiary level teachers' code switching practices in Vietnam. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of code switching practices in language classrooms from a learners' perspective. Data were collected from student participants who were working towards a Bachelor degree in English within the English for Business Communication stream through the use of focus group interviews. The literature has documented that this method of interviewing has a number of distinct advantages over individual student interviews. For instance, group interactions generated by focus groups create a more natural environment than that of an individual interview because they include a range of communicative processes in which each individual may influence or be influenced by others - as they are in their real life. The process of interaction provides the opportunity to obtain the meanings and answers to a problem that are "socially constructed rather than individually created" leading to the capture of real-life data. The distinct feature of group interaction offered by this technique makes it a powerful means of obtaining deeper and richer data than those from individual interviews. The data generated through this study were analysed using a constant comparative approach. Overall, the students expressed positive views of this practice indicating that it is a useful teaching strategy. Teacher code switching was seen as a learning resource and a source supporting language output. This practice was perceived to promote student comprehension and to aid the learning of content and target language knowledge. This practice was also believed to scaffold the students' language production in different contexts. However, the students indicated their preference for teacher code switching to be constrained, as extensive use was believed to negatively impact on their L2 learning and trigger cognitive reliance on the L1 for L2 learning. The students also perceived that when the L1 was used to a great extent, their ability to develop as autonomous learners was negatively impacted. This study found that teacher code switching was supported in certain contexts by learners, thus suggesting that there is a need for the widespread assumption about the monolingual teaching approach to be re-considered.

Keywords: Code switching, L1 use, L2 teaching, Learners’ perception.

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Authors: Kapil Dev Sharma, Kirat Pal, Costas Psychalinos

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A new first order all-pass filter topology realized using current controlled current conveyors (CCCIIs) is introduced in this paper. Offered benefits are the high-impedance of the input node, the absence of external resistors because of the usage of CCCIIs with positive and negative intrinsic resistances, the presence of only grounded capacitors, and the capability of electronic adjustment of the phase shift through a single bias current. The correct operation of the introduced topology is conformed through simulation results, while its behavior is evaluated through comparison results.

Keywords: Active filters, All-pass filters, Analog signal processing, Current conveyors.

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Authors: Chih-Feng Chuang, Shih-Ching Shiu, Chao-Jen Cheng

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among students- process of study, creative self-efficacy and creativity while attending college. A total of 60 students enrolled in Hsiuping Institute of Technology in central Taiwan were selected as samples for the study. The instruments for this study included three questionnaires to explore the aforesaid aspects. This researchers tested creative self-efficacy and process of study, and creativity with Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. The major findings of this research are (1) the process of study had direct positive predictability on creativity, and (2) the relationship between process of study and creativity is partially mediated by creative self-efficacy.

Keywords: Process of study, Creative self-efficacy, Creativity

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Authors: Jian-hua Yeh, Shi-yi Kuo

Abstract:

This paper discusses the classification process for medical data. In this paper, we use the data from ACM KDDCup 2008 to demonstrate our classification process based on latent topic discovery. In this data set, the target set and outliers are quite different in their nature: target set is only 0.6% size in total, while the outliers consist of 99.4% of the data set. We use this data set as an example to show how we dealt with this extremely biased data set with latent topic discovery and noise reduction techniques. Our experiment faces two major challenge: (1) extremely distributed outliers, and (2) positive samples are far smaller than negative ones. We try to propose a suitable process flow to deal with these issues and get a best AUC result of 0.98.

Keywords: classification, latent topics, outlier adjustment, feature scaling

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