Search results for: A. Jones

Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

Abstract:

Adult students with dyslexia in higher education can receive support for their cognitive needs but may also experience negative emotion such as anxiety due to their dyslexia in connection with their studies. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers. A quantitative approach was used to measure differences in academic and social anxiety between 102 students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia compared to 72 students with no history of learning difficulties. Academic and social anxiety was measured in a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings showed that dyslexic students showed statistically significant higher levels of academic, but not social anxiety in comparison to the non-dyslexic sample. Dyslexic students in higher education show academic anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without dyslexia. The implications of this for the dyslexia practitioner is that delivery of strategies to deal with anxiety should be seen equally as important, if not more so, than interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties.

Keywords: Academic, anxiety, dyslexia, quantitative, students, university.

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Authors: Lae-Jeong Park, Jung-Ho Moon

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People detection from images has a variety of applications such as video surveillance and driver assistance system, but is still a challenging task and more difficult in crowded environments such as shopping malls in which occlusion of lower parts of human body often occurs. Lack of the full-body information requires more effective features than common features such as HOG. In this paper, new features are introduced that exploits global self-symmetry (GSS) characteristic in head-shoulder patterns. The features encode the similarity or difference of color histograms and oriented gradient histograms between two vertically symmetric blocks. The domain-specific features are rapid to compute from the integral images in Viola-Jones cascade-of-rejecters framework. The proposed features are evaluated with our own head-shoulder dataset that, in part, consists of a well-known INRIA pedestrian dataset. Experimental results show that the GSS features are effective in reduction of false alarmsmarginally and the gradient GSS features are preferred more often than the color GSS ones in the feature selection.

Keywords: Pedestrian detection, cascade of rejecters, feature extraction, self-symmetry, HOG.

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Authors: Guoyuan Qi , Yskandar Hamam, Barend Jacobus van Wyk, Shengzhi Du

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The majority of existing predictors for time series are model-dependent and therefore require some prior knowledge for the identification of complex systems, usually involving system identification, extensive training, or online adaptation in the case of time-varying systems. Additionally, since a time series is usually generated by complex processes such as the stock market or other chaotic systems, identification, modeling or the online updating of parameters can be problematic. In this paper a model-free predictor (MFP) for a time series produced by an unknown nonlinear system or process is derived using tracking theory. An identical derivation of the MFP using the property of the Newton form of the interpolating polynomial is also presented. The MFP is able to accurately predict future values of a time series, is stable, has few tuning parameters and is desirable for engineering applications due to its simplicity, fast prediction speed and extremely low computational load. The performance of the proposed MFP is demonstrated using the prediction of the Dow Jones Industrial Average stock index.

Keywords: Forecast, model-free predictor, prediction, time series

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Authors: Mairwen K. Jones, Lynne Harris, Lisa D. Vaccaro

Abstract:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and disabling condition. Therapist-delivered treatments that use exposure and response prevention have been found to be very effective in treating OCD, although they are costly and associated with high rates of attrition. Effective treatments that can be made widely available without the need for therapist contact are urgently needed. This case study represents the first published investigation of a self-administered cognitive treatment for OCD in a 50-year old female with a 20 year history of OCD. The treatment evaluation occurred over 27 weeks, including 12 weeks of self-administration of the Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy (DIRT) program. Decreases of between 23% to 33% on measures from pre-treatment to follow-up were observed. Bearing in mind the methodological limitations associated with a case study, we conclude that the results reported here are encouraging and indicate that further research effort evaluating the effectiveness of self-administered DIRT is warranted.

Keywords: Anxiety Treatment, Cognitive Therapy, Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy, Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder, Self- Administered Danger Ideation Reduction Therapy.

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Authors: Hamad N. Altalyan, Brian G. Jones, John Bradd

Abstract:

A comprehensive study was conducted to examine the removal of inorganic contaminants that exist in surface and groundwater in the Illawarra and Sydney regions. The ability of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), as a generation of membrane technology, was examined using a dead-end filtration cell setup. A set of ten compounds were examined in this study that represent the significant inorganic cations and anions commonly found in contaminated surface and groundwater. The performance of MWCNT buckypaper membranes in excluding anions was found to be better than that of its cation exclusion. This phenomenon can be attributed to the Donnan exclusion mechanism (charge repulsion mechanism). Furthermore, the results revealed that phosphate recorded the highest exclusion value reaching 69.2%, whereas the lowest rejection value was for potassium where no removal occurred (0%). The reason for this is that the molecular weight of phosphate (95.0 g/mol) is greater than the molecular weight of potassium (39.10 g/mol).

Keywords: Nanotechnology, buckypaper, carbon nanotube, CNT, multi-walled carbon nanotube, MWCNT, Botany Bay, Russell Vale.

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Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

Abstract:

Adult students with dyslexia can receive support for cognitive needs but may also experience anxiety, which is less understood. This study aims to test the hypothesis that dyslexic learners in higher education have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers and explores wider emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia and the ways that adults with dyslexia cope cognitively and emotionally. A mixed method approach was used in two stages. Stage one compared survey responses from students with dyslexia (N = 102) and students without dyslexia (N = 72) after completion of an anxiety inventory. Stage two explored emotional consequences of studying with dyslexia and types of coping strategies used through semi-structured interviews with 20 dyslexic students. Results revealed a statistically significant effect for academic anxiety but not for social anxiety. Findings for stage two showed that: (1) students’ emotional consequences were characterised by a mixture of negative and positive responses, yet negative responses were more frequent in response to questions about academic tasks than positive responses; (2) participants had less to say on coping emotionally, than coping cognitively.

Keywords: Dyslexia, higher education, anxiety, emotion.

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Authors: A. J. Al-Graitti, G. A. Khalid, P. Berthelson, A. Mason-Jones, R. Prabhu, M. D. Jones

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Motor vehicle related pedestrian road traffic collisions are a major road safety challenge, since they are a leading cause of death and serious injury worldwide, contributing to a third of the global disease burden. The auto rickshaw, which is a common form of urban transport in many developing countries, plays a major transport role, both as a vehicle for hire and for private use. The most common auto rickshaws are quite unlike ‘typical’ four-wheel motor vehicle, being typically characterised by three wheels, a non-tilting sheet-metal body or open frame construction, a canvas roof and side curtains, a small drivers’ cabin, handlebar controls and a passenger space at the rear. Given the propensity, in developing countries, for auto rickshaws to be used in mixed cityscapes, where pedestrians and vehicles share the roadway, the potential for auto rickshaw impacts with pedestrians is relatively high. Whilst auto rickshaws are used in some Western countries, their limited number and spatial separation from pedestrian walkways, as a result of city planning, has not resulted in significant accident statistics. Thus, auto rickshaws have not been subject to the vehicle impact related pedestrian crash kinematic analyses and/or injury mechanics assessment, typically associated with motor vehicle development in Western Europe, North America and Japan. This study presents a parametric analysis of auto rickshaw related pedestrian impacts by computational simulation, using a Finite Element model of an auto rickshaw and an LS-DYNA 50^th percentile male Hybrid III Anthropometric Test Device (dummy). Parametric variables include auto rickshaw impact velocity, auto rickshaw impact region (front, centre or offset) and relative pedestrian impact position (front, side and rear). The output data of each impact simulation was correlated against reported injury metrics, Head Injury Criterion (front, side and rear), Neck injury Criterion (front, side and rear), Abbreviated Injury Scale and reported risk level and adds greater understanding to the issue of auto rickshaw related pedestrian injury risk. The parametric analyses suggest that pedestrians are subject to a relatively high risk of injury during impacts with an auto rickshaw at velocities of 20 km/h or greater, which during some of the impact simulations may even risk fatalities. The present study provides valuable evidence for informing a series of recommendations and guidelines for making the auto rickshaw safer during collisions with pedestrians. Whilst it is acknowledged that the present research findings are based in the field of safety engineering and may over represent injury risk, compared to “Real World” accidents, many of the simulated interactions produced injury response values significantly greater than current threshold curves and thus, justify their inclusion in the study. To reduce the injury risk level and increase the safety of the auto rickshaw, there should be a reduction in the velocity of the auto rickshaw and, or, consideration of engineering solutions, such as retro fitting injury mitigation technologies to those auto rickshaw contact regions which are the subject of the greatest risk of producing pedestrian injury.

Keywords: Auto Rickshaw, finite element analysis, injury risk level, LS-DYNA, pedestrian impact.

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Authors: Syong-Yang Chung, Xin-An Chen

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This study aims to explore the less well-known animation “Final Flight of the Osiris”, consisting of an initial exploration of the film color, storyline, and the simulacrum meanings of the roles, which leads to a further exploration of the light-shadow contrast and the psychological images presented by the screen colors and the characters. The research is based on literature review, and all data was compiled for the analysis of the visual vocabulary evolution of the characters. In terms of the structure, the relational study of the animation and the historical background of that time came first, including The Wachowskis’ and Andy Jones’ impact towards the cinematographic version and the animation version of “The Matrix”. Through literature review, the film color, the meaning and the relevant points were clarified. It was found in this research that “Final Flight of the Osiris” separates the realistic and virtual spaces by the changing the color tones; the "self" of the audience gradually dissolves into the "virtual" in the simulacra world, and the "Animatrix" has become a virtual field for the audience to understand itself about "existence" and "self".

Keywords: The Matrix, The Final Flight of Osiris, Wachowski sisters, simulacrum.

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Authors: A. Al-Rifaie, Z. W. Guan, S. W. Jones

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This paper presents a method for modelling and analysing end plate beam-to-column connections to obtain the quasi-static behaviour using non-linear dynamic explicit integration. In addition to its importance to study the static behaviour of a structural member, quasi-static behaviour is largely needed to be compared with the dynamic behaviour of such members in order to investigate the dynamic effect by proposing dynamic increase factors (DIFs). The beam-to-column bolted connections contain various contact surfaces at which the implicit procedure may have difficulties converging, resulting in a large number of iterations. Contrary, explicit procedure could deal effectively with complex contacts without converging problems. Hence, finite element modelling using ABAQUS/explicit is used in this study to address the dynamic effect may be produced using explicit procedure. Also, the effect of loading rate and mass scaling are discussed to investigate their effect on the time of analysis. The results show that the explicit procedure is valuable to model the end plate beam-to-column connections in terms of failure mode, load-displacement relationships. Also, it is concluded that loading rate and mass scaling should be carefully selected to avoid the dynamic effect in the solution.

Keywords: Quasi-static, end plate, finite element, connections.

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Authors: P. Vaattovaara, H. B. Swan, G. B. Jones, E. Deschaseaux, B. Miljevic, A. Laaksonen, Z. D. Ristovski

Abstract:

In order to investigate the properties of coral reef origin secondary aerosol and especially the contribution of secondary organic aerosol, ethanol affinity to atmospheric nucleation mode particles (diameter<15nm) was measured at the Heron reef marine environment in the South Pacific Ocean during the first coral reef aerosol characterization experiment in May-June 2011 using an ultrafine organic tandem differential mobility analyzer.

Our campaign study at Heron reef showed that the nucleation mode size particles (diameter =10nm) composition contain internally mixed sulfate and oxidized organic components in approximately equal proportion in sunny and still conditions around low tide time, indicating local biogenic sources. The produced secondary compounds and aerosols have potential to contribute to cloud condensation nuclei formation and properties that may affect local low-level cloud formation over the GBR. Additionally, primary marine sea-salt and organic material during windy conditions and anthropogenic/biogenic sources during continental air masses can affect the properties of these particles.

Keywords: Coral reef, DMS, particle composition, secondary organics.

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Authors: B. Bergström, A. Ladd, A. Jones, L. Rosso, P. Michael

Abstract:

Attitudes toward treatment manuals serve as a meaningful predictor of general attitudes toward evidence-based practice. Despite demonstrating high effectiveness in treating many mental disorders, manualized treatments have been underutilized by practitioners. Thus, one can assess the state of the field regarding the adoption of evidence-based practices by surveying practitioner attitudes towards manualized treatments. This study is an adapted replication that assesses psychology graduate student attitudes towards manualized treatments, as a general marker for attitudes towards evidence-based practice. Training programs provide future clinicians with the foundation for critical skills in clinical practice. Research demonstrates that post-graduate continuing education has little to no effect on clinical practice; thus, graduate programs serve as the primary, and often final platform for all future practice. However, there are little empirical data identifying the attitudes and training of graduate students in utilizing manualized treatments. The empirical analysis of this study indicates an increase in positive attitudes among graduate student attitudes towards manualized treatments (within the United States), when compared to past surveys of professional psychologists. Findings from this study may inform graduate programs of barriers for students in developing positive attitudes toward manualized treatments and evidence-based practice. This study also serves as a preliminary predictor of the state-of-the field, in regards to professional psychologists attitudes towards evidence-based practice, if attitudes remain stable. This study indicates that the attitudes toward utilizing evidence-based practices, such as treatment manuals, has become more positive since year 2000.

Keywords: Evidence based treatment, Future of clinical science, Manualized treatment, Student attitudes towards evidence based treatments.

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Authors: Yasir M. Alyazichi, Brian G. Jones, Errol McLean, Hamd N. Altalyan, Ali K. M. Al-Nasrawi

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The main purpose of this study is to assess the sediment quality and potential ecological risk in marine sediments in Gymea Bay located in south Sydney, Australia. A total of 32 surface sediment samples were collected from the bay. Current track trajectories and velocities have also been measured in the bay. The resultant trace elements were compared with the adverse biological effect values Effect Range Low (ERL) and Effect Range Median (ERM) classifications. The results indicate that the average values of chromium, arsenic, copper, zinc, and lead in surface sediments all reveal low pollution levels and are below ERL and ERM values. The highest concentrations of trace elements were found close to discharge points and in the inner bay, and were linked with high percentages of clay minerals, pyrite and organic matter, which can play a significant role in trapping and accumulating these elements. The lowest concentrations of trace elements were found to be on the shoreline of the bay, which contained high percentages of sand fractions. It is postulated that the fine particles and trace elements are disturbed by currents and tides, then transported and deposited in deeper areas. The current track velocities recorded in Gymea Bay had the capability to transport fine particles and trace element pollution within the bay. As a result, hydrodynamic measurements were able to provide useful information and to help explain the distribution of sedimentary particles and geochemical properties. This may lead to knowledge transfer to other bay systems, including those in remote areas. These activities can be conducted at a low cost, and are therefore also transferrable to developing countries. The advent of portable instruments to measure trace elements in the field has also contributed to the development of these lower cost and easily applied methodologies available for use in remote locations and low-cost economies.

Keywords: Current track velocities, Gymea Bay, surface sediments, trace elements.

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Authors: Ali K. M. Al-Nasrawi, Uday A. Al-Hamdany, Sarah M. Hamylton, Brian G. Jones, Yasir M. Alyazichi

Abstract:

Surface elevation dynamics have always responded to disturbance regimes. Creating Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to detect surface dynamics has led to the development of several methods, devices and data clouds. DEMs can provide accurate and quick results with cost efficiency, in comparison to the inherited geomatics survey techniques. Nowadays, remote sensing datasets have become a primary source to create DEMs, including LiDAR point clouds with GIS analytic tools. However, these data need to be tested for error detection and correction. This paper evaluates various DEMs from different data sources over time for Apple Orchard Island, a coastal site in southeastern Australia, in order to detect surface dynamics. Subsequently, 30 chosen locations were examined in the field to test the error of the DEMs surface detection using high resolution global positioning systems (GPSs). Results show significant surface elevation changes on Apple Orchard Island. Accretion occurred on most of the island while surface elevation loss due to erosion is limited to the northern and southern parts. Concurrently, the projected differential correction and validation method aimed to identify errors in the dataset. The resultant DEMs demonstrated a small error ratio (≤ 3%) from the gathered datasets when compared with the fieldwork survey using RTK-GPS. As modern modelling approaches need to become more effective and accurate, applying several tools to create different DEMs on a multi-temporal scale would allow easy predictions in time-cost-frames with more comprehensive coverage and greater accuracy. With a DEM technique for the eco-geomorphic context, such insights about the ecosystem dynamic detection, at such a coastal intertidal system, would be valuable to assess the accuracy of the predicted eco-geomorphic risk for the conservation management sustainability. Demonstrating this framework to evaluate the historical and current anthropogenic and environmental stressors on coastal surface elevation dynamism could be profitably applied worldwide.

Keywords: DEMs, eco-geomorphic-dynamic processes, geospatial information science. Remote sensing, surface elevation changes.

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