Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implementing courseware as the primary mode of task-based ESP instruction: a case study of EFL students

The study reports on implementing self-developed English for specific purposes (ESP) courseware for technology industries in an elective course, “English reading for technology,” offered to junior students of English as a foreign language in a technical university in southern Taiwan. Courseware implementation was combined with a sustained-content language teaching (SCLT) approach and a task-based learning (TBL) approach was adopted. The course mainly focused on vocabulary, listening, and reading comprehension. Evaluation of implementing these information and communication technologies (ICTs) in ESP instruction was based upon data from a variety of pre-tests and post-tests including cloze, dictation, essay writing, and Q&A tests. The courseware not only provided learning materials for the target ESP, but also offered content-based and linguistic learning activities with corresponding instant self-evaluation. These features offered by the courseware both corresponded to the duel focus of the SCLT approach, and provided a model for developing an ESP courseware. Also, a teacher-centered instruction of the same subject matter was conducted with a control group. Students self-studying with the ESP courseware made as much progress as those that elected teacher-centered instruction. Most students were satisfied with the courseware-implemented ESP instruction combined with the SCLT and TBL approaches.
How the effects of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility are contingent on environmental uncertainty and information intensity

The significance of agility is widely accepted because agile organizations are more successful in changing and competitive environments. Although the relationship of information technology (IT) capability and knowledge capability with organizational agility has been documented, limited information is available on the extent to which these two capabilities affect organizational agility. Attempts to understand the effect of IT and knowledge capability on organizational agility in the presence of contextual factors have also been few. Based on data collected from 123 organizations in China, we examine the moderating effects of two contextual factors (environmental uncertainty and information intensity) on the relationship of IT and knowledge capability with organizational agility. We contribute to current knowledge by showing that environmental uncertainty positively moderates the effects of IT capability and knowledge capability on organizational agility and that information intensity positively moderates the effects of knowledge capability on organizational agility. IT capability and knowledge capability are more effective in the presence of high environmental uncertainty and information intensity. While we find that both IT and knowledge capabilities have positive effects on organizational agility, knowledge capability is more effective than IT capability.
[Cost of fractures in German hospitals--what role does osteoporosis play?].

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to examine the total and osteoporosis-attributable inpatient costs of 16 fracture types accrued in the German hospital sector in the year 2009. METHODS To calculate the inpatient fracture costs in the hospital sector we combined data from different official German statistics, i.e., fracture-specific diagnosis data from female and male inpatients in 2009, population data, fracture-specific diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), and per diem capital costs in hospitals. The share of fractures which were attributable to osteoporosis had been estimated by the epidemiological concept of "population attributable risk". Calculation of these risks was based on empirical data obtained from the national and international literature. RESULTS For the year 2009 the total inpatient costs accrued by the 16 fracture types considered in our analyses amounted to 2.4 billion Euros. Of these, 860 million Euros (36%) were attributable to osteoporosis. The main cost drivers were hip fractures. CONCLUSION Fractures accrue relevant hospital costs in Germany. In order to use the limited resources of the German health-care system in an efficient way, future measures to reduce the number of incident fractures should be designed and evaluated in terms of cost-effectiveness.
Scan-free echo imaging of dynamic objects

This paper addresses the problem of imaging a dynamic object with an imaging modality that utilizes a single illumination instead of sequential sector scanning used in conjunction with B-scanners. Two data collection strategies and their associated reconstruction algorithms are presented for dynamic object imaging. One scheme utilizes a single unfocused wave transmitted by an element of an array. In the other method, the elements of an array simultaneously illuminate the object with unfocused multiplexed waves. The data base acquired in either of these methods is sufficient for the recovery of the object's monostatic synthetic aperture data and reconstruction.
Multi-sinusoidal signal estimation by an adaptive SOGI-filters bank

Abstract In this paper, a new method for frequency, amplitude and phase estimation of a multi-harmonic signal is proposed. The approach described herein uses an orthogonal signals generator based on a Second-Order Generalized Integrator (SOGI). The method is implemented as a dynamic third-order system, for each sinusoidal component, and has significant advantages over prior methods since it allows an on-line estimation of all unknown signal parameters. An adaptive tuning algorithm of the SOGI resonant frequency is shown in both cases of single-sinusoidal or multi-sinusoidal signal. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through simulated experiments and comparisons with existing methods.
A comparison between the performance of FHSS and DSSS for wireless LANs using a 3D ray tracing program

A 3D ray tracing program developed at the Center for Wireless Information Network Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the simulation of micro-cellular radio propagation is used to generate the impulse response between two nodes of a wireless LAN, when the transmitter and receiver are located at arbitrary points within an office area. This time-domain channel response is then used to compare the performance of systems employing frequency-hopping and direct-sequence spread spectrum modulation. When averaged over many locations for the transmitter and/or receiver, this yields a site-specific comparison of the two modulation strategies. Performance criteria are error and outage probability as a function of transmitted power and data rate.
A novel health assessment technique with minimum information

A novel structural health assessment method is proposed for detecting defects at the element level using only minimum measured response information considering imperfect mathematical model representing the structure, various sources of uncertainty in the mathematical model, and uncertainty in the measured response information. It is a linear time domain finite element‐based system identification procedure capable of detecting defects at the local element level using only limited response measurements and without using any information on the exciting dynamic forces. The technique is a combination of the modified iterative least‐squares technique with unknown input excitation (MILS‐UI) proposed earlier by the research team at the University of Arizona and the extended Kalman filter with a weighted global iteration (EKF‐WGI) procedures to address different sources of uncertainty in the problem. The authors denote the new method as GILS‐EKF‐UI. To implement the concept, a two‐stage substructure approach is used. In the first stage, a substructure is selected that satisfies all the requirements for the MILS‐UI procedure. This provides information on the initial state vector and the input excitation required to implement any EKF‐based procedure. In the second stage, the EKF‐WGI is applied to identify the whole structure. This way the whole structure, defect free or defective, can be identified with limited response measurements in the presence of uncertainty and without using excitation information. The theoretical concept behind this novel method is presented in this paper. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Discovery Layers and the Distance Student: Online Search Habits of Students

Has your institution purchased discovery layer tools? Are you wondering how students are using them and how much return your institution is getting on that investment? Not only are there more resources available to students online than ever before, but there are also more avenues for students to discover those resources. The Royal Roads University Library puts links to Google Scholar, Summon, LibGuides, Captivate tutorials, and more onto its Web pages. This paper is an investigation of how students are using those resources and what they think of them. It presents student feedback on these discovery layers combined with empirical evidence from usage statistics. The paper explains how the library will use this evidence to inform both the electronic paths designed to lead students to its resources and the outcomes of its information literacy instructional sessions.
Automatic Dense Reconstruction from Uncalibrated Video Sequences

This thesis describes a system that completely automaticallybuilds a three-dimensional model of a scene given a sequence ofimages of the scene. The system also estimates the internalparameters of the camera and the poses from where the originalimages were taken. Results that have been produced from realworld sequences acquired with a handheld video camera arepresented.The main contribution of the thesis is in building acomplete system and applying it to full-scale real worldproblems, thereby facing the practical difficulties of far fromideal imagery. Contributions are also made to several systemcomponents, most notably in dealing with variable amounts ofmotion between frames, auto-calibration and densereconstruction from a large number of images. Thesecontributions are presented as appended papers to enable theexperienced reader to easily study the novelty of the thesis.The main text gives a detailed coherent account of thetheoretical foundation for the system and its components.There are several motivations for constructing systems ofthe proposed type. One motivation is to make it possible forany amateur photographer to produce graphical models of theworld with the use of a computer. The viewer of the materialcan then navigate through the model and view it from any point.Another application is the insertion of synthetic objects intoan existing video sequence. This task is frequently carried outin movie making but is then performed with a great deal ofexpensive manual work. A quite futuristic but highlyinteresting application is augmented reality where theusers view of the world is augmented by the insertion ofsynthetic objects.
Image representation infrastructure for motion analysis

An image representation infrastructure termed the macro-microimage representation is proposed in this paper. The representation uses the macroimage for the feature such as velocity and the microimage for the preservation of spatial relations. This architecture is in favor of local connections and is suitable for some motion analysis tasks. The mapping of this infrastructure to a multi-processor parallel architecture is also discussed
Low-complexity Parallel and Serial Systolic Architectures for AB2 Multiplication in GF(2m)

Abstract Efficient arithmetic is essential for fast implementation of cryptographic applications based on finite fields. This paper presents a new parallel systolic AB2 multiplier for exponentiation in GF(2m) that has a low cell delay and high throughput. In addition, a serial systolic AB2 multiplier that can be applied well in space-limited hardware is presented. Thus, exponentiation can be implemented more efficiently by repeatedly applying AB2 multiplication rather than AB multiplication. The proposed parallel (serial) multipliers produce the results at a rate of one per 1 (m/2) cycles with a latency of 2m+m/2-1(2m+m/2-1) cycles using O(m3)(O(m2)) area-time complexity. As compared to related works, both multipliers have lower area-time complexity, cell delay and latency and higher throughput and include the features of regularity, modularity, unidirectional data flow and local interconnection.
Designing Scalar Questions for Web Surveys

This paper explores how the visual design of scalar questions influences responses in web surveys. We present the results of five experiments embedded in two web surveys of university students. We find that consistently presenting the positive end of the scale first did not impact responses but increases response times. Displaying the categories in multiple columns influence how respondents process the scale and increase response times. Separating the midpoint, ``don't know'' option, or endpoints spatially does not impact responses when the visual and conceptual midpoint align. Removing the graphical layout of the scale influences responses when lower numbers indicate more positive categories and increases response time. Finally, response times are longer for polar point scales with numeric labels, but there are no differences in responses. Overall, our results suggest that the visual design of response scales impacts measurement, but that some manipulations produce larger and more significant differences than others.
Unsupervised adaptation of electroencephalogram signal processing based on fuzzy C‐means algorithm

This paper studies an unsupervised approach for online adaptation of electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain–computer interface (BCI). The approach is based on the fuzzy C‐means (FCM) algorithm. It can be used to improve the adaptability of BCIs to the change in brain states by online updating the linear discriminant analysis classifier. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, we applied it to a set of simulation data and compared with other unsupervised adaptation algorithms. The results show that the FCM‐based algorithm can achieve a desirable capability in adapting to changes and discovering class information from unlabeled data. The algorithm has also been tested by the real EEG data recorded in experiments in our laboratory and the data from other sources (set IIb of the BCI Competition IV). The results of real data are consistent with that of simulation data. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Indications and Prognosis of Fetal Extractions by Caesarean Section before 34 Weeks of Amenorrhea in Black African Context

Objectives: To analyze the clinical features and prognosis of fetal extractions by caesarean section before 34 weeks of amenorrhea. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective and analytical study of 196 cases of women who gave birth by caesarean section at the maternity of Sylvanus Olympio’s University Hospital of Lome, before 34 weeks of amenorrhea from 1st January 2009 to 31st December 2011. Results: Fetal extraction by caesarean section before 34 weeks of amenorrhea has represented 3.6% of caesarean sections rate. Hypertensive disease during pregnancy and its complications (gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, eclampsia, and placenta abruptio) were in 61.8% of cases, the primary indication of fetal extractions before 34 weeks. The premature mortality rate was 9.8% and neonatal infection was the most deadly disease (52.4%). The first week of life was the most fatal with 61.9% of cases of early neonatal death. The minimum gestational age of 30 weeks of amenorrhea plus 6 days and more, allowed better survival as well as birth weight above 1300g. Conclusion: Fetal extraction could be considered with confidence in the center if gestational age is about 30 weeks of amenorrhea plus 6 days or more and if the birth weight is over 1300 grams. Emphasis should be put more on the prevention of infections and on the improvement of the technical platform for management of premature newborns.
Zielkriterien der medikamentösen Therapie des Diabetes Typ II: Eine Analyse der Patientenperspektive mit Analytic Hierarchy Process und Best-Worst Scaling

Hintergrund: Die Patientenperspektive in Bezug auf die Zielkriterien unterschiedlicher Behandlungsmethoden ist wenig untersucht. Das Ziel jedweder Intervention im Gesundheitswesen ist die Steigerung des Patientennutzens. Ziel: Anliegen dieser Studie ist es, die Bedeutung von patientenrelevanten Zielkriterien in der medikamentosen Therapie des Diabetes Typ II zu analysieren. Es soll aufgezeigt werden, welche Eigenschaften einer medikamentosen Behandlung des Diabetes Typ II relevant fur die Therapieentscheidung aus Sicht der Patienten sind. Methodik: Eine qualitative Studie (N=15) in Kombination mit einer quantitativen Erhebung (N=388) mit dem Analytic Hierarchy Process und Best-Worst Scaling diente dazu, die Bedeutung der patientenrelevanten Zielkriterien bei der Behandlung zu ermitteln. Ergebnisse: Die quantitativen Befragungen ergaben eine klare Dominanz des Attributs „HbA1c-Wert“ und dessen optimale Einstellung sowohl fur Insulin-therapierte Patienten als auch fur Patienten, die mit oralen Antidiabetika (OAD) behandelt werden. Bei den OAD-Patienten zeigen beide Methoden unabhangig die gleiche Rangfolge der nachsten 3 Platze: „Hinauszogern der Insulintherapie“ (Rang 2), „Auftreten von Unterzuckerungen“ (Rang 3) und „Gewichtsveranderungen“ (Rang 4). Fur Insulin-Patienten folgt „Auftreten von Unterzuckerungen“ bei der AHP auf dem 2. Rang und beim BWS auf dem 3. Rang. Im Vergleich zu OAD-Patienten sinkt die Relevanz des Zielkriteriums „Gewichtsveranderungen“ bei den Insulin-Patienten beim AHP auf den letzten Rang (7. Rang) und bei der BWS auf den vorletzten Rang (6. Rang). Schlussfolgerung: Es wurde erstmals mit der AHP- und BWS-Methode untersucht, wie Patienten zwischen verschiedenen Behandlungseigenschaften bei Diabetes Typ II abwagen und welchen Einfluss diese Behandlungskriterien auf den Patientennutzen haben. Beide Patientengruppen zeigen Unterschiede im Erfahrungshintergrund und somit auch in der Rangreihung der Zielkriterien.
Zur Praxis von SAPV in Bayern: Wirksamkeit, Struktur-/prozesseffekte und ländliche Versorgung

Empirische Befunde zeigen, dass die 2007 in Deutschland eingefuhrte Spezialisierte Ambulante Palliativversorgung (SAPV) schwerstkranken Patienten ein Sterben im hauslichen Umfeld auch bei komplexem Symptomgeschehen ermoglicht. SAPV vermeidet Notarzteinsatze und Krankenhaus-Einweisungen; dem Wunsch der Patienten, bis an ihr Lebensende zuhause bleiben zu konnen, kann in den meisten Fallen entsprochen werden. Das Leistungsgeschehen der SAPV richtet sich dabei nicht nur an medizinisch-pflegerischen Aspekten aus, sondern es bedarf auch besonderer Beratungs- und Koordinationsarbeiten sowie psychosozialer Unterstutzung der Patienten und ihrer Angehorigen. In diesem Rahmen konnten verschiedene Wirkfaktoren identifiziert werden, die fur eine qualitativ hochwertige Versorgung masgeblich sind. Weiterhin zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die allgemeinen ambulanten Versorgungsstrukturen vor Ort den Bedarf und Umfang, aber auch die Wirkung von SAPV bestimmen; umgekehrt pragt die SAPV die jeweilige Versorgungslandschaft: Sie verandert Rollen bisheriger Versorgungsakteure und stellt neue Ressourcen zur Verfugung. Dem gegenuber werden nicht alle bestehenden (insbesondere auch hospizlichen) Angebote berucksichtigt.
ℋ∞ filtering for switched discrete‐time systems under asynchronous switching: A dwell‐time dependent Lyapunov functional method

In this article, the ℋ∞ filtering problem for switched discrete‐time linear systems under asynchronous switching is addressed in the framework of dwell time, where ‘asynchronous switching’ covers more general and practical cases, for example, the switching lags caused by mode identification process are taken into consideration. Firstly, a novel dwell‐time dependent Lyapunov function (DTDLF) is introduced to solve stability and ℓ2 gain analysis problems. The main advantage of DTDLF approach is that the derived conditions are all convex in system matrices, so it is convenient to be applied into filter design with ℋ∞ performance instead of weighted ℋ∞ performance as many other previous results. Thus, on the basis of DTLDF, a dwell‐time dependent filter with time‐varying structure is proposed to achieve the desirable non‐weighted ℋ∞ filtering performance. It is notable that the proposed approach can also easily characterize the relationships among ℋ∞ filtering performance, dwell time, and asynchronous time. Two examples are provided to validate the theoretical findings in this paper. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Reproductive Aspect of Tropical Abalone (Haliotis asinina L.) in the Waters of Tanakeke Islands at South Sulawesi

The objective of research was to analyze the reproductive aspect of abalone ( Haliotis asinina L.) which included the beginning of gonad maturity, the peak of spawning season, the comparison of male and female abalone caught in the nature, the reproductive potential, and abalone fecundity. Research was located at the waters of Tanakeke Islands, Takalar District, South Sulawesi. Method of research was field survey. Sampling stations were determined based on the distribution of coral reef in the islands. Result of research indicated that male abalone reached the beginning of gonad maturity at shell length of 64.50 mm, while female abalone reached it at shell length of 64.09 mm. Abalone had spawned throughout year with two peaks of spawning season, precisely at the beginning of dry season and rainy season. The comparison of male and female abalone primes was 1:1. Abalone group with shell length of 60-70 mm contributed more than 70 % to the total reproductive potential of the population. Total fecundity of the tropical abalone at research was ranging from 255,900 to 756,200 egg s .
Detection of fetal breathing movements with joint time-frequency analysis of cardiotocogram records

Most biological signals do not conform to the requirement of stationarity. This fact is the main reason for inappropriate results of analysis of these signals in the frequency domain. On the other hand researchers are interested not only in whether some periodical components exist but when they occur and how long they last. A lot of different joint time-frequency algorithms which are available do obtain such information but most of them produce complex structure of cross-term interference. The amplitudes of particular rhythms existing in biological signals have not only wide range but they change in time. These phenomena cause the frequently useful time-dependent pattern to be completely destroyed and become very difficult for further interpretation. An appropriate method of signal preprocessing may help the researcher to enhance some features and to obtain valuable information. Two simple algorithms of fetal heart rate filtering are described. Both of them allow to refine the fetal breathing movements component from complex structure of the joint time-frequency spectrogram.