Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
USING NEUROCOGNITIVE THEORY TO DEVELOP A NEW APPROACH FOR TEACHING GERMAN GRAMMAR The Effect of Color-Coding German Grammar on Language Acquisition

Traute Kohler Department of German Languages and Literatures, and Department of Psychology, December 2009 University of Kansas The objective of this research project is to find out whether or not color coding has an effect on second language learning, in particular on learning German grammatical features, by using neurocognitive theory to develop a new approach for teaching German grammar. The experiment was conducted in two separate environments, one in a natural setting of a regular beginner’s German class in the German Department (66 subjects), Experiment I; and the other one in a controlled laboratory setting in the Psychology department (82 subjects), Experiment II, both of the University of Kansas. The main goal of this study is to compare the control group (black and white grammatical features in black boxes) with the experimental group (color-coded grammatical features in black boxes), and isolate the effects of color on the acquisition of L2 grammar. The grammatical featured tested were the articles and nouns in the nominative, accusative and dative cases as well as articles and nouns in context with accusative and dative prepositions. These grammatical categories were also tested across time. In the setting of the German class, memory was tested on the day of the first exposure, after one day (which was a repeat exposure), after one week and finally after four weeks. In the laboratory setting of the Psychology Department, memory was tested only after one day. Also the
Cognitive Routing Used in Reliable and Adaptive AODV Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks

Ad hoc network can be explained as multi- hop, self organization and dynamically changing network. The Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol is an on-demand protocol specially used for mobile ad hoc network. Future network should have cognitive characteristics and the collection of information that make up the network and observes network conditions and then, using prior knowledge gained from previous interactions with the network it plans, decides and acts on this information. This paper explains that how cognitive routing techniques can be developed for Ad hoc network in order to improve reliability and efficiency of AODV protocol. An idea called "fast otherwise reliable (FOR)" is proposed which ensures data packages could be transferred through the shortest and the most reliable path. The proposed routing metrics based on the cognition of each node and all nodes in cognitive Ad hoc networks collect message about the whole networks periodically and regularly. Preliminary simulations were provided and the result shows the performance enhancements of the AODV in cognitive Ad hoc networks.
Ensemble learning by data resampling

We investigate ensemble learning methods that construct a classifier ensemble by repeatedly sampling the original training data and building a member classifier from each subsample. We find that the performance of standard Bagging can frequently be improved upon by simple variations of the sampling scheme, such as varying the sample size, or sampling without replacement instead of sampling with replacement. For all methods tested, the ensemble performance is greatly dependent on properties of the problem domain and the data sample. We try to explain the observed performances of the various ensemble methods qualitatively and quantitatively, and find that current ensemble analysis methods such as margin distributions, κ-Error Diagrams, bias-variance decomposition etc. are not well suited for this task. We postulate that the primary explanation for the performance of ensemble methods is to be found in their effects on accuracy of the ensemble members on one side and diversity among them on the other side, two contradictory goals which necessitate a compromise, or trade-off. This motivates the presentation of a precise yet general definition of what diversity is and how it is to be measured. This definition has the desirable property that it is applicable to all single-stage voting ensembles, under any given loss function. We then study the mathematical relationships between ensemble loss, mean member loss, and diversity. For squared loss, we show that our definitions lead to the well known ensemble loss decomposition, and extend this decomposition to the case where the ensemble members, instead of a real number, return a probability distribution over R. For the case of 0-1 loss, we derive the exact mathematical relations between ensemble loss, mean member loss, and diversity. Studying those relations provides some valuable insights into ensembles behavior, and produces some unexpected hence interesting results. These results are also confirmed by the experimental observations. Turning our attention back to the performance of Bagging variants, we show how the loss decomposition can be used to reduce the number of parameter settings which have to be tried out experimentally in order to find a well-performing ensemble method for a given particular problem.
Kohonen Self-Organizing Map as a software sensor estimator of reference crop evapotranspiration

Reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) estimation is of importance in irrigation water management for the calculation of crop water requirements and its scheduling, rainfall–runoff modelling and numerous other water resources studies. This paper developed the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (KSOM), unsupervised artificial neural networks software sensors to predict the ETo. This was achieved by using the powerful clustering capability of the KSOM to analyse the multi-dimensional data array of estimated Penman-Monteith ETo and different subsets of input climatic variables. Data obtained at two locations, Edinburgh (UK) and Udaipur (India), were used in order to demonstrate the versatility of the approach. The findings indicate that the KSOM-based ETo estimates were in good agreement with those obtained using the conventional FAO Penman-Monteith formulation at both locations. A further comparison of the KSOM estimates with other commonly used empirical methods for the ETo, e.g. Thornthwaite, Priestley-Taylor and Hargreaves, showed that the former were far superior. This offers significant potential for accurate estimation of the ETo in regions of the world where the needed climatic data are unavailable for the implementation of the full Penman-Monteith formulation.
Bringing Playfulness and Engagement to Language Training Using Virtual Worlds: Student Experiences, Results and Best Practices from a Virtual Language Course

Three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds (VWs) offer new value creation and business possibilities for globally distributed language training. They incorporate playfulness, social interaction and exploration. Student experiences and best practices of implementing language training were gathered from a languagetraining case study at Aalto University. A highly graphical VW, Second Life, was used to activate the students and their subject vocabulary. Multi-user VWs provide a way for the students to practice normal work-life events such as meetings, presentations, or job interviews in a foreign language. In this experiment 33 intermediate-level students participated into the course, that included a small talk situation of introducing a new worker into his new workplace and completed a laboratory exercise in a foreign language. The course succeeded in activating the students and most of the students enjoyed the virtual learning. The students became engaged in social situations and used foreign language in task-based communication as a tool for achieving goals. They acted more relaxed than in a classroom environment and many felt that the level of interaction was higher than in traditional classroom teaching. The results revealed that it is possible to train foreign language with authentic work tasks in a simulated environment. According to the teachers, the students used foreign language more openly in the VW, without worrying about making mistakes. Unfortunately, technological shortcomings were still a hindrance for implementing language training in VWs successfully.
Adaptive learning control for spacecraft formation flying

Considers the problem of spacecraft formation flying in the presence of periodic disturbances. In particular, the nonlinear position dynamics of a follower spacecraft relative to a leader spacecraft are utilized to develop a learning controller which accounts for the periodic disturbances entering the system model. Using a Lyapunov-based approach, a full state feedback control law, a parameter update algorithm, and a disturbance estimate rule are designed which facilitate the tracking of given reference trajectories in the presence of unknown spacecraft masses. Illustrative simulations are included to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed controller.
Semantic interference effects in the production of verbs: The role of the response set

Picture–word interference studies have consistently shown semantic interference effects with nouns. However, only few contradictory results are available at present with verbs. Two experiments on the production of Italian verbs were conducted in order to clarify the issue. Experiment 1 replicated Roelofs (1993). Experiment 2 showed that semantic interference effects obtain regardless of whether or not the distractor verbs are part of the response set. The results are interpreted as evidence that similar processes occur in the production of nouns and verbs. An explanation of the discrepancies present in the current literature is suggested.
Informing Health: a participative approach to health information provision

This article reports on a research project which took place in Brighton in 2006. It was part of ongoing research into the role that information and communications technologies (ICTs) might play in enabling access to health information. It discusses the relevant policy areas, the approaches used in the research and the key findings. It sought to develop a model for good practice in community engagement around health information, adopting an approach based on participation and knowledge exchange. The discussion focuses on three themes arising from the study: different interpretations of health and health information; the role of libraries in health information provision; the benefits and issues of working in a partnership which includes community participants. The project demonstrated positive aspects of partnership working and community engagement, which can be used as a basis for further development, as well as some of the challenges inherent in such an approach.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN L2 GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE AND PHONOLOGICAL MEMORY IN ADULT MALE EFL LEARNERS AT DIFFERENT LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVELS

Evidence is accumulating that phonological memory (PM), a sub-component of working memory (WM), is closely related to different facets of second language (L2) learning. Moreover, little research has specifically delved into the relationship between the PM capacity and grammar among adult learners at different L2 proficiency levels. Therefore, it seems necessary to verify to what extent PM capacity might be related to grammatical knowledge in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners with different proficiency levels. To achieve this objective, the present study investigated the relationship between PM and L2 grammatical knowledge among native Persian-speaking male adults undergoing a 6-week intensive English course. The number of participants was 180 and their age ranged from 20 to 30. The participants were assigned to three different language proficiency levels (beginner, lower intermediate, advanced), 60 each, by using the Quick Placement Test (2001). PM capacity (as referenced by nonword repetition and nonword recognition tasks) and L2 grammatical knowledge were assessed in the first week of their course. After ensuring the normality of the data through SPSS 21, Pearson correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. The findings showed that L2 grammatical knowledge and PM tasks as assessed with English nonword repetition and recognition tests were moderately correlated among adult EFL learners in different levels of language proficiency. However, the correlation coefficients for the advanced group were lower than the other groups. Thus, the findings may imply that grammatical knowledge can be more closely related to PM capacity for beginners and lower intermediate learners than for advanced learners.
Iconicity in argument structure Psych-verbs in Sign Language of the Netherlands

A long tradition of psych-verb research in spoken languages has demonstrated that they constitute a class of their own, both semantically and syntactically. This study presents a description and analysis of psych-verbs in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) in order to investigate whether this verb type displays comparable peculiarities in sign languages. The study is primarily based on data from the Corpus NGT (Crasborn et al. 2008). Firstly, the data indicate that all psychverbs in NGT select a subject Experiencer. Secondly, it is shown that there is an iconic property of psych-verbs in NGT that lays bare a conceptual link between psychological states and locative relations: body-anchoring. The location singled out by the place of articulation of a psych-verb is associated with the metaphoric location of an emotion, or a type of behavior associated with the expression of an emotion. It is furthermore argued that the body as a whole iconically represents the container of a psychological state. The body is analyzed as a possessive determiner that may receive a first person specification as a consequence of bodyanchoring. The data support such an analysis, as they suggest that sentences without an overt Experiencer yield a default first person interpretation. Thus, it is claimed that iconicity affects sentence structure and as such should be incorporated into the formal grammar system. Given that body-anchoring is the source of the effects mentioned above, it may be hypothesized that psych-verbs in NGT do not constitute a class of its own, but rather belong to a larger class of iconically motivated body-anchored verbs that share the properties mentioned above.
Implementation of scalable power and area efficient high-throughput Viterbi decoders

Today's data reconstruction in digital communication systems requires designs of highest throughput rate at low power. The Viterbi algorithm is a key element in such digital signal processing applications. The nonlinear and recursive nature of the Viterbi decoder makes its high-speed implementation challenging. Several promising approaches to achieve either high throughput or low power have been proposed in the past. A combination of these is developed in this paper. Additional new concepts allow building a signal-flow graph suitable for the design of high-speed Viterbi decoders with low power. Using a flexible datapath generator facilitates the essential quantitative optimization from architectural down to physical level to fully exploit the low-power and high-speed potential of a given technology. With parameterizable design entry, this datapath generator establishes the basis of a scalable platform-based design library. Altogether, this allows coverage of the range of today's industrial interest in high throughput rates, from 150 Msymbols/s up to 1.2 Gsymbols/s using conventional CMOS logic. The features of two exemplary Viterbi decoder implementations prove the benefit of this physically oriented design methodology in terms of speed and low power, when compared to other leading edge implementations.
Utilizing Problem-based Learning (PBL) in a University English Interpretation Class

This study focuses on investigating the feasibility of utilizing Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach in a university English interpretation class in Taiwan. In contrast to lectured-based teaching, PBL is a student-centered teaching approach that helps students study school subjects and assimilate knowledge by doing independent and collaborative research. In medical programs, PBL is considered an effective pedagogy and is frequently used by instructors to develop medical students’ abilities to solve complex problems that include multifaceted issues through limited clues. In foreign languages programs, English interpretation class is also a very difficult studying subject which requires students not only to have sufficient knowledge in languages but also possess the accurate interpreting skills from the source language to the target language. Inspired by PBL’s success in medical programs, the researchers experimented PBL in an English interpretation class for a semester to examine its feasibility in actual utilization. In this research, four variables: (1) students’ attitudes, (2) students’ satisfaction, (3) students motivation, and (4) students’ self-achievement were investigated through qualitative-oriented analyses. The major findings indicate that students’ attitudes toward PBL are positive which influences their motivation in learning and that ultimately elevates their English interpreting skills.
Computer Mediated Conversation for Mutual Learning: Acknowledgement and Agreement/Assessment Signals in Italian as L2

The current study aims to investigate form, composition, distribution of acknowledgement and agreement/assessment signals in upper intermediate/advanced Italian as L2 speakers. Data are video-transcribed computer mediated conversations for mutual language learning (Teletandem) during which two female volunteer university students (L1: English and German) talk with a native speaker (NS) female interlocutor
Linear MIMO chip equalization for the CDMA downlink

We consider an MxN MIMO system transmitting orthogonal multicodes from each antenna. A time-dispersive channel causes the codes to de-orthogonalize, complicating the detection problem. A chip-level linear equalizer is used to simultaneously restore the code orthogonality and provide a useful degree of spatial signal separation. A closed-form expression for SINR post-despreading is obtained and used for performance comparisons. We review and compare the finite-length and truncated infinite-length MMSE equalizer solutions. We then investigate two forms of the adaptive NLMS algorithm, one version including a correlator in the error signal path. For a 4/spl times/4 system with a 5 MHz UMTS CDMA signal over a TU multipath channel, we find that an equalizer of length 16-chips is near-optimal, and convergence is possible in 5 msec.
Making Them Count

In light of waning interpersonal contact in America, scholars have turned their attention to social network sites and the opportunities these provide for building and maintaining social relationships. The present study adds to this research, using national survey data from U.S. adults to examine how motivated use of Facebook for expanding and diversifying personal networks might revitalize real-world efforts of sociability for users, and returns to social capital that come by way of them. Results support our overall model relating weak-tie interactions to generalized trust. More importantly, when we use it to compare more and less sociable Facebook users, we find meaningful differences in the strength of the relationships between variables in the model. In particular, for more sociable users, interacting with weak ties was related to greater civic participation and increased feelings of generalized trust. Access to bridging social capital was a larger source of generalized trust for more sociable users as well. Ultimately, our findings suggest that sociability on sites like Facebook can facilitate the development of communication competence, where users who make a concerted effort of expanding and diversifying their personal networks come to interact with a wider array of individuals, and learn how to do so more effectively.
The treatment of long vowels in word games

In the current nonlinear model of CV phonology (Clements & Keyser 1983), phonological representations are organised into several levels or tiers, of which the following three are the most significant: the central CV tier (skeleton), whose units, C and V, are autosegmentally associated with the units of the syllable tier on one end and with the units of the segmental tier on the other. The segmental tier itself is organised into subtiers of distinctive features; the internal structure of the syllable tier is subject to considerable debate in the literature. In addition, CV-level units may be linked to melodies on separate autosegmental tiers in the case of suprasegmental phenomena like tone and vowel harmony.
The “Object Theoretic Operational” View of Natural Science

Abstract In this paper, I argue that the conceptual changes that occurred in the structure of physical knowledge during the second half of the 19th century, are reflected by the concept of the “primary ideal object” (PIO) and its implicit definition within appropriate systems of statements, called a “nucleus of a branch of physics” (NBP). Within an NBP focus shifts away from discovering “law of nature” to observations of a physical object (system) and its states, while the distinct notion of “measurable” replaces the vague notion “observable”. On the basis of this notion, the roles of physical models and measurements within physics, different kinds of work, experiments, and laws are discussed. Next follows a discussion of different levels of change in science, after which this distinction is compared to Kuhn's model. Finally, I present a new combination of “realism” and “constructivism”, which differs from both the “constructive empiricism” of van Fraassen and from different “empirical realisms”.
The Study on the Relationship of Team Boundary Management, Cohesion and Effectiveness

There are limitations of studies on team building from different perspectives. The conclusions of relations between the internal processes, boundary-spanning activities, cohesion and effectiveness are contradictory in those studies. A survey was used to collect relevant data for study of these issues. Path analyses were conducted for hypothesis testing. There are some conclusions as follow: First, inwardfacing boundary management has a significant effect on outward-facing boundary management, which means the mutual supportive and synergic relation between them. Second, inward-facing boundary management has a significant effect on cohesion and effectiveness, and the mediating roles of team cohesion to the relationship between inward-facing boundary management and team effectiveness are supported. Third, the assumption on relationships between outward-facing boundary management, cohesion and effectiveness is supported partially.
The Electronic Academic Library: Undergraduate Research Behavior in a Library Without Books

This study examines undergraduate students' research habits in a strictly electronic library environment at a large public university. Unlike most information commons, the campus' electronic library is not housed within a traditional library space and provides access to electronic research materials exclusively. This study finds that undergraduate students in this electronic library rely primarily on Internet sites and online instruction modules (for example Blackboard or WebCT) for their research needs rather than university-funded research sources. Additionally, academic class status has no significant impact on whether students use either the library's OPAC or the university-funded electronic databases for their research needs. The authors discuss possible reasons for these findings, new pedagogical practices as indicated by the results, and define areas for further research.