The UPC Text-to-Speech System for Spanish and Catalan

This paper summarizes the text-to-speech system that has been developed in the Speech Group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). The system is composed of a core and different interfaces so that it is compatible for research, for telephone applications (either CTI boards or standard ISDN PC cards supporting CAPI), and Windows applications developed using Microsoft SAPI. The paper reviews the system making emphasis in the parts of the system which are language dependent and which allow the reading of bilingual text (Spanish and Catalan). The paper also presents new approaches in prosodic modeling (segmental duration modeling) and generation of the database of speech segments, which have been introduced last year.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Trade and production, 1976-99

The authors have prepared this paper as a companion to the Trade and Production database, which contains trade, production, and tariff data for 67 industrial and developing countries at the industry level for 1976-99. The sector disaggregation in the database follows the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), with data provided at the three-digit level (28 industries) for all 67 countries and at the four-digit level (81 industries) for 24 of these countries. The production data are from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's Industrial Statistics Database at the three- and four-digit level of ISIC. They include value added, total output, average wages, capital formation, number of employees, number of female employees, and number of firms. The trade data are from the United Nations Statistics Division's Commodity Trade (Comtrade) database (through the World Bank's World Integrated Trade Solution, or WITS, software) and include imports and exports. Data on mirror exports (reported by trading partners) were obtained using WITS. The trade data are aggregated by region and income group, as defined by the World Bank. A separate data set provides bilateral trade flows (by partner) at the industry level. The data on average tariffs (most favored nation) are from the Trains database maintained by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and from the World Trade Organization's Trade Policy Reviews and Integrated Database. The database also provides an input-output table for each country using data from version 4 of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database. The database is available on request on CD-ROM in a series of ASCII files and Microsoft Excel worksheets. It is also available on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org./research/trade.Information Technology,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Information Technology,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies

Using WEDPI learning package to upgrade teacher's skills on information technology

The change in teaching techniques which applies information technology brings about a paradigm shift in our country's educational system. However, past researches have shown that the application of information technology in classrooms is still at an unsatisfactory level. This is caused by a group of teachers who haven't been able to master the basic skills of information technology application even after attending the courses. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the level of skillfulness of primary school teachers - especially those in the interiors - on information technology, and thereafter develop a multimedia learning package (WEDPI Package for Learning) which will hopefully assist these weak teachers to increase their level of skillfulness in information technology. WEDPI refers to the productivity tools, which includes applications for word-processing (Microsoft Word), electronic spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel), database (Microsoft Access), presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint) and the Internet. This research adopted the quantitative approach and the ADDIE model was used in the development of this multimedia learning package. To obtain information on the level of skillfulness, the researcher carried out a hands-on test. The pre-experimental designs, which are the pre-test and post-test, were executed to determine if there were any difference in the level of skillfulness of the teachers after using the WEDPI Package for Learning. The research findings showed that teachers involved gave positive comments about the experience in using this stand alone learning material. The respondents also stated that the WEDPI Package for Learning is easy to use, flexible and is able to help them increase their level of skills in information technology. This is supported by the t-test results which show that there is a significant difference in the achievement of teachers' scores

Volunteer System Project: Regis University Networking Lab Practicum

The Regis University Networking Lab Practicum (NLP) allows MSCIT graduate students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in IT topics in a controlled computer network environment. The NLP also introduces students to a wide range of external IT projects such as the Volunteer System Project. The Volunteer System Project was the construction of a database system for a non-profit organization. The Volunteer System captures all of the personnel data, work time and project affiliation information and is a critical tool in managing and maintaining a successful volunteer workforce. The performance of the original spreadsheet-based Volunteer System was declining and could not support the business needs for time tracking, querying, and reporting functions nor the rapidly increasing growth of the volunteer base. The NLP studied the original Volunteer System and proposed a project concept to reconstruct the system using relational database technology. The project was developed within the scope of the nonprofit group\u27s business requirements and implemented using industry-accepted project management processes, all phases of a standard system development lifecycle, and database development research and application. The non-profit organization would only consider the project if there were no budget requirements and only if existing licensed software, such as Microsoft Access, were utilized. Other software alternatives were considered, such as Oracle and MySQL, however the business did not have the budget to procure any new software licenses and would not have adequate support for a non-Microsoft solution after the project concluded. The NLP participated, managed, and implemented the project with an additional constraint of only one primary project resource. The Volunteer System project provided a sound topic for the NLP student\u27s professional project while benefiting the non-profit group with free IT development. Additionally, the documentation of the implemented project can be used as a project management and development learning tool for future NLP students

Effect of Powerpoint Instruction on Students’ Academic Achievement in Computer Science (Database Management System) in Colleges of Education in Rivers State

The study investigated the ‘Effect of PowerPoint Instruction on Students’ academic achievement in Computer Science’. Microsoft Office PowerPoint Instruction Strategy (MOSPPIS) was used as the experimental variable while Lecture Method was the control. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study which adopted a quasi-experimental, pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group was carried out in the College of Education, River State. Sample of 346 two hundred level computer science student were used for the study. Two intact classes from each College of Education were used; the intact classes were taught meaning of database management using MOPPIS and LM groups. The instrument Computer Science Achievement Test (COSAT) was developed by the researcher and validated by three experts before using it for data collection. The instrument was administered as pretest and reshuffled as posttest. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation scores. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results showed that the experimental group taught with Microsoft PowerPoint Instruction Strategy (MSPPIS) obtained a higher mean achievement score than the control group in the post COSAT. The difference was however, not significant. The male students had higher mean achievement scores than their female counterparts. It was recommended among others that MOSPPIS should be given more emphasis in the training and re-training programmes of colleges of education computer science lecturers. Keywords: PowerPoint Instruction, Academic Achievement, Data Base Management System, Instructional Strategy & Computer Science

„Biohistoriograficzne” prace naukowe na Ukrainie od czasów odzyskania niepodległości. Ujęcie ilościowe

The aim of the paper is discovering how the new demands for modernization of the biographical discourse after biographical turn are met and realized in the current Ukrainian biographical research. The author will approach this through looking at avtoreferats (abstracts) of dissertations on biographical topics that have been defended in Ukraine in the past thirty years. The present work is based on quantitative methods. It draws on the analysis of a relational database of historiographical dissertations defended over the period from 1991 to 2020, built in Microsoft Access. Analysis of the database provides an opportunity to answer a number of new research questions: about the dynamics of biographical dissertation writing and defense over time, circle of humanities scholars whose life and activities have been the subject of dissertation-level historiographical studies in recent decades, methodological foundations of biographical studies (special methodological concepts and tools) on the basis of classification of dissertations in biographical studies, finally, the database also allows us to analyze the authors of biographical dissertations as a group and detect the existence of research communities (academic schools) in the field of biographical studies.Celem poniższego artykułu jest przedstawienie w jaki sposób potrzeba aktualizacji dyskursu biografistycznego jest realizowana w obecnym ukraińskim nurcie badawczym. Autorka podejmuje się analizy abstraktów naukowych rozpraw poruszających tematy biografii, które obroniono na przestrzeni ostatnich trzydziestu lat. Artykuł wykorzystuje metody ilościowe, czerpiąc z analizy relacyjnej bazy danych prac historiograficznych bronionych w latach 1991–2020, która stworzona została w programie Microsoft Access. Umożliwia to zrozumienie wielu problemów badawczych m.in. dynamiki pisania oraz publikowania rozpraw w ostatnim trzydziestoleciu. Nakreśla ona także krąg badawczy, którego aktywność była przedmiotem badań na poziomie rozpraw z dziedziny biografistyki, ale i definiuje podstawy metodologiczne studiów biografistycznych (pojęcia i narzędzia z zakresu metodologii) w oparciu o klasyfikację prac badawczych w studiach biografistycznych. W swoim artykule autorka kreśli także grupowy portret autorów tych prac, poświadczając egzystencji środowisk naukowych (szkół badawczych) w dziedzinie nauk biografistycznych