Preparación de estudiantes universitarios saudíes de inglés como lengua extranjera para el aprendizaje autónomo de idiomas

Autonomous language learning (ALL) is considered a step to prepar students for their future. It is one aspect of learner – centered approach. Therefore, investigating students’ readiness for AL could be of paramount importance. This study aimed at revealing Saudi English major students’ readiness for ALL. More precisely, the study sought to identify the students’ view on their own responsibility and their teachers toward learning English, their ability to behave autonomously, and their actual practice of AL outside the classroom. A questionnaire was adopted to collect data. The participants were 105 students majoring in English language, College of Science & Humanities (CSH), Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU). Results of the study revealed a relation between the students’ own responsibility and their teachers for the process of learning English language. However, the students assigned more responsibility to their teachers. It was also found that the participants were not confident in their ability to behave autonomously when learning English. Finally, the results showed that the participants have not practiced, on their own, several activities given in the questionnaire outside the classroom. Generally, the participants were not ready for ALL. The study recommended that students’ awareness to the advantages of ALL should be raised.El aprendizaje autónomo de idiomas (ALL) se considera un paso para preparar a los estudiantes para su futuro. Es un aspecto del enfoque centrado en el alumno. Por lo tanto, investigar la preparación de los estudiantes para el ALL podría ser de suma importancia. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo revelar la preparación de estudiantes saudíes de la licenciatura en inglés para el ALL. En particular, el estudio buscó identificar los puntos de vista de los estudiantes sobre su responsabilidad personal y la de sus profesores hacia el aprendizaje del inglés, su habilidad para actuar de manera autónoma y su aplicación real de ALL fuera del aula. Se adoptó un cuestionario para la recopilación de datos. Los participantes fueron 105 estudiantes del énfasis en idioma inglés en una universidad pública en Arabia Saudita. Los resultados mostraron una relación entre la responsabilidad de los estudiantes y la de sus profesores. Sin embargo, los estudiantes asignaron más responsabilidad a sus profesores. También se encontró que los participantes no estaban seguros de su capacidad para actuar de forma autónoma en el proceso de aprendizaje del inglés. Finalmente, los resultados mostraron que los participantes no practican de manera autónoma varias actividades extracurriculares recogidas en el cuestionario. En general, los participantes no estaban preparados para el ALL, y el estudio recomendó que se sensibilizara a los estudiantes sobre las ventajas del ALL

Automating user privacy policy recommendations in social media

Most Social Media Platforms (SMPs) implement privacy policies that enable users to protect their sensitive information against privacy violations. However, observations indicate that users find these privacy policies cumbersome and difficult to configure. Consequently, various approaches have been proposed to assist users with privacy policy configuration. These approaches are however, limited to either protecting only profile attributes, or only protecting user-generated content. This is problematic, because both profile attributes and user-generated content can contain sensitive information. Therefore, protecting one without the other, can still result in privacy violations. A further drawback of existing approaches is that most require considerable user input which is time consuming and inefficient in terms of privacy policy configuration. In order to address these problems, we propose an automated privacy policy recommender system. The system relies on the expertise of existing social media users, as well as the user's privacy policy history in order to provide him/her with personalized privacy policy suggestions for both profile attributes, and user-generated content. Results from our prototype implementation indicate that the proposed recommender system provides accurate privacy policy suggestions, with minimum user input

The Impact of Monolingual Dictionaries on Reading Comprehension among Sudanese English Majors

Vocabulary is recognized as a central aspect of mastery of the language and the use of monolingual dictionaries is regarded as a crucial tool in determining meanings of words in reading exercises. This paper aims at exploring the effects of dictionaries on reading appreciation among Sudanese students. The reading comprehension test was a replication of the text used in an experiment by Nesi and Meara (1992). Its rationale is simple: since monolingual dictionaries are designed to help in reading comprehension, it is reasonable to assume that dictionary users will score significantly better than non-dictionary users. The study sample comprised 50 students from a Public Sudanese university, with half the students carrying out the test using monolingual dictionaries and the other half without this aid. Dictionary users were asked to tick the words they had looked up and to write down their meanings. The meanings selected were matched with the original context, and judgment was made as to whether the degree of correctness had affected the scores. The results indicate that no statistically significant differences exist between the two groups. This conclusion contradicts the bulk of research and the researcher proposes a number of explanations for this apparent failure. It is suggested that the poor reference skills of the subjects is the major responsible factor

拡散テンソル画像の複数の指標を組み合わせることで外傷性脳損傷と健常対象との判別能力が上昇する

京都大学新制・課程博士博士(医学)甲第24512号医博第4954号新制||医||1064(附属図書館)京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻(主査)教授 花川 隆, 教授 古川 壽亮, 教授 中本 裕士学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Medical ScienceKyoto UniversityDFA

Dynamic analysis for normal and inclined tether Tension Leg Platforms

Tension leg platform (TLP) is a type of compliant offshore structure where its excess buoyancy over the weight produces pretension in the tethers connecting the hull to the seabed. TLP technology preserves many of the operational advantages of a fixed platform at the same time reducing the cost of production in deep water. Its production and maintenance operations are similar to those of fixed platforms. TLP combines the initial cost-saving benefits associated with floating production system with the operational benefits attributed to the fixed platforms. The dynamic responses of TLP such as the motions and the tether tensions when it is subjected to wave forces are needed for the design and maintenance of the structure. The amplitudes of motion responses must be within permissible limits to prevent flexural yielding of the drilling risers which connect the platform to the sea bed completion template. Limiting these responses leads to better stability and safe drilling operations. In this study, a MATLAB computer program was developed for determining the dynamic responses of rectangular, triangular and inclined-tether TLPs subjected to random waves. The platform was considered as a rigid body and all the six motions were determined. The hydrodynamic drag and inertia coefficients at each point on the platform were revised after each time step. Second order wave theory and Modified Morison equation were used for wave force calculations. Newmark Beta Method of time domain analysis was used for the dynamic analysis. The response amplitude operators (RAO) for typical square TLPs were compared with available theoretical results. The inclined-tether stiffuess matrix was developed, using which the responses of inclined tether square TLP under regular and random waves were determined. Also, parametric studies were made varying parameters such as water depth, pretension, wave angle and position of CG. The inclined-tether square TLP results were compared with the results for the square and triangular TLPs. The results proved the capability of the developed programme in predicting the responses. The results also indicated that the square TLPs performed much better compared to triangular TLPs under random waves. The parametric studies highlighted the remarkable change in platform responses caused by changing the above mentioned parameters. It was also shown that the inclined-tether square TLP had better performance compared with vertical-tethered rectangular and triangular TLPs

The applications of neural network in mapping, modeling and change detection using remotely sensed data

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityAdvances in remote sensing and associated capabilities are expected to proceed in a number of ways in the era of the Earth Observing System (EOS). More complex multitemporal, multi-source data sets will become available, requiring more sophisticated analysis methods. This research explores the applications of artificial neural networks in land-cover mapping, forward and inverse canopy modeling and change detection. For land-cover mapping a multi-layer feed-forward neural network produced 89% classification accuracy using a single band of multi-angle data from the Advanced Solidstate Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS). The principal results include the following: directional radiance measurements contain much useful information for discrimination among land-cover classes; the combination of multi-angle and multi-spectral data improves the overall classification accuracy compared with a single multi-angle band; and neural networks can successfully learn class discrimination from directional data or multi-domain data. Forward canopy modeling shows that a multi-layer feed-forward neural network is able to predict the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of different canopy sites with 90% accuracy. Analysis of the signal captured by the network indicates that the canopy structural parameters, and illumination and viewing geometry, are essential for predicting the BRDF of vegetated surfaces. The inverse neural network model shows that the R2 between the network-predicted canopy parameters and the actual canopy parameters is 0.85 for canopy density and 0.75 for both the crown shape and the height parameters. [TRUNCATED

Modelling bidirectional radiance measurements collected by the advanced solid-state array spectroradiometer over Oregon transect conifer forests

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe primary objective of this research is to test and validate a geometric-optical bidirectional reflectance canopy model developed by Li and Strahler, with respect to actual forest canopy reflectance measurments. This model treats forest canopies as scenes of discrete, three dimensional objects that are illuminated and viewed from different positions in the hemisphere. The shapes of the objects, their count densities and patterns of placement are the driving variables, and they condition the mixture of sunlit and shaded objects and background that is observed from a particular viewing direction, given a direction of illumination. This mixture, in turn, controls the brightness apparent to an observer or a radiometric instrument. The Advanced Solid-State Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS) is chosen to be the sensor having the ability of collecting measurements at various look angles and its imaged reflectance was used to validate the model. The modelled BRF's were compared to actual ASAS measured BRF's in sites with different canopy structures and densities. The comparision revealed execellent match between the modelled and measured reflectance, and great ability of the model in predicting the shape and magnitude of the BRDF, in almost all the sites investigated. It is concluded that the geometric optics approach provided a good way to model the bidirectional reflectance distribution function of natural vegetation canopies, that captures the most important features exhibited by bidirectional measurements of such canopies. Further modifications have been suggested that will improve the predicted BRF's, and yield better results. [TRUNCATED

Improved drive current in RF vertical MOSFETS using hydrogen anneal

This letter reports a study on the effect of a hydrogen anneal after silicon pillar etch of surround-gate vertical MOSFETs intended for RF applications. A hydrogen anneal at 800 ?C is shown to give a 30% improvement in the drive current of 120-nm n-channel transistors compared with transistors without the hydrogen anneal. The value of drive current achieved is 250 ?A/?m, which is a record for thick pillar vertical MOSFETs. This improved performance is obtained even though a sacrificial oxidation was performed prior to the hydrogen anneal to smooth the pillar sidewall. The values of subthreshold slope and DIBL are 79 mV/decade and 45 mV/V, respectively, which are significantly better than most values reported in the literature for comparable devices. The H2 anneal is also shown to decrease the OFF-state leakage current by a factor of three

Students Attitude Towards the Use of Social Media for Learning Purposes (Case Study: Al-Baha University, College of Sciences & Arts- Biljurashi)

The paper aimed at recognizing the attitudes of  using the  social networking sites among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Saudi context. To the continued growth of the cyberspace era has brought with it a permanent change in the way that students interact and socialize. Based on analytical, descriptive method.  The study has reached to findings of it the bulk of the respondents report a positive attitude towards  social networking on their English language learning.And of the study recommendations more research studies in this area should be carried out,  for  order to develop best practices for its implementation in teaching and learning in EFL in the Saudi contexts. Keywords: Social network, Saudi Arabia academic purpose, students attitude