Revealing Shifts and Diversity in Understandings of Self Access Language Learning

This study has traced the growth of a new facility intended to promote independent language study in a Japanese university. The study traces this Self Access Learning Center (SALC) from its inception through the first two years of its development. It has revealed how key qualitative insights from an archive of semi-structured interviews, conversational narratives and questionnaires with students, teachers, center staff and university management are marked by their shifting and diverse nature. Findings related to language policy for the center show how initial ‘English only’ regulations have been opposed and amended by stakeholders. Findings focusing on the center stakeholders’ metaphors of self access language learning have changed or been supplemented and show great diversity. Importantly, SALC’s positioning in the wider university has experienced problems with diverse evaluation expectations and, despite considerable financial backing, remains marginalized. Finally, SALC’s integration with university curricula has seen mixed results; the center is connected closely to the English curriculum as taught by non-Japanese, but not to curricula taught by Japanese teachers of English or content subjects. This indicates that integration of university-wide curricula with autonomous modes of learning remains a hurdle. This study may inform other centers seeking to gather data on the diverse voices impacting upon their development

Development of food photographs for use with children aged 18 months to 16 years:comparison against weighed food diaries – The Young Person’s Food Atlas (UK)

Traditional dietary assessment methods, used in the UK, such as weighed food diaries impose a large participant burden, often resulting in difficulty recruiting representative samples and underreporting of energy intakes. One approach to reducing the burden placed on the participant is to use portion size assessment tools to obtain an estimate of the amount of food consumed, removing the need to weigh all foods. An age range specific food atlas was developed for use in assessing children’s dietary intakes. The foods selected and portion sizes depicted were derived from intakes recorded during the UK National Diet and Nutrition Surveys of children aged 1.5 to 16 years. Estimates of food portion sizes using the food atlas were compared against 4-day weighed intakes along with in-school / nursery observations, by the research team. Interviews were conducted with parents the day after completion of the diary, and for children aged 4 to 16 years, also with the child. Mean estimates of portion size consumed were within 7% of the weight of food recorded in the weighed food diary. The limits of agreement were wide indicating high variability of estimates at the individual level but the precision increased with increasing age. For children 11 years and over, agreement with weighed food diaries, was as good as that of their parents in terms of total weight of food consumed and of intake of energy and key nutrients. The age appropriate food photographs offer an alternative to weighed intakes for dietary assessment with children

The Ammount of Interstellar Carbon Locked in Solid Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon

We review the literature and present new experimental data to determine the amount of carbon likely to be locked in form of solid hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC) grains. We conclude on the basis of a thorough analysis of the intrinsic strength of the C-H stretching band at 3.4 micron that between 10 and 80 ppM H of carbon is in the form of HAC grains. We show that it is necessary to know the level of hydrogenation (H/C) of the interstellar HAC to determine more precisely the amount of carbon it ties up. We present optical constants, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and IR absorption spectroscopy for a particular HAC sample that is shown to have a 3.4 micron absorption feature that is quantatively consistent with that observed in the diffuse interstellar medium.Comment: This paper is 14 pages long with 5 figures and will appear in the 1 December 1999 issue of Ap

Rancang Bangun Mobile Robot Pengikut Manusia Berdasarkan Warna Menggunakan Metode Template Matching Berbasis Mini Pc

Penerapan teknologi di bidang robotika telah banyak dimanfaatkan oleh kalangan industri di dunia kerja dalam rangka meningkatkan efisiensi dan efektivitas berbagai aktivitas kerja manusia. Sebuah mobile robot dibuat agar dapat mengikuti pergerakan objek berupa manusia berdasarkan warna menggunakan webcam. Mobile robot yang dibuat dapat melakukan proses pengolahan citra dari warna objek yang ditangkap oleh webcam, sehingga dapat mengenali warna objek yang diikuti. Proses pengolahan citra akan di proses di dalam Raspberry Pi sebagai pusat kontrol, yang akan menggerakkan motor pada mobile robot. Ada beberapa proses pengolahan citra untuk mengikuti pergerakan objek, yaitu: mencari nilai HSV masing-masing warna pada kondisi pencahayaan yang berbeda, menganalisa warna objek yang akan diikuti dengan membandingkan nilai HSV yang didapat dengan nilai HSV pada proses sebelumnya, dan mendeteksi warna lingkaran pada objek yang tujuan dengan menggunakan metode template matching. Mobile robot akan mengikuti pergerakan objek yang telah ditangkap oleh webcam, Dari penelitian yang dilakukan, didapatkan nilai HSV yang tepat untuk semua keadaan pencahayaan untuk masing-masing warna yaitu: nilai H (Hue) untuk warna, merah: 0-66, nilai S (Saturation): 64-169, dan nilai V (Value): 75-124. Dari 11 kali pengujian sistem yang dilakukan pada semua kondisi pencahayaan, diperoleh 5 kali kegagalan dengan persentase kegagalan sebesar 45.4 % dan 6 kali keberhasilan dengan persentase keberhasilan sebesar 54.6 %

Next-to-leading order predictions for Z gamma+jet and Z gamma gamma final states at the LHC

We present next-to-leading order predictions for final states containing leptons produced through the decay of a Z boson in association with either a photon and a jet, or a pair of photons. The effect of photon radiation from the final state leptons is included and we also allow for contributions arising from fragmentation processes. Phenomenological studies are presented for the LHC in the case of final states containing charged leptons and in the case of neutrinos. We also use the procedure introduced by Stewart and Tackmann to provide a reliable estimate of the scale uncertainty inherent in our theoretical calculations of jet-binned Z gamma cross sections. These computations have been implemented in the public code MCFM.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure

Coronary CT Angiography and 5-Year Risk of Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: Although coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) improves diagnostic certainty in the assessment of patients with stable chest pain, its effect on 5-year clinical outcomes is unknown. METHODS: In an open-label, multicenter, parallel-group trial, we randomly assigned 4146 patients with stable chest pain who had been referred to a cardiology clinic for evaluation to standard care plus CTA (2073 patients) or to standard care alone (2073 patients). Investigations, treatments, and clinical outcomes were assessed over 3 to 7 years of follow-up. The primary end point was death from coronary heart disease or nonfatal myocardial infarction at 5 years. RESULTS: The median duration of follow-up was 4.8 years, which yielded 20,254 patient-years of follow-up. The 5-year rate of the primary end point was lower in the CTA group than in the standard-care group (2.3% [48 patients] vs. 3.9% [81 patients]; hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41 to 0.84; P=0.004). Although the rates of invasive coronary angiography and coronary revascularization were higher in the CTA group than in the standard-care group in the first few months of follow-up, overall rates were similar at 5 years: invasive coronary angiography was performed in 491 patients in the CTA group and in 502 patients in the standard-care group (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.13), and coronary revascularization was performed in 279 patients in the CTA group and in 267 in the standard-care group (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.91 to 1.27). However, more preventive therapies were initiated in patients in the CTA group (odds ratio, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.19 to 1.65), as were more antianginal therapies (odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.54). There were no significant between-group differences in the rates of cardiovascular or noncardiovascular deaths or deaths from any cause. CONCLUSIONS: In this trial, the use of CTA in addition to standard care in patients with stable chest pain resulted in a significantly lower rate of death from coronary heart disease or nonfatal myocardial infarction at 5 years than standard care alone, without resulting in a significantly higher rate of coronary angiography or coronary revascularization. (Funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office and others; SCOT-HEART ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01149590 .)

The Outer Disks of Early-Type Galaxies. I. Surface-Brightness Profiles of Barred Galaxies

We present a study of 66 barred, early-type (S0-Sb) disk galaxies, focused on the disk surface brightness profile outside the bar region and the nature of Freeman Type I and II profiles, their origins, and their possible relation to disk truncations. This paper discusses the data and their reduction, outlines our classification system, and presents $R$-band profiles and classifications for all galaxies in the sample. The profiles are derived from a variety of different sources, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 5). For about half of the galaxies, we have profiles derived from more than one telescope; this allows us to check the stability and repeatability of our profile extraction and classification. The vast majority of the profiles are reliable down to levels of mu_R ~ 27 mag arcsec^-2; in exceptional cases, we can trace profiles down to mu_R > 28. We can typically follow disk profiles out to at least 1.5 times the traditional optical radius R_25; for some galaxies, we find light extending to ~ 3 R_25. We classify the profiles into three main groups: Type I (single-exponential), Type II (down-bending), and Type III (up-bending). The frequencies of these types are approximately 27%, 42%, and 24%, respectively, plus another 6% which are combinations of Types II and III. We further classify Type II profiles by where the break falls in relation to the bar length, and in terms of the postulated mechanisms for breaks at large radii ("classical trunction" of star formation versus the influence of the Outer Lindblad Resonance of the bar). We also classify the Type III profiles by the probable morphology of the outer light (disk or spheroid). Illustrations are given for all cases. (Abridged)Comment: 41 pages, 26 PDF figures. To appear in the Astronomical Journal. Version with full-resolution figures available at http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~erwin/research

Vector boson pair production at the LHC

We present phenomenological results for vector boson pair production at the LHC, obtained using the parton-level next-to-leading order program MCFM. We include the implementation of a new process in the code, pp -> \gamma\gamma, and important updates to existing processes. We incorporate fragmentation contributions in order to allow for the experimental isolation of photons in \gamma\gamma, W\gamma, and Z\gamma production and also account for gluon-gluon initial state contributions for all relevant processes. We present results for a variety of phenomenological scenarios, at the current operating energy of \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and for the ultimate machine goal, \sqrt{s} = 14 TeV. We investigate the impact of our predictions on several important distributions that enter into searches for new physics at the LHC.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure

O/IR Polarimetry for the 2010 Decade (PSF): Science at the Edge, Sharp Tools for All

Science opportunities and recommendations concerning optical/infrared polarimetry for the upcoming decade in the fields of planetary systems and star formation. Community-based White Paper to Astro2010 in response to the call for such papers.Comment: White Paper to the Planetary Systems and Star Formation (PSF) Science Frontiers Panel of the Astro2010 Decadal Surve