1,220 research outputs found
Representational task formats and problem solving strategies in kinematics and work
Previous studies have reported that students employed different problem solving approaches when presented with the same task structured with different representations. In this study, we explored and compared students’ strategies as they attempted tasks from two topical areas, kinematics and work. Our participants were 19 engineering students taking a calculus-based physics course. The tasks were presented in linguistic, graphical, and symbolic forms and requested either a qualitative solution or a value. The analysis was both qualitative and quantitative in nature focusing principally on the characteristics
of the strategies employed as well as the underlying reasoning for their applications. A comparison was also made for the same student’s approach with the same kind of representation across the two topics.
Additionally, the participants’ overall strategies across the different tasks, in each topic, were considered. On the whole, we found that the students prefer manipulating equations irrespective of the representational format of the task. They rarely recognized the applicability of a ‘‘qualitative’’ approach to solve the
problem although they were aware of the concepts involved. Even when the students included visual representations in their solutions, they seldom used these representations in conjunction with the
mathematical part of the problem. Additionally, the students were not consistent in their approach for interpreting and solving problems with the same kind of representation across the two topical areas. The representational format, level of prior knowledge, and familiarity with a topic appeared to influence their
strategies, their written responses, and their ability to recognize qualitative ways to attempt a problem. The nature of the solution does not seem to impact the strategies employed to handle the problem
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Classification of time series patterns from complex dynamic systems
An increasing availability of high-performance computing and data storage media at decreasing cost is making possible the proliferation of large-scale numerical databases and data warehouses. Numeric warehousing enterprises on the order of hundreds of gigabytes to terabytes are a reality in many fields such as finance, retail sales, process systems monitoring, biomedical monitoring, surveillance and transportation. Large-scale databases are becoming more accessible to larger user communities through the internet, web-based applications and database connectivity. Consequently, most researchers now have access to a variety of massive datasets. This trend will probably only continue to grow over the next several years. Unfortunately, the availability of integrated tools to explore, analyze and understand the data warehoused in these archives is lagging far behind the ability to gain access to the same data. In particular, locating and identifying patterns of interest in numerical time series data is an increasingly important problem for which there are few available techniques. Temporal pattern recognition poses many interesting problems in classification, segmentation, prediction, diagnosis and anomaly detection. This research focuses on the problem of classification or characterization of numerical time series data. Highway vehicles and their drivers are examples of complex dynamic systems (CDS) which are being used by transportation agencies for field testing to generate large-scale time series datasets. Tools for effective analysis of numerical time series in databases generated by highway vehicle systems are not yet available, or have not been adapted to the target problem domain. However, analysis tools from similar domains may be adapted to the problem of classification of numerical time series data
Access to infrastructure services: Global trends and drivers
Infrastructure services are essential to human development. Yet, the drivers of service access at a global scale remain largely unexplored. This paper presents trends and global patterns in access to water, sanitation, electricity, and telephony services. Using a panel data set from 1990 to 2010, we empirically explore plausible determinants of access rates to key infrastructure services. Although per-capita GDP is correlated with access rates, access still varies significantly at comparable income levels. Much of this variation is explained by differences in population density. Access levels are higher for urban areas and highest for water, followed by sanitation, electricity, and telephony
Defeasible Logic: Agency, Intention and Obligation
We propose a computationally oriented non-monotonic multi-modal logic arising from the combination of agency, intention and obligation. We argue about the defeasible nature of these notions and then we show how to represent and reason with them in the setting of defeasible logic
Electronic structure, phase stability and chemical bonding in ThAl and ThAlH
We present the results of theoretical investigation on the electronic
structure, bonding nature and ground state properties of ThAl and
ThAlH using generalized-gradient-corrected first-principles
full-potential density-functional calculations. ThAlH has been reported
to violate the "2 \AA rule" of H-H separation in hydrides. From our total
energy as well as force-minimization calculations, we found a shortest H-H
separation of 1.95 {\AA} in accordance with recent high resolution powder
neutron diffraction experiments. When the ThAl matrix is hydrogenated, the
volume expansion is highly anisotropic, which is quite opposite to other
hydrides having the same crystal structure. The bonding nature of these
materials are analyzed from the density of states, crystal-orbital Hamiltonian
population and valence-charge-density analyses. Our calculation predicts
different nature of bonding for the H atoms along and . The strongest
bonding in ThAlH is between Th and H along which form dumb-bell
shaped H-Th-H subunits. Due to this strong covalent interaction there is very
small amount of electrons present between H atoms along which makes
repulsive interaction between the H atoms smaller and this is the precise
reason why the 2 {\AA} rule is violated. The large difference in the
interatomic distances between the interstitial region where one can accommodate
H in the and planes along with the strong covalent interaction
between Th and H are the main reasons for highly anisotropic volume expansion
on hydrogenation of ThAl.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Critical exponents and equation of state of the three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class
We improve the theoretical estimates of the critical exponents for the
three-dimensional Heisenberg universality class. We find gamma=1.3960(9),
nu=0.7112(5), eta=0.0375(5), alpha=-0.1336(15), beta=0.3689(3), and
delta=4.783(3). We consider an improved lattice phi^4 Hamiltonian with
suppressed leading scaling corrections. Our results are obtained by combining
Monte Carlo simulations based on finite-size scaling methods and
high-temperature expansions. The critical exponents are computed from
high-temperature expansions specialized to the phi^4 improved model. By the
same technique we determine the coefficients of the small-magnetization
expansion of the equation of state. This expansion is extended analytically by
means of approximate parametric representations, obtaining the equation of
state in the whole critical region. We also determine a number of universal
amplitude ratios.Comment: 40 pages, final version. In publication in Phys. Rev.
Comparative genomic hybridization and amplotyping by arbitrarily primed PCR in stage A B-CLL
Cytogenetic analysis is useful in the diagnosis and to assess prognosis of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). However, successful cytogenetics by standard techniques has been hindered by the low in vitro mitotic activity of the malignant B-cell population. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become a useful tool, but it does not provide an overall view of the aberrations. To overcome this hurdle, two DNA-based techniques have been tested in the present study: comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and amplotyping by arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR). Comparative genomic hybridization resolution depends upon the 400-bands of the human standard karyotype. AP-PCR allows detection of allelic losses and gains in tumor cells by PCR fingerprinting, thus its resolution is at the molecular level. Both techniques were performed in 23 patients with stage A B-CLL at diagnosis. The results were compared with FISH. The sensitivity of AP-PCR was greater than CGH (62% vs. 43%). The use of CGH combined with AP-PCR allowed to detect genetic abnormalities in 79% (15/19) of patients in whom G-banding was not informative, providing a global view of the aberrations in a sole experiment. This study shows that combining these two methods with FISH, makes possible a more precise genetic characterization of patients with B-CLL
A pervasive approach to a real-time intelligent decision support system in intensive medicine
The decision on the most appropriate procedure to provide to the
patients the best healthcare possible is a critical and complex task in Intensive
Care Units (ICU). Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) should deal with
huge amounts of data and online monitoring, analyzing numerous parameters
and providing outputs in a short real-time. Although the advances attained in
this area of knowledge new challenges should be taken into account in future
CDSS developments, principally in ICUs environments. The next generation of
CDSS will be pervasive and ubiquitous providing the doctors with the
appropriate services and information in order to support decisions regardless the
time or the local where they are. Consequently new requirements arise namely
the privacy of data and the security in data access. This paper will present a
pervasive perspective of the decision making process in the context of INTCare
system, an intelligent decision support system for intensive medicine. Three
scenarios are explored using data mining models continuously assessed and
optimized. Some preliminary results are depicted and discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT
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