Development of Variable Slope Piecewise-Based Brown Symbols for Application to Nonlinear Ambiguity Suppression

In 1962, Palermo used two conjugate Linear Frequency Modulated (LFM) pulses to demonstrate a Non-linear Ambiguity Suppression (NLAS) technique to reduce ambiguous energy in radar returns. Using conjugate LFM pulse coding does not readily extend to larger symbol families and thus is severely limited for M-channel (M\u3e 2) NLAS applications. Larger families of optimal mutually dispersible codes with bigger time bandwidth products are needed to achieve the desired M-fold range ambiguity reduction. Using correlation function the time duration as an optimization metric, the recently proposed Brown\u27s theorem formulates a deterministic process for designing optimal mutually dispersible symbol sets of arbitrary size. The rms time duration performance of digitized Brown symbols is invariant to choice of basis (phase-rate) functions used in the design process, yet improvement in cross-correlation side lobe performance is directly linked to basis function design. This insight provided the impetus for designing and synthesizing a new set of mutually dispersible symbols based on Variable Slope (VS) piecewise basis functions. The resultant VS piecewise-based Brown symbols are used with NLAS processing to demonstrate M-fold ambiguity suppression capability. Despite the presence of two undesired ambiguous signal responses having +24.0 dB more signal power relative to the weaker desired unambiguous signal, the NLAS processor effectively suppressed the ambiguous responses. The desired signal peak NLAS output response was approximately 11.0 dB above the noise floor and undesired ambiguous responses were suppressed an average of 10.0 to 12.0 dB - a net improvement of approximately 21.01 to 22.0 dB

Making the world a better place with Mixed Reality in Education

Mixed Reality (MR) is an emerging technology in which the real world is enhanced by an overlay of computer graphics-based interaction. The use of MR in the Information Systems (IS) pedagogy is becoming more and more to be taken as a reflection of reality. This study expands on the current literature to plan, design, test, and evaluate the use of Microsoft HoloLens a MR device in IS classroom. This study uses design science guidelines to introduce HoloLens to 205 students in a postgraduate and undergraduate class. Student responses were both positive and negative highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the technology, the applications and its interface as presented in this paper. This study uses Socio-Technical Interaction Networks (STIN) analytical strategy for social informatics to compare the different forms of knowledge embodiment in the mixed reality system for education

MIXED REALITY IN THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS PEDAGOGY: AN AUTHENTIC LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Mixed Reality (MR) has brought a significant change in today’s world and its significance is continuously evolving in Information Systems (IS) pedagogy. This study expands on the current literature to plan, design, test, and evaluate the use of Microsoft HoloLens, which is an MR device in an IS classroom. This study uses design science guidelines to introduce HoloLens to 20 postgraduate students and 130 undergraduate students in their class. Student responses were both positive and negative highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the technology, the applications and its interface as presented in this paper. Findings suggest that the use of an authentic learning framework provided effective instructional design guidelines support the acquisition of advanced knowledge

A Conceptual Framework to Assess the Effectiveness of Rubric Tool

Rubrics are being used in a wide variety of disciplines in higher education to evaluate the assessments and provide feedback to students. Rubrics are traditionally implemented as paper-based table to grade assessments and provide feedback. The advancement of technology has integrated the Rubric Tool into Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Blackboard to facilitate online marking. In this conceptual paper, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the Rubric Tool. We propose an integrated conceptual framework applying various theories from the extant literature to assess the effectiveness of the Rubric Tool. Furthermore, we use the framework to evaluate the effectiveness of the Blackboard LMS Rubric Tool applied in an undergraduate course for grading assessments under the settings of an Australian International University in Asia

Design and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Game to Improve Physical and Cognitive Acuity

Physical and mental health are both integral to healthy living and ageing, and a causal-cum-symbiotic relationship has been observed between the two. Physical and cognitive activities such as exercise and board games are known to promote healthy ageing. In this regard, highly engaging lightboard games are known to improve hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and motor skills for individuals. Immersivity of virtual reality games can transform mundane and repetitive exercise routines into stimulating experiences, and they can be utilized by users to improve physical and cognitive performance from the comfort of their homes. In this study, we adopt design science framework to design, develop and evaluate a VR BATAK lightboard game to improve physical reaction, hand-eye coordination, visual memory and cognitive processing. Based on the findings from evaluation over three phases, we propose three design principles related to accessibility, sensory cueing and cognitive loading, as theoretical and practical contributions of this study

Analysis of copper(II) using the ascorbate/oxygen system – a valuable undergraduate resource

In deionised water, ascorbic acid (AH−), through oxidation by oxygen in the presence of copper(II), was found to degrade with zero-order kinetics. The magnitude of the reaction rate varied directly with the copper(II) concentration. At a higher pH (7.4), the same reaction was found to be pseudo-first order. Once again, the magnitude of the rate increased linearly with copper(II) concentration at a micromolar level. Dissolved oxygen levels, in excess AH− and trace copper(II), displayed similar kinetics under both conditions. Monitoring of either AH− levels or dissolved oxygen concentration was found to be a useful novel undergraduate practical laboratory for trace copper(II) determination. Students can measure the kinetics for standards and their unknown copper solution and quantitate the unknown copper

Designing an Artifact to Empower Chronic Patients for Monitoring Health During a Pandemic: A COVID-19 Screening App

Chronic diseases have been declared an invisible epidemic by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005). Over the past fifty years, the prevalence of chronic conditions has increased, leading to the disease burden caused by cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and mental and substance use disorders (DOH, 2021). Chronic patients need to reimagine how they will empower themselves to effectively manage and monitor their health and wellbeing in a COVID-19 era when frequent in-person health care visits will no longer be feasible. In this study, we propose the dimensions for the design of a mobile-based application that will aid chronic patients and end-users in self-managing and monitoring their health during the pandemic era. Based on an empirical investigation involving pharmacists and researchers, we designed and developed a prototype capable of empowering chronic patients. This study particularly focuses on how technological interventions can help chronic patients self-manage and monitor their health and well-being related to COVID-19 where the user expectations are met with less attrition rates