A multimedia presentation system for interactive learning

With the advances in multimedia technology, computers now support learning in many ways. Further, the Internet may make it possible to break the traditional classroom contact model. The major goal of this project work is to develop a prototype Multimedia Presentation System for Interactive Learning based on a graph model. This model is called the CONCEPT GRAPH MODEL (CGM). The CGM is a digraph in which the nodes correspond to "concepts" to be taught (learned) and a directed arc corresponds to the suggested precedence order. The CGM may be structured hierarchically. The navigation of Concept Graph Model is adjusted to suit the level of understanding of the students. While navigating the CGM, a student can listen to the lecture, see the professor's teaching on the screen, request for a quiz and receive quiz answers interactively. For further detailed discussions, the student may communicate to the professor by using the built-in E-mail sub-system. The student's progress and status can be monitored by the proposed system during the course. The proposed system is developed using Visual Basic 5.0 with Microsoft Access as the database. Module # 2 (prepared by Dr. Radhakrishnan for teaching Assembly language) is used as a sample topic to demonstrate this syste

Insights into the magnetic origin of CunCr (n= 9÷11) clusters: A superposition of magnetic and electronic shells

Interests in Cu-Cr sub-nanometer systems have been increasing due to the recently-found icosahedral Cu12Cr cluster as a superatomic molecule, where the 3d-Cr and 4s-Cu electrons can phenomenologically form the 18-e molecular shell (1S21P61D10) of Cu12Cr. In this report, we set out to investigate the energetically-preferred geometries and stabilities of CunCr (n = 9÷11) clusters using the density-functional-theory calculations. It is found that not all of 3d-Cr electrons involve in the formation of the cluster shell and the remaining localized ones cause the magnetic moment of the clusters, which is different from what was believed

The Determinants of Financial Analysts' Performance: Analyses using Quasi-Natural Experiments

This thesis consists of three studies that utilize financial analyst career events as quasi-natural experiments to examine the factors that explain analyst forecasting performance. The purpose of this thesis is to minimize endogeneity problems that have hampered the financial analyst literature and at the same time add to the literature by showing that important life events can have a significant impact on analyst forecasting performance. First, I examine how employment change affects analyst herding behavior in their forecasts. My results show that analysts exhibit stronger herding behavior following an employment change. Specifically, they have a greater tendency to imitate other analysts’ earnings forecasts. Also, relative to their peers, they are slower in issuing forecasts and, as a result, issue revisions less frequently. This has a consequential negative effect on the market impact of their forecasts. I argue that the results are due to the need for newcomers to contend with the unfamiliarity of their new workplace environment and demonstrate that my results hold across several robustness tests, including a quasi-natural experiment using brokerage firm M&As that utilizes the estimation of an average treatment effect. This study raises a significant human resource question on how brokerage firms should support employees who have recently switched jobs. Second, I examine the impact that work specialization has on the performance of superior and inferior analysts. My results show that the forecast accuracy of superior analysts improves when their coverage is more concentrated within a few industries. However, there is no evidence of an equivalent improvement for inferior analysts. I argue that this is due to superior analysts being better able to utilize intra-industry relevant information when pricing stocks within the same sector, leading them to benefit more viii from specialization. My results are robust when I conduct quasi-natural experiments by utilizing brokerage firm M&As to capture changes to the work specialization of analysts who continue to work in the merged firms after the M&A events. The findings of this study have implications for how brokerage firms allocate coverage to analysts with different abilities. Third, I examine a channel that can explain analyst forecast pessimism. Specifically, I investigate the forecasting performance of analysts who have been rehired after experiencing a recent job loss following their brokerage firm closures and find that their forecasts will be more pessimistic relative to both their peers and actual earnings. Importantly, this leads to a decline in the accuracy of their forecasts at their new job. These results are theoretically supported by the career transitions literature, which shows that a job loss will affect the mental disposition of an employee and which I argue leads to analysts providing more pessimistic recommendations. This raises an important question as to how brokerage firms should support new employees who have recently experienced a job loss to avoid any negative impact it might have on their performance.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 201

Assessing the price and output effects of monetary policy in Vietnam:evidence from a VAR analysis

Using monthly data, we perform a vector-autoregressive analysis to measure the effects of monetary policy on the Vietnamese economy. We concentrate our attention on the period following the introduction of the Law on Central Bank in January 1998 (which brought the national monetary policy and its objectives in line with international practices). Contrary to previous studies on Vietnam, we find evidence suggesting that monetary policy (through the manipulation of interest rates) is an effective policy tool in stabilizing prices. However, credit growth tends to induce inflationary pressures. In addition, we find that an expansion of broad money supply leads to an increase in industrial production

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUATERNARY SEDIMENTARY FACIES IN RELATION TO WATER BEARING CAPACITY OF AQUIFERS AND AQUICLUDES IN RED RIVER DELTA, VIETNAM

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart

The Relationship between Online Learning and Student Satisfaction with Training Quality in Private Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to explore the relationship between the influential factors of online learning and the satisfaction of economics and business majors with the quality of their training in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 900 students in private universities completed a questionnaire. The principal findings of this research are that the students are satisfied with their online learning and that learning conferencing software is the most important driving factor leading to the students’ satisfaction when compared with learning conditions and learning devices. Another interesting finding is that the experience of using learning conferencing software results in a slight difference in the students’ perceived level of satisfaction, adding that users with more than two years’ experience are more satisfied with their training quality than users with less than one year’s experience. However, the results also show that students want to switch to offline learning when the pandemic is over. This study should, therefore, be of value to higher education authorities wishing to understand their students’ perceptions of online learning. In addition, results from the study suggest more managerial approaches as well as improve the online teaching quality during the pandemic

Polyamorphism and Two State Model in Liquid GeO2_{2} under Compression: Insight from Visualization of Molecular Dynamics Data

The polyamorphism and two-state model based on the coordination number distribution in liquid GeO$_{2}$ at 3200~K and in a wide pressure range are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. Results show that the structure of liquid GeO$_{2}$ mainly consists of GeO$_{x}$ coordination units $(x=4,5,6)$ and OGe$_{y}$ linkages $(y=2, 3)$. The distribution of OGe$_{y}$ linkages in network structure is not uniform but tends to form clusters of OGe$_{y}$. The cluster of OGe$_{2}$ will form low-density phase region, conversely the cluster of OGe$_{3}$ will form high-density phase region. In other word, under compression, in the liquid GeO$_{2}$ coexist two states: low-density and high-density. The size of phase regions significantly depends on compression

Characterization of Debonding at the Interface between Layers of Heterogeneous Materials coming from Roads

Road structures are made by a superposition of different layers of heterogeneous materials (bituminous materials, cement concrete, composite grids, etc). The durability of such composite structures depends on severe climate conditions that occur during their lifetimes and multiple heavy loads that move on them. Various damages are identified such as delamination mechanisms at the interface between surface pavement layers. Studying debonding phenomenon is a necessity in order to propose innovative solutions to maintain an old efficient transport road network. This also helps to develop new concepts for turning road infrastructure with new added functionalities such as those that integrates into the road surfaces a dynamic charging box for electric vehicles. Nowadays, this type of cracking in pavement structures is still not well understood. As for edge delamination in composite field, edge effect of existing joints or vertical cracks in a pavement layer create such a high concentration of both normal and shear interface stresses that the crack could propagate along the interface between the two different layers before penetrating through one of materials or even debonding elsewhere far from them (Chabot et al., 2013). Appropriate fracture opening pure mode I or II and mixed mode laboratory tests under several static and fatigue load conditions and various environmental conditions (mainly temperature and moisture) need to be adapted or developed for the specific bending study of such multilayered structures. The main objective of this paper is to compare the results from different techniques in the aim to characterize experimentally the interface crack initiation and propagation by way of interfacial fracture energies obtained on composite specimens coming from road construction. Shear fracture mode tests in the pavement field are not so easy to modify and it is not so simple to compare their ""pure"" mode test results to a part of those coming from fracture mixed mode tests. In the present work and following many previous works, the Wedge Splitting Test (WST) developed by Tschegg (1986) is chosen. This test is a quite convenient test method to study the fracture behaviour at the interface of heterogeneous materials in mode I. The WST test has been adapted for specimens extracted from full scale pavement sections (Gharbi et al., 2017). Cubical shape specimens of important size (compared to the granular maximum size of the materials) are prepared with a cylindrical groove instead of a traditional rectangular groove. A slim wedge of 14° is used to ensure principally the studying of the interface debonding phenomenon in a quasi-pure opening Mode I. A notch of 5 mm thick is sawed at the interface between the two material layers to guarantee the initiation of the crack at the interface. A finite element study is conducted to analyze the effect of variation of the specimen dimensions. Static tests controlled with a constant displacement speed rate (0.7mm/mn or 2 mm/min) and constant temperatures (~20°C) are performed in order to determine the specific fracture energy (GF) of interface between bi-layered specimens. Different techniques are used to evaluate initiation and propagation of the fracture with the modified WST test. The tensile strength and the fracture energy are firstly estimated from the splitting force (FS) - Crack Mouth Opening Displacement (CMOD) curve. To obtain the displacement field at points between the two crack lips, the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technics are used. Then these displacement fields are introduced in the elastic model proposed by Dunder (1969) to calculate, under 2D conditions (plane stress and deformation), the strain energy release rate evolution. This energy depends on the interface crack length estimated also by DIC measurements. Results found from the two methods are finally discussed

Caractérisation expérimentale du comportement à la rupture en mode I d’interfaces de chaussées

National audienceCe travail de thèse (2015-18) est inclus dans le projet ANR SolDuGri visant à étudier des solutions durables de renforcement de chaussées par l'utilisation de grilles de verre. La durabilité des chaussées ainsi renforcées dépend en partie d'un bon collage entre les différentes couches de matériaux qui les constituent. Afin d'en caractériser le collage, l'essai de fendage par coin (WST) de Tschegg (1986) et Brühwiler and Wittmann (1990) est utilisé. Il est modifié pour tester les interfaces d'éprouvettes extraites de planches d'essais in-situ. Interfaces béton/enrobé (BCMC) (0.7mm/min, T ≈ 20°C