Von der Praxis für die Praxis:Kursleiter/innen-Berichte über Erfahrungen mit Lernsoftware in Grundbildung und Alphabetisierung

Kann der Einsatz von Neuen Medien das Lernen Erwachsener in Grundbildung und Alphabetisierung positiv beeinflussen? Acht Erfahrungsberichte aus der Praxis geben wichtige Hinweise wie Einsatzmöglichkeiten ausgelotet, Schwierigkeiten überwunden und Chancen eines computergestützten Lernprozesses genutzt werden können. Die Rolle des Lehrenden verändert sich ebenso wie sich das Lernen der Teilnehmenden durch mehr Selbstständigkeit verändert. Auch an die Lernsoftware sind besondere Anforderungen zu stellen

Bite weight prediction from acoustic recognition of chewing

Automatic dietary monitoring (ADM) offers new perspectives to reduce the self-reporting burden for participants in diet coaching programs. This paper presents an approach to predict weight of individual bites taken. We utilize a pattern recognition procedure to spot chewing cycles and food type in continuous data from an ear-pad chewing sound sensor. The recognized information is used to predict bite weight. We present our recognition procedure and demonstrate its operation on a set of three selected foods of different bite weights. Our evaluation is based on chewing sensor data of eight healthy study participants performing 504 habitual bites in total. The sound-based chewing recognition achieved recalls of 80% at 60%-70% precision. Food classification of chewing sequences resulted in an average accuracy of 94%. In total, 50 variables were derived from the chewing microstructure, and were analyzed for correlations between chewing behavior and bite weight. A subset of four variables was selected to predict bite weight using linear food-specific models. Mean weight prediction error was lowest for apples (19.4%) and largest for lettuce (31%) using the sound-based recognition. We conclude that bite weight prediction using acoustic chewing recordings is a feasible approach for solid foods, and should be further investigated

Psychophysiological body activation characteristics in daily routines

We present a novel approach to analyse and model psychophysiological body activation patterns that emerge from physical and mental activity during daily routines. We analyse our approach on a 62h dataset of daily routine recordings using acceleration and heart rate sensors. We present a descriptive analysis of psychophysiological activations during the routines using a novel visualisation technique. Our results show that daily routines exhibit different psychophysiological body activation characteristics. While physically-related routines are correlated with heart activity, mentally-related routines show activation patterns without physical activity. © 2009 IEEE

Microcanonical Determination of the Interface Tension of Flat and Curved Interfaces from Monte Carlo Simulations

The investigation of phase coexistence in systems with multi-component order parameters in finite systems is discussed, and as a generic example, Monte Carlo simulations of the two-dimensional q-state Potts model (q=30) on LxL square lattices (40<=L<=100) are presented. It is shown that the microcanonical ensemble is well-suited both to find the precise location of the first order phase transition and to obtain an accurate estimate for the interfacial free energy between coexisting ordered and disordered phases. For this purpose, a microcanonical version of the heatbath algorithm is implemented. The finite size behaviour of the loop in the curve describing the inverse temperature versus energy density is discussed, emphasizing that the extrema do not have the meaning of van der Waals-like "spinodal points" separating metastable from unstable states, but rather describe the onset of heterophase states: droplet/bubble evaporation/condensation transitions. Thus all parts of these loops, including the parts that correspond to a negative specific heat, describe phase coexistence in full thermal equilibrium. However, the estimates for the curvature-dependent interface tension of the droplets and bubbles suffer from unexpected and unexplained large finite size effects which need further study.Comment: submitted to special issue "Liquid Matter" of Journal of Physics C: Condensed Matter on occasion of the 8th Liquid Matter Conference held Sept. 6-10, 2011 in Vienna, Austri

Influence of Heat-Treatment of Selective Laser Melting Products - e.g. Ti6Al4V

Usually additive manufactured metal parts are showing a different mechanical behavior compared to conventionally produced parts used the same material. Apart from process-related macroscopic part imperfections (pores, surface roughness, etc.) the microstructure has a decisive influence on the mechanical properties of the materials. Thus, in order to optimize mechanical properties of metal parts a heat treatment for changing microstructures is routinely applied in most production lines to meet the product requirements. By means of the Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V the optimization of the static- and the fracture mechanical behavior by changing the microstructure with a heat treatment after the SLM process is discussed on the present work.Mechanical Engineerin

Using Sound to Help Visually Impaired Children Play Independently

Play is important in the early development of young children, as it encourages them to explore the world, develop skills and learn to socialise with their peers. Blind and visually impaired children face challenges that can stop them becoming involved in play activities at nursery and school, leading to dependence on adults and reducing the benefit of playtime. We are exploring the use of an audio bracelet for young children, which uses sound to help them overcome these challenges through better awareness of their surroundings. We describe the design and prototyping of our system and present scenarios which demonstrate its use

Understanding the variation of physical elements and their impact on properties and functions: a case study on roll stabilization systems

This paper explores the variation in physical elements, functions, and properties of roll stabilization systems in automobiles over successive generations. Two key methodologies, Characteristics-Properties Modelling (CPM) / Property-Driven Development/Design (PDD) and the C&C²-Approach (Contact and Channel Approach), are utilized to analyze the attributes of the system elements and their functional correlations. Through detailed comparison of traditional roll stabilization subsystems and the active roll stabilization system, the research uncovers several correlations between variation types and system properties. The findings show the importance of attribute variation for understanding complex mechatronic systems. The research results may guide future planning of new product generations and foster innovative solutions in the early phases of product development

Finite strain Landau theory of high pressure phase transformations

The properties of materials near structural phase transitions are often successfully described in the framework of Landau theory. While the focus is usually on phase transitions, which are induced by temperature changes approaching a critical temperature T-c, here we will discuss structural phase transformations driven by high hydrostatic pressure, as they are of major importance for understanding processes in the interior of the earth. Since at very high pressures the deformations of a material are generally very large, one needs to apply a fully nonlinear description taking physical as well as geometrical nonlinearities (finite strains) into account. In particular it is necessary to retune conventional Landau theory to describe such phase transitions. In Troster et al (2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 55503) we constructed a Landau-type free energy based on an order parameter part, an order parameter-(finite) strain coupling and a nonlinear elastic term. This model provides an excellent and efficient framework for the systematic study of phase transformations for a wide range of materials up to ultrahigh pressures