The Effect of Written Corrective Feedback on Writing Accuracy of Intermediate Learners

The present research examined the role of written corrective feedback (WCF) in enhancing writing accuracy of Iranian Intermediate learners. The present study is quantitative and experimental survey that measured the accuracy of using two functions of English article system, namely definite article “the” and indefinite article “a” and “an” during eight weeks using pre-test and post-test. Sixty students including (20 control group, 20 experimental group,20 experimental group) participated in the study to determine which kind of teacher written corrective feedback affects writing accuracy more. (1) Control group did not receive WCF on specific grammar errors; group (2) received direct WCF; group (3) received indirect WCF. The results of the study demonstrated that direct (WCF) affected students’ performance more

Inhibitory effect of gold nanoparticles conjugated with interferon gamma and methionine on breast cancer cell line

AbstractObjectiveTo develop a gold nanoparticles complex conjugated with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and methionine along with application of hyperthermia using near-infrared laser beams for the treatment of cancer cells.MethodsGold nanorods (10 nm) were conjugated with IFN-γ and methionine using carbodiimide family and characterized after purification by dialysis bags. Breast cancer cells were cultured and incubated with gold nanorods at different concentrations followed by irradiation with near-infrared laser beam. Samples were then evaluated for their viability in order to determine the effect of treatment and variables by MTT assy.ResultsZetasizer results confirmed the conjugation of gold nanorods with methionine and IFN-γ. The median percentage of cell viability in 0.30 μg/mL concentration of gold nanorods was 82%. The cell viability reached to 85% at the same concentration of gold nanorods, which existed in the assayed complex. The results of MTT assay showed that the 0.60 μg/mL concentration of gold nanoparticles complex was toxic on tumor cells (P < 0.05). After exposure to hyperthermia, the viability of cells at 6 min decreased to 77% in 0.30 μg/mL concentration of gold nanorods complex.ConclusionsThe size and concentration of gold nanorods was not cytotoxic. However, their presence during irradiation near-infrared laser increased the number of dead cells during the treatment of cells

Automated Recognition of Algorithmic Patterns in DSP Programs

We introduce an extensible knowledge based tool for idiom (pattern) recognition in DSP(digital signal processing) programs. Our tool utilizesfunctionality provided by the Cetus compiler infrastructure fordetecting certain computation patterns that frequently occurin DSP code. We focus on recognizing patterns for for-loops andstatements in their bodies as these often are the performance criticalconstructs in DSP applications for which replacementby highly optimized, target-specific parallel algorithms will bemost profitable. For better structuring and efficiency of patternrecognition, we classify patterns by different levels of complexitysuch that patterns in higher levels are defined in terms of lowerlevel patterns.The tool works statically on the intermediate representation(IR). It traverses the abstract syntax tree IR in post-orderand applies bottom-up pattern matching, at each IR nodeutilizing information about the patterns already matched for itschildren or siblings.For better extensibility and abstraction,most of the structuralpart of recognition rules is specified in XML form to separatethe tool implementation from the pattern specifications.Information about detected patterns will later be used foroptimized code generation by local algorithm replacement e.g. for thelow-power high-throughput multicore DSP architecture ePUMA

Tackling sensorimotor delays and low control update frequencies during drop impacts with hybrid parallel leg compliance

The 9.5th international symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines. Ottawa，Canada (Virtual Platform). 2021-06-22/25. Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines Organizing Committee

Hybrid Parallel Compliance Allows Robots to Operate With Sensorimotor Delays and Low Control Frequencies

Animals locomote robustly and agile, albeit significant sensorimotor delays of their nervous system and the harsh loading conditions resulting from repeated, high-frequent impacts. The engineered sensorimotor control in legged robots is implemented with high control frequencies, often in the kilohertz range. Consequently, robot sensors and actuators can be polled within a few milliseconds. However, especially at harsh impacts with unknown touch-down timing, controllers of legged robots can become unstable, while animals are seemingly not affected. We examine this discrepancy and suggest and implement a hybrid system consisting of a parallel compliant leg joint with varying amounts of passive stiffness and a virtual leg length controller. We present systematic experiments both in computer simulation and robot hardware. Our system shows previously unseen robustness, in the presence of sensorimotor delays up to 60 ms, or control frequencies as low as 20 Hz, for a drop landing task from 1.3 leg lengths high and with a compliance ratio (fraction of physical stiffness of the sum of virtual and physical stiffness) of 0.7. In computer simulations, we report successful drop-landings from 3.8 leg lengths (1.2 m) for a 2 kg quadruped robot with 100 Hz control frequency and a sensorimotor delay of 35 ms