Simulations of Artificial Neural Network with Memristive Devices

The memristor has been hypothesized to exist as the missing fourth basic circuit element since 1971 [1]. A memristive device is a new type of electrical device that behaves like a resistor, but can change and remember its internal resistance. This behavior makes memristive devices ideal for use as network weights, which will need to be adjusted as the network tries to acquire correct outputs through a learning process. Recent development of physical memristive-like devices has led to an interest in developing artificial neural networks with memristors. In this thesis, a circuit for a single node network is designed to be re-configured into linearly separable problems: AND, NAND, OR, and NOR. This was done with fixed weight resistors, programming the memristive devices to pre-specified values, and finally learning of the resistances through the Madaline Rule II procedure. A network with multiple layers is able to solve difficult problems or recognize more complex patterns. To illustrate this, the XOR problem has been used as a benchmark for the multilayer neural network circuit. The circuit was designed and learning of the weight values was successfully shown

THE EFL 8TH GRADERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF COMPETENCY-BASED INSTRUCTION IN LISTENING COMPREHENSION AT A SECONDARY SCHOOL IN KIEN GIANG, VIETNAM

Listening skill is a vital component of language acquisition on the grounds that it can foster the improvement of other language skills. Therefore, enhancing students’ listening is constantly gaining the prominent attention of most English teachers at secondary schools. Besides, applying competency-based instruction into teaching listening is a novel method that helps teachers attain students’ attitudes, affecting their listening comprehension. Therefore, this current study aimed to examine students’ attitudes toward using competency-based instruction in listening for a main idea and specific information. The study employed a qualitative approach to determine 45 8th graders’ attitudes at a secondary school in Kien Giang province. The students’ diaries were the critical data collection. The study’s findings showed that their views affected their listening skills. Most of them had positive attitudes toward the utilization of competency-based instruction in listening comprehension.  Article visualizations

Effects of drought stress on growth and flavonoid accumulation of fish mint (Houttuynia cordata Thumb.)

Fish mint (Houttuynia cordata Thumb.) is a popular medicinal plant grown primarily because of its pharmacological values. Drought stress has on the relationship between growth and physio-biochemical changes, especially flavonoid content. The impacts of various drought stress conditions on the fish mint development were investigated, including 85% of field capacity (FC), 75% FC, 65% FC and 55% FC in 14, 21 and 28 days. Agronomic, physiological and biochemical parameters during the growth of fish mint plants under drought stress conditions were assessed. According to the results of variance analysis, drought stress results in a considerable drop in the measured parameters (shoot height, leaf number, leaf area and fresh weight). Similarly, all of the above-mentioned parameters were also decreased with increasing the number of drought days. Furthermore, drought period and level caused a drop in respiration, photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll and starch content. The concentration of carotenoids and flavonoids, on the other hand, increased dramatically as drought stress periods and levels increased. In comparison to the control, the drought treatment (65% FC) in 7 days maintained the growth rate and increased flavonoid accumulation from 2.42 mg to 3.04 mg. These findings might give a scientific foundation for growing fish mint plants under drought stress to boost flavonoid content

Stress Contours in The Connecting-rod under The Dynamic Load and The Oil Film’s Pressure of The Connecting-rod Big End

Under load apply to the connecting-rod and the pressure in the lubricant oil film change the stress in the connecting-rod during the operating cycle. This problem is the one of the characteristics we need to consider when studying the connecting-rod big end bearing. A specific experimental device and the connecting-rod model of photoelastic material are used to determine the load diagram, measure the oil film pressure, and visualize the state of stress. The connecting-rod is subjected to simulation load as in the engine. The lubricated oil film pressure is measured by the pressure sensor and also calculated by numerical modelization method with the same load diagram. The method chosen to visualize the stress state in the dynamically loaded connecting rod is the transmission photoelasticimetry. This method allows the visualization of the isochrones fringes, which are lines of equal difference regarding main stresses in the connecting-rod. The stress contour’s images of the connecting-rod at different angles of the crankshaft are realized by a CCD camera. The measured stress contours are compared to the calculated stress contours by the Algor software. The results show globally a correspondence between the experimental isochrones fields and the calculated isochrones fields

Genomic data mining for the computational prediction of small non-coding RNA genes

The objective of this research is to develop a novel computational prediction algorithm for non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes using features computable for any genomic sequence without the need for comparative analysis. Existing comparative-based methods require the knowledge of closely related organisms in order to search for sequence and structural similarities. This approach imposes constraints on the type of ncRNAs, the organism, and the regions where the ncRNAs can be found. We have developed a novel approach for ncRNA gene prediction without the limitations of current comparative-based methods. Our work has established a ncRNA database required for subsequent feature and genomic analysis. Furthermore, we have identified significant features from folding-, structural-, and ensemble-based statistics for use in ncRNA prediction. We have also examined higher-order gene structures, namely operons, to discover potential insights into how ncRNAs are transcribed. Being able to automatically identify ncRNAs on a genome-wide scale is immensely powerful for incorporating it into a pipeline for large-scale genome annotation. This work will contribute to a more comprehensive annotation of ncRNA genes in microbial genomes to meet the demands of functional and regulatory genomic studies.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. G. Tong Zhou; Committee Member: Dr. Arthur Koblasz; Committee Member: Dr. Eberhard Voit; Committee Member: Dr. Xiaoli Ma; Committee Member: Dr. Ying X

HMông students’ funds of knowledge : a case study of Kinh primary school teachers’ practices

Underachievement and low study engagement by HMông ethnic minority students in disadvantaged primary schools in Việt Nam evidence a need for more effective teaching practices to support these minority students’ learning and reduce inequality within their educational environment. Learning about students’ funds of knowledge (FoK) and incorporation into their learning enables teachers to increase relevant learning experiences, empowering a socio- constructivist approach to teaching and learning (Moll et al., 1990; González et al., 2005) and obviating cultural deficits facing disadvantaged students in school (Rodriguez, 2013). Moll et al. (1992, p. 134) defined FoK as “historically accumulated and culturally-developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well-being.” This study investigates the potential for using FoK in the education of ethnic minority primary students in Việt Nam. Specifically, the purpose for doing so is to answer the questions as to whether and in what ways Kinh (ethnic majority) primary school teachers use practices related to a FoK approach in serving HMông ethnic minority primary students. The study has produced three key findings. First, Kinh primary teachers identified HMông students’ FoK as an educational resource. Their FoK include their mother tongue, funds of identity, experiences in daily life and cultural artefacts. Second, each group of Kinh teachers interpreted HMông students’ FoK in different ways and introduced various pedagogical practices for the application of FoK in the classroom environment. They included: using the FoK of HMông students as a context during instructional practices; scaffolding their FoK to make better sense of academic knowledge; and employing FoK to enhance teacher-student relationships. Third, there are difficulties and educational potentials for Kinh teachers’ uses of HMông students’ FoK in primary school curricula. However, the difficulties appear to outweigh the advantages that suggest implications for policy and practices improve teachers’ uses of the FoK approach in teaching HMông primary students in Việt Nam. Further research for teaching ethnic minority students toward a FoK approach in Việt Nam are identified

An Image-Based Rice Weighing Estimation Approach on Clock Type Weighing Scale Using Deep Learning and Geometric Transformations

AI impacts surrounding human life, such as the economy, health, education, and agricultural production; however, the crop prices in the harvest season are still on manual calculation, which causes doubts about accuracy. In this study, an image-based approach is proposed to help farmers calculate rice prices more accurately. YOLOv5 is used to detect and extract the scales in the images taken from the harvesting of rice crops. Then, various image processing techniques, such as brightness balance, background removal, etc., are compiled to determine the needle position and number on the extracted scale. Lastly, geometric transformations are proposed to calculate the weight. A real dataset of 709 images is used for the experiment. The proposed method achieves good results in terms of [email protected] at 0.995, mAP@[0.5:0.95] at 0.830 for scale detection, and MAE at 3.7 for weight calculation

Dealing With Non-Performing Loans During The Bank Restructuring Process in Vietnam: Assessment Using The AHP and TOPSIS Methods

This article aims to assess the solutions that have been implemented in Vietnam to deal with non-performing loan(s) (NPLs) in the banking system. By trying to build evaluation criteria through a literature review and an expert survey, as well as using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), this research measures the effectiveness of the resolution of NPLs in Vietnam through many factors. The empirical results show that, in the past, the banking system in Vietnam has not dealt very well with bad debt, as it mostly uses traditional methods such as NPL write-offs by loan loss reserves or the liquidation of collateral. Based on our consideration of the NPLs’ resolutions that the Vietnamese banking system has implemented recently, we propose some suggestions to improve the necessary conditions for applying more market-based solutions, such as debt-equity swaps and securitization to thoroughly resolve the NPLs in Vietna

ATMOSPHERIC PARTICLES IN HOCHIMINH SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF WATER-SOLUBLE INORGANIC IONS

Joint Research on Environmental Science and Technology for the Eart