Crowdsourcing complex workflows under budget constraints

We consider the problem of task allocation in crowdsourcing systems with multiple complex workflows, each of which consists of a set of interdependent micro-tasks. We propose Budgeteer, an algorithm to solve this problem under a budget constraint. In particular, our algorithm first calculates an efficient way to allocate budget to each workflow. It then determines the number of inter-dependent micro-tasks and the price to pay for each task within each workflow, given the corresponding budget constraints. We empirically evaluate it on a well-known crowdsourcing-based text correction workflow using Amazon Mechanical Turk, and show that Budgeteer can achieve similar levels of accuracy to current benchmarks, but is on average 45% cheaper

Effect of Hydrolysis on Tannin and Carotenoid Contents, and Antioxidant Activity of Pouteria campechiana

The medicinal properties of Pouteria campechiana fruit in Vietnam currently have not been studied much. This study was conducted to evaluate hydrolysis's effect on the carotenoid, tannin, and antioxidant activity through the correlation between IC50 and TPC values of Pouteria campechiana extract. This study examined hydrolysis conditions, such as enzyme type, enzyme concentration, temperature, and hydrolysis time. Experimental results showed that at pectinase enzyme concentration of 0.6 wt%, cellulase enzyme concentration of 0.6 wt%, at hydrolysis temperature of 600C, and 65 minutes for hydrolysis, the study found carotenoid of 115.14±4.14 (µg/g) and tannin of 45.88±2.37 (mgTAE/g)in the extract. IC50 value (7.82±0.21 mg/mL) and TPC content were highly correlated (R2=0.98). This study's results contributed to the provision of valuable scientific data on Pouteria campechiana fruit, especially for the food industr

High school administrators' and teachers' perceptions of their educational action research skills

Educational action research has attracted significant attention from teacher-researchers and school administrators in recent years due to the method's effectiveness in teaching practices. Besides, educational action research skills are regarded as one of the essential aspects of doing action research. The present study aims to examine administrators' and teachers' perceptions of their educational action research skills; compare educational action research skills between the trained and the untrained groups and between the group that conducted the research and the group that did not. Quantitative research was used in this research. The study used the 11-item scale to survey 255 respondents (16 administrators and 239 teachers) from eleven high schools in Binh Duong province, Vietnam. The descriptive analysis was used to assess perceptions of high school administrators and teachers on their educational action research skills. Our results indicate that administrators and teachers assess their educational action research skills at very good. The trained group's educational action research skills are higher than the untrained group. Educational action research skills of the group conducted research are higher than the group that did not. The present findings provide more information on educational action research among administrators and teachers in Binh Duong province. Educational action research training programs, workshops, and educational policies should be implemented to reinforce and promote educational action research skills

Multifactorial Evolutionary Algorithm For Clustered Minimum Routing Cost Problem

Minimum Routing Cost Clustered Tree Problem (CluMRCT) is applied in various fields in both theory and application. Because the CluMRCT is NP-Hard, the approximate approaches are suitable to find the solution for this problem. Recently, Multifactorial Evolutionary Algorithm (MFEA) has emerged as one of the most efficient approximation algorithms to deal with many different kinds of problems. Therefore, this paper studies to apply MFEA for solving CluMRCT problems. In the proposed MFEA, we focus on crossover and mutation operators which create a valid solution of CluMRCT problem in two levels: first level constructs spanning trees for graphs in clusters while the second level builds a spanning tree for connecting among clusters. To reduce the consuming resources, we will also introduce a new method of calculating the cost of CluMRCT solution. The proposed algorithm is experimented on numerous types of datasets. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, partially on large instance

Effects of steel corrosion to BFRP Strengthened columns under eccentric loading

The experiment consists of twenty-four mid-scale rectangular RC columns (200x200x800mm) strengthening by BFRP sheets and research variables include: BFRP layer (0, 1, and 3 layers); eccentricity (25mm and 75mm); and 4 levels of steel corrosion. The results reveal that SEL (ratio of ultimate load of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is direct proportion with steel corrosion while SEV (ratio of ultimate vertical displacement of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is inverse proportion with steel corrosion; SEL slightly increases with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity; but SEV decreases noticeably with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity. In addition,the interaction between FRP sheets, stirrups, and longitudinal reinforcement in steel degraded BFRP strengthened columns is very strong.However, column design basing on current design manuals and codes as ACI 440.2R and CNR DT 200R1 has not mentioned this affect. Thus, the load capacity prediction of column being strengthened by BFRP sheets should include levels of steel corrosion for reality, reasonable, and integral of the design

Effects of steel corrosion to BFRP Strengthened columns under eccentric loading

The experiment consists of twenty-four mid-scale rectangular RC columns (200x200x800mm) strengthening by BFRP sheets and research variables include: BFRP layer (0, 1, and 3 layers); eccentricity (25mm and 75mm); and 4 levels of steel corrosion. The results reveal that SEL (ratio of ultimate load of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is direct proportion with steel corrosion while SEV (ratio of ultimate vertical displacement of strengthened member to that of corresponding controlled member) is inverse proportion with steel corrosion; SEL slightly increases with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity; but SEV decreases noticeably with the increase of BFRP layer and eccentricity. In addition,the interaction between FRP sheets, stirrups, and longitudinal reinforcement in steel degraded BFRP strengthened columns is very strong.However, column design basing on current design manuals and codes as ACI 440.2R and CNR DT 200R1 has not mentioned this affect. Thus, the load capacity prediction of column being strengthened by BFRP sheets should include levels of steel corrosion for reality, reasonable, and integral of the design

A nutrient method for cutivation of macroalgae Ulva papenfussii

Macroalgae species of the genus Ulva are widely distributed in the wild. Many species of this genus has been used as food as an attractive material for the study of materials, fuels, food etc.. In this paper, we are focusing on nutrient method for cultivation of Ulva papenfussii and A nutrient source for cultivation of U. papenfussii was also investigated with the perspective of utilizing the produced biomass for feed. U. papenfussii is fragmented into 1 × 1 cm size, then it keep in Ulva extract of 0.1 g/l concentrate for 7 days. Then continue to keep fragments in the following conditions: 20 ml/l of PES medium, 700 μmol photon/m2/s of light, 25oC of temperature, 3% of salinity, 28 days of time. Under this condition the productivity U. papenfussii was 17.8 g/l of weight and its growth rate was 4.3–6.5% day. Nutritional cultivation is successful for U. papenfussii speceies, which is of great importance to study the potential of producing seaweed varieties like blades for commercial application of seaweed species.

High school administrators’ and teachers’ perspective of evaluation criteria for action research in the field of education

Action research becomes an appropriate and effective professional development method and strategy to promote inquiry knowledge and solve the problem that leads to action or change. Teachers participating in action research could gain a better insight into themselves as teachers, be motivated to continuous professional growth, and boost their self-confidence as professionals. The main objective here is to examine high-school administrators' and teachers' perceptions of the necessity of evaluation criteria for pedagogical action research. This research surveyed 255 respondents, including 16 administrators and 239 teachers from high-schools in Binh Duong province, Vietnam, with the 11-item questionnaire. The main finding indicated that all high-school administrators and teachers participating fully agree that novelty, effectiveness, and applicability are necessary criteria to evaluate quality of pedagogical action research in Vietnam. Our study contributes to the general discussion about necessary and appropriate criteria for evaluating the quality of pedagogical action research in Vietnam