An Experimental study of differences in reading photo books by presentation media: print vs. screen

As photography technology changes, the penetration of digital cameras is increasing, especially among young users. Compared to conventional camera users who print most of their images, digital camera users print about one-third of their digital images (PMA, 2009b, p. 10). Moreover, only 5 percent of camera phone users make photo prints (Henning, 2008, p. 4). One popular photo-finishing product is the photo book. The objective of this research was to determine whether people interacted differently with photographic content presented in print versus on screen. This research was focused on: 1. Time spent interacting with photo books. 2. Differences of recall and recognition by presentation modality. 3. Choices of medium preference. An experimental study was administered at RIT with 64 participants. Half were shown the printed book, and half were shown the PDF displayed on a computer monitor. The results showed that: 1. The average time spent interacting with the book was approximately 5 minutes for both printed book and screen views. There were no differences in the amount of time spent interacting with photographic content presented in print versus on screen. 2. There were no differences in how much participants remembered with photographic content presented on print versus on screen. 3. Overall, 74 percent of participants preferred to keep the printed book. However, relatively more participants selected the PDF when shown a PDF, even though the majority of participants overall selected the book

Collaborative supply chain practices: Taiwanese companies in China

The aim of this research is to investigate collaborative supply chain practices between Taiwanese and Chinese companies. To that end, we seek to address four main objectives: 1) to investigate and provide evidence of collaboration in supply chain management; 2) to evaluate supplier development within supply chain collaboration; 3) to investigate the internal processes of supply chain collaboration; and 4) to examine the outcomes of supply chain collaboration. To explore collaboration in supply chain management, we conduct an extensive review of the state of the art in collaborative supply chain, and we base our investigations and discussions on three real-life companies that practice collaborative supply chain methods in the target countries. Each study contains detailed information on each company, including the company’s background, history, culture, marketing strategy and their collaborative practices. We employ pattern-matching structures to analyse current collaborative practices, which allows us to determine the similarities and differences between theoretical collaboration and collaborative supply chain in practice. We have analysed both the literature and collaborative methodologies used by the companies in each case study, and we have identified a number of key findings that address each of the four research objectives. On one hand there is evidence to support the use of collaboration in supply chain management between Taiwanese and Chinese companies. However, to increase collaboration, we propose agreements between the countries and identification of key suppliers. On the other hand, dominant and powerful partners may prevent good collaboration within the supply chains. Therefore, in order to create an open minded and collaborative culture, we propose greater trust between Taiwanese buyers and Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers. The value in collaborative supply chain can then be realised, which has a positive impact on the business in terms of increasing competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. In addition, such collaborative practices provide the motivation for collaborative supply chain management between Taiwanese buyers and Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers

Effects of sequencing computer-based instruction and lecture in learning function concepts of C programming language

This study investigated the effectiveness of a computer-based lesson used before versus after formal lecture and examined students\u27 difficulties in learning the function concepts of the C programming language. The subjects were fifteen university students who were randomly assigned to two treatment groups that received different instructional sequences. The subjects completed questionnaires, a pretest, the computer-based lesson and a posttest. During the experiment, students\u27 learning processes were observed, their program errors were recorded by the computer system, and some students\u27 reactions were video-taped;Results showed that students\u27 posttest scores were not significantly affected by whether the computer-based lesson was presented before or after the formal lecture. The study reported students\u27 difficulties in syntax, semantics, design and debugging of C programs on the function topics. Recommendations for programming instruction, such as providing appropriate examples, teaching design and debugging strategies and developing a notional machine , were discussed. Use of a team approach, interviews of students, use of think-aloud and investigations of students\u27 preferences were also made for future research

Monitoring Summertime Erosion Patterns Over an Arctic Permafrost Coast with Recent Sub-meter Resolution Microsatellite SAR Data

Arctic coasts experience some of the highest rates of erosion in the world, particularly due to permafrost degradation resulting from the recent exacerbation of climate change. Therefore, not only have coastal defense and energy facilities been threatened, but maintenance costs for the infrastructure of cold regions have also risen. To monitor the coastal erosion pattern of the circum-Arctic, earlier studies often employ spaceborne or airborne optical multi-spectral images to depict shoreline changes, which are limited by frequent clouds and haze in Arctic regions and, thus, hamper the time-series analysis. Instead, this study aims to explore the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, especially the recently developed microsatellite SAR data, which provide unprecedented high-resolution at a sub-meter scale, to measure the summertime spatio-temporal dynamics of an ice-rich permafrost coast along the Beaufort Sea, Alaska. The results reveal a maximum shoreline change envelope (SCE) of 64.89 m during the three-month study period. To examine the differences between the estimations and the observations derived from the conventional Sentinel-1 data, the proposed multi-stage statistical-driven scheme is used. A statistically significant positive relationship between two depicted SCEs with the presence of heteroscedasticity is confirmed. In detail, the agreement between two SCEs increases with the magnitude of the SCE, indicating that the microsatellite SAR can depict more trivial changes in coastline positions. Founded on the results and detailed discussion on the uniqueness and limitations of current SAR sensors, the promising opportunity to utilize the blooming microsatellite SAR datasets for coastal monitoring is highlighted

Monitoring Snow Cover and Snowmelt Dynamics and Assessing their Influences on Inland Water Resources

Snow is one of the most vital cryospheric components owing to its wide coverage as well as its unique physical characteristics. It not only affects the balance of numerous natural systems but also influences various socio-economic activities of human beings. Notably, the importance of snowmelt water to global water resources is outstanding, as millions of populations rely on snowmelt water for daily consumption and agricultural use. Nevertheless, due to the unprecedented temperature rise resulting from the deterioration of climate change, global snow cover extent (SCE) has been shrinking significantly, which endangers the sustainability and availability of inland water resources. Therefore, in order to understand cryo-hydrosphere interactions under a warming climate, (1) monitoring SCE dynamics and snowmelt conditions, (2) tracking the dynamics of snowmelt-influenced waterbodies, and (3) assessing the causal effect of snowmelt conditions on inland water resources are indispensable. However, for each point, there exist many research questions that need to be answered. Consequently, in this thesis, five objectives are proposed accordingly. Objective 1: Reviewing the characteristics of SAR and its interactions with snow, and exploring the trends, difficulties, and opportunities of existing SAR-based SCE mapping studies; Objective 2: Proposing a novel total and wet SCE mapping strategy based on freely accessible SAR imagery with all land cover classes applicability and global transferability; Objective 3: Enhancing total SCE mapping accuracy by fusing SAR- and multi-spectral sensor-based information, and providing total SCE mapping reliability map information; Objective 4: Proposing a cloud-free and illumination-independent inland waterbody dynamics tracking strategy using freely accessible datasets and services; Objective 5: Assessing the influence of snowmelt conditions on inland water resources

Method and System for Far-Field Microscopy to Exceeding Diffraction-Limit Resolution

The bio-sample (e.g., a live cell) is labeled with a proper number of nanoparticles. Each nanoparticle is pre-co-doped with a controlled ratio of fluorophore donors and acceptors. Two laser pulses are applied to the bio-sample. The first laser pulse has a center wavelength near the peak of absorption spectrum of acceptors. The intensity of first laser pulse is adjusted such that FRET saturation occurs near the center of the focal spot. The focal spot of the first laser pulse is a diffraction-limited Airy disk that has the highest laser intensity in the center of the focal spot. The second laser has a center wavelength in the emission spectrum of acceptors and with a uniform intensity distribution throughout the focal spot. The fluorescence emission from acceptors after two laser pulses is from an area that is smaller than the diffraction-limited focal spot. Hence, a higher than diffraction-limit resolution is achieved

Efficacy of Functional Magnetic Stimulation in Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction after Spinal Cord Injury

[[abstract]]Objective: The aims of this study were to assess the usefulness of functional magnetic stimulation in controlling neurogenic bowel dysfunction in spinal cord injured patients with supraconal and conal/caudal lesions, and to investigate the efficacy of this regimen with a 3-month follow-up. Design: A longitudinal, prospective before-after trial. Subjects: A total of 22 patients with chronic spinal cord injured and intractable neurogenic bowel dysfunction. They were divided into group 1 (supraconal lesion) and group 2 (conal/caudal lesion). Methods: The colonic transit time assessment and Knowles-Eccersley-Scott Symptom Questionnaire were carried out for each patient before they received a 3-week functional magnetic stimulation protocol and on the day following the treatment. Results and conclusion: Following functional magnetic stimulation, the mean colonic transit time for all patients decreased from 62.6 to 50.4 h (p < 0.001). The patients’ Knowles-Eccersley-Scott Symptom scores decreased from 24.5 to 19.2 points (p < 0.001). The colonic transit time decrement in both group 1 (p = 0.003) and group 2 (p = 0.043) showed significant differences, as did the Knowles-Eccersley-Scott Symptom score in both groups following stimulation and in the 3-month follow-up results (p < 0.01). The improvements in bowel function indicate that functional magnetic stimulation, featuring broad-spectrum application, can be incorporated successfully into other therapies as an optimal adjuvant treatment for neurogenic bowel dysfunction resulting from spinal cord injury.[[journaltype]]國外[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]SW