Ontology-based semantic interpretation of cylindricity specification in the next-generation GPS

Cylindricity specification is one of the most important geometrical specifications in geometrical product development. This specification can be referenced from the rules and examples in tolerance standards and technical handbooks in practice. These rules and examples are described in the form of natural language, which may cause ambiguities since different designers may have different understandings on a rule or an example. To address the ambiguous problem, a categorical data model of cylindricity specification in the next-generation Geometrical Product Specifications (GPS) was proposed at the University of Huddersfield. The modeling language used in the categorical data model is category language. Even though category language can develop a syntactically correct data model, it is difficult to interpret the semantics of the cylindricity specification explicitly. This paper proposes an ontology-based approach to interpret the semantics of cylindricity specification on the basis of the categorical data model. A scheme for translating the category language to the OWL 2 Web Ontology Language (OWL 2) is presented in this approach. Through such a scheme, the categorical data model is translated into a semantically enriched model, i.e. an OWL 2 ontology for cylindricity specification. This ontology can interpret the semantics of cylindricity specification explicitly. As the benefits of such semantic interpretation, consistency checking, inference procedures and semantic queries can be performed on the OWL 2 ontology. The proposed approach could be easily extended to support the semantic interpretations of other kinds of geometrical specifications

How Do Trait-Mediated Non-lethal Effects of Predation Affect Population-Level Performance of Mosquitoes?

Non-lethal, trait-mediated effects of predation impact prey behavior and life-history traits. Studying how these effects in turn influence prey demography is crucial to understand prey life-history evolution. Mosquitoes are important vectors that claim several million lives every year worldwide by transmitting a range of pathogens. Several ecological factors affect life-history traits of both larval and adult mosquitoes, creating effects that cascade to population-level consequences. Few studies have comprehensively explored the non-lethal effects of predation and its interactions with resources and competition on larval, adult, and population traits of mosquitoes. Understanding these interactions is important because the effects of predation are hypothesized to rescue prey populations from the effects of density-dependence resulting from larval competition. Aedes aegypti larvae reared at two different larval densities and subjected to three non-lethal predator treatments were monitored for survival, development time, and adult size through the larval stages to adult eclosion, and adult females were monitored for survival and reproduction through their first gonotrophic cycle. Intraspecific competition increased larval development time, yielded small-bodied adults, and reduced fecundity in individuals exposed to predatory chemical cues as larvae. Exposure to cues from a living predator affected both body size and latency to blood feed in females. Analysis of life-table traits revealed significant effects of competition on net reproductive rate (R0) of mosquitoes. The interaction between competition and predator treatments significantly affected the cohort rate of increase (r) and the index of performance (r’). The index of performance, which estimates rate of population change based on the size-fecundity relationship, was significantly and positively correlated with r, but overestimated r slightly. Lack of significant effect of predator treatments and larval density on cohort generation time (Tc) further suggests that the observed effects of treatments on r and r’ were largely a consequence of the effects on R0. Also, the significant effects of treatment combinations on larval development time, adult body size and fecundity were ultimately manifested as effects on life-table traits estimated from adult survival and reproduction

The predictive effects of motivation toward learning science on TIMSS grade 8 students' science achievement: A comparative study between Malaysia and Singapore.

TIMSS routinely presents very powerful evidence showing that students with more positive motivation toward learning science have substantially higher achievement. The results from TIMSS 2011 are consistent with previous assessments. This study explored the predictive effects of motivation toward learning science on science achievement among Malaysian and Singaporean eighth graders who participated in the TIMSS 2011. In this study, students’ interest in and liking of learning science, students’ understanding about the importance and the usefulness of the science subject, and students’ self-confidence or self-concept in their ability to learn science were measured. Secondary data of the study were obtained from 5,733 Malaysian students and 5,927 Singaporean students who participated in the TIMSS 2011. The results of the present study indicated that eighth-graders’ liking and valuing of learning science were positively associated with Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students’ science achievement

Tools and Methods to Analyze Multimodal Data in Collaborative Design Ideation

Collaborative design ideation is typically characterized by informal acts of sketching, annotation, and discussion. Designers have always used the pencil-and-paper medium for this activity, partly because of the flexibility of the medium, and partly because the ambiguous and ill-defined nature of conceptual design cannot easily be supported by computers. However, recent computational tools for conceptual design have leveraged the availability of hand-held computing devices for creating and sharing ideas. In order to provide computer support for collaborative ideation in a way that augments traditional media rather than imitates it, it is necessary to study the affordances made available by digital media for this process, and to study designers\u27 cognitive and collaborative processes when using such media. In this thesis, we present tools and methods to help make sense of unstructured verbal and sketch data generated during collaborative design, with a view to better understand these collaborative and cognitive processes. This thesis has three main contributions

Determining factors on applicability of the computerized accounting system in financial Institutions in Sri Lanka

This research aimed to measure the determining factors on applicability of the Computerized Accounting System (CAS) and to examine the relationship among the factors influencing of CAS in the Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka. By using multiple regression analysis, authors found that there is a positive impact with positive statistical significance of human resource and infrastructure as independent factors on the dependent variable, there is a negative impact of the cost on the application of the CAS and there is no statistically significant impact of administrative performance on the applicability of the CAS to Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka

Comparing Two Types of Diagnostic Items to Evaluate Understanding of Heat and Temperature Concepts

The purpose of this research was to investigate an efficient method to assess year 8 (age 13-14) students' conceptual understanding of heat and temperature concepts. Two different types of instruments were used in this study: Type 1, consisting of multiple-choice items with open-ended justifications; and Type 2, consisting of two-tier multiple-choice items. Each of the instruments was administered to two separate cohorts of 173 and 143 year 8 students of similar achievement. The findings indicated that the students were better able to show their understanding in the two-tier multiple-choice items. Hence, based on this investigation, two-tier multiple-choice items may be more suitable for evaluating year 8 students' understanding of science concepts

ConceptScope: Organizing and Visualizing Knowledge in Documents based on Domain Ontology

Current text visualization techniques typically provide overviews of document content and structure using intrinsic properties such as term frequencies, co-occurrences, and sentence structures. Such visualizations lack conceptual overviews incorporating domain-relevant knowledge, needed when examining documents such as research articles or technical reports. To address this shortcoming, we present ConceptScope, a technique that utilizes a domain ontology to represent the conceptual relationships in a document in the form of a Bubble Treemap visualization. Multiple coordinated views of document structure and concept hierarchy with text overviews further aid document analysis. ConceptScope facilitates exploration and comparison of single and multiple documents respectively. We demonstrate ConceptScope by visualizing research articles and transcripts of technical presentations in computer science. In a comparative study with DocuBurst, a popular document visualization tool, ConceptScope was found to be more informative in exploring and comparing domain-specific documents, but less so when it came to documents that spanned multiple disciplines.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Developing a SDSS for multi-criteria flood susceptibility mapping in Malaysia

Flood are the natural disaster occurred which causes socio-economic consequences by devastating economic and social losses. The aim of this study is to propose a GIS multi-criteria methodology to produce a reliable hazard zone mapping and prediction of flood-prone areas. Flood mapping has been used widely in many countries nowadays as a method to encounter this natural hazard phenomenon. Understanding the surface and subsurface condition can tremendously improve an accurate flood susceptibility map for effective flood catastrophe management. In this study, Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) method which has combined application of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) based on expert`s opinion was adopted. Establishing a flood susceptibility map based on the significance of the flood causing factors is the main objective of this study. Eight factors that are relevant to the hazard of flooding was considered in the methodology, such as stream power index (SPI), land use, slope angle, topographic wetness index (TWI), geology, runoff, elevation, and distance from drainage network

An action research in science: Providing metacognitive support to year 9 students

© 2016 Wagaba et al. An action research study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing metacognitive support to enhance Year 9 students’ metacognitive capabilities in order to better understand science concepts related to light, environmental health, ecosystems, genetics, ecology, atoms and the Periodic Table. The study was conducted over three years involving 35, 20 and 24 students in each year. The interventions included providing students with clearly stated focused outcomes about the relevant science concepts, engaging in collaborative group work, reading scientific texts and using concept mapping techniques. The data to evaluate the effectiveness of the metacognitive interventions were obtained from pre- and posttest results of the Metacognitive Support Questionnaire (MSpQ). The results showed gains in the MSpQ