Smoothing with Mixed Model Software

Smoothing methods that use basis functions with penalization can be formulated as fits in a mixed model framework. One of the major benefits is that software for mixed model analysis can be used for smoothing. We illustrate this for several smoothing models such as additive and varying coefficient models for both S-PLUS and SAS software. Code for each of the illustrations is available on the Internet.

Clustering High Dimensional Data Using SVM

The Web contains massive amount of documents from across the globe to the point where it has become impossible to classify them manually. This project’s goal is to find a new method for clustering documents that are as close to humans’ classification as possible and at the same time to reduce the size of the documents. This project uses a combination of Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) with Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) calculation as well as Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification. With SVD, data sets are decomposed and can be truncated to reduce the data sets size. The reduced data set will then be used to cluster. With SVM, clustered data set is used for training to allow new data to be classified based on SVM’s prediction. The project’s result show that the method of combining SVD and SVM is able to reduce data size and classifies documents reasonably compared to humans’ classification

Information and Communication Technologies in Learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL): Attitudes of EFL Learners in Vietnam.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Aquaculture land-use policy: the case of clam farming in Thaibinh Province, Vietnam

Policy-making and enforcement remains centralized in Vietnam. Policies have been formulated with less scientific and public justification, thus being largely bureaucratic and infeasible, and in many cases, they have created plagues for people at the grass-roots levels. This article focuses on the implementation of policies related to intertidal land-use and supports for clam farming in the Thaibinh province as a case study to explore the impacts of policies on clam farming and farmers. During the period of 2011-2013, provincial policies on intertidal land allocation and technical and financial supports had boosted clam farming development in the province to a surprising extent. Rapid expansion of the clam farming area has created significant consequences for the farming sector, as well as farmer's lives. However, for the same provincial policies, but with different enforcement, different farming outcomes for clam farmers in the three study communes have resulted. Where farmers had more of a voice and choice in bidding for the intertidal areas they preferred, they faced fewer problems. It is, thus, suggested that a more decentralized policy-making and enforcement are needed, in which more scientific assessment and farmer participation are required to not only make government policy more successful in supporting farmers and achieving their expected outcomes, but also to provide farmers with more room to make their own farming decisions from which farming and marketing risks could be mitigated

Creep properties of cement and alkali activated fly ash materials using nanoindentation technique

This paper presents creep properties of cement and alkali activated fly ash (AAFA) paste and mortar determined from statistical analysis of nanoindentation data. Cement paste having 95 MPa compressive strength at 28 days was tested for comparison and validation with a conventional test. Using nanoindentation, the specific creep of the cement paste after one year was predicted as 18.32 microstrain/MPa. For AAFA samples, an experimental program was set up using Taguchi's Design of Experiment method to consider four parameters, silica fume, sand to binder ratio, liquid to solid ratio, and superplasticiser, each with three variations.Using ANOVA, the percentage contributions of these parameters on the creep modulus of AAFA samples are: silica fume 26%, sand to binder ratio 21%, liquid to solid ratio 22%, and superplasticiser 31%. The results using de convolution technique to identify the creep modulus of different phases of AAFA matrices show that partly-activated, non-activated slag and non-activated compact glass phases are leading the creep behaviour of AAFA samples due to their high creep modulus. Compare to other parameters, the liquid to solid ratio contributes the most to the creep property of partly-activated slag, non-activated slag and non-activated compact glass phases, that is, 51%, 89%, 68%, respectively. Sand to binder ratio and superplasticiser have minor effect on the creep behaviour. The results of the creep properties of AAFA paste were then compared with those of AAFA concrete using an upscaling process. The creep rate of AAFA concrete was defined by the creep properties of the matrix and the interface between aggregates and matrix assuming perfect bonding and slip bonding conditions. The results from the upscaling process show that the creep properties of AAFA paste from nanoindentation are representative of the long-term creep properties of AAFA concrete determined from a conventional test method

The Use of Story Map in Improving the Year Four Pupils' Ability in Reading Comprehension

This is an action research on improving reading comprehension through story map among Year 4 pupils in one of the primary schools in Malaysia. My pupils were unable to answer WH-questions of the narrative texts. The research aimed to use story map to improve pupils' reading comprehension and improve my teaching practices in reading comprehension. I am the researcher with 24 pupils, 12 males and 12 females. I utilized three data collection methods: pre-reading comprehension test and post-reading comprehension test, pupils' work and teacher's reflective journal. I introduced story map through demonstration. Then the participants completed the story through literary elements identification based on the narrative texts. Findings showed that story map helped to improve pupils' reading comprehension by identifying literary elements and relating the literary elements with the comprehension questions. The story map gave positive impact to reading comprehension. The research has impacted the teaching and learning environment, pupils' learning, and my teaching practices. I found out that story map was a useful method in attracting pupils' attention and teaching literary elements. Furthermore, I was developed to be a reflective teacher in terms of strengths and weaknesses of the teaching and learning process. Story map can be an effective tool in improving reading comprehension among pupils. In addition, a more interactive story map which incorporates Information and Communication Technology (ICT) may also be employed in further research