Hierarchical Data Representation Model - Multi-layer NMF

In this paper, we propose a data representation model that demonstrates hierarchical feature learning using nsNMF. We extend unit algorithm into several layers. Experiments with document and image data successfully discovered feature hierarchies. We also prove that proposed method results in much better classification and reconstruction performance, especially for small number of features. feature hierarchies

Producing a commentary slows concurrent hazard perception responses

Commentary driver training involves teaching drivers how to verbally acknowledge their perceptual and cognitive processes while driving, and has been shown to improve performance in driving-related tasks. However, those studies demonstrating benefits of commentary training have not done so under conditions of live commentary, which is the typical protocol used with advanced drivers. In the current study we present the results of two experiments that show that producing a commentary can actually slow responses to hazards on a concurrent hazard perception task. In Experiment 1 participants producing a live commentary showed significantly longer hazard response times than an untrained, silent, control group. In Experiment 2 a shorter, clipped commentary was introduced to attempt to reduce the demands placed upon participants. However, both the clipped and full commentary conditions showed reduced accuracy and longer response times, relative to a silent condition, and no difference was observed between the two types of commentary. Analysis of eye movements in both experiments revealed that fixation durations were shorter when a commentary was produced, but time to first fixate the hazard was not affected. This suggests that commentaries encourage more active interrogation of the visual scene, but that this can be detrimental to performance in average drivers

Critical Media Literacies in the Twenty-First Century: Writing Autoethnographies, Making Connections, and Creating Virtual Identities

Critical media literacies can help nurture students’ creative agencies and engender positive, sustained change in local communities. Kellner and Share (2005) have noted that students do need to develop faculties with digital technologies but that they must also participate in critical readings of cultural artifacts and discriminate between various multimedia sources. It is important for youth to conceptualize language as perpetuating different kinds of ideologies, for viewpoints are “connected to negotiable, changeable, and sometimes contested stories, histories, knowledge, beliefs, and values encapsulated into cultural models (theories) about the world” (Gee, 2008, p. 29). Semiotic meanings are in constant flux due to individual interests, community dynamics, and sociohistorical contexts, and students need to develop critical stances to better distinguish between authentic narratives, purported truths, and the in-between gray areas of discursive communications. The proliferation of digital and mobile applications expand academic and political boundaries, for within a critical media literacies framework, reading is a collective transaction, learning is a generative act, and political engagement is an accessible and possible achievement. This paper thereby provides an overview of several significant studies that have interrogated the possibilities of critical media pedagogies in youth spaces. The following sections chart ways in which students can engage with critical media literacies — namely by 1) affording the production of meaningful and authentic autoethnographies, 2) facilitating hospitable connections with near and distant others, and 3) encouraging imaginative self-constructions of identities within virtual communities

Investigating Second Language Reading Components: Reading for Different Types of Meaning

The nature of second language (L2) reading ability is extremely complex and its components are yet to be agreed upon. The current study hypothesized that L2 reading ability consists of (1) reading for literal meaning (LIT), (2) reading for implied meaning with endophoric reference (IMP-EN), and (3) reading for implied meaning with exophoric reference (IMP-EX). In addition, different reading passages were assumed to affect test performance in varying degrees. Participants were 298 incoming students to an adult English as a second language (ESL) program. They took a reading placement test consisting of four reading passages and 30 items. Participants’ reading scores were analyzed using the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach in structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings suggest that L2 reading ability consists of the three constructs of LIT, IMP-EN, and IMP-EX. Moreover, the three reading constructs are on a continuum with LIT having the most direct relationship between the text and the response, while IMP-EX having the most indirect relationship. However, reading passages did not have a significant influence on test performance

The Effects of Interaction Process Characteristics between the Supplier and the Buyer on Relationship Value and Firm Performance

The thesis contributes to enhance current understanding of the interaction process characteristics between the supplier and the buyer creating relationship value and leading to the overall performance of the firm in interorganisational relationships under a variety of environmental characteristics of the firm and competitive strategies adopted by the firm. This study defines interaction process characteristics between the supplier and the buyer as structural characteristics, functional characteristics and climate characteristics. Structural characteristics consist of centralisation and formalisation, functional characteristics consist of joint action and information exchange, and climate characteristics consist of trust and commitment. It addresses the following research questions: (1) How are interaction process characteristics defined? (2) Do environment characteristics of the firm affect the interaction process characteristics of the firm and its partner? (3) Does competitive strategy of the firm affect the interaction process characteristics of the firm and its partner? (4) Is relationship value defined as the sum of sub-dimensions of value in the relationships between firms? (5) Do interaction process characteristics affect relationship value? (6) Does relationship value affect the overall performance of the firm? This research was designed and conducted on the basis of quantitative methods. Data have been collected with the drop-and-collect survey method by means of a questionnaire based on a survey of the buyer or the supplier in the factory automation system, the IT and the automotive manufacturing industries in South Korea. Sample size is 409 (response rate: 44.95%). Analysis results show that the effects of complexity and dynamism on interaction process characteristics are not significant, while munificence has a positive effect on interaction process characteristics. The effects of iv business strategy on interaction process characteristics are significant. In terms of the relationships between interaction process characteristics and their consequences, climate characteristics such as trust and commitment have considerably significant effects on relationship value and overall performance of the firm. In conclusion, this research adds to the body of knowledge about the integrated framework of interaction process characteristics in supplier-buyer relationships. First of all, in the IT and automotive industries, munificence, that is the availability of critical resources which a firm needs to compete, is the key environmental characteristic that the firm should consider to achieve overall performance. Secondly, regarding business strategy, differentiation and cost leadership strategies have positive effects on interaction process characteristics in structural, functional and climate dimensions. Thridly, this study contributes to the identification of the dimensions of relationship value and the development of its measurements. Relationship value consists of several subdimensions such as economic, operational, strategic and behavioural value and the integrated framework including subdimensions of relationship value is examined with the measurements developed in this study. The effect of relationship value on the performance of the firm is considerably significant

Three Cases of Student Teaching Practice for Social Justice in Early Childhood Education

Although teachers may agree that it is important to teach all learners equitably, it is challenging to practice social justice oriented pedagogy due to its multiplicity and complexity. This participatory action research attempted to examine student teaching practices that three teacher candidates approached to teach for social justice with young children (Preschool – 1st grade) in suburban and urban school settings. For this qualitative research, multiple data sources such as observations, interviews, and documents from course work and field placement were collected and analyzed. This study discusses different student teaching practices each participant chose to teach for social justice and different areas of diversities each participant focused in different contexts. It concludes with some suggestions for early childhood teacher educators with insights and tools to support teacher candidates to teach for social justice. Keywords: Diversity, teacher candidate, early childhood education, teacher educatio

Real-and-Imagined Spaces: Productive Play in a Multimodal Youth Writing Program

This ethnographic study is driven by the aim of understanding how an out-of-school learning program supports the development of youth artists and writers, particularly when it operates outside of institutional strictures such as mandatory grading, curricular guidelines, and tracking based on age and perceived abilities. The research is guided by the following overarching questions: 1) In what ways do Black, Latinx, and queer students demonstrate investment in critical multimodal literacies? 2) How do world-building projects reveal the possibilities and limits of the imagination? 3) What conditions can inspire youth to articulate their identities as evolving writers and leaders? This work argues that playing with multimodal projects and imaginative world-building opportunities provided generative conditions for young adults’ development as writers, creators, and mentors. By engaging in transdisciplinary projects that invited crafting, coding, urban planning, architectural modeling, and creative writing, youth participants contributed to a participatory learning environment that celebrated their inherent capacities as critical thinkers and actors. My research ultimately highlights the ways that critical multimodal literacies can promote powerful self-expressions, complex articulations of the future, and projections of self confidence through productive play and public engagement with wider audiences

Comparison of Movement of the Upper Dentition According to Anchorage Method: Orthodontic Mini-Implant versus Conventional Anchorage Reinforcement in Class I Malocclusion

Objective. To compare the amounts of anchorage loss in the upper first molar (U6) and of retraction of the upper central incisor (U1) in cases with Class I malocclusion between orthodontic mini-implants (OMIs) and conventional anchorage reinforcements (CARs). Methods. The subjects were 40 female adult patients with Class I malocclusion who were treated with extraction of the first premolars and sliding mechanics. The subjects were divided into Groups 1 (N = 20, CAR) and 2 (N = 20, OMI) according to anchorage method. Lateral cephalograms were taken before (T0) and after treatment (T1). Seven skeletal and dental variables and ten anchorage variables were measured. Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis. Results. Group 2 showed significantly larger retraction of U1 (U1E-sag, 9.5 mm : 7.1 mm, P < .05) and less anchorage loss of U6 (U6M-sag, 0.2 mm : 2.2 mm, P < .05; U6A-sag, 0.3 mm versus 2.4 mm, P < .01) than Group 1. There was opposite vertical movement in U1 and U6 between Groups 1 and 2 (U1E-ver, 0.9 mm intrusion : 0.7 mm extrusion; U6F-ver, 1.0 mm intrusion : 0.9 mm extrusion, P < .05). Conclusion. Although OMI could not reduce the treatment duration, it could provide better maximum anchorage of U6, greater retraction of U1, intrusion of U1 and U6 than CAR

Modelling ATR-FTIR Spectra of Dental Bonding Systems to Investigate Composition and Polymerisation Kinetics

Component ratios and kinetics are key to understanding and optimising novel formulations. This warrants investigation of valid methods. Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infra-Red (ATR)-FTIR spectra of separate primers/adhesives were modelled using summed spectra of solvents (water, ethanol), methacrylate monomers (HEMA (hydroxyethyl methacrylate), Bis-GMA (bisphenol A glycidyl methacrylate), and 10-MDP (10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate)), and fillers, multiplied by varying fractions. Filler loads were obtained following their separation from the adhesives, by analysing three repetitions (n = 3). Spectral changes during light exposure at 37 °C (20 s, LED 1100–1330 mW/cm2) were used to determine polymerisation kinetics (n = 3). Independent samples T-test was used for statistical analysis (significance level of 5%). FTIR modelling suggested a primer solvent percentage of OBFL (Optibond FL) (30%) was half that of CFSE (Clearfil SE 2) (60%). OBFL included ethanol and water, while CFSE included only water. Monomer peaks were largely those of HEMA with lower levels of phosphate monomers. OBFL/CFSE adhesive model spectra suggested that both contained equal volumes of Bis-GMA/HEMA, with CFSE having 10-MDP. Filler levels and spectra from OBFL (48 wt.%) and CFSE (5 wt.%) were different. Both systems reached a 50% conversion rate within seconds of light exposure. The final conversion for OBFL (74 ± 1%) was lower compared to CFSE (79 ± 2%) (p < 0.05). ATR-FTIR is a useful method to investigate relative levels of main components in bonding systems and their polymerisation kinetics. Such information is valuable to understanding such behaviour