Context information captures acceptability of alerts to pedestrians

Includes summary document and presentation slides.This presentation discusses a research method used to evaluate the design of the alerting logic of an automotive pedestrian warning system. We show how an empirical approach to quantifying the relative level with which drivers are likely to accept pedestrian alerts can be used to define an alerting algorithm. We used the method to investigate a range of contextual factors likely to influence driver acceptance of pedestrian alerts

Prepare your mind for learning

The learning process must evolve and expand throughout one\u27s IT career. Most would agree that\u27s often easier said than done. Here are some ways professionals can overcome mental blocks that may prevent learning

Clarifying the Role of Self-Efficacy and Metacognition as Indicators of Learning: Construct Development and Test

We propose extending our understanding of self-efficacy by comparing self-efficacy with a related construct called metacognition. Metacognition involves the monitoring and control of one\u27s thought processes and is often related, as is self-efficacy, to performance on a task. We develop an instrument that attempts to measure both self-efficacy and metacognition with respect to one\u27s performance on a test covering declarative and procedural knowledge (knowing that, and knowing how) of DFDs and ERDs. With data collected from a sample of 124 students, we use partial least squares (PLS) to show that self-efficacy and metacognition are distinct yet related constructs. While self-efficacy is a predictor of both declarative and procedural knowledge, metacognition is only related to procedural knowledge. We discuss the implications of these results and suggest further research is needed to compare and contrast the role of these constructs in assessing learning outcomes

Comparing Self-Efficacy and Metacognition as Indicators of Performance

We report the results of a pilot study that compared the computer self-efficacy construct with metacognition. While self-efficacy is primarily affective and refers to one’s beliefs about one’s ability to perform a task, metacognition is primarily cognitive and refers to one’s thoughts about one’s ability to perform a task. Given their similarity, both have been used as surrogate measures of knowledge or skill. We developed an instrument to measure both constructs and applied the instrument to a set of MIS students taking an Analysis and Design course. Factor analysis produced a five-factor model, with metacognition factoring out as a unidimensional scale. Implications for further research are discussed

Ocean processes at the Antarctic continental slope

The Antarctic continental shelves and slopes occupy relatively small areas, but, nevertheless, are important for global climate, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem functioning. Processes of water mass transformation through sea ice formation/melting and ocean-atmosphere interaction are key to the formation of deep and bottom waters as well as determining the heat flux beneath ice shelves. Climate models, however, struggle to capture these physical processes and are unable to reproduce water mass properties of the region. Dynamics at the continental slope are key for correctly modelling climate, yet their small spatial scale presents challenges both for ocean modelling and for observational studies. Cross-slope exchange processes are also vital for the flux of nutrients such as iron from the continental shelf into the mixed layer of the Southern Ocean. An © 2014 The Authors

Diffusion tensor imaging of Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy: a tract-based spatial statistics study

Although often clinically indistinguishable in the early stages, Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) have distinct neuropathological changes. The aim of the current study was to identify white matter tract neurodegeneration characteristic of each of the three syndromes. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to perform a whole-brain automated analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data to compare differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between the three clinical groups and healthy control subjects. Further analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between these putative indices of white matter microstructure and clinical measures of disease severity and symptoms. In PSP, relative to controls, changes in DTI indices consistent with white matter tract degeneration were identified in the corpus callosum, corona radiata, corticospinal tract, superior longitudinal fasciculus, anterior thalamic radiation, superior cerebellar peduncle, medial lemniscus, retrolenticular and anterior limb of the internal capsule, cerebral peduncle and external capsule bilaterally, as well as the left posterior limb of the internal capsule and the right posterior thalamic radiation. MSA patients also displayed differences in the body of the corpus callosum corticospinal tract, cerebellar peduncle, medial lemniscus, anterior and superior corona radiata, posterior limb of the internal capsule external capsule and cerebral peduncle bilaterally, as well as the left anterior limb of the internal capsule and the left anterior thalamic radiation. No significant white matter abnormalities were observed in the PD group. Across groups, MD correlated positively with disease severity in all major white matter tracts. These results show widespread changes in white matter tracts in both PSP and MSA patients, even at a mid-point in the disease process, which are not found in patients with PD

Radial distribution function of semiflexible polymers

We calculate the distribution function of the end--to--end distance of a semiflexible polymer with large bending rigidity. This quantity is directly observable in experiments on single semiflexible polymers (e.g., DNA, actin) and relevant to their interpretation. It is also an important starting point for analyzing the behavior of more complex systems such as networks and solutions of semiflexible polymers. To estimate the validity of the obtained analytical expressions, we also determine the distribution function numerically using Monte Carlo simulation and find good quantitative agreement.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 1 figure. Also available at http://www.cip.physik.tu-muenchen.de/tumphy/d/T34/Mitarbeiter/frey.htm

Hall-conductivity sign change and fluctuations in amorphous Nbx_{x}Ge1−x_{1-x} films

The sign change in the Hall conductivity has been studied in thin amorphous Nb$_{1-x}$Ge$_x (x\approx$0.3) films. By changing the film thickness it is shown that the field at which the sign reversal occurs shifts to lower values (from above to below the mean-field transition field $H_{c2}$) with increasing film thickness. This effect can be understood in terms of a competition between a positive normal and a negative fluctuation contribution to the Hall conductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A method for the reconstruction of unknown non-monotonic growth functions in the chemostat

We propose an adaptive control law that allows one to identify unstable steady states of the open-loop system in the single-species chemostat model without the knowledge of the growth function. We then show how one can use this control law to trace out (reconstruct) the whole graph of the growth function. The process of tracing out the graph can be performed either continuously or step-wise. We present and compare both approaches. Even in the case of two species in competition, which is not directly accessible with our approach due to lack of controllability, feedback control improves identifiability of the non-dominant growth rate.Comment: expansion of ideas from proceedings paper (17 pages, 8 figures), proceedings paper is version v

Q methodology and a Delphi poll: a useful approach to researching a narrative approach to therapy

Q methodology and a Delphi poll combined qualitative and quantitative methods to explore definitions of White and Epston's (1990) narrative approach to therapy among a group of UK practitioners. A Delphi poll was used to generate statements about narrative therapy. The piloting of statements by the Delphi panel identified agreement about theoretical ideas underpinning narrative therapy and certain key practices. A wider group of practitioners ranked the statements in a Q sort and made qualitative comments about their sorting. Quantitative methods (principal components analysis) were used to extract eight accounts of narrative therapy, five of which are qualitatively analysed in this paper. Agreement and differences were identified across a range of issues, including the social construction of narratives, privileging a political stance or narrative techniques and the relationship with other therapies, specifically systemic psychotherapy. Q methodology, combined with the Delphi poll, was a unique and innovative feature of this study