Tool,Toy, Telephone,Territory, or Treasure of Information: Elementary school students’ attitudes toward the Internet

The purposes of this study are to investigate fifth-graders’ attitudes toward the Internet based on the 5-T framework (Tool, Toy, Telephone, Territory, and Treasure of Information), and to understand whether gender makes any difference in their attitudes. The data were obtained from 2,253 Taiwan fifth-grade students. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, the 5-T model was validated and can be used to explain the corresponding five-factors which constitute Internet attitudes. According to the results, the students perceived the Internet mainly as a useful and powerful tool for their academic work and daily lives. Moreover, students strongly considered the Internet a toy, which is somewhat indistinguishable from the role of Tool. The students acknowledged the role of the Territory that they can demonstrate themselves by writing and sharing personal information online. Therefore, the Internet is good for both reading and writing information. The least weighted factor among 5-Ts student recognized is the role of Telephone. Gender differences exist in the subscales of Tool, Toy, Treasure of Information, and Telephone, but not in the Territory subscale of the Internet attitudes scale. This study further discusses and presents implications of the findings for teachers, parents, and future studies.     

Classification and mass production technique for three-quarter shoe insoles using non-weight-bearing plantar shapes

We have developed a technique for the mass production and classification of three-quarter shoe insoles via a 3D anthropometric measurement of full-size non-weight-bearing plantar shapes. The plantar shapes of fifty 40-60-year-old adults from Taiwan were categorized and, in conjunction with commercially available flat or leisure shoe models, three-quarter shoe-insole models were generated using a CAD system. Applying a rapid prototype system, these models were then used to provide the parameters for manufacturing the shoe insoles. The insoles developed in this study have been classified into S, M and L types that offer user-friendly options for foot-care providers. We concluded that these insoles can mate tightly with the foot arch and disperse the pressure in the heel and forefoot over the foot arch. Thus, practically, the pressure difference over the plantar region can be minimised, and the user can experience comfort when wearing flat or leisure shoes.     

On avoiding RTS collisions for IEEE 802.11-based wireless ad hoc networks

The paper proposes an RCA (RTS collision avoidance) MAC protocol to reduce RTS collisions for IEEE 802.11-based mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). RTS/CTS exchanging is used for the resolution of the hidden terminal problem. However, the paper shows that, even the backoff counters of two stations are different, RTS frames are also collided to each other due to the hidden terminal problem. The situation would be getting worse in high traffic load or in a dense network. RTS collisions not only result in the following CTS or ACK collisions, but also induce false blocking problem, even dead locks of transmissions. To address the above problems, an RCA MAC protocol is proposed to reduce RTS collisions. The RCA protocol utilizes a narrow band, called the tone channel, to announce the RTS transmission in advance in order to preclude the RTS transmissions of two-hop neighbors. To reduce the channel and hardware overhead, an improvement to the RCA protocol is also devised, which only uses a single channel and one transceiver to reduce RTS collisions. The RCA protocol provides a type of fast collision detection and decreases the probability of RTS collisions, which is benefit for RTS/CTS exchange scheme. Meanwhile, the RCA protocol can reduce the retransmission cost and have lower control overhead than that of IEEE 802.11 DCF. In addition, simulation results verify the advantages of the RCA protocol in comparison with IEEE 802.11 DCF.     

Location determination of mobile devices for an indoor WLAN application using a neural network

Due to the popularity of location-based services, determining the location of a device at all times has become a subject of great interests. Although many GPS-based applications have been developed and successfully deployed in various fields, their applicabilities are hindered by the obstruction of the objects in the environment. Essentially, as satellite signals cannot penetrate the walls of buildings, the coverage of GPS systems is limited to outdoor environments. To fully exploit the benefit of location-based services, approaches that determine the location of a device in indoor environments need to be established. This study presents a novel location determination mechanism that uses an indoor WLAN and back-propagation neural network (BPN). A museum is taken as the context of the example indoor environment. Location determination is achieved using the combined strengths of 802.11b wireless access signals. With a significant number of access points (APs) installed in the museum, hand-held devices can sense the strengths of the signals from all APs to which the devices can connect. Using a back-propagation network, device locations can be estimated with sufficient accuracy. A novel adaptive algorithm is implemented for enhancing the accuracy of the estimation.

Two-layer dual gait generative models for human motion estimation from a single camera

This paper presents a two-layer gait representation framework for video-based human motion estimation that extends our recent dual gait generative models, visual gait generative model (VGGM) and kinematic gait generative model (KGGM), with a new capability of part-whole gait modeling. Specifically, the idea of gait manifold learning is revisited to capture the gait variability among different individuals at both whole and part levels. A key issue is the selection of an appropriate distance metric to evaluate the dissimilarity between two gaits (either at whole or part levels) that determines an optimal manifold topology. Several metrics are studied and compared in terms of their effectiveness for gait manifold learning at both whole and part levels. This work involves one whole-based and two part-level gait manifolds by which three pairs of KGGM and VGGM can be learned and integrated for part-whole gait modeling. Moreover, a two-stage Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) inference algorithm is developed for video-based part-whole motion estimation. The proposed algorithm is tested on the HumanEva data and reaches state-of-art results.     

Assessing the impact of quality determinants and user characteristics on successful enterprise resource planning project implementation

As barriers to transnational trade and investment have been lowered due to globalization, and information and communication technologies have improved, multinational firms can conduct operations with increased ease. Enterprises can also utilize cost-advantageous production resources and export products to expand their global market. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems serve the purpose and have become useful instruments for managing multinational operations. Notably, ERP systems integrate information platforms to reflect operations at each operation point in real time and generate information as a basis for decision-making and resource allocations. Thus, ERP systems are essential to global logistics management and collaboration. However, vertical and horizontal evaluations of information systems are necessary to determining the effectiveness and success of project implementation. This study examines the impact of quality determinants from literature in assessing benefits using an information systems success model. The cause-and-effect relationships between model constructs are tested using structural equation modeling. An empirical study of leading manufacturers adopting ERP systems is used to investigate corporate benefits related to information quality, system quality, service quality, system use, and user satisfaction. The analytical results can be a reference for practitioners and researchers evaluating the effectiveness of management information systems.     

Colour image compression based on the measure of just noticeable colour difference

To the human vision, there exists in colour images a certain amount of perceptual redundancy since the human visual system (HVS) has limited sensitivity in discriminating colour signals of small differences. By measuring the perceptual redundancy inherent in colour images and shaping the coding distortion into the perceptual redundancy, colour images are expected to be represented more efficiently. Approaches to perceptually optimise the efficiency of image coders in compressing colour images with the perceptual redundancy estimated by a colour visual model are presented. The model estimates the perceptual redundancy for each colour pixel as a visibility threshold of colour difference in any colour space and in a spatial or frequency domain. Two existing image coders are modified to take advantage of the perceptual redundancy and simulated to inspect if their coding efficiency is improved. In the spatial domain, the JPEG-LS coder in the near-lossless compression mode is modified to make coding errors part of the perceptual redundancy in compressing colour images in the RGB space. In the wavelet domain, the JPEG2000 coder is refined by minimising the perceptible distortion involved in the rate control of the compressed image in the YC/sub b/C/sub r/space. Simulation results show that, in both cases, the performance of the perceptually tuned coder is superior to that of the un-tuned coder in terms of the bit rate required for achieving the same visual quality.     

Protecting a lens with air

A novel design is the concept of preventing the camera lens from contamination of the particles by using "airwall." An experimental wireless video camera debris deflecting system was realized and performed to verify the concept. Functional tests have been successfully verified.     

Method of inequalities-based multiobjective genetic algorithm for optimizing a cart-double-pendulum system

This article presents a multiobjective approach to the design of the controller for the swing-up and handstand control of a general cart-double-pendulum system （CDPS）. The designed controller, which is based on the human-simulated intelligent control （HSIC） method, builds up different control modes to monitor and control the CDPS during four kinetic phases consisting of an initial oscillation phase, a swing-up phase, a posture adjustment phase, and a balance control phase. For the approach, the original method of inequalities-based （MoI） multiobjective genetic algorithm （MMGA） is extended and applied to the case study which uses a set of performance indices that includes the cart displacement over the rail boundary, the number of swings, the settling time, the overshoot of the total energy, and the control effort. The simulation results show good responses of the CDPS with the controllers obtained by the proposed approach.     

A pilot study of intracavitary hyperthermia combined with radiation in the treatment of oesophageal carcinoma

The possibility that the experiences of the "hidden" child survivors of the Holocaust (those who survived outside of the concentration camps during the Nazi occupation) had a pathological effect on their offspring was examined by comparing volunteer, matched samples of adult children of "hidden" child survivors of the Holocaust with adult children of nontraumatized U.S.-born Jewish parents on personality variables measured by the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970). The MANOVA results indicated that there were no differences in the personality characteristics of the two groups.