Teaching-Material Design Center: An ontology-based system for customizing reusable e-materials

Use of electronic teaching materials (e-material) to support teaching is a trend. e-Material design is therefore an important issue. Currently, most e-material providers offer a package of solutions for different purposes. However, not all teachers and learners need everything from a single package. A preferable alternative is to find useful material from different packages and combine them for a particular course. Currently, most educators collect the material manually, which is time-consuming and may result in missed material. In this paper, we describe a system – the Teaching-Material Design Center, which follows the standard of Sharable Content Object Reference Model – to separate e-material for use as teaching templates and learning objects and to label the material with use of semantic metadata for searching. This system can find existing teaching templates and learning objects for e-material designers and provide a convenient environment for constructing customized e-material for different requirements. We describe the implementation and evaluation of the proposed system for a course. Our system is efficient in finding teaching templates and learning objects and shortening the e-material development process.     

On the coherent interference suppression using a spatiallysmoothing adaptive array

The behavior of a spatially smoothing adaptive array is examined. An expression for the weight vector is first derived. Using the array gain on the desired signal and the coherent interference is obtained. Then the expression for output signal-to-noise (SNR) is derived. It shows that the performance of the spatially smoothing array depends on the number of the subarrays, the angle separation, relative power and initial phase difference between the desired signal and the coherent interference. For good interference suppression it is found that the magnitude of the phase difference of the incident and interference signals must be greater than the beamwidths of both the subarray and the equivalent array. There is also a tradeoff between increasing the groups of subarrays and decreasing the number of elements in the subarrays. Computer simulation results are given that validate the analysis     

Local heat transfer measurements of plate finned-tube heat exchangers by infrared thermography

An experimental study is performed using an infrared thermovision to monitor temperature distribution over a plate-fin surface inside the plate finned-tube heat exchangers. The differentiation of the temperature function is derived to determine the local convective heat transfer coefficients on the tested fin, using a local element lumped conduction equation included the convective effect on the boundaries with experimental data. It is disclosed that the infrared thermography is capable of rapidly detecting location and extent of transition and separation regions of the boundary layer over the whole surface of the tested models. Through the comparison of the test results on the strategy region of the in-line and staggered arrangements, it is more easy to understand or interpret the detailed dynamic phenomena of flow existed in the heat exchangers. In addition, the experimental results demonstrate that the averaged heat transfer coefficient of staggered configuration is 14-32% higher than that of in-lined configuration     

Fuzzy financial decision-making: load management programs case study

This paper derives two fuzzy financial profitability models, namely, a least cost solution model and a cost-benefit analysis model, to evaluate the fuzzy financial profitability of load management alternatives. A straightforward vertex parameters' fuzzy mathematics operation using the function principle is derived as an alternative to the traditional extension principle and is applied to evaluate a number of different financial decision indexes. Compared to the extension principle, the function principle is simple to implement and is conceptually straightforward. The geometric moments of the fuzzy financial indexes are established in order to determine their relative ranking as part of a decision-making process. The performances of the proposed fuzzy financial models are verified by considering their application to two practical load management programs in Taiwan, namely, a cooling energy storage air conditioner and a cogeneration project. These investigations not only confirm that the results of the fuzzy financial models are consistent with those of the conventional crisp models but also demonstrate that the proposed models are more flexible, intelligent, and computationally efficient compared to the extension principle fuzzy mathematics approach. The developed models represent readily implemented possibility analysis tools for use in the arena of uncertain financial decision-making.     

On-line learning delivery decision support system for highlyproduct mixed semiconductor foundry

A production learning system (PLS) based on the tool model was constructed as a decision support and real-time information update system to forecast the cycle time. A tool model includes a waiting model and a processing model. Each of the waiting and processing models uses a backpropagation neural network to establish the relationship between the input and output (time) of the model. Hence, cycle time estimation, tool group move and confirm line item performance (CLIP) value can be obtained based on the memory stored in the neural network. The result shows that the forecasting ability of the PLS has an error rate below 8% on average     

Economic analysis and optimization of tool portfolio in semiconductor manufacturing

The tool portfolio of a plant refers to the makeup, in quantity and type, of processing machines in the plant. It is determined by taking into consideration the future trends of process and machine technologies and the forecasts of product evolution and product demands. Portfolio planning is also a multicriteria decision-making task involving tradeoffs among, investment cost, throughput, cycle time, and risk. Tool portfolio planning is a complex task that has strong bearing on manufacturing efficiency. In the first part of this paper, a multicriteria economic decision model is presented for optimal configuration. of the portfolio and to determine the optimal factory loading. The second and third parts of the paper contain applications of the model. If plants are closely located or have a twin-plant design, portfolio planning at multiple plants can be integrated to enhance the overall effectiveness of portfolios. In the second part, a novel methodology for arbitrating capacity backup between plants is described. Because the economic model is constructed upon a valuation of both cycle time and throughput, it is a suitable method for the evaluation of cycle time reduction projects. The application procedure is outlined in the third part.     

Direct analysis of transient stability: Experience with the Taipower system

A direct method for transient stability analysis of a multimachine power system is presented. Emphasis is placed on the detailed development and evaluation of the proposed method in transient stability assessment. An energy-type Lyapunov function, taking into account the effect of transfer conductance, is introduced first. The potential energy boundary surface method is then adopted to determine the critical energy value quickly. The main computational burden in the direct method lies in the reduction of the admittance matrices. In this paper, an efficient reduction technique incorporating the sparsity technique and compensation theory is developed. Finally, the proposed method was tested on the Taipower system, which is the only power system in Taiwan. The results obtained confirm the validity and accuracy of the proposed method, and hence demonstrate the superiority and potential of the direct method in real power system applications.     

FM subcarrier fiber optical transmission system design and itsapplication in next-generation wireless access

This paper presents a design method of optical frequency modulation (FM) subcarrier (with super carrier) transmission modem. The nonideal link characteristics, including laser chirping, fiber dispersion, voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) phase noise, relative intensity noise (RIN), and equivalent network model of laser diode of such a system that may bring about signal distortion are discussed first. We then propose a hierarchical methods to establish the system equivalent model. Finally this FM modem is applied to a GSM wireless system, in which multichannel signals are transmitted over fiber between radio port and basestation, and system performance is appraised by its dynamic range. It is found that optical FM subcarrier (with super carrier) transmission technique can improve the system dynamic range, compared with the intensity modulated direct detection (IMDD) method, and this is a economical and efficient method     

Cultured astrocytes express proteins involved in vesicular glutamate release

The objective of this study is to analyze volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations in Taiwan's drinking water supply. Focusing on Taiwan's three major metropolitan areas--Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung (in the north, middle and south, respectively)--171 samples were taken from tap water and 68 from boiled water. Tests showed VOC concentrations were highest in Kaohsiung. This is due to different water sources and methods of treatment. Except for bromoform, trihalomethane (THM) concentrations were highest. Detection rates of toluene and 1,2-dichloroethane were slightly higher than other VOC compounds. VOC concentrations decreased significantly after water was boiled. THMs had a removal rate from 61% to 82%. The authors conclude that the three metropolitan areas contain significantly different levels of VOCs and that boiling can significantly reduce the presence of VOCs. Other sources of pollution that contaminate drinking water such as industrial plants and gas stations must be further investigated.     

Hyperdynamic circulation of cirrhotic rats: role of substance P and its relationship to nitric oxide

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that excessive formation of nitric oxide (NO) is responsible for the hyperdynamic circulation observed in portal hypertension. Substance P is a neuropeptide partly cleared by the liver and causes vasodilatation through the activation of the endothelial NO pathway. However, there are no previously published data concerning the plasma level of substance P in cirrhotic rats and its relationship to NO. METHODS: Plasma concentrations of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (an index of NO production) were determined in control rats and cirrhotic rats with or without ascites using an enzyme-linked immununosorbent assay and a colorimetric assay, respectively. In addition, systemic and portal hemodynamics were evaluated by a thermodilution technique and catheterization. RESULTS: Cirrhotic rats with and without ascites had a lower systemic vascular resistance (2.6 +/- 0.2 and 3.9 +/- 0.4 mmHg ml(-1) x min x 100 g body weight, respectively) and higher portal pressure (14.6 +/- 0.6 and 11.3 +/- 1.8 mmHg) than control rats (6.5 +/- 0.3 mmHg x ml(-1) x min x 100 g BW and 6.8 +/- 0.2 mmHg, respectively, P < 0.05), and cirrhotic rats with ascites had the lowest systemic vascular resistance. Plasma levels of nitrate/nitrite progressively increased in relation to the severity of liver dysfunction (control rats, 2.7 +/- 0.5 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats without ascites, 5.6 +/- 1.3 nmol/ml; cirrhotic rats with ascites, 8.3 +/- 2.2 nmol/ml; P < 0.05). Cirrhotic rats with ascites displayed higher plasma values of substance P (57.7 +/- 5.9 pg/ml) than cirrhotic rats without ascites (37.9 +/- 3.1 pg/ml, P < 0.05) and control rats (30.1 +/- 1.0 pg/ml, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in plasma substance P values between control rats and cirrhotic rats without ascites (P > 0.05). No correlation was found between plasma levels of substance P and nitrate/nitrite (r = 0.318, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Excessive formation of NO may be responsible, at least partly, for the hemodynamic derangements in cirrhosis. Although substance P may not participate in the initiation of a hyperdynamic circulation in cirrhosis, it may contribute to the maintenance of the hyperdynamic circulation observed in cirrhotic rats with ascites.