A visual tool for computer supported learning: The robot motion planning example

We introduce an effective computer aided learning visual tool (CALVT) to teach graph-based applications. We present the robot motion planning problem as an example of such applications. The proposed tool can be used to simulate and/or further to implement practical systems in different areas of computer science such as graphics, computational geometry, robotics and networking. In the robot motion planning example, CALVT enables users to setup the working environment by creating obstacles and a robot of different shapes, specifying starting and goal positions, and setting other path or environment parameters from a user-friendly interface. The path planning system involves several phases. Each of these modules is complex and therefore we provide the possibility of visualizing graphically the output of each phase. Based on our experience, this tool has been an effective one in classroom teaching. It not only cuts down, significantly, on the instructor’s time and effort but also motivates senior/graduate students to pursue work in this specific area of research.     

Optimal Locations of Groundwater Extractions in Coastal Aquifers

A regional water supply management model for coastal aquifers was developed. One of its outcomes is the definition of the optimized locations for groundwater withdrawal. Such a tool permits the analysis of alternative plans for groundwater extraction and the sustainable use of water resources in a coastal aquifer subject to saltwater intrusion. The principal components are the evolutionary optimization and the analytical/numerical simulation models. The optimization technique looks for the best well locations taking into consideration the economic results and the satisfaction of the societal water demand. However these two concerns are conditioned by trying to control the saltwater intrusion, i.e., preserving the environmental equilibrium. The simulation model uses the governing mathematical equations for groundwater movement to find the interface between freshwater and saltwater. Because of the non-linearity in the system and the possibility of a jumping interface, a security distance was defined. This is a controlling variable which can be set by the decision makers. The model was applied to a typical case with interesting results. For example, diagrams showing the relationship between the location of the wells and the security distance(s) are of importance to the managers. It was also crucial to have an understanding of the tradeoffs between groundwater withdrawals, positions of the wells from the coast line, and the security distance. The model was also applied to a real case in order to relate the extractions, distances and artificial recharge (not presented in this paper).     

Two-tier architecture for unconstrained handwritten character recognition

In this paper, we propose an approach that combines the unsupervised and supervised learning techniques for unconstrained handwritten numeral recognition. This approach uses the Kohonen self-organizing neural network for data classification in the first stage and the learning vector quantization (LVQ) model in the second stage to improve classification accuracy. The combined architecture performs better than the Kohonen self-organizing map alone. In the proposed approach, the collection of centroids at different phases of training plays a vital role in the performance of the recognition system. Four experiments have been conducted and experimental results show that the collection of centroids in the middle of the training gives high performance in terms of speed and accuracy. The systems developed also resolve the confusion between handwritten numerals.     

广义准正则格形码距离谱的计算

本文讨论了格形码距离谱的计算问题，定义了度量空间意义下的广义准正则格形码，对具有Ｉｍａｉ与Ｈｉｒａｋａｗａ［２］和Ｕｎｇｅｒｂｏｅｃｋ［３］定义的典型的时不变网格结构的广义准正则格形码，证明了其距离谱可用全零信息序列对应的码字进行计算。在理论上推广了Ｍ．Ｒｏｕａｎｃｅ与Ｄ．Ｊ．Ｃｏｓｔｅｌｏ的结果，解决了非平方欧几里德度量意义下一类ＴＣＭ信号序列的距离谱计算问题     

Learning and Revising User Profiles: The Identification of Interesting Web Sites

We discuss algorithms for learning and revising user profiles that can determine which World Wide Web sites on a given topic would be interesting to a user. We describe the use of a naive Bayesian classifier for this task, and demonstrate that it can incrementally learn profiles from user feedback on the interestingness of Web sites. Furthermore, the Bayesian classifier may easily be extended to revise user provided profiles. In an experimental evaluation we compare the Bayesian classifier to computationally more intensive alternatives, and show that it performs at least as well as these approaches throughout a range of different domains. In addition, we empirically analyze the effects of providing the classifier with background knowledge in form of user defined profiles and examine the use of lexical knowledge for feature selection. We find that both approaches can substantially increase the prediction accuracy.     

城市道路中的高杆照明

分析高杆照明的特点及其在城市道路中应用的实例，进而阐述高杆照明系统中主要参数的确定方法。     

The impact of presentation graphics on students’ experience in the classroom

To investigate the benefits and perceived effectiveness of instructional technology, students enrolled in several courses were compared on student evaluations of instruction, grades and an attitudinal questionnaire. The instructors of the courses taught the same course across two successive semesters, using traditional “chalk-and-talk” methods the first semester, and PowerPoint the next; all other techniques (e.g., exams, lecture material) were held constant. Results suggest that organization and clarity, entertainment and interest, professor likeability, and good professor behaviors were enhanced with PowerPoint although final grades were not.     

Scaffolded writing and rewriting in the discipline: A web-based reciprocal peer review system

This paper describes how SWoRD (scaffolded writing and rewriting in the discipline), a web-based reciprocal peer review system, supports writing practice, particularly for large content courses in which writing is considered critical but not feasibly included. To help students gain content knowledge as well as writing and reviewing skills, SWoRD supports the whole cycle of writing, reviews, back-reviews, and rewriting by scaffolding the journal publication process as its authentic practice model. In addition, SWoRD includes algorithms that compute individual reviewer’s review accuracy, which is in turn used to support the various drawbacks of reciprocal peer reviews (e.g., variation in motivation or ability of reviewers). Finally, this paper describes an empirical evaluation showing that the SWoRD approach is effective in improving writing quality in content classes.     

The minimum squared euclidean distance of multi-h phase codes

The minimum squared Euclidean distance(MSED) of binary multi-h phase codes is presented. The signal segregation degree(SSD) has been put forward to determine MSED of multi-h phase codes. In order to maximize MSED, SSD should be as large as possible. The necessary and sufficient conditions of maximizing SSD are derived. Finally, SSD and the exact formulae for MSED of binary 2-h phase codes are also presented.     

基于参差距离的相位差变化值的解模糊方法研究

利用相位差及其变化率对辐射源进行定位是新近提出的一种快速单基无源定位方法。本文分析了利用相位干涉议得到的相位差变化值的相位模糊特点,提出了一种利用相位干涉仪的接收天线之间的参差距离对相位差变化值进行解模糊的方法,讨论了正确解模糊的条件和范围,并给出了仿真结果。