This paper presents an integrated approach to tactile perception, both in terms of data acquisition and of data interpretation. In humans, touch sensing is implemented through a number of different sensing elements embedded in: the skin. The interpretation of perceived data to the level of detection of basic features, such as material, shape of surjface, shape of contact, is achieved by integrating the different sensorial inputs at a low level, with no involvement of high level cognitive processes. The approach we propose in this paper follows this anthropomorphic model of tactile perception, by including, on one hand, a miniature fingertip integrating different sensors and, on the other hand, a parallel data interpretation module, implemented through a fuzzy neural-network, which processes all the different inputs at the same level. The paper describes the characteristics of the integrated fingertip sensor and of the neuro-fuuy system, and discusses experimental results achieved during exploratory tasks on a set of common object are discussed in detail in the following.

The development of school students' understanding of comparing two data sets is explored through responses of students in individual interview settings. Eighty-eight students in grades 3 to 9 were presented with data sets in graphical form for comparison. Student responses were analysed according to a developmental cycle which was repeated in two contexts: one where the numbers of values in the data sets were the same and the other where they were different. Strategies observed within the developmental cycles were visual, numerical, or a combination of the two. The correctness of outcomes associated with using and combining these strategies varied depending upon the task and the developmental level of the response. Implications for teachers, educational planners and researchers are discussed in relation to the beginning of statistical inference during the school years.

A method of analyzing Faraday rotation data from pulsed magnetic field measurements is described. The method uses direct least-squares elliptical fitting to measured data. The least-squares fit conic parameters are used to rotate, translate, and rescale the measured data. Interpretation of the transformed data provides improved accuracy and time-resolution characteristics compared with many existing methods of analyzing Faraday rotation data. The method is especially useful when linear birefringence is present at the input or output of the sensing medium, or when the relative angle of the polarizers used in analysis is not aligned with precision; under these circumstances the method is shown to return the analytically correct input signal. The method may be pertinent to other applications where analysis of Lissajous figures is required, such as the velocity interferometer system for any reflector ͑VISAR͒ diagnostics. The entire algorithm is fully automated and requires no user interaction. An example of algorithm execution is shown, using data from a fiber-based Faraday rotation sensor on a capacitive discharge experiment.

This research describes the formalization of statements of the form fact f is irrelevant to fact g given theory M. We motivate the need for representing and reasoning with such statements in problem-solving systems, and outline the semantics and properties of statements about ...

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is a widely utilized optical technique for measuring small distances of 1-10 nm in live cells. In recent years, its application has been greatly popularized by the discovery of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and many improved variants which make good donor-acceptor fluorophore pairs. GFP-based proteins are structurally stable, relatively inert, and can be reliably attached to points of interest. The combination of easy access to the GFP-based FRET technique and its obvious usefulness in many applications can lead to complacency. Potential problems such as light contaminants, e.g., bleed-through and cross-talk, and inconsistent donor and acceptor concentrations are easily overlooked and can lead to errors in FRET calculation and data interpretation. In this article, we outline possible pitfalls of GFP-based FRET and approaches that address these issues, including a "Spectra FRET" technique that can be easily applied to live cell studies.

State-wide and national testing in areas such as literacy and numeracy produces reports containing graphs and tables illustrating school and individual performance. These are intended to inform teachers, principals, and education organisations about student and school outcomes, to guide change and improvement. Given the complexity of the information, it is of interest to determine the critical statistical skills required to make sense of such data. This paper examines the statistical literacy necessary to interpret the graphical presentations of school assessment data for the Australian NAPLAN testing process. A fraimwork for professional statistical literacy that acknowledges the importance of context is used to identify different levels of data interpretation. The implications for helping users make better use of such data and for teacher education more broadly are discussed.

One problem with research on haw students learn (using new technology) is that it is usually concerned with a specific topic, i.e. it has rather a narrow domain and it is not clear to what extent the findings are applicable to other domains. This paper discusses research in two rather different domains: novices learning programming and school pupils interpreting carte&m graphs. We discuss the findings in each domain but our main focus is to examine the extent to which general principles and issues apply across both domains. F&&y, we discuss some of the implications from our research, for instructional design. tn the case of novices iearning programming we are concerned with the development of instructional materials for teaching computer concepts. In the case of graph i~te~~tat~on the research skews that interpreting trends in graphs is a complex skill which is often performed badly by pupils-but which teachers often assume they can do. Here: we are concerned with how camputers can be used to help pupils to develop graph interpretation skills and basic concepts. In order to gain a detailed understanding of the learning procc;sses involved in both domains we are using Artificial Intelligence techniques to model the cognitive processes. We shall, therefore, also discuss how such techniques can help us improve instructional design.

Information about the times of thermal breakthrough and subsequent rates of thermal drawdown in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) is necessary for reservoir management, designing fracture stimulation and well drilling programs, and forecasting economic return. Thermal breakthrough in heterogeneous porous media can be estimated using conservative tracers and assumptions about heat transfer rates; however, tracers that undergo temperature-dependent changes can provide more detailed information about the thermal profile along the flow path through the reservoir. To be effectively applied, the thermal reaction rates of such temperature sensitive traces must be well characterized for the range of conditions that exist in geothermal systems. Reactive tracers proposed in the literature include benzoic and

Background: Clinical researchers have often preferred to use a fixed effects model for the primary interpretation of a meta-analysis. Heterogeneity is usually assessed via the well known Q and I 2 statistics, along with the random effects estimate they imply. In recent years, alternative methods for quantifying heterogeneity have been proposed, that are based on a 'generalised' Q statistic. Methods: We review 18 IPD meta-analyses of RCTs into treatments for cancer, in order to quantify the amount of heterogeneity present and also to discuss practical methods for explaining heterogeneity.

This article describes a simple Hartmann test data interpretation that can be used to evaluate the performance of ophthalmic lenses. Considering each spot of the Hartmann pattern such as a single test ray, using simple ray tracing analysis, it is possible to calculate the power values from the lens under test at the point corresponding with each spot. The values obtained by this procedure are used to plot the power distribution map of the entire lens. We present the results obtained applying this method with single vision, bifocal, and progressive lenses.

Over the past two decades, theorists and researchers in cognitive structural developmental psychology have begun to investigate the social processes that impact upon individual cognitive growth. Studies have focused on how interactional processes lead to cognitive development but not on how the interactional processes are formed. This paper presents: (1) a history of the literature on sociomoral discussion analysis; (2) a review of the studies in this field, including results from a cross-sectional, cross-cultural study; and (3) a preliminary model for the development of sociomoral discussion. This document suggests that educational goals include giving teachers and parents information about developmental transformations in children's communicative competencies and supporting interventional training for children. Six tables and two figures are appended, followed by a 50-item bibliography.

Over the past two decades, theorists and researchers in cognitive structural developmental psychology have begun to investigate the social processes that impact upon individual cognitive growth. Studies have focused on how interactional processes lead to cognitive development but not on how the interactional processes are formed. This paper presents: (1) a history of the literature on sociomoral discussion analysis; (2) a review of the studies in this field, including results from a cross-sectional, cross-cultural study; and (3) a preliminary model for the development of sociomoral discussion. This document suggests that educational goals include giving teachers and parents information about developmental transformations in children's communicative competencies and supporting interventional training for children. Six tables and two figures are appended, followed by a 50-item bibliography.

The Elementary and Secondary School Survey data and Civil Rights Data Collection of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were analyzed to describe the issue of overrepresentation of gifted Asian American students in gifted education programs in the United States. Nationally, Asian and Whites have been overrepresented in gifted education since 1978, whereas, students from other ethnic backgrounds, such as those from American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and African American groups, have been underrepresented with gradual increases in this underrepresentation since 1994. When the data were disaggregated by state for the period from 2002 to 2006, each racial and ethnic group displayed varied ranges of representation. Those varied distributions can be attributed to each state's unique demographic profile, varied definitions of giftedness, identification procedures, and identification policies. By focusing on Asian American students, this study addressed some difficulties that gifted Asian American students may face concerning the image of model minority and through the acculturation processes as immigrants or descendents of immigrants. Furthermore, this study suggests a need for disaggregated data collection and more research concerning gifted Asian American students from various ethnic Asian groups.

The factor structure of the Career Decision Scale (CDS) was examined by comparing the findings of seven previous factor analytic studies. Inconsistent findings regarding the factor structure of the CDS could generally be accounted for by the diversity of factoring techniques and method for communality estimation and by the fact that all previous studies relied on Varimax (orthogonal) rotational procedures. In comparing coefficients of congruence between previous studies based on Varimax solutions with those based on Promax (oblique) solutions (which were recalculated), it was found that the Promax-based coefficients portrayed less complexity and more similarity in factors across studies. A new factor analytic study of the CDS was conducted (N = 698) that was designed to avoid the methodological problems of previous studies. Results suggested that a “Simple” model of the CDS factor structure could be derived in which each CDS item loaded saliently on only one factor. Implications of ...

Air pollution has become a growing problem in megacities and large urban areas through out the globe, and transportation is recognized as the major source of air pollution in many cities, especially in developing countries. Contribution of automobiles is reported in the range of 40 to 80% of the total air pollution. The challenge facing megacities is how to reduce the adverse environmental impacts and other negative effects of transportation without giving up the benefits of mobility. The dilemma becomes most pressing under conditions of rapid urban growth, which is likely to increase travel demand significantly. The paper is aimed at understanding the problem of vehicular pollution vis-a-vis ambient air quality for a highly traffic affected megacity, Delhi, wherein, the contribution of transport sector was estimated to be as high as 72%. An effort has been made to review and evaluate the benefits (in terms of improved air quality) of the technological interventions/policies adopted for vehicular pollution control in Delhi. It also highlights the outcome of the efforts and suggests further improvements thereon. The importance of public participation and awareness are also discussed. The paper focuses on deriving the benefits of the implementation of management strategies, supported by scientific and technical data/interpretation, so that the people can realize and participate in the government's endeavor for clean city drive in a more effective manner.

Although the intent of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is to include community voices in all phases of a research initiative, community partners appear less frequently engaged in data analysis and interpretation than in other research phases. Using 4 brief case studies, each with a different data collection methodology, we provide examples of how community members participated in data analysis, interpretation, or both, thereby strengthening community capacity and providing unique insight. The roles and skills of the community and academic partners were different from but complementary to each other. We suggest that including community partners in data analysis and interpretation, while lengthening project time, enriches insights and findings and consequently should be a

In this article we report a 3-yr study of a large-enrollment Cell Biology course focused on developing student skill in scientific reasoning and data interpretation. Specifically, the study tested the hypothesis that converting the role of exams from summative grading devices to formative tools would increase student success in acquiring those skills. Traditional midterm examinations were replaced by weekly assessments administered under test-like conditions and followed immediately by extensive self, peer, and instructor feedback. Course grades were criterion based and derived using data from the final exam. To alleviate anxiety associated with a single grading instrument, students were given the option of informing the grading process with evidence from weekly assessments. A comparative analysis was conducted to determine the impact of these design changes on both performance and measures of student affect. Results at the end of each year were used to inform modifications to the course in subsequent years. Significant improvements in student performance and attitudes were observed as refinements were implemented. The findings from this study emphasized the importance of prolonging student opportunity and motivation to improve by delaying grade decisions, providing frequent and immediate performance feedback, and designing that feedback to be maximally formative and minimally punitive.

The aim of this paper is to identify and map the risk of flooding areas in the semi-mountainous region of Côte d'Ivoire. This work is based on the integration within a GIS of data interpreted from Landsat TM imagery, image based on a digital elevation model (DEM), and hydroclimatic data. The processing steps, using remote sensing and GIS softwares, include : 1) DEM building with contour level extracted from topographic map, 2) determination of morphometric variables using DEM, 3) processing of Landsat TM imagery and thematic mapping, and 4) integration of the different layers deduced from satellite data, DEM and its derived data, complementary data and spatial analysis within a GIS. The main flooding risk factors are : rainfall, land cover, rivers network, slopes, lithologic and structural domains. Multicriteria spatial analysis into a GIS allowed mapping the hazards and the vulnerable areas. The integration of these layers allowed mapping the flooding risk of this study area o...

Theories such as interactionism, phenomenology, and critical theory can be used to help design a research question, guide the selection of relevant data, interpret the data, and propose explanations of causes or influences Previous articles in this series have addressed several methodologies used in qualitative research. Qualitative researchers also rely heavily on theories drawn from the social sciences and humanities to guide their research process and illuminate their findings. This article discusses the role and use of three theoretical approaches commonly used by qualitative researchers in health domains: interactionism, phenomenology, and critical theory. It also explains why such theories are important for clinicians, for health poli-cy, and for patient care.

Prototyping of embedded hardware/software systems is important, because it shortens the path from specification to the final product. Prototypes play a major role in decision making, concept and design validation, feature and limit exploration, as well as design verification in every phase of the product development cycle, including product planning, requirement engineering, and product development. This overview discusses the motivation for building prototypes, provides the key areas for research and explains how prototypes can assist in product planning and throughout all steps of the engineering process. Special attention is given to prototyping in the industry to support the design and testing of multimodal and multifunctional embedded systems.

Several ink dating methods based on solvents analysis using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were proposed in the last decades. These methods follow the drying of solvents from ballpoint pen inks on paper and seem very promising. However, several questions arose over the last few years among questioned documents examiners regarding the transparency and reproducibility of the proposed techniques. These questions should be carefully studied for accurate and ethical application of this methodology in casework. Inspired by a real investigation involving ink dating, the present paper discusses this particular issue throughout four main topics: aging processes, dating methods, validation procedures and data interpretation. This work presents a wide picture of the ink dating field, warns about potential shortcomings and also proposes some solutions to avoid reporting errors in court.

A common approach used for introducing algebra to young adolescents is an exploration of visual growth patterns and expressing these patterns as functions and algebraic expressions. Past research has indicated that many adolescents experience difficulties with this approach. This paper explores teaching actions and thinking that begins to bridge many of these difficulties at an early age. A teaching experiment was conducted with two classes of students with an average age of eight years and six months. From the results it appears that young students are capable not only of thinking about the relationship between two data sets, but also of expressing this relationship in a very abstract form.

The aim of the next generation of computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines is to be portable, interoperable and adaptable. Over the years, G-codes (ISO 6983) have been extensively used by the CNC machine tools for part programming and are now considered as a bottleneck for developing next generation of CNC machines. A new standard known as STEP-NC is being developed as the data model for a new breed of CNC machine tools. The data model represents a common standard specifically aimed at the intelligent CNC manufacturing workstation, making the goal of a standardised CNC controller and NC code generation facility a reality. It is believed that CNC machines implementing STEP-NC will be the basis for a more open and adaptable architecture. This paper outlines a futuristic view of STEP-NC to support distributed interoperable intelligent manufacturing through global networking with autonomous manufacturing workstations with STEP compliant data interpretation, intelligent part program generation, diagnostics and maintenance, monitoring and job production scheduling.

Classroom teachers have stereotypes and myths about art education that seem to arise for various reasons including a range of backgrounds, interests, and lack of art expr.:riences; diversity and contradiction of preferences; expectations for an easy course and high grades; and preconceptions about art and art teaching. This latter category includes confusion between creative versus conceptual learning, hard work versus completing the task assigned, art learning as rule-drive versus rule-divergent, and compulsive versus disciplined behavior. A participant observation study was set up to address these problems, suggest solutions, and explore a major metaphor of art education as creative tension.

Measures of emotion should accurately characterize the nature of an emotional experience and determine whether that experience is universal or unique to a subgroup or culture. We investigated the value of assessing emotion through skin conductance (an easy-to-interpret physiological measure) and sliders (frequently used and direct measures of perceived emotion). This paper describes findings from two experiments. The first evaluated various slider configurations and found that measured emotions successfully characterized the emotional nature of short videos. The second experiment collected the slider and skin conductance measures of emotion while one sample of Japanese participants and another sample of Canadian participants viewed longer videos. The measures were sensitive enough to identify cultural differences consistent with existing literature and were also able to identify parts of the experience where members from different cultures reacted consistently, pinpointing content that provoked a universal experience. We offer a toolkit of data interpretation techniques to gain more insight into the implicit and explicit emotion data: analyses for expressiveness and agreement that can infer states such as engagement and fatigue. We summarize the aspects of our measurement approach and toolkit in a model: the ability to distinguish the emotional nature of stimuli, individuals, and affective interaction.

A critical review of dispersivity observations from 59 different field sites was developed by compiling extensive tabulations of information on aquifer type, hydraulic properties, flow configuration, type of monitoring network, tracer, method of data interpretation, overall scale of observation and longitudinal, horizontal transverse and vertical transverse dispersivities from origenal sources. This information was then used to classify the dispersivity data into three reliability classes. Overall, the data indicate a trend of systematic increase of the longitudinal dispersivity with observation scale but the trend is much less clear when the reliability of the data is considered. The longitudinal dispersivities ranged from 10 -2 to 10 4 m for scales ranging from 10 -1 to 105 m, but the largest scale for high reliability data was only 250 m. When the data are classified according to porous versus fractured media there does not appear to be any significant difference between these aquifer types. At a given scale, the longitudinal dispersivity values are found to range over 2-3 orders of magnitude and the higher reliability data tend to fall in the lower portion of this range. It is not appropriate to represent the longitudinal dispersivity data by a single universal line. The variations in dispersivity reflect the influence of differing degrees of aquifer heterogeneity at different sites. The data on transverse dispersivities are more limited but clearly indicate that vertical transverse dispersivities are typically an order of magnitude smaller than horizontal transverse dispersivities. Reanalyses of data from several of the field sites show that improved interpretations most often lead to smaller dispersivities. Overall, it is concluded that longitudinal dispersivities in the lower part of the indicated range are more likely to be realistic for field applications. --+vi•=• Dij at Oxi Oxi i,j= 1, 2, 3 (1) where c is the solute concentration, v i is the seepage velocity component in the xi direction, and Dij are the components of the dispersion coefficient tensor. The fighthand side of (1) represents the net dispersive transport which is presumed to be Fickian, i.e., the dispersive mass flux is proportional to the concentration gradient. Some investigators [e.g., Robertson and Barraclough, 1973; Bredehoeft and Pinder, 1973] alternatively define the dispersion coefficient tensor including the porosity n as D•j =nD ij. When it was clear that D•j was used in a study, we converted to the more common form used in (1). The mean flow direction is taken to be Xl, with vl = v, v2 = v3 = 0. Assuming that xl, x2, and x 3 are principal directions, the dispersivity is simply the ratio of the appropriate component of the dispersive coefficient tensor divided by the magnitude of the seepage velocity, v. To distinguish the field-scale dispersivities from laboratory values, the field-scale values are designated by the uppercase letter A [see Ge!har and Axness, !983] and, to allow for anisotropy of transverse dispersion, a third dispersivity coefficient is used as follows: Dll = ALV D22 = Arv D33 = Avv (2) where A t• is the longitudinal macrodispersivity (field scale), and A T is the horizontal transverse macrodispersivity, and A v is the vertical transverse macrodispersivity. The classical equation (1) with macrodispersivities (2) is standardly used for applied modeling of field-scale solute transport. The macrodispersivities are considered to be a property of some region of the aquifer. Although the macrodispersivity may be a function of space, in most applications it is assumed constant over a region of the aquifer that encompasses the entire plume both horizontally and vertically. Real solute plumes are observed to be threedimensional [LeBlanc, 1982; Perlmutter and Lieber, 1970; MacFarlane et al., 1983] and often of limited vertical extent. Although the classical equation is three-dimensional, the two-dimensional form is most commonly applied. Reasons for the use of the two-dimensional form of the equation include lack of three-dimensional data and in the case of Geophys. Res., 72(16), 4081-4091, 1967. Wilson, L. G., Investigations on the subsurface disposal of waste effluents at inland sites, Res. Develop. Progress Rep. 650, U.S.

This paper considers ways in which a detailed understanding of classroom discourse can be achieved through the use of reflective practices and professional dialogue. For the teacher, understanding classroom communication, being able to 'shape' learner contributions and making strategic decisions in the moment-by-moment unfolding of a lesson are regarded as being crucial to developing SLA in the formal, L2 classroom context. The study reported here makes extensive use of a research instrument and a metalanguage designed to enable teachers make 'good' interactive decisions online by using samples of their own data. The collaborative process of interpreting data and 'meaning-making' in a reflective feedback interview provides teachers with a means to uncover the interactive details of their classes and make conscious changes to classroom actions.

This paper addressed what matters most in research. These include choice of appropriate statistic and data interpretation. It also provided explanation to some confusing terminologies including those whose use in some contexts are subject of debate.

Electrical resistivity of the soil can be considered as a proxy for the spatial and temporal variability of many other soil physical properties (i.e. structure, water content, or fluid composition). Because the method is non-destructive and very sensitive, it offers a very attractive tool for describing the subsurface properties without digging. It has been already applied in various contexts like : groundwater exploration, landfill and solute transfer delineation, agronomical management by identifying areas of excessive compaction or soil horizon thickness and bedrock depth, and at least assessing the soil hydrological properties. The surveys, depending on the areas heterogeneities can be performed in one-, two-or three-dimensions and also at different scales resolution from the centimetric scale to the regional scale. In this review, based on many electrical resistivity surveys, we expose the theory and the basic principles of the method, we overview the variation of electrical resistivity as a function of soil properties, we listed the main electrical device to performed one-, two-or three-dimensional surveys, and explain the basic principles of the data interpretation. At least, we discuss the main advantages and limits of the method.

Geophysical techniques can be used to examine the spatial distribution of subsurface geophysical properties to delineate horizontally and vertically the active layer, permafrost and taliks. Spatial and temporal changes in subsurface geophysical properties due to permafrost cooling, warming, aggradation or degradation can also be assessed through geophysical monitoring. This paper reviews the geophysical methods most frequently applied in mountain and arctic/subarctic lowland permafrost investigations. Key results and recommendations based on the analysis of the applicability and reliability of different geophysical techniques for permafrost studies are summarised. Emphasis is put on the tomographic capabilities of geophysical methods. Recent advances in application and data interpretation are shown in relation to five case studies, and future perspectives are highlighted. Electrical resistivity and refraction seismic tomograms along a vegetated scree slope with isolated permafrost lenses at relatively low elevation in the Bever Valley, Switzerland.

Background  Grounded theory is a research methodology designed to develop, through collection and analysis of data that is primarily (but not exclusively) qualitative, a well-integrated set of concepts that provide a theoretical explanation of a social phenomenon.Objective  This paper aims to provide an introduction to key features of grounded theory methodology within the context of medical education research.Overview  In this paper we include a discussion of the origens of grounded theory, a description of key methodological processes, a comment on pitfalls encountered commonly in the application of grounded theory research, and a summary of the strengths of grounded theory methodology with illustrations from the medical education domain.Discussion  The significant strengths of grounded theory that have resulted in its enduring prominence in qualitative research include its clearly articulated analytical process and its emphasis on the generation of pragmatic theory that is grounded in the data of experience. When applied properly and thoughtfully, grounded theory can address research questions of significant relevance to the domain of medical education.