52 research outputs found
The development of episodic foresight in preschoolers
No full textHow does the ability to think and plan into the future develop? Previous studies suggest that the ability to think about and act upon the future, a process referred to as episodic foresight, emerges between the ages of 3 and 4 (Atance, 2008). However, it is unclear what underlying processes change during the development of episodic foresight. We hypothesize that episodic foresight consists of two separate processes: 1) the formation and maintenance of goals, and 2) the construction of simulated scenarios, each of which can be made more or less difficult based on the task at hand. We report an experiment that tested the emergence of these processes. The experiment focused primarily on the effect of the number of features that must be constructed and held in memory (4 or 6) and the goals that must be maintained (Subgoal then Final). The results indicate that fouryear- old children are able to envision the future to successfully accomplish future goals, but are subject to working memory demands when there are more features in the future environment. However, three-year-olds are only able to attribute goals when the feature demands are low. When there are fewer features to construct, three-year-olds maintain only the final goal, ignoring the subgoal. Therefore, the development of episodic foresight progresses in conjunction with working memory, simulation and goal maintenance abilities.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Janani Prabhaka
TAG: trip-boxes for automatic event generation
No full textThe increased use of location-aware mobile devices has given rise to a need to trigger actions at certain geographic locations. For example, when conducting outdoor vehicular experiments, data frequently needs to be collected within one geographic region. The data collection can be initiated manually, however, it is a tedious process and prone to manual errors. Our framework is designed to use Global Positioning System location updates to automatically trigger actions upon entering and leaving these geographic zones. We mark these zones using trip-boxes, a rectangular box enclosing a geographical area with its orientation towards geographic north and east direction, which can be defined in Google Earth and exported into the trip-box system. The system also uses guard intervals to prevent repeated triggering of trip-boxes due to GPS oscillations. In our evaluation, we experimentally determine the chances of skipping the Trip-Box for a given speed, sampling rate of GPS and the length and the width parameters of the Trip-Box. We conducted experiments for finding a suitable width of the Trip-Box for speeds between 0 - 80mph and by varying sampling intervals from 1 - 5Hz. We also determine the guard flags based on distance traveled and elapsed time calculated after crossing the boundary of the Trip-Box to prevent the repeated triggering of same events. Evaluating experiments using a GPS with 5Hz sampling rate and a standard deviation of 7.5m for a 95 percent accuracy, our results show that on crossing a Trip-Box of width 2m and length 28m is 95 percent reliable when the object moves with a speed less than or equal 20mph.M.S.Includes abstractVitaIncludes bibliographical referencesby Janani Chandrasekara
Memory search in event construction
No full textThe process of event construction involves binding component parts of an event, including the objects, spatial locations, and goals, to form a coherent scene. To date, there is no mechanism for the process by which these components are populated for event construction to occur. In this dissertation, I introduced the differentiated memory search model that describes the differential search mechanisms employed when one recollects a past event and when one plans for a future event. The research explored how this model can help explain event construction processes during preschool years. Experiment 1 revealed that an open-ended memory search (directed towards future event construction) leads to more errors in the recollection of relevant components than a more directed memory search (directed towards past event construction for the same components). These results corroborate the model, and suggest that the fidelity of the components retrieved from an episodic memory depends on whether one is thinking about the past or envisioning the future. Experiment 2 presents a method by which one can facilitate access to past components and thereby, ease retrieval of relevant components from memory for a future event construction process. Altogether, the results of this dissertation indicate that there are differential memory search mechanisms that underlie construction of a past versus future scene, and further, that the representation of the underlying event structures is temporally connected and content-specific. Further, the results of this dissertation suggest that memory processes are a precursor to future thinking abilities, and access to the underlying event structures can allow children to flexibly extract and manipulate the necessary components from memory to create the future scene.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesby Janani Prabhaka
Tractable Stochastic Model Predictive Control using Conditional Value at Risk Optimization
No full textA numerically tractable Stochastic Model Predictive Control (SMPC) strategy using Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) optimization for discrete-time linear time-invariant systems, with state and input constraints, subject to additive uncertainty, is presented. SMPC strategies make use of the probabilistic description of uncertainty to define chance constraints which allow a certain admissible level of constraint violation. SMPC strategies require the initial state of a system to be within a particular set, referred to as feasibility set, probabilistically, such that the derived control input, when applied to the system, gives rise to states that are also within the feasibility set satisfying all chance constraints on the system. This leads to recursive feasibility of the SMPC strategy. Such strategies are restrictive in nature when the uncertainty in the system is unbounded, as in the case of White Gaussian noise. In such a case, the feasibility set is very small and leads to a strategy that is very conservative. To reduce this conservatism, some constraint violations are permitted. However, such violations affect the closed-loop behaviour of the system leading to performance degradation. This performance degradation can be quantified as a penalty on the system for violating constraints, and intuitively, it can be thought of as a risk taken by the system in that undesirable state. An approach following the exact penalty method is proposed using the CVaR function to determine the penalty cost. The same optimal solution as the original constrained problem is obtained from a single unconstrained minimization. Since accurate computation of the expected value of risk using the CVaR function is not possible, a scenario-based approximation of the CVaR is used to obtain an overall tractable and computationally efficient SMPC strategy. An extensive simulation study of the double integrator system is provided to present the functionality of the proposed method.Electrical Engineerin
Stochastic MPC for Energy Management in Smart Grids with Conditional Value at Risk as Penalty Function
No full textThis paper considers imbalance problems arising in Energy Management in Smart Grids (SG) as discrete-time stochastic linear systems subject to chance constraints, and proposes a Model Predictive Control (MPC) approach to solve them. It is well-known that handling the closed-loop constraint feasibility of such systems is in general difficult due to the presence of a potentially unbounded uncertainty source. To overcome such a difficulty, we propose two new ideas. We first reformulate the chance constraint using the so-called Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR), which is known to be the tightest convex approximation for chance constraints. We then relax the CVaR constraint using a penalty function depending on a coefficient parameter. An optimal solution is therefore obtained by solving a single unconstrained problem which, intuitively, takes into consideration a risk of the system trajectories in an undesirable state. A case study using an academic example is presented to estimate the a-posteriori probability of the coefficient parameter in order to show when such a penalty function is exact by means of probabilistic constraint fulfillment.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Team Tamas Keviczk
User-Generated Content’s Impact on the Sustainability of Open Educational Resources
No full textSustainability is a fundamental requirement to ensure long-term viability of open educational resource (OER) initiatives. To afford technology upgrades and author costs, most of the existing initiatives are heavily reliant on continued funding; limiting OER models to invest in commissioned works. User-generated resources come as a solution to this problem, although a fairly novel concept to the area of child literacy. Consequently, there is little evidence available in earlier literature on their use for education. With online platforms such as social media and gaming sites encouraging users to collaborate and create original content, user-generation is a potential instrument for circumventing costs and achieving rapid dissemination of works. However, it also presents a significant downside – questionable quality. This paper discusses the use of user-created OERs for literacy, exploring the quality and sustainability implications that arise from this creation method and the measures undertaken by an Indian organization to overcome the same
Evaluation of the Biologically Active Properties of Seed Coat Phenolics from Pigeon Pea (Cajanus Cajan)
No full textThis Dissertation / Report is the outcome of investigation carried out by the creator(s) / author(s) at the department/division of Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore mentioned below in this page
A Study on Diagnostic Methodology and Symptomatology of Peenisam (Rhinosinusitis)
No full textINTRODUCTION:
The signs and symptoms of Peenisam mentioned in Siddha literature may be correlated with Rhinosinusitis in Modern disease of classification. The comparative studies of Siddha system of Medicine bring to light high level of medical knowledge the Siddhars had.
Rhino Sinusitis affects a tremendous proportion of population, accounts for millions of visits to Primary care Physicians each year, Rhino Sinusitis is a major health
care issue that affects in a large proportion. The incidence of chronic sinusitis in Southern Asian countries like India is 136,657,953 out of 1,065,070,607 (US Census Bureau, 2004).
More than 120 million Indians suffer from at least one episode of acute sinusitis each year. The prevalence of sinusitis has soared in the last decade due to
increased pollution, urban sprawl, and increased resistance to antibiotics. The incidence of morbidity and mortality among patients with complications of sinusitis has been
reported to range from 5% to 40%. A sizable number of patients visit National Institute of Siddha with the clinical features of ‘Peenisam’.
The study of Peenisam will be helpful to standardize the diagnosis of Peenisam through Sage Nagamunivar’s symptomatology description, which will help clinicians to follow a standard line of treatment and adopt proper preventive measures, so that visits to hospital will get reduced.
Detailed study of the disease Peenisam through the symptomatology mentioned in the Siddha literature will enable the physicians to choose appropriate treatement from the wide range of medicines found scattered in the literature with indications of Rhinosinusitis with specific symptomatology groups. Medicines indicated for one group of symptomatology of the same disease may not be found to be a mainstay of therapy to another. Hence emphasis on the study of symptomatology is very vital for the institution of right kind of treatment.
The study was aimed at evolving a set of exclusive Siddha diagnostic methods for Peenisam and to correlate the symptoms of Peenisam with that of closely resembling condition in modern medical literature.
By relating the ancient Siddha literature with today’s, there will be both augmention of the knowledge of diagnosis and its treatment.
The author was aimed at delving in depth into the clinical features mentioned under highly prevailing disease ‘Peenisam’ by Sage Nagamunivar and to structure the
Siddha diagnosis and prognostic pattern of Peenisam.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES:
AIM:
To conduct a study on Peenisam as mentioned in Nagamunivar Thalai
Noi Maruthuvam, thereby to evolve a diagnostic methodology for Peenisam in
Siddha system of medicine.
OBJECTIVES:
Primary Objectives:
1. To elucidate a diagnostic methodology for Peenisam.
2. To conduct the cause and clinical course of the disease by keen
observation on the symptoms of Peenisam.
3. To correlate clinically, the symptoms of Peenisam with that of closely resembling condition in modern medical literature which in turn helps in globalization of Siddha system among other medical systems.
Secondary Objectives:
1. To analyse literally on the etiology, pathogenesis, Clinical presentation of Peenisam.
2. To help in deriving a proper line of treatment and preventive measures for Peenisam based on Siddha system of medicine by evolving a diagnostic method for the disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
STUDY TYPE: Observational study.
STUDY DESIGN: An analytical open label, single centric study.
STUDY PLACE:
Department of Noi Naadal, Ayothidoss Pandithar Hospital, National Institute of Siddha, Tambaram Sanatorium, Chennai-47.
STUDY PERIOD:
• Total period - 1year.
• Recruitment for the study - upto 10 months.
• Data entry analysis - 1 month.
• Report preparation and submission - 1 month.
Sample size:
Total – 50,
Patients – 40,
Healthy volunteers – 10.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
INCLUSION CRITERIA:
1. Age 18-60yrs.
2. Headache.
3. Mucous discharge from the nose.
4. H/o recurrent sneezing.
5. Nasal polyp.
6. Halitosis.
CONCLUSION:
The author had come out with valuable results from the study on Peenisam, validating the clinical features of Peenisam elucidated in an ultra short poetic segment by
Sage Nagamunivar and also a proper Siddha diagnostic methodology had been elucidated for the disease.
The symptoms and signs mentioned in Sage Nagamuni literature are in close conformity with that of Rhinosinusitis mentioned in modern medical literature.
The patients reported with the symptoms of Peenisam were subjected to the standard set of investigations, the results and findings of the investigations were
suggestive of Rhinosinusitis according to modern classification of disease.
The fact that Peenisam which has Kabam as the major etiological factor, according to the Sage Nagamunivar text, was validated by the findings of Oil on urine sign/Neikkuri showing up shapes of pearl beaded appearance of the oil drop in 70% of cases.
It is certainly a case of Peenisam, the cases were diagnosed with one hundred percent confidence as Peenisam because the aetiological factors mentioned in the literature and that the elicited history of patients conforms to be the same.
Mannikkadai nool findings were also validated for the range 8 ¼ - 9 ¼ which indicates the chances of Peenisam occurrence.
Almost all the patients diagnosed as Peenisam had positive radiological evidence conforming to the correlation of disease with RhinoSinusitis.
From the analysis done between Peenisam cases and Control group, notable variations were observed in both Siddha and Modern parameters.
Finally, with the observations and results of various parameters like eight fold examination, manikkadai nool, astrology, seasonal factor, etc it was found that all of
them point to the development or vitiation of Kabha and Pitha humours leading to the disease Peenisam.
From this study findings validation, some therapeutic guidelines were framed for the treatment of Peenisam.
Thus the author concludes by throwing lights on the validation of symptomatology and exclusive Siddha diagnostic methodology for Peenisam, so that a physician can arrive at proper treatment procedures by rightly diagnosing the disease
Impact of Firm Capabilities at the Marketing / Technology Interface
No full textabstract: Firms compete for profitable positions in their technological environments by capitalizing on their design and other capabilities to conceive and realize marketplace strategies more effectively and more efficiently than rivals do. However, research on how technological environment characteristics change the payoff from these capabilities is minimal. Given that possessing superior firm capabilities is a primary source of competitive advantage for firms, this study seeks to fill these critical research gaps in the literature. This dissertation, which is composed of two essays, seeks to answer what capabilities pay off more in various technological conditions. It benefits from the most comprehensive sample to date that includes 2132 publicly traded firms in the United States (US) over 34 years. All the technological industry conditions are captured by using the entire data of utility patents in the US. The first essay shows that design is a firm capability that enhances sales growth. Its effect, however, is attenuated by technology intensity because, in markets with high technology intensity, design attributes become less salient. Moreover, technological competitive intensity and maturity amplify design capability’s positive effect because when technical attributes of products provide limited differentiation, design attributes receive more attention, and consumers overweight them in decision making. The second essay examines the effect of marketing and research and development (R&D) capabilities on return on assets (ROA) in three technological market conditions: Technological turbulence, uncertainty, and acceleration. It shows that all the technological environments amplify the positive ROA performance outcomes from marketing capability, with technological turbulence having the most potent effect. R&D capability, however, is most influential in technologically accelerating markets. Finally, the second essay unveils that marketing and R&D capabilities are complementary only in technologically turbulent markets. These studies thus provide valuable insights to researchers and managers on the payoff from these capabilities and offer new guidance on which capabilities firms should emphasize on under different technological market conditions.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Business Administration 202
Effect of varying Ga content in ZnO:GaN solid solution synthesized by solution combustion technique for photocatalytic applications
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