Object identification and retrieval from efficient image matching. Snap2Tell with the STOIC dataset

Traditional content based image retrieval attempts to retrieve images using syntactic features for a query image. Annotated image banks and Google allow the use of text to retrieve images. In this paper, we studied the task of using the content of an image to retrieve information in general. We describe the significance of object identification in an information retrieval paradigm that uses image set as intermediate means in indexing and matching. We also describe a unique Singapore Tourist Object Identification Collection with associated queries and relevance judgments for evaluating the new task and the need for efficient image matching using simple image features. We present comprehensive experimental evaluation on the effects of feature dimensions, context, spatial weightings, coverage of image indexes, and query devices on task performance. Lastly we describe the current system developed to support mobile image-based tourist information retrieval.     

Owning educational change in Korean schools: three driving forces behind sustainable change

Journal of Educational Change - In this essay, we discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic drove key changes in schooling and what forces can sustain these changes. Responding to the argument that...     

Preservice teachers’ attitudes toward Web 2.0 personal learning environments (PLEs): Considering the impact of self-regulation and digital literacy

Education and Information Technologies - Web 2.0 Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) have been proposed as a new method to promote the use of Web 2.0 tools for learner-centered personal learning....     

Document reranking by term distribution and maximal marginal relevance for chinese information retrieval

In this paper, we propose a document reranking method for Chinese information retrieval. The method is based on a term weighting scheme, which integrates local and global distribution of terms as well as document frequency, document positions and term length. The weight scheme allows randomly setting a larger portion of the retrieved documents as relevance feedback, and lifts off the worry that very fewer relevant documents appear in top retrieved documents. It also helps to improve the performance of maximal marginal relevance (MMR) in document reranking. The method was evaluated by MAP (mean average precision), a recall-oriented measure. Significance tests showed that our method can get significant improvement against standard baselines, and outperform relevant methods consistently.     

马来西亚开放大学开展移动学习的成效研究

远程学习者经常面临地理、时间、心理、沟通空间等方面的交互距离(Moore,1997).相对于全职学生来说,这些有着全职工作、家庭责任的成人学生,在平衡学业、工作和家庭方面往往面临艰巨任务.他们经常需要努力寻找额外的时间和空间进行学习,经常需要付出额外的努力以确保他们与大学、辅导教师、同学保持联系.本文介绍了马来西亚开放大学通过利用文本信息这一最简单、广泛应用的技术,积极支持学生完成学业的探索,展示了如何利用移动技术促进混合教学方法,并为学习过程提供更多的灵活性和普遍性.文章利用定量研究和定性研究方法,探索了这一创新在帮助学习者更容易地回顾/定位/记忆课程内容、在线讨论、管理学习、坚持学习、记住与课程相关的重要日期和活动等方面的有效性.

Abstract：

Distance learners often face what is known as "transactional distances" in terms of geographical,time,psychological and communication spaces(Moore,1997).Comparing to full-time campus students,these adult learners who mostly hold full-time jobs and have family commitments face a daunting task in juggling study,work and family.They often struggle to find extra time and space to fit in their studies and frequently need to exert extra effort to ensure that they remain connected to the university,their tutors and their peers.This paper describes the efforts of Open University Malaysia in actively supporting learners in their studies through the use of text messaging technology,the simplest and most widely used of all mobile technology applications available.Further,it illustrates how mobile technology enhances the blended approach to instruction and lends more flexibility and ubiquity to the learning process.It also examines the effectiveness of the initiative in terms of helping learners to review/locate/remember course facts easily,discuss online,manage their learning,persevere in their studies,andremember important dates and actions to be taken related to the course.Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented.     

Phonological coding and children’s spelling

The goal of this study was to predict children’s spelling from their performance on pseudohomophone choice and rhyme matching tasks. A total of 222 nine- to twelve-year-old children in grades 4, 5, and 6 participated. The children were given, individually, a computerized pseudohomophone choice task with 30 item pairs in two conditions, and a computerized rhyme matching task with 68 word pairs in four conditions. Accuracy and speed of processing were assessed. Three memory tasks, a Spoonerism task, a general ability test, and a written spelling test were also administered. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses showed that both accurate and rapid choice of pseudohomophones sounding like real words and rhyme matching contributed substantially to variations in spelling. Orthographic knowledge played a role in spelling as shown by the contribution of word pairs that rhymed but were orthographically dissimilar. Phonological coding as tested by pseudohomophone choice was also important.     

The effect of caffeine ingestion on human neutrophil oxidative burst responses following time-trial cycling

Following fixed-duration exercise of submaximal intensity, caffeine ingestion is associated with an attenuation of the exercise-induced decline in N-formyl-methionyl-phenyl-alanine (f-MLP) stimulated neutrophil oxidative burst. However, the response following high-intensity exhaustive exercise is unknown. Nine endurance-trained male cyclists ingested 6 mg caffeine or placebo per kilogram of body mass 60 min before cycling for 90 min at 70% of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and then performing a time-trial requiring an energy expenditure equivalent to 30 min cycling at 70% maximum power output. Time-trial performance was 4% faster in the caffeine than in the placebo trial (P = 0.043). Caffeine was associated with an increased plasma adrenaline concentration after 90 min of exercise (P = 0.046) and immediately after the time-trial (P = 0.02). Caffeine was also associated with an increased serum caffeine concentration (P < 0.01) after 90 min of exercise and immediately after the time-trial, as well as 1 h after the time-trial. However, the f-MLP-stimulated neutrophil oxidative burst response fell after exercise in both trials (P = 0.002). There was no effect of caffeine on circulating leukocyte or neutrophil counts, but the lymphocyte count was significantly lower on caffeine (20%) after the time-trial (P = 0.003). Our results suggest that high-intensity exhaustive exercise negates the attenuation of the exercise-induced decrease in neutrophil oxidative burst responses previously observed when caffeine is ingested before exercise of fixed duration and intensity. This may be associated with the greater increase in adrenaline concentration observed in the present study.     

Scan and Learn: Quick Response Code Enabled Museum for Mobile Learning of Anatomy and Pathology

In the past, medical museums played a significant role in anatomy and pathology training. The attraction of medical museums has declined recently due to the emergence of information technology and innovative medical curricula. An innovative mobile learning platform has been developed using quick response (QR) codes for the museum specimens at the Lee Kong Chain School of Medicine, Singapore. High-quality images of the potted specimens were captured and combined into an album and a video using Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 and Windows Movie Maker, respectively. Subsequently, QR codes were generated linking to PDF documents with annotations, pathology, and clinical history concerning the specimens. Quick response codes were piloted in gastrointestinal teaching module for Year 2 medical students. Survey responses were obtained from students to verify the efficacy of QR as a learning tool. The majority of students either agreed or strongly agreed that it was easy to access the information about the specimen with QR codes (4.47 ± 0.84), while 96% of students agreed that they are able to correlate the specimen with the annotated images (4.56 ± 0.56). The majority of students (78%) agreed that QR codes are useful for their learning (4.22 ± 0.87), while 75% of students felt QR codes motivate them to visit Anatomy Resource Centre. Most of the students agreed that QR codes are useful for revision of materials (4.13 ± 1.07) and independent learning (4.38 ± 0.87). These findings suggest that QR codes are not only effective for students learning but also enhance their exploration experience with the museum specimens.