Personal computer

About: Personal computer is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 58809 publications have been published within this topic receiving 800814 citations. The topic is also known as: PC.

When Do Foreign‐Language Readers Look Up the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words? The Influence of Task and Learner Variables

Abstract: to help us gain an overview and an understanding of the pertinent issues in the field (3; 4; 13; 17; 25; 26). When we look at these reviews from the perspective of the methodologies used in relation to the questions asked, what strikes us is the focus on the product of reading and the lack of attention to the process of reading. Most studies use methods by which the product of reading is elicited: readers are asked to answer comprehension questions, to fill in omitted words (cloze procedure), or to reproduce the text contents (recall). Some years ago, Gupta and McLaughlin argued that the static orientation towards reading in these studies needs to be complemented with a more dynamic orientation. Some studies have attempted to do so by investigating the reading process. First of all, some off-line measures have been used, such as the administration of questionnaires eliciting self-reported strategy use (2; 22). Furthermore, we are witnessing an increasing interest in the use of on-line measures, such as the observation of eye movements (5; 21), the measurement of word reading times and sentence reading times (24), the recording of reading aloud behavior (11; 18), and the recording of thinking aloud during reading (1; 7; 8). As has been pointed out by Segalowitz et al., processing research is pertinent first of all to fundamental theoretical issues in the study of FL reading processes. However, processing research is potentially important for FL instruction as well. In particular, it may give us a deeper understanding of which strategies FL readers use in order to reach their reading goal. The present study contributes to FL reading research both on the level of methodology and on the level of understanding reading strategies. The methodological purpose of our study was o explore the possibilities of using computers for the unobtrusive observation of one aspect of FL reading behavior, namely looking up the meaning of unfamiliar words encountered while reading a FL text. (For a similar computer aided exploration of FL writing behavior, see 6.) The text which the subjects in this study read was available not only on paper but also on the screen of a personal computer. If readers wanted to know the meaning of a difficult word in the text, they moved the cursor to the desired word and pressed the Enter key. A window opened showing the word's translation in the subjects' first language. Pressing the Enter key again made the window disappear. The computer registered subjects' look-up actions by composing log files. Subjects were not told in advance that the computer registered their actions. Nor could they be aware of this since it was done invisibly and inaudibly for them. Some years ago, Pugh and Ulijn called for the use of realistic tasks in FL reading research, rejecting the use of highly artificial procedures The Modern Language Journal, 77, ii (1993) 0026-7902/93/139-47 $1.50/0 ? 1993 The Modern Language Journal

Computers and other interactive technologies for the home : The Internet @ home

Abstract: DESPITE THE RECENT DRAMATIC TRENDS IN THE DIFfusion of information technology, the significance of these developments is still not clear. Also lacking is a critical understanding of these developments and a sound theoretical and empirical base from which to observe and analyze them. Supporting such an analysis, this article raises both empirical and theoretical concerns in an attempt to capture the structure and dynamics of computer adoption and use in the home. Computers and Other Interactive Technologies for the Home A l l a d i V e n k a t e s h

Nutrient Intakes of US Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers Meet or Exceed Dietary Reference Intakes

Abstract: Objectives To assess the usual nutrient intakes of 3,273 US infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, aged 0 to 47 months, surveyed in the Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) 2008; and to compare data on the usual nutrient intakes for the two waves of FITS conducted in 2002 and 2008. Design The FITS 2008 is a cross-sectional survey of a national random sample of US children from birth through age 47 months. Usual nutrient intakes derived from foods, beverages, and supplements were ascertained using a telephone-administered, multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recall. Subjects Infants aged birth to 5 months (n=382) and 6 to 11 months (n=505), toddlers aged 12 to 23 months (n=925), and preschoolers aged 24 to 47 months (n=1,461) were surveyed. Methods All primary caregivers completed one 24-hour dietary recall and a random subsample (n=701) completed a second 24-hour dietary recall. The personal computer version of the Software for Intake Distribution Estimation was used to estimate the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles, as well as the proportions below and above cutoff values defined by the Dietary Reference Intakes or the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Results Usual nutrient intakes met or exceeded energy and protein requirements with minimal risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The usual intakes of antioxidants, B vitamins, bone-related nutrients, and other micronutrients were adequate relative to the Adequate Intakes or Estimated Average Requirements, except for iron and zinc in a small subset of older infants, and vitamin E and potassium in toddlers and preschoolers. Intakes of synthetic folate, preformed vitamin A, zinc, and sodium exceeded Tolerable Upper Intake Level in a significant proportion of toddlers and preschoolers. Macronutrient distributions were within acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges, except for dietary fat, in some toddlers and preschoolers. Dietary fiber was low in the vast majority of toddlers and preschoolers, and saturated fat intakes exceeded recommendations for the majority of preschoolers. The prevalence of inadequate intakes, excessive intake, and intakes outside the acceptable macronutrient distribution range was similar in FITS 2002 and FITS 2008. Conclusions In FITS 2008, usual nutrient intakes were adequate for the majority of US infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, except for a small but important number of infants at risk for inadequate iron and zinc intakes. Diet quality should be improved in the transition from infancy to early childhood, particularly with respect to healthier fats and fiber in the diets of toddlers and preschoolers.

An expert system for transformer fault diagnosis using dissolved gas analysis

Abstract: A prototype expert system based on the dissolved gas analysis (DGA) technique for diagnosis of suspected transformer faults and their maintenance actions is developed. A synthetic method is proposed to assist the gas ratio method. The uncertainties of key gas analysis, norms threshold, and gas ratio boundaries, are managed by using a fuzzy set concept. The expert system is implemented on a PC-AT using KES with rule-based knowledge representation. The system has been tested to show its effectiveness in transformer diagnosis. >

Investigation of variance reduction techniques for Monte Carlo photon dose calculation using XVMC.

Abstract: Several variance reduction techniques, such as photon splitting, electron history repetition, Russian roulette and the use of quasi-random numbers are investigated and shown to significantly improve the efficiency of the recently developed XVMC Monte Carlo code for photon beams in radiation therapy. It is demonstrated that it is possible to further improve the efficiency by optimizing transpon parameters such as electron energy cut-off, maximum electron energy step size, photon energy cut-off and a cut-off for kerma approximation, without loss of calculation accuracy. These methods increase the efficiency by a factor of up to 10 compared with the initial XVMC ray-tracing technique or a factor of 50 to 80 compared with EGS4/PRESTA. Therefore, a common treatment plan (6 MV photons, 10 x 10 cm2 field size, 5 mm voxel resolution, 1% statistical uncertainty) can be calculated within 7 min using a single CPU 500 MHz personal computer. If the requirement on the statistical uncertainty is relaxed to 2%, the calculation time will be less than 2 min. In addition, a technique is presented which allows for the quantitative comparison of Monte Carlo calculated dose distributions and the separation of systematic and statistical errors. Employing this technique it is shown that XVMC calculations agree with EGSnrc on a sub-per cent level for simulations in the energy and material range of interest for radiation therapy.