Effect of Non-Academic Parameters on Student’s Performance

With the exponential growth in today’s technology and its expanding areas of application it has become vital to incorporate it in education. One such application is Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) which is a subset of data mining. KDD deals with extracting useful information and meaningful patterns from the database that were not known before. This study is a detailed application of KDD and focuses on analyzing why a particular set of students performed better than others and what factors influenced the results. The study is conducted on a dataset of 480 students and across 16 different features. The authors implemented 4 major classification techniques namely Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Random Forest and XGB classifier. Obtaining the key features from the top performing ML algorithms that have a major impact on the performance of the student, the study takes these features as a baseline for further analysis. Further data analysis highlights patterns in the data. The study concludes that there are a lot of non-academic factors that influence the overall performance of a student and should be taken into consideration by universities and other relevant bodies.

Symmetry in quantum mechanics

“Symmetry in quantum mechanics” shows how symmetry properties are helpful in taming problems in quantum mechanics. When two operators commute, wavefunctions may be prefabricated as eigenstates of the simpler operator. There is detailed application to spin–orbit interaction and to helium.

A Method to Minimize the Effort for Damper–Blade Matching Demonstrated on Two Blade Sizes

A method called PCR (Platform Centered Reduction) is designed to more effectively perform complex iterative and nonlinear calculations required for the dynamic response of turbine blades damped by dry friction contacts between rigid dampers and airfoil-to-neck platform. The key feature of PCR is to represent all nonlinear forces on the blade platform by means of only six degrees of freedom at a point located within the platform volume, regardless of the number of damper–platform contact elements. Despite reducing the effort and computational time by more than one order of magnitude, the method proves to be fully accurate by a check against the corresponding nonlinear Finite Elements (FE) calculation. It is also shown that the limit exciting force, indicating the upper capability to dampen vibrations, can be calculated with a simple linear modal analysis. In order to search for the best blade–damper match, the preferred graph represents relevant bending stresses on the airfoil against excitation forces. A detailed application of the method concerns two significantly different blade sizes, by varying parameters such as neck length and damper centrifugal force. Finally, it is emphasized that a final check by a complete FE analysis is still possible as a purely linear solution fed by sets of contact forces previously determined through the PCR at any desired frequency and excitation.

Applications of Aluminum Alloys in Rail Transportation

This chapter focus on the latest applications of aluminum alloys in rail transportation field. The typical high-strength aluminum alloys used on high speed train is introduced. The unique properties of aluminum alloys are analyzed. The detailed application is illustrated including car-body, gear box and axle box tie rod. The main challenges encountered in the application are also mentioned. The key manufacturing techniques, such as casting, forming, welding, are analyzed. Finally, the future improvement directions for better application is summarized. It is expected to set up a bridge for materials providers, equipment manufacturers and end-users, thereby promoting the advance of manufacturing technology and application of aluminum alloys in wider fields.

Medical Ethics Models and Frameworks in Digital Health

The four pillars of medical ethics include autonomy, justice, beneficence, and nonmalfeasance. How can these essential principles be ensured in the highly connected world of digital health? In many ways, the foundational technologies and operating models of digital health contrast with these principles. How are patient privacy and autonomy protected when patient locations and vital signs are being transmitted 15 times per second by their Apple Watches? How to curtail the epidemic of bad medical information that emanates from the Internet with unprecedented velocity, volume, and variety? In this chapter, the detailed application of medical ethics to digital health is discussed with the intent of ensuring that ethical risks are considered as prioritized risks and potential harms that must be minimized by digital health tools and solution providers.

The Jamesonian Impersonal; or, Person as Allegory

This article locates Fredric Jameson’s Allegory and Ideology (2019) in the context of the broader trajectory of his career-long critique of the bourgeois centred subject. It argues that, for Jameson, the project of critique requires systematic depersonalisation at the level of thought. Contrary to negative liberal humanist interpretations of depersonalisation, Jameson stresses its hidden, revolutionary potential. Where his earlier work eschewed metanarratives of modernity premised upon shifts in subjectivity, preferring conjunctural or situational analyses, his more recent work – Antinomies of Realism (2013) and Allegory and Ideology in particular – develops a materialist version of just such metanarratives. The article concludes with a detailed application of Jameson’s allegorical method to the figure of the ‘person’ under capitalism, which can be sub-divided into the four levels of: individual, citizen/juridical person, infrastructural personifications, and the realm of social reproduction.

Strategically estimated CapEx: wave energy converter costs breakdown and parameterisation

In wave renewable energy, the Capital Expenditure (CapEx) is often a fixed number or depends on a single variable (e.g. power or converter characteristic mass). Hence, it poorly highlights the CapEx dependency on the Wave Energy Converter (WEC) and Wave Energy Farm (WEF) design, which in turn depend on the site characteristics. As, most of CapEx components are accessible by wave companies nowadays, this article introduces the new generic CapEx method. This method is divided into three steps: (1) distinguishing WEC’s elements from the WEF’s; (2) defining the parameters characterising the WECs, WEFs, and site locations; and (3) estimating elements that affect WEC and WEF elements’ cost and translate them into factors using the parameters defined in step (2). The case study is based on Wavepiston because of its advanced stage and the availability of its WEC information and costs. The focus of this study is on the detailed application of step (1) and (2) to Wavepiston, to estimate the Wavepiston WEC cost using step (3). This study also illustrates how to handle complex and limited datasets of WEC configuration and site characteristics. Moreover, the results from the CapEx method were validated by manual estimations from Wavepiston. It was found for Wavepiston WEC, the site characteristics were the least affecting parameters in comparison to the WEC configuration parameters. This study also applies another parameterised cost calculation method based on the Froude law similitude as a simpler but more rigid alternative, for the CapEx method. It was shown that with appropriate scaling parameter, the Similitude method provided similar, although higher, estimations than the CapEx method’s within low ranges of WEC up-scaling. In high ranges of up-scaling, the Similitude method overestimated Wavepiston WEC cost.

Research on Surveying and Mapping Technology of Special Topography

In recent years, China’s engineering start technology has achieved rapid growth, and various technical problems have also appeared in engineering development. Due to China’s vast geography and different topography, various complex topography increases the difficulty of surveying and mapping, and also poses huge challenges for professionals. While fortifications cannot leave surveying and mapping, surveying and mapping in the face of the special terrain environment is more difficult. Surveying and mapping staff should select accurate survey methods and surveying techniques according to the specific engineering background, and conduct tests on some special terrains. The paper discusses the specific methods of surveying and mapping of special terrain, and briefly discusses the detailed application of special terrain, in order to improve the quality of surveying and mapping.

A Review on Machine Learning-Based Radio Direction Finding

The research and applications of radio direction-finding technology based on machine learning are reviewed. Detailed application scenarios are summarized with focus on the advantages of machine learning-based direction-finding models. Important elements such as problem formulation and model inputs and outputs are introduced in detail. Finally, some valuable future research topics are discussed.