Computer assisted instruction for developing speech perception skills in profoundly deaf children

This paper evaluates the usefulness of the "Foundations in Speech Perception" computer program developed by Breakthrough, Inc. in conjunction with Central Institute for the Deaf.

The Central Institute for the Deaf Computer Lab: a guide to technological integration

This paper presents a guide for teachers about the computer lab at Central Institute for the Deaf.

Estrategias empresariales para afrontar la competencia internacional: el caso del cluster de confecciones de la industria textil de Atuntaqui

El comercio mundial tiene múltiples actores que está sumamente bien posicionados y otros que buscan nuevas estrategias para mejorar su posicionamiento. Asimismo, las diferencias entre los mercados internacionales, nacionales y/o locales son notables, mientras los unos se expanden a pasos agigantados, los otros lo hacen paso a paso. Por lo tanto, el presente trabajo tiene como objetivo fundamental determinar las estrategias que las empresas del sector de las confecciones del cluster textil de Atuntaqui pueden implementar para hacer frente a la competencia internacional. Con esta referencia, el trabajo se ha dividido en tres capítulos. El primer capítulo, está conformado por un análisis de los principales elementos conceptuales (cadena global de valor, managment dentro de la CGV y cluster industriales); seguido, se presenta un breve recuento de la industria, el comercio mundial y los principales importadores y exportadores. Luego, se analiza las tendencias globales utilizadas por los países de América Latina y el Caribe, entre los que están: plataforma de exportación, clusters y logística internacional. En el segundo capítulo, se analizan las principales estadísticas sobre el comportamiento histórico de las importaciones y exportaciones, la caracterización de las empresas, el ámbito tecnológico, los costos y gastos en los que se ha incurrido en algunos cantones y sobre el mercado laboral. Para finalizar, el tercer capítulo, cuenta con una perspectiva local de la industria en Atuntaqui, con temas, como: el “cluster” de la industria, la caracterización de las empresas, el clima de negocios, el diagnostico FODA y las principales estrategias.

Review of computer vision in intelligent environment design

This paper discusses and compares the use of vision based and non-vision based technologies in developing intelligent environments. By reviewing the related projects that use vision based techniques in intelligent environment design, the achieved functions, technical issues and drawbacks of those projects are discussed and summarized, and the potential solutions for future improvement are proposed, which leads to the prospective direction of my PhD research.

The use of computer-based learning tools for teaching and clinical purposes: Interactive computing strategy for Iraq

Medical universities and teaching hospitals in Iraq are facing a lack of professional staff due to the ongoing violence that forces them to flee the country. The professionals are now distributed outside the country which reduces the chances for the staff and students to be physically in one place to continue the teaching and limits the efficiency of the consultations in hospitals. A survey was done among students and professional staff in Iraq to find the problems in the learning and clinical systems and how Information and Communication Technology could improve it. The survey has shown that 86% of the participants use the Internet as a learning resource and 25% for clinical purposes while less than 11% of them uses it for collaboration between different institutions. A web-based collaborative tool is proposed to improve the teaching and clinical system. The tool helps the users to collaborate remotely to increase the quality of the learning system as well as it can be used for remote medical consultation in hospitals.

Improving computer interaction for older people - studying mouse clicks

Interactions using a standard computer mouse can be particularly difficult for novice and older adult users. Tasks that involve positioning the mouse over a target and double-clicking to initiate some action can be a real challenge for many users. Hence, this paper describes a study that investigates the double-click interactions of older and younger adults and presents data that can help inform the development of methods of assistance. Twelve older adults (mean age = 63.9 years) and 12 younger adults (mean age = 20.8 years) performed click and double-click target selections with a computer mouse. Initial results show that older users make approximately twice as many errors as younger users when attempting double-clicks. For both age groups, the largest proportion of errors was due to difficulties with keeping the cursor steady between button presses. Compared with younger adults, older adults experienced more difficulties with performing two button presses within a required time interval. Understanding these interactions better is a step towards improving accessibility, and may provide some suggestions for future directions of research in this area.

Grid Remote Execution (G-Rex) of Climate Models

G-Rex is light-weight Java middleware that allows scientific applications deployed on remote computer systems to be launched and controlled as if they are running on the user's own computer. G-Rex is particularly suited to ocean and climate modelling applications because output from the model is transferred back to the user while the run is in progress, which prevents the accumulation of large amounts of data on the remote cluster. The G-Rex server is a RESTful Web application that runs inside a servlet container on the remote system, and the client component is a Java command line program that can easily be incorporated into existing scientific work-flow scripts. The NEMO and POLCOMS ocean models have been deployed as G-Rex services in the NERC Cluster Grid, and G-Rex is the core grid middleware in the GCEP and GCOMS e-science projects.