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Past research on analysing end-of-term student feedback tend to result in only high-level course improvement suggestions, and some recent research even argued that student feedback is a poor indicator of teaching effectiveness and student learning. Our intelligent Q&A platform with machine learning prediction and engagement features allow students to ask self-directed questions and provide answers in an out-of-class informal setting. By analysing such high quality and truthful posts which represent the students’ queries and knowledge about the course content, we can better identify the exact course topics which the students face learning challenges. We have implemented our Q&A platform for an undergraduate spreadsheets modelling course, and analysed 1025 meaningful posts to identify the hot areas represented as topic tags, map the identified hot tags progression over time, to direct instructors towards targeted improvement actions. Our proposed approach can be applied to other courses where students’ self-directed Q&A can be implemented.

In a university context, discussion forums are mostly available in Learning and Management Systems (LMS) but are often ineffective in encouraging participation due to poorly designed user interface and the lack of motivating factors to participate. Our integrated platform with the Telegram mobile app and a web-based forum, is capable of automatic thoughtfulness assessment of questions and answers posted, using text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) methodologies. We trained and applied the Random Forest algorithm to provide instant thoughtfulness score prediction for the new posts contributed by the students, and prompted the students to improve on their posts, thereby invoking deeper thinking resulting in better quality contributions. In addition, the platform is designed with six features to ensure that students remain actively engaged on the platform. We report the performance of our platform based on our implementations for a university course in two runs, and compare with existing systems to show that by using our platform, students’ participation and engagement are highly improved, and the quality of posts will increase. Most importantly, our students’ performance in the course was shown to be positively correlated with their participation in the system.

We designed, developed and implemented an integrated Telegram and Web-based Forum capable of automatic thoughtfulness assessment of questions and answers, using text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) methodologies, for collaborative learning. We trained and applied the Random Forest algorithm to provide instant thoughtfulness score prediction for the new posts contributed by the students, and prompted the students to improve on their posts, thereby invoking deeper learning. In addition, the platform is designed to ensure that students remain engaged on the platform. Our initial implementation for a university course on spreadsheets modeling using Excel, shows some promising results which strengthened our belief that through the process of asking good questions, and providing good answers, students' learning can be improved beyond the traditional classroom, and beyond instructor-student relationship.

Just like the popular Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) dance gameoriginal created by Konami, we build an installation art system thatcan either let children play hand-shadow illusions, or let them posetheir body within limited time with background music playing, sothat the human pose can match the hint images dynamically shownon the screen.Figure 1: Playing in Hand-Shadow Illusions and 3D DDR with thehelp of a multi-view 3D model retrieval system in an efcient way.

Maintenance of female reproductive competence depends on the actions of several hormones and signaling factors. Recent reports suggest roles for bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in early stages of folliculogenesis. A role for the type I BMP receptor BmprIB as a regulator of ovulation rates in sheep has been described recently, but little is known about the roles of BMP signaling pathways in other aspects of reproductive function. We report here that BMPRIB is essential for multiple aspects of female fertility. Mice deficient in BmprIB exhibit irregular estrous cycles and an impaired pseudopregnancy response. BmprIB mutants produce oocytes that can be fertilized in vitro , but defects in cumulus expansion prevent fertilization in vivo . This defect is associated with decreased levels of aromatase production in granulosa cells. Unexpectedly, levels of mRNA for cyclooxygenase 2, an enzyme required for cumulus expansion, are increased. BmprIB mutants also exhibit a failure in endometrial gland formation. The expression of BmprIB in uterine linings suggests that these defects are a direct consequence of loss of BMP signaling in this tissue. In summary, these studies demonstrate the importance of BMP signaling pathways for estrus cyclicity, estradiol biosynthesis, and cumulus cell expansion in vivo and reveal sites of action for BMP signaling pathways in reproductive tissues.

The synthesis and cyclocopolymerization with sulfur dioxide of four 1,5- and 1,6-dienes (bicyclopentene, bicyclohexene, dicyclopentenyl ether, and dicyclohexenyl ether) and one tetraene (quartercyclopentene) is described. Under optimum conditions, completely soluble copolymers are obtained from bicyclopentene in high conversions at temperatures down to −39°C. Bicyclohexene also gave soluble copolymers, but in a by far slower reaction and in low conversion. Quartercyclopentene does copolymerize, but as expected, gives only insoluble polymers. The two compounds with 1,6-diallyl ether structure, dicyclopentenyl ether and dicyclohexenyl ether, failed to polymerize. The influence of initiator, temperature, reaction medium, diene concentration, etc., on the properties of the polymers was studied in detail for copolymerizations of bicyclopentene. Only a very limited number of peroxides in unusual large quantities was found to be effective in initiating this copolymerization. The reaction is further limited to a narrow choice of solvents, e.g,. diethyl ether and tetrahydrofuran, in order to obtain soluble products. Polymerization could not be achieved in ethanol, benzene, methylene chloride, dimethyl sulfoxide, and tetramethylene sulfone; excess sulfur dioxide yields only dark and insoluble products. Diene concentrations of below 0.3 wt.-% are normally required to obtain poly(bicyclopentene sulfones) which are soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide, tetramethylene sulfone, or sulfuric acid. Polymerization can be carried out from room temperatures down to −39°C.; optimum results are generally obtained around 0°C. Inherent viscosities of 1.72 (0.5 g./100 ml. dimethyl sulfoxide) have been measured. X-ray diffractions are those of amorphous polymers.

Polycyclopentadiene, which is known to undergo extremely fast autoxidation resulting in insoluble products, was chemically modified, leading to derivatives no longer sensitive to oxygen. Soluble and stable products can be obtained in high conversions by Diels-Alder addition of hexachlorocyclopentadiene (96.5 mole-%), by epoxidation (93.5 mole-%), and by addition of thioglycolic acid (97.9 mole-%). A prerequisite is an efficient purification of polycyclopentadiene via reprecipitations in an oxygen-free atmosphere. Other attempted alterations of the double bond were the hydroxyformylation and the free-radical addition of haloalkanes, which, however, resulted in completely insoluble products. Typical addition reactions were carried out with the epoxy derivative of polycyclopentadiene, e.g., additions of hydrogen chloride, monochloracetic acid, chlorophenol, thiophenol, piperidine, hydrolysis to glycols. Easily initiated polymerization of the epoxy group is believed to be a conversion-limiting side reaction in certain addition reactions, such as addition of hydrochloric acid or hydrolysis to glycols.

The cyclocopolymerization of maleic anhydride and four 1,5- and 1,6-dienes (bicyclopentene, bicyclohexene, dicyclopentenyl ether, and dicyclohexenyl ether) and one tetraene (quartercyclopentene) is described. Soluble, low molecular weight copolymers were obtained from all five compounds. Their compositions approach 2:1 copolymer ratios. Fused ring structures are proposed as the main repeating units. Among the compounds listed, bicyclopentene copolymerized most easily and gave good conversions for monomer ratios of 2:1. Quartercyclopentene and dicyclopentyl ether, the other five-membered ring compounds, also polymerized to good-to-fair yields. However, a monomer ratio of about 4:1 was required to obtain conversions comparable to a 2:1 maleic anhydride—bicyclopentene polymerization. The six-membered systems, bicyclopentene and dicyclopentenyl ether, gave consistently low conversions, even with a 4:1 monomer ratio. The influence of the initiator system, initiator concentration, and reaction medium was studied on copolymerizations of bicyclopentene. Best results were obtained in acetic anhydride with azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator.