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Interkulturelles Lernen ergibt sich nicht allein aus der multinationalen Zusammensetzung einer Schulklasse. Es bedarf eines Bewusstseins über unterschiedliche Wahrnehmungsmuster, die oft subtiler sind, als es einfache nationale Klassifizierungen vermuten lassen. Für diese Wahrnehmungsmuster, die sowohl aus kultureller Prägung als auch aus gemeinsamen Sozialisationserfahrungen (zum Beispiel in der Schule) entstehen, gilt es bewusst zu sensibilisieren. Dieser Beitrag zeigt auf, wie der Deutschunterricht mit interkultureller Sprachdidaktik Heterogenität als positiven Faktor für das sprachliche Lerngeschehen nutzen kann und den Erwerb interkultureller Kompetenzen ermöglicht. Die Szenariendidaktik, die dafür Wege eröffnet, steht im Mittelpunkt dieses Beitrages. Aus den hier skizzierten Parametern und Aufgaben ergeben sich nicht nur neue, motivierende Lernwege für die Schüler, sondern auch neue, spannende Anforderungen an die Lehrer im Hinblick auf ihre Rolle und ihr Lehrverständnis.

Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions are created by blocking the direct path between the transmitter and receiver, resulting in an increased signal propagation path. To mitigate the Time of Arrival (TOA) measured errors caused by the NLOS phenomenon in cellular radio positioning, we use the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation method in this work. The cost function of the ML estimator is usually a high-dimensional, nonlinear, and multimodal function, where standard deterministic optimization techniques cannot solve such problems in real-time and without significant computing resources. In this paper, effective metaheuristic algorithms based on the enhanced variants of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) are applied for the optimal solution of the ML problem and efficiently determine the mobile station location. Time-Varying Acceleration Coefficients (TVAC) are introduced into the standard PSO algorithm to enhance the global search and convergence properties. The resulting algorithm is known as PSO-TVAC. To further improve the performance of the metaheuristic optimization, we suggest adding Chaos Search (CS), Opposition-Based Learning (OBL), and TVAC strategy to the PSO process. The simulation results show that the proposed metaheuristic algorithm named the Chaotic Opposition-based PSO-TVAC (COPSO-TVAC) can reach the Generalized Cramer–Rao Lower Bound (GCRLB) and surpass the original PSO, PSO-TVAC, and the presented conventional optimization algorithms.

This paper considers the problem of finding the position of a passive target using noisy time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, obtained from multiple transmitters and a single receiver. The maximum likelihood (ML) estimator’s objective function is extremely nonlinear and non-convex, making it impossible to use traditional optimization techniques. In this regard, this paper proposes the chaos-enhanced adaptive hybrid butterfly particle swarm optimization algorithm, named CAHBPSO, as the hybridization of butterfly optimization (BOA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms, to estimate passive target position. In the proposed algorithm, an adaptive strategy is employed to update the sensory fragrance of BOA algorithm, and chaos theory is incorporated into the inertia weight of PSO algorithm. Furthermore, an adaptive switch probability is employed to combine global and local search phases of BOA with the PSO algorithm. Additionally, the semidefinite programming is employed to convert the considered problem into a convex one. The statistical comparison on CEC2014 benchmark problems shows that the proposed algorithm provides a better performance compared to well-known algorithms. The CAHBPSO method surpasses the BOA, PSO and semidefinite programming (SDP) algorithms for a broad spectrum of noise, according to simulation findings, and achieves the Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB).

This paper addresses the problem of time difference of arrival (TDOA) based passive target localizationand proposes an improved chaos-driven hybrid differential evolution (DE) algorithm and butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA), named ICDEBOA, to solve this complex optimization problem. The proposed algorithm consists of a new mutation strategy with the mechanisms of the BOA algorithm incorporated into the DE algorithm. To boost optimization effectiveness, chaos theory is employed to adjust the control parameter values. The considered localization problem is formulated using the maximum likelihood estimator. To perform the accuracy comparison, the convex constrained weighting least squares algorithm is applied to the considered localization problem as the widely used method in literature. The statistical analysis shows that the proposed modifications to the ICDEBOA algorithm improve its optimization performance, as demonstrated by the improved performance on the CEC2014 benchmark problems. The ICDEBOA algorithm is also shown to be more robust than existing algorithms in noisy environments. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed ICDEBOA algorithm meets the CRLB and achieves better performance than the CWLS, DE, and BOA algorithms.

In this paper, new algorithms for spectrum sensing in cognitive radio based on higher order cumulants and kurtosis are proposed. The cumulants represent statistical signal processing based on pattern recognition for signals of different structure, and has low implementation complexity. Kurtosis statistics are a well-known technique for testing the Gaussianity feature of the signals. Under the assumption that a detected signal can be modelled according to an autoregressive model, noise variance is estimated from that noisy signal. The simulation results show that spectrum sensing algorithms based on the estimated normalised values of joint higher order cumulants (of fourth and sixth orders) and kurtosis are reliable for a wide range of signal-to-noise ratio environments. In order to improve performances of the spectrum sensing, the combination of these statistics tests into unique one statistic test is proposed. Simulation results have verified improvement of the performances.

Spectrum sensing is the most important process in cognitive radio in order to ensure interference avoidance to primary users. For optimal performance of cognitive radio, it is substantial to monitor and promptly react to dynamic changes in its operating environment. In this paper, energy detector based spectrum sensing is considered. Under the assumption that detected signal can be modelled according to an autoregressive model, noise variance is estimated from that noisy signal, as well as primary user signal power. A closed-form solution for optimal decision threshold in dynamic electromagnetic environment is proposed and analyzed.

Determining an optimal emitting source location based on the time of arrival (TOA) measurements is one of the important problems in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The nonlinear least-squares (NLS) estimation technique is employed to obtain the location of an emitting source. This optimization problem has been formulated by the minimization of the sum of squared residuals between estimated and measured data as the objective function. This paper presents a hybridization of Genetic Algorithm (GA) for the determination of the global optimum solution with the local search Newton-Raphson (NR) method. The corresponding Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on the localization errors is derived, which gives a lower bound on the variance of any unbiased estimator. Simulation results under different signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) conditions show that the proposed hybrid Genetic Algorithm-Newton-Raphson (GA-NR) improves the accuracy and efficiency of the optimal solution compared to the regular GA. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. TR32028]

Banking industry is very competitive and the market itself has become very saturated in the recent years. Because of this, it is vital for every banking institution to use all available information in order to gain some sort of competitive advantage. In this paper we will demonstrate that it is possible to gain more insight about banking service clients by using data mining and analysis tools, more specifically by using K-Means clustering. Specifically, we will demonstrate that we can define a group of customers that are more prone to purchase housing loan.

Emergency situations, incentives for energy efficiency, new pricing plans, and distributed electricity market jointly require home automation systems that would conform an instantaneous load to a dynamically set limit. In this paper, a novel machine-to-machine communications protocol that interconnects a smart grid and smart house is described. ''Intelligent'' domestic appliances use it to coordinate their switch-on times so that the assigned power quota will not be exceeded. In this way, the end-user experience can be improved by reducing the electricity bills, conveniently conforming to prepaid pricing plans, or even by providing continued service at possibly reduced consumption levels during power shortages.

This paper analyzes the challenges to realize an infrastructure independent and a low-cost positioning method in cellular networks based on RSS (Received Signal Strength) parameter, auxiliary timing parameter and environment estimation. The proposed algorithm has been evaluated using field measurements collected from GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network, but it is technology independent and can be applied in UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems) and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks, also.

This paper analyzes deterministic methods for user positioning in radio systems. Radio signal parameters that can be used for positioning are considered, as well as the methods of their processing in order to obtain the unknown location. Paper contains a brief comparison of probabilistic and deterministic mathematical approaches in positioning, while all deterministic methods are analyzed in detail. Signal parameters used in angulation, circular and hyperbolic lateration are presented, as well as their algorithms. The paper discusses the minimum requirements for each deterministic method, indicates problems that can occur, and the ways to overcome them.

Summary background The diagnosis of GH deficiency (GHD) is controversial, relying on GH secretion elicited by the provocative tests of GH reserve. However, the performance of most of the tests in use have not been evaluated rigorously. The repeatability of a test is a prerequisite before evaluating its diagnostic capability. objective The combined administration of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and GH-releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6) is an efficacious test of GH reserve in adults, and the target of this work was to evaluate its reproducibility. methods Seventeen healthy subjects were challenged with GHRH plus GHRP-6 (1 µg/kg i.v.). All subjects underwent four tests on different days separated by at least 2 months. GH peaks were evaluated by several mathematical analyses of reproducibility. results As a group, the subjects showed high reproducibility after the four tests, with GH peaks of 46·0 ± 5·1; 48·4 ± 6·4; 50·1 ± 5·4 and 52·9 ± 5·8 µg/l, respectively (1 µg/l = 3 mU/l). Individually analysed, the reproducibility was good, and the regression analysis showed a correlation between tests 1 and 2 of R = 0·729, P

Summary objective Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults is a defined syndrome of which the adverse effects on different areas of body function are reversed under replacement therapy with GH. The diagnosis of GHD is controversial in adults, relying on the GH secretion elicited by the so-called provocative tests of GH reserve. Most of the tests in use, including the widely employed insulin tolerance test, have been shown to be blunted after daily activities, such as mild exercise, heat or food intake, which makes stringent testing conditions mandatory in order to assure reproducibility. The combined administration of GH releasing hormone (GHRH) and GH-releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6) is a very effective test for the diagnosis of GH deficiency in adults. In the present study, the perturbatory action of mild physical activity and food intake on the reproducibility of this combined test was assessed. methods Seventeen healthy volunteers of both sexes were tested twice on separate occasions with the sequential administration of GHRH (90 µg i.v.) plus GHRP-6 (90 µg i.v.) as bolus. Eleven subjects underwent the first combined test in the morning under basal conditions and the second test was performed in the afternoon of the same day after a morning of habitual working activity and after a standard lunch. Another group of six subjects underwent similar double testing in the morning and in the afternoon after morning activity followed by lunch; however, both tests were separated by a period of 6 months. measurements GH levels were analysed by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay, with sampling every 15 minutes. results The reproducibility of the GHRH + GHRP-6 test performed on the same day was high, with the mean GH peak being 65·4 ± 8·0 µg/l in the basal state and 51·2 ± 9·6 µg/l after lunch, while the area under the curve (AUC) was 2287 ± 288 µg/l per 45 minutes in the morning and 1759 ± 350 after lunch. When a period of 6 months had elapsed between the first and the second test, the reproducibility was well maintained with a mean GH peak of 42·7 ± 6·2 µg/l in the basal state and 34·3 ± 3·6 µg/l in the after lunch test, with the AUC 1463 ± 209 and 1164 ± 106 µg/l per 45 minutes in the morning and after lunch, respectively. When analysed individually, physical activity, lunch or time elapsed between the two tests did not significantly change the GH peak in the subjects tested. conclusions The GHRH + GHRP-6 test of GH reserve is a highly reproducible test in adult subjects over time, and is not perturbed by common daily activities, such as mild physical exercise or food intake. Considering that stringent testing conditions are not required and the whole test may be performed in 30 minutes, it may be useful in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of GH deficiency in adults.

In this paper, we proposed experimental space segmentation method for WLAN indoor positioning. Experiments in a real WLAN environment indicate that the proposed method leads to substantial improvements in the localization accuracy in comparison to positioning methods with similar requirements. The approach is conceptually simple, easy to implement, and does not require any additional hardware.

Prevention df serious damage of composite structures might be achieved by inspecting the structural integrity during exploitation. This paper decribes the design and development of a promising optical fiber sensor system for low velocity impact detection in unidirectional composite that does not have a laminate structure. Obtained results showed that light in multimode fibers embedded in glass-fiber reinforced epoxy unidirectional composites is attenuated during the time of the impact load. Microstructural analysis of the fracture surfaces obtained from mechanically fractured samples was carried out to examine the failure mode of the composite host with embedded optical fibers.

Accurate indoor localization of mobile users is one of the challenging problems of the last decade. Besides delivering high speed Internet, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) can be used as an effective indoor positioning system, being competitive both in terms of accuracy and cost. Among the localization algorithms, nearest neighbor fingerprinting algorithms based on Received Signal Strength (RSS) parameter have been extensively studied as an inexpensive solution for delivering indoor Location Based Services (LBS). In this paper, we propose the optimization of the signal space distance parameters in order to improve precision of WLAN indoor positioning, based on nearest neighbor fingerprinting algorithms. Experiments in a real WLAN environment indicate that proposed optimization leads to substantial improvements of the localization accuracy. Our approach is conceptually simple, is easy to implement, and does not require any additional hardware.

One of fundamental characteristics of modern humanity, that is times in which we live, is freedom and human and citizen rights. Degree of democracy, and modernity of legal system of the given country is esteemed by the very criteria of the way of regulating freedom and human and citizen rights, while degree of democracy and modernity of society as a whole is judged by a practical realization of the proclaimed freedom and human and citizen rights. One of the basic preconditions of a country's full integration into international institutions, and thus into modern directions of society as a whole are the two aspects of freedom and human rights i.e. their normative and practical character. Proclamation of human and freedom rights, their realization, and their protection in the first place, has always been a subject of particular interest in regard to their improvement by the progressive forces in the whole world. Dealing with issues of human rights and freedom has had a general character both from the aspect of time and territory. It is general because it is tied to all regions, countries, nations, and also to all progressive political, philosophical, sociological and other programs. Taking into account such importance of freedom and human and citizen rights both for the society and for each citizen, it is natural that such issues present priority in the activities not only of the most important government and non government associations, national and international institutions but individuals as well.

Cognitive radio is the next big step in wireless radio communications and its development largely depends on spectrum sensing. In this paper, three spectrum sensing methods are considered: energy detection method, Welch's method and Multitaper method. It is shown, by spectrum analysis of a sinusoidal signal in the presence of non-white noise, that energy detection method is the simplest and least reliable. While, on the other hand, Multitaper method is the most complex and reliable.

This paper investigates impact of the mobile user orientation on positioning accuracy in indoor environment using WLAN technology. Positioning methods focused in the experimental analysis are the Cell-ID method and the space segmentation methods. Both methods assign the mobile terminal with unknown location coordinates based upon the access point with the strongest signal. In this paper, the methods are described, experimental analysis is performed and the results are presented, and conclusions are derived regarding effects of the mobile user orientation on positioning accuracy.

A probabilistic approach to locate mobile stations in radio networks is analyzed. Three methods that implements the probabilistic approach are presented. An algorithm to determine mobile station location using segmentation of space, taking the set of nearest base stations as the segmentation criterion, is proposed.

This paper describes a simple method of service zone estimation in mobile radio networks, which is based upon the Voronoi diagram theory.

Cellular networks are primarily designed to provide communication to mobile users. Besides the main application, determining location of mobile users (stations) within the cellular networks like Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) became an interesting additional feature. To provide the location based services (LBS), radio communication parameters already available in the network are preferably used, while some methods require investment in additional hardware to improve precision of the positioning. Positioning methods applied in cellular networks are characterized by tradeoff between the positioning precision and the requirements for additional hardware. The idea to determine user location in cellular networks originated in the USA to support 911 service for emergency calls. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1996 initiated a program in which mobile operators are required to provide automatic location determination with specified accuracy for the users that make emergency calls. The new service is named Enhanced 911 (E-911). Similar service was initiated in Europe somewhat later, and it is called E-112. Besides the security related applications, availability of the user location information in cellular networks opened significant commercial opportunities to mobile operators. In this chapter, methods to determine the mobile station position according to the radio communication parameters are presented. Position related radio communication parameters and their modeling are discussed, and algorithms to process collected data in order to determine the mobile station position are presented. Finally, standardized positioning methods are briefly reviewed.

The majority of existing GSM positioning techniques can be described as either costly or with limited performance. Basic GSM positioning techniques Cell-ID and Cell-ID+TA can be upgraded to decrease positioning error. We introduce a new location technique E-CIDTA that requires no additional infrastructure. A probabilistic approach is used to model TA parameters behaviour over distance. These models are applied to the E-CIDTA algorithm to estimate the location of a mobile user. Finally, we evaluate and discuss the performance of E-CIDTA and compare it to other positioning techniques.

We sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of heart failure in patients with newly diagnosed acromegaly.We assessed 102 consecutive patients who had acromegaly (44 men; age range, 22 to 71 years) for signs and symptoms of heart failure. We included a control group of 33 nonobese healthy subjects (13 men; age range, 26 to 70 years). Cardiac morphologic parameters, left ventricular mass index, ejection fraction, end-systolic wall stress, and cardiac index were measured by echocardiography. Endocrinological assessment was performed in all participants.Of the 102 patients, 10 (10%) had overt heart failure at the time of diagnosis of acromegaly, 9 of whom were men (P0.01). Patients with acromegaly and heart failure had an increased mean (+/- SD) left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (76 +/- 11 mm) compared with those without heart failure (53 +/- 6 mm, P0.001) and control subjects (49 +/- 5 mm, P0.001). Patients with heart failure had higher left ventricular mass index (230 +/- 56 g/m2 vs. 118 +/- 40 g/m(2), P0.001) and end-systolic wall stress (237 +/- 79 x 10(3) dyn/cm2 vs. 111 +/- 42 x 10(3) dyn/cm2, P0.001), but lower ejection fraction (42% +/- 17% vs. 66% +/- 9%, P0.001), in comparison with patients without heart failure. The mean cardiac index was significantly higher in patients with heart failure (4.3 +/- 1.8 L/min-m2) than in those without heart failure (3.5 +/- 0.8 L/min-m2, P = 0.04) or in control subjects (3.1 +/- 0.6 L/min-m2, P = 0.002). Two factors were independently associated with heart failure in acromegalic patients: cardiac index (odds ratio [OR] per SD of 1.0 L/min-m2 = 16; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.8 to 135) and ejection fraction (OR per SD of 12% = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.6 to 0.9).High output heart failure with a modest decline in ejection fraction is frequently detected at the time of diagnosis of acromegaly. Left ventricular hypertrophy in these patients is characterized by a dilated ventricle and an increased left ventricular mass that is primarily due to the enlarged chamber diameter.

Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults is a defined syndrome of which the adverse effects on different areas of body function are reversed under replacement therapy with GH. The diagnosis of GHD is controversial in adults, relying on the GH secretion elicited by the so-called provocative tests of GH reserve. Most of the tests in use, including the widely employed insulin tolerance test, have been shown to be blunted after daily activities, such as mild exercise, heat or food intake, which makes stringent testing conditions mandatory in order to assure reproducibility. The combined administration of GH releasing hormone (GHRH) and GH-releasing hexapeptide (GHRP-6) is a very effective test for the diagnosis of GH deficiency in adults. In the present study, the perturbatory action of mild physical activity and food intake on the reproducibility of this combined test was assessed.Seventeen healthy volunteers of both sexes were tested twice on separate occasions with the sequential administration of GHRH (90 microg i.v.) plus GHRP-6 (90 microg i.v.) as bolus. Eleven subjects underwent the first combined test in the morning under basal conditions and the second test was performed in the afternoon of the same day after a morning of habitual working activity and after a standard lunch. Another group of six subjects underwent similar double testing in the morning and in the afternoon after morning activity followed by lunch; however, both tests were separated by a period of 6 months.GH levels were analysed by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay, with sampling every 15 minutes.The reproducibility of the GHRH + GHRP-6 test performed on the same day was high, with the mean GH peak being 65.4 +/- 8.0 microg/l in the basal state and 51.2 +/- 9.6 microg/l after lunch, while the area under the curve (AUC) was 2287 +/- 288 microg/l per 45 minutes in the morning and 1759 +/- 350 after lunch. When a period of 6 months had elapsed between the first and the second test, the reproducibility was well maintained with a mean GH peak of 42.7 +/- 6.2 microg/l in the basal state and 34.3 +/- 3.6 microg/l in the after lunch test, with the AUC 1463 +/- 209 and 1164 +/- 106 microg/l per 45 minutes in the morning and after lunch, respectively. When analysed individually, physical activity, lunch or time elapsed between the two tests did not significantly change the GH peak in the subjects tested.The GHRH + GHRP-6 test of GH reserve is a highly reproducible test in adult subjects over time, and is not perturbed by common daily activities, such as mild physical exercise or food intake. Considering that stringent testing conditions are not required and the whole test may be performed in 30 minutes, it may be useful in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of GH deficiency in adults.

Woven glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) are being widely applied to advanced structures in aerospace, automobile, and marine industries. Optical fibers, originally developed for telecommunications, can be used as sensors that can monitor the state of damage and strain in advanced composite materials. In intensity-based sensors a parameter, such as strain, produces a change in the power of the light propagating in the fiber. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of using an optical fiber, stripped of the buffer and acrylate coated, for delamination detection in woven GRP three-point bend specimens.