Cross-Cultural Adjustment and Coping:U.S.Students in Taiwan Residents Higher Education

The aim of this study was to investigate the adjustment problems of students from the United States enrolled in universities in the East,specifically in Taiwan,their problems related to cultural adaptation,and the process of adjustment to student life in Taiwan.Under investigation were cultural adjustment and coping skills as these students transitioned from West to East.Qualitative data were collected from interviews with participants and faculty members as well as participant observations.Results indicated that U.S.students found their own ways to acclimate to their new academic setting as well as to social relations,cross-cultural issues,and the linguistic environment in Taiwan to achieve effective adaptation.They made changes in themselves to cope with all situations they encountered.This study provides suggestions for international students abroad in Taiwan,for the Taiwan Residents government,and for universities or colleges in terms of what they should offer to current and future international students.

Optimized CUDA Implementation to Improve the Performance of Bundle Adjustment Algorithm on GPUs

The 3D reconstruction pipeline uses the Bundle Adjustment algorithm to refine the camera and point parameters. The Bundle Adjustment algorithm is a compute-intensive algorithm, and many researchers have improved its performance by implementing the algorithm on GPUs. In the previous research work, “Improving Accuracy and Computational Burden of Bundle Adjustment Algorithm using GPUs,” the authors demonstrated first the Bundle Adjustment algorithmic performance improvement by reducing the mean square error using an additional radial distorting parameter and explicitly computed analytical derivatives and reducing the computational burden of the Bundle Adjustment algorithm using GPUs. The naïve implementation of the CUDA code, a speedup of 10× for the largest dataset of 13,678 cameras, 4,455,747 points, and 28,975,571 projections was achieved. In this paper, we present the optimization of the Bundle Adjustment algorithm CUDA code on GPUs to achieve higher speedup. We propose a new data memory layout for the parameters in the Bundle Adjustment algorithm, resulting in contiguous memory access. We demonstrate that it improves the memory throughput on the GPUs, thereby improving the overall performance. We also demonstrate an increase in the computational throughput of the algorithm by optimizing the CUDA kernels to utilize the GPU resources effectively. A comparative performance study of explicitly computing an algorithm parameter versus using the Jacobians instead is presented. In the previous work, the Bundle Adjustment algorithm failed to converge for certain datasets due to several block matrices of the cameras in the augmented normal equation, resulting in rank-deficient matrices. In this work, we identify the cameras that cause rank-deficient matrices and preprocess the datasets to ensure the convergence of the BA algorithm. Our optimized CUDA implementation achieves convergence of the Bundle Adjustment algorithm in around 22 seconds for the largest dataset compared to 654 seconds for the sequential implementation, resulting in a speedup of 30×. Our optimized CUDA implementation presented in this paper has achieved a 3× speedup for the largest dataset compared to the previous naïve CUDA implementation.

A Self-calibration Bundle Adjustment Algorithm Based on Block Matrix Cholesky Decomposition Technology

In this study,the problem of bundle adjustment was revisited,and a novel algorithm based on block matrix Cholesky decomposition was proposed to solve the thorny problem of self-calibration bundle adjustment.The innovation points are reflected in the following aspects:①The proposed algorithm is not dependent on the Schur complement,and the calculation process is simple and clear;②The complexities of time and space tend to O(n)in the context of world point number is far greater than that of images and cameras,so the calculation magnitude and memory consumption can be reduced significantly;③The proposed algorithm can carry out self-calibration bundle adjustment in single-camera,multi-camera,and variable-camera modes;④Some measures are employed to improve the optimization effects.Experimental tests showed that the proposed algorithm has the ability to achieve state-of-the-art performance in accuracy and robustness,and it has a strong adaptability as well,because the optimized results are accurate and robust even if the initial values have large deviations from the truth.This study could provide theoretical guidance and technical support for the image-based positioning and 3D reconstruction in the fields of photogrammetry,computer vision and robotics.

Vertical deformation analysis based on combined adjustment for GNSS and leveling data

A method is proposed to fuse the velocity data of the global navigation satellite system(GNSS) and leveling height via combined adjustment with constraints. First, stable GNSS-leveling points are uniformly selected, and the constraints of the geodetic height change velocity and normal height change velocity are given. Then, the GNSS vertical velocities and leveling height difference are used as observations of combined adjustment, and robust least-squares estimation are used to estimate the velocities of the unknown points. Finally, a vertical movement model is established with the GNSS vertical velocities and leveling vertical velocities obtained via combined adjustment. Data from the second-order leveling network and GNSS control points in Shandong Province are taken as test data, and eight calculation schemes are used for discussion. One of the schemes, the bifactor robust combined adjustment method based on variance component estimation with two kinds of vertical velocity constraints achieves the optimal results. The method applied in the scheme can be recommended for data fusion of GNSS and leveling, further improving the reliability of vertical crustal movement in Shandong Province.

Verification of Depth Adjustment Factor in Eurocode 5 for Tropical Hardwood Timbers

The depth adjustment factor for bending strength stated in Eurocode 5(EC5)is only applicable to timbers having a characteristic density below 700 kg/m^(3).However,most Malaysian timbers are hardwood,some with a characteristic density reaching above 700 kg/m^(3).Therefore,the objective of this study was to examine whether the depth adjustment factor stipulated in EC5 is valid for Malaysian hardwood timbers.Six timber species were selected for this study,namely Kapur(Dryobalanops C.F.Gaertn.),Kempas(Koompassia Maingay ex Benth.),Keruing(Dipterocarpus C.F.Gaertn.),Light red meranti(Shorea Roxb.ex C.F.Gaertn.),Geronggang(Cratoxylum Blume)and Balau(Shorea Roxb.ex C.F.Gaertn.).The determination of bending strength and characteristic density was conducted according to BS EN 408:2010 and BS EN 384:2016,respectively.A graph for mean bending strength vs.(150/h)was plotted for each timber species.The power function was selected to analyze the relationship between the two variables.The power of the regression equations varied depending on the characteristic density of the timber species.For species with a characteristic density below 700 kg/m^(3),such as Kapur,Keruing,and Light red meranti,the power was between 0.16 to 0.17.In contrast,for species having a characteristic density above 700 kg/m^(3),namely Kempas and Balau,the power was higher at 0.23 and 0.24,respectively.Geronggang was an exception to this pattern.These values are close to the depth adjustment factor given in EC5,which is 0.2.Based on the results,it can be suggested that the adjustment factor of 0.2 is also applicable to Malaysian hardwood timbers with a characteristic density above 700 kg/m^(3).

Proposing Adjustments to the Dry Season Inter-Reservoir Operation Rules of the Red River System to Improve Water Use Efficiency of the Reservoirs

The Red-Thai Binh River system is an important water resource to the Northern Delta, serving the development of agriculture, people’s livelihood and other economic sectors through its upstream reservoirs and a system of water abstraction works along the rivers. However, due to the impact of climate change and pressure from socio-economic development, the operation of the reservoir system according to Decision No. 740/QD-TTg was issued on June 17, 2019 by the Prime Minister of Government promulgating the Red-Thai Binh River system inter-reservoir operation rules (Operation rules 740) has some shortcomings that need adjustments for higher water use efficiency, meeting downstream water demand and power generation benefits. Through the results of water balance calculation and analysis of economic benefits from water use scenarios, this research proposed adjustment to the inter-reservoir operation during dry season in the Red River system. The result showed that an average water level of 1.0 - 1.7 m should be maintained at Hanoi during the increased release period.

Construction of Psychological Adjustment Function Model of Music Education Based on Emotional Tendency Analysis

In the face offierce competition in the social environment,mental health problems gradually get the attention of the public,in order to achieve accurate mental health data analysis,the construction of music education is based on emotional tendency analysis of psychological adjustment function model.Design emotional tendency analysis of music education psychological adjustment function architecture,music teaching goal as psychological adjust-ment function architecture building orientation,music teaching content as a foundation for psychological adjust-ment function architecture and music teaching process as a psychological adjustment function architecture building,music teaching evaluation as the key of building key regulating function architecture,Establish a core literacy oriented evaluation system.Different evaluation methods were used to obtain the evaluation results.Four levels of psychological adjustment function model of music education are designed,and the psychological adjust-ment function of music education is put forward,thus completing the construction of psychological adjustment function model of music education.The experimental results show that the absolute value of the data acquisition error of the designed model is minimum,which is not more than 0.2.It is less affected by a bad coefficient and has good performance.It can quickly converge to the best state in the actual prediction process and has a strong con-vergence ability.

An Investigation of Purely Azimuthal Passive Localization and Position Adjustment in Attempted UAV Formation Flights

When a cluster of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is flying in formation, it is crucial to maintain the formation and not to be interfered by external electromagnetic wave signals. In order to maintain the formation, this paper proposes to use pure azimuth passive positioning to adjust the position of UAVs, i.e., certain UAVs in the formation transmit signals, the rest of the UAVs receive the signals passively, and extract the orientation information from them to adjust the position of the UAVs [1] [2] [3]. In this paper, the position adjustment problem of UAVs in “circular” formation flight under three models is investigated. To address the problem of “how to obtain the position of the receiving UAV when there are two UAVs with known numbers and evenly distributed on the circumference in addition to the UAV transmitting at the known center of the circle, and the rest of the UAVs with slight deviations in their positions are receiving the signals”, two purely mathematical geometric methods, namely, triangular localization method and polar co-ordinate method, are proposed respectively. We have determined the position of the receiving UAV;we have used the exhaustive method and the construction and disproof method to solve the problem of “how many UAVs are needed to transmit signals in order to realize the effective positioning of the UAVs when it is known that a certain UAV with a slight deviation in its position receives the signals emitted by two UAVs at the same time”, and the results show that: in addition to the known signals emitted by two UAVs, it is also necessary to transmit the signals emitted by two UAVs. The results show that in addition to the known two UAVs transmitting signals, two additional UAVs are required to transmit signals for precise po-sitioning. When the position of UAVs has deviation at the initial moment, the ideal approximation method and the target delimitation method are pro-posed, and the target of nine UAVs uniformly distributed on a circle of a spe-cific radius is achieved through several adjustments, after which the ad-vantages and disadvantages of each model are analyzed, and suggestions for improvement are put forward. The purely azimuthal passive localization method and the constructed model approach proposed in this paper can be extended to other fields, such as spacecraft formations in space and battle-ship formations at sea, as well as other formation flight position adjustment problems.

Improving Accuracy and Computational Burden of Bundle Adjustment Algorithm Using GPUs

Bundle adjustment is a camera and point refinement technique in a 3D scene reconstruction pipeline. The camera parameters and the 3D points are refined by minimizing the difference between computed projection and observed projection of the image points formulated as a non-linear least-square problem. Levenberg-Marquardt method is used to solve the non-linear least-square problem. Solving the non-linear least-square problem is computationally expensive, proportional to the number of cameras, points, and projections. In this paper, we implement the Bundle Adjustment (BA) algorithm and analyze techniques to improve algorithmic performance by reducing the mean square error. We investigate using an additional radial distortion camera parameter in the BA algorithm and demonstrate better convergence of the mean square error. We also demonstrate the use of explicitly computed analytical derivatives. In addition, we implement the BA algorithm on GPUs using the CUDA parallel programming model to reduce the computational time burden of the BA algorithm. CUDA Streams, atomic operations, and cuBLAS library in the CUDA programming model are proposed, implemented, and demonstrated to improve the performance of the BA algorithm. Our implementation has demonstrated better convergence of the BA algorithm and achieved a speedup of up to 16× on the use of the BA algorithm on various datasets.

An extended state observer with adjustable bandwidth for measurement noise

In this paper,a bandwidth-adjustable extended state observer(ABESO)is proposed for the systems with measurement noise.It is known that increasing the bandwidth of the observer improves the tracking speed but tolerates noise,which conflicts with observation accuracy.Therefore,we introduce a bandwidth scaling factor such that ABESO is formulated to a 2-degree-of-freedom system.The observer gain is determined and the bandwidth scaling factor adjusts the bandwidth according to the tracking error.When the tracking error decreases,the bandwidth decreases to suppress the noise,otherwise the bandwidth does not change.It is proven that the error dynamics are bounded and converge in finite time.The relationship between the upper bound of the estimation error and the scaling factor is given.When the scaling factor is less than 1,the ABESO has higher estimation accuracy than the linear extended state observer(LESO).Simulations of an uncertain nonlinear system with compound disturbances show that the proposed ABESO can successfully estimate the total disturbance in noisy environments.The mean error of total disturbance of ABESO is 15.28% lower than that of LESO.

Rigidloop Adjustable可调袢钢板治疗踝关节骨折并下胫腓联合损伤

目的比较Rigidloop Adjustable(RLA)可调袢钢板与螺钉治疗踝关节骨折合并下胫腓联合损伤的临床效果。方法回顾性分析2019年9月至2022年5月武汉市第三医院收治的44例踝关节骨折合并下胫腓联合损伤的患者。踝关节骨折行切开复位内固定后,下胫腓联合采用RLA可调袢钢板固定22例,2枚皮质骨螺钉三皮质骨固定22例。应用AOFAS踝与后足功能评分、术侧与健侧踝关节活动度平均差值及术前、术后随访时正位X线片下胫腓间隙(tibiofibular bottom clear space,TBCS)、下胫腓重叠距离(tibiofibular bottom overlap,TBOL)比较两组临床效果。结果患者均获得随访,随访时间12~18个月,平均(16.41±1.66)个月。患者踝关节功能满意,无伤口感染、皮肤激惹等并发症。术后3、6、12个月时,RLA可调袢钢板组双侧踝关节活动度差值均显著小于螺钉组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);术后3、6、12个月时,两组的AOFAS评分比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);TBCS、TBOL术前、术后即刻、术后3个月及末次随访时,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论RLA可调袢钢板和螺钉均可有效固定下胫腓联合,与螺钉固定相比,RLA可调袢钢板组可早期功能锻炼,获得更好的踝关节活动度。

Impacts of automated passenger cars on the capacity of a freeway basic section: applicability in the determination of vehicle adjustment factors in mixed traffic

The highway capacity manual(HCM)provides a formula to calculate the heavy vehicle adjustment factor(fHV)as a function of passenger car equivalent factors for the heavy vehicle(ET).However,a significant drawback is that the methodology was established solely based on human-driven passenger cars(HDPC)and human-driven heavy vehicles(HDHV).Due to automated passenger cars(APCs),a new adjustment factor(fAV)might be expected.This study simulated traffic flows at different percentages of HDHVs and APCs to investigate the impacts of HDHVs and APCs on freeway capacity by analyzing their influence on fHV and fAV values.The simulation determined observed adjustment factors at different percentages of HDHVs and APCs(fobserved).The HCM formula was used to calculate(fHCM).Modifications to the HCM formula are proposed,and vehicle adjustment factors due to HDHVs and APCs were calculated(fproposed).Results showed that,in the presence of APCs,while fobserved and fHCM were statistically significantly different,fobserved and fproposed were statistically equal.Hence,this study recommends using the proposed formula when determining vehicle adjustment factors(fproposed)due to HDHVs and APCs in the traffic stream.

Research on Demand Response Potential of Adjustable Loads in Demand Response Scenarios

To address the issues of limited demand response data,low generalization of demand response potential evaluation,and poor demand response effect,the article proposes a demand response potential feature extraction and prediction model based on data mining and a demand response potential assessment model for adjustable loads in demand response scenarios based on subjective and objective weight analysis.Firstly,based on the demand response process and demand response behavior,obtain demand response characteristics that characterize the process and behavior.Secondly,establish a feature extraction and prediction model based on data mining,including similar day clustering,time series decomposition,redundancy processing,and data prediction.The predicted values of each demand response feature on the response day are obtained.Thirdly,the predicted data of various characteristics on the response day are used as demand response potential evaluation indicators to represent different demand response scenarios and adjustable loads,and a demand response potential evaluation model based on subjective and objective weight allocation is established to calculate the demand response potential of different adjustable loads in different demand response scenarios.Finally,the effectiveness of the method proposed in the article is verified through examples,providing a reference for load aggregators to formulate demand response schemes.

Improvement of Radar Quantitative Precipitation Estimation Based on Real-Time Adjustments to Z-R Relationships and Inverse Distance Weighting Correction Schemes

The errors in radar quantitative precipitation estimations consist not only of systematic biases caused by random noises but also spatially nonuniform biases in radar rainfall at individual rain-gauge stations. In this study, a real-time adjustment to the radar reflectivity rainfall rates （Z R） relationship scheme and the gauge-corrected, radar-based, estimation scheme with inverse distance weighting interpolation was devel- oped. Based on the characteristics of the two schemes, the two-step correction technique of radar quantitative precipitation estimation is proposed. To minimize the errors between radar quantitative precipitation es- timations and rain gauge observations, a real-time adjustment to the Z R relationship scheme is used to remove systematic bias on the time-domain. The gauge-corrected, radar-based, estimation scheme is then used to eliminate non-uniform errors in space. Based on radar data and rain gauge observations near the Huaihe River, the two-step correction technique was evaluated using two heavy-precipitation events. The results show that the proposed scheme improved not only in the underestimation of rainfall but also reduced the root-mean-square error and the mean relative error of radar-rain gauge pairs.

Adaptability of anticipatory postural adjustments associated with voluntary movement

The control of balance is crucial for efficiently performing most of our daily motor tasks, such as those involving goal-directed arm movements or whole body displacement. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it is to recall how balance can be maintained despite the different sources of postural perturbation arising during voluntary movement. The importance of the so-called "anticipatory postural adjustments"(APA), taken as a "line of defence" against the destabilizing effect induced by a predicted perturbation, is emphasized. Secondly, it is to report the results of recent studies that questioned the adaptability of APA to various constraints imposed on the postural system. The postural constraints envisaged here are classified into biomechanical(postural stability, superimposition of motor tasks),(neuro) physiological(fatigue), temporal(time pressure) and psychological(fear of falling, emotion). Overall, the results of these studies point out the capacity of the central nervous system(CNS) to adapt the spatio-temporal features of APA to each of theseconstraints. However, it seems that, depending on the constraint, the "priority" of the CNS was focused on postural stability maintenance, on body protection and/or on maintenance of focal movement performance.

Fuzzy Sliding Mode Control for the Vehicle Height and Leveling Adjustment System of an Electronic Air Suspension

The accurate control for the vehicle height and leveling adjustment system of an electronic air suspension(EAS) still is a challenging problem that has not been effectively solved in prior researches. This paper proposes a new adaptive controller to control the vehicle height and to adjust the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body(leveling control) during the vehicle height adjustment procedures by an EAS system. A nonlinear mechanism model of the full?car vehicle height adjustment system is established to reflect the system dynamic behaviors and to derive the system optimal control law. To deal with the nonlinear characters in the vehicle height and leveling adjustment processes, the nonlinear system model is globally linearized through the state feedback method. On this basis, a fuzzy sliding mode controller(FSMC) is designed to improve the control accuracy of the vehicle height adjustment and to reduce the peak values of the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method more accurately, the full?car EAS system model programmed using AMESim is also given. Then, the co?simulation study of the FSMC performance can be conducted. Finally, actual vehicle tests are performed with a city bus, and the test results illustrate that the vehicle height adjustment performance is effectively guaranteed by the FSMC, and the peak values of the roll and pitch angles of the vehicle body during the vehicle height adjustment procedures are also reduced significantly. This research proposes an effective control methodology for the vehicle height and leveling adjustment system of an EAS, which provides a favorable control performance for the system.

Sap flow characteristics and physiological adjustments of two dominant tree species in pure and mixed plantations in the semi-arid Loess Plateau of China

It is essential to understand the water consumption characteristics and physiological adjustments of tree species under drought conditions,as well as the effects of pure and mixed plantations on these characteristics in semi-arid regions.In this study,the normalized sap flow(SFn),leaf water potential,stomatal conductance(gs),and photosynthetic rate(Pr)were monitored for two dominant species,i.e.,Pinus tabuliformis and Hippophae rhamnoides,in both pure and mixed plantations in a semi-arid region of Chinese Loess Plateau.A threshold-delay model showed that the lower rainfall thresholds(RL)for P.tabuliformis and H.rhamnoides in pure plantations were 9.6 and 11.0 mm,respectively,and the time lags(τ)after rainfall were 1.15 and 1.76 d for corresponding species,respectively.The results indicated that P.tabuliformis was more sensitive to rainfall pulse than H.rhamnoides.In addition,strong stomatal control allowed P.tabuliformis to experience low gsand Prin response to drought,while maintaining a high midday leaf water potential(Ψm).However,H.rhamnoides maintained high gsand Prat a lowΨmexpense.Therefore,P.tabuliformis and H.rhamnoides can be considered as isohydric and anisohydric species,respectively.In mixed plantation,the values of RLfor P.tabuliformis and H.rhamnoides were 6.5 and 8.9 mm,respectively;and the values ofτwere 0.86 and 1.61 d for corresponding species,respectively,which implied that mixed afforestation enhanced the rainfall pulse sensitivity for both two species,especially for P.tabuliformis.In addition,mixed afforestation significantly reduced SFn,gs,and Prfor P.tabuliformis(P<0.05),while maintaining a high leaf water potential status.However,no significant effect of mixed afforestation of H.rhamnoides was observed at the expense of leaf water potential status in response to drought.Although inconsistent physiological responses were adopted by these species,the altered water consumption characteristics,especially for P.tabuliformis indicated that the mixed afforestation requires further investigation.

BUNDLE ADJUSTMENTS CCD CAMERA CALIBRATION BASED ON COLLI NEARITY EQUATION

The solid template CCD camera calibration method of bundle adjustments basedon collinearity equation is presented considering the characteristics of space large-dimensionon-line measurement. In the method, a more comprehensive camera model is adopted which is based onthe pinhole model extended with distortions corrections. In the process of calibration, calibrationprecision is improved by imaging at different locations in the whole measurement space,multi-imaging at the same location and bundle adjustments optimization. The calibration experimentproves that the calibration method is able to fulfill calibration requirement of CCD camera appliedto vision measurement.

Study of the mechanisms of streamline-adjustment-assisted heterogeneous combination flooding for enhanced oil recovery for post-polymer-flooded reservoirs

Streamline-adjustment-assisted heterogeneous combination flooding is a new technology for enhanced oil recovery for post-polymer-flooded reservoirs.In this work,we first carried out a series of 2D visualization experiments for different chemical flooding scenarios after polymer flooding.Then,we explored the synergistic mechanisms of streamline-adjustment-assisted heterogeneous combination flooding for enhanced oil recovery and the contribution of each component.Test results show that for single heterogeneous combination flooding,the residual oil in the main streamline area after polymer flooding is ready to be driven,but it is difficult to be recovered in the non-main streamline area.Due to the effect of drainage and synergism,the streamline-adjustment-assisted heterogeneous combination flooding diverts the injected chemical agent from the main streamline area to the non-main streamline area,which consequently expands the active area of chemical flooding.Based on the results from the single-factor contribution of the quantitative analysis,the contribution of temporary plugging and profile control of branched preformed particle gels ranks in the first place and followed by the polymer profile control and the effect of streamline adjustment.On the contrary,the surfactant contributes the least to enhance the efficiency of oil displacement.

Hydrological adjustment and flooding control of wetlands in the Liaohe Delta

The function of estuary wetland on hydrological adjustment and flooding control is studied in this paper. It is estimated that the evapotranspiration in the reed field during growth season(June to October) is 722.9 mm, which is 37.5% higher than large water body(E 601∶525.9 mm). The water replacement rate in the reed field can reach 95% only when the rains continuously for 11 days and the precipitation reached 912 mm. For the water balance in the paddy field, the total water requirement ranges between 1920 and 1860 mm, among which, 31% is from precipitation, and the left is provided by reservoirs. The water usage efficiency is 0.35 at present productivity. Based on the landscape characteristics and functionalities on flooding control, 5 functional zones are designed for the Liaohe Delta: key protected area; underground storage area; flooding discharge area; flood diversion area in emergency; and flood control drainage area.