Human behavior varies widely as does the design of spoken dialog systems (SDS). The search for predictors to match a user’s preference and efficiency for a specific dialog interface type in an SDS was the focus of this research. By using personality as described by the Five-Factor Method (FFM) and the Wizard of Oz technique for delivering three system initiatives of the SDS, participants interacted with each of the SDS initiatives in scheduling an airline flight. The three system initiatives were constructed as strict system, which did not allow the user control of the interaction; mixed system, which allowed the user some control of the interaction but with a system override; and user system, which allowed the user control of the interaction. In order to eliminate gender bias in using the FFM as the instrument, participants were matched in gender and age. Participants were 18 years old to 70 years old, passed a hearing test, had no disability that prohibited the use of the SDS, and were native English speakers. Participants completed an adult consent form, a 50-question personality assessment as described by the FFM, and the interaction with the SDS. Participants also completed a system preference indication form at the end of the interaction. Observations for efficiency were recorded on paper by the researcher. Although the findings did not show a definitive predictor for a SDS due to the small population sample, by using a multinomial regression approach to the statistical analysis, odds ratios of the data helped draw conclusions that support certain personality factors as important roles in a user’s preference and efficiency in choosing and using a SDS. This gives an area for future research. Also, the presumption that preference and efficiency always match was not supported by the results from two of the three systems. An additional area for future research was discovered in the gender data. Although not an initial part of the research, the data shows promise in predicting preference and efficiency for certain SDS. Future research is indicated.

In the last decades the average life expectancy of humans has increased significantly. There are more old people than ever before. At the same time there is a big staff shortage at nursing homes. A future study will examine the effect of introducing a socially intelligent robot called Furhat in such a home. In this work a so-called Wizard-of-Oz control system is developed which enables remote control of the normally autonomous Furhat. This control system will later be used in the future study. The Wizard-of-Oz control system is developed with the intention of reaching the lowest possible response time between the control system and Furhat to minimize the risk of unnatural conversation due to long wait times between actions. It is found that a response time at or above 500ms can have a clearly degrading effect on a conversation. By following code-standards with a focus on developing fast code an average response time in the range of 35-245ms depending on the action taken is reached.

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No description available.

Stripped of the intent of its author, L. Frank Baum, the children's fairy tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was left to be understood only within a changing cultural construct. Historian Hayden White, arguing that the similarities between a novel and a work of history were more significant than their differences, insisted that history was preeminently a subsection of literature. According to White, historical narratives were manifestly verbal fictions, and the only acceptable grounds upon which the historian should choose his historical perspective were the moral and the aesthetic. White conflated historical consciousness with myth and blurred the boundary that had long divided history from fiction. Just as changing cultural concerns infused the Dorothy of Baum's children's literature with meaning so social, cultural, and moral imperatives came to dictate the content of historical stories particularly in the historiography of the Reconstruction era. The twenty first century conception of Reconstruction is different from the conception influential at the start of the twentieth. In assessing the scholarship of William A. Dunning, contemporary historians have adopted a new paradigm when describing the scholar's Reconstruction accounts. Modern commentators reject Dunning's authorial intention and the contextual framework needed to define it. Thus, Dunning has receded into the "realm of myth." Careful attendance to Dunning's historical context, contemporary audience, and his authorial intent, will reposition the perspective for analysis of Dunning's work. Removing Dunning from abstract analysis will allow historians to arrive at an understanding of his work, and view the importance of the real Dunning, rather than the fabricated image constructed from a partial and even fragmented reading of his work. / Taking Dunning on his own terms restores a meaningful past and brings into bas-relief the tremendous advances the U. S. of twenty first century has made in reshaping social and political patterns.Taking theReconstruction era on its own terms impels historians to move beyond Dunning and return in their research to revisit primary records and documents as they work to clear the grisly ground of Reconstruction historiography for further fruitful examination. / by Kathleen P. Barsalou. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Neste trabalho é apresentado um método de refinamento para especificações de sistemas embarcados, baseado na linguagem de especificação gráfica UML-RT e na linguagem de especificação formal CSP-OZ. A linguagem UML-RT é utilizada para descrever a arquitetura de sistemas de tempo real distribuídos e esses mapeados para uma especificação formal através de CSP-OZ. A linguagem de especificação formal CSP-OZ é a combinação da linguagem orientada a objetos Object-Z e a algebra de processos CSP, que descreve o comportamento de processos concorrentes. O método de refinamento proposto é baseado na integração de dois métodos: o de bi-simulação, para refinar a parte comportamental da especificação descrita por CSP; e o de equivalência de especificações, para refinar as estruturas de dados descritas por Object-Z, permitindo assim que características de orientação a objetos possam ser utilizadas. Com o método proposto é possível refinar especificações e, conseqüentemente, verificá-las com sua implementação. O desenvolvimento desse método é rigoroso, incluindo a definição formal para um metamodelo da UML-RT. Um exemplo detalhado é apresentado no final deste trabalho. / In this work, a method of refinement of embedded systems specifications based on the graphical specification language UML-RT and the formal specification CSP-OZ is introduced. The UML-RT is used to model real time distributed architecture systems and these are mapped onto formal specifications using CSP-OZ. The CSP-OZ formal specification language is a combination of the state-based object oriented language Object-Z and the CSP process algebra that describes behavioral models of concurrent processes. The rationale of the proposed refinement method is twofold, the use of bisimulation to refine the behavioral part and the specification matching algorithm to refine the state-based part, supporting object-oriented characteristics. Using this result, an equivalence between the specification-matching algorithm and simulation rules is showed. Using the proposed method it is possible to refine CSP-OZ specifications and verify them against their implementations. The development of the proposed refinement method is rigorous, including a formal definition for a UML-RT metamodel. A detailed study case is given at the end of this work.

Neste trabalho é apresentado um método de refinamento para especificações de sistemas embarcados, baseado na linguagem de especificação gráfica UML-RT e na linguagem de especificação formal CSP-OZ. A linguagem UML-RT é utilizada para descrever a arquitetura de sistemas de tempo real distribuídos e esses mapeados para uma especificação formal através de CSP-OZ. A linguagem de especificação formal CSP-OZ é a combinação da linguagem orientada a objetos Object-Z e a algebra de processos CSP, que descreve o comportamento de processos concorrentes. O método de refinamento proposto é baseado na integração de dois métodos: o de bi-simulação, para refinar a parte comportamental da especificação descrita por CSP; e o de equivalência de especificações, para refinar as estruturas de dados descritas por Object-Z, permitindo assim que características de orientação a objetos possam ser utilizadas. Com o método proposto é possível refinar especificações e, conseqüentemente, verificá-las com sua implementação. O desenvolvimento desse método é rigoroso, incluindo a definição formal para um metamodelo da UML-RT. Um exemplo detalhado é apresentado no final deste trabalho. / In this work, a method of refinement of embedded systems specifications based on the graphical specification language UML-RT and the formal specification CSP-OZ is introduced. The UML-RT is used to model real time distributed architecture systems and these are mapped onto formal specifications using CSP-OZ. The CSP-OZ formal specification language is a combination of the state-based object oriented language Object-Z and the CSP process algebra that describes behavioral models of concurrent processes. The rationale of the proposed refinement method is twofold, the use of bisimulation to refine the behavioral part and the specification matching algorithm to refine the state-based part, supporting object-oriented characteristics. Using this result, an equivalence between the specification-matching algorithm and simulation rules is showed. Using the proposed method it is possible to refine CSP-OZ specifications and verify them against their implementations. The development of the proposed refinement method is rigorous, including a formal definition for a UML-RT metamodel. A detailed study case is given at the end of this work.

Syftet med den här produktorienterade studien är att undersöka vilka översättningsnormer som är aktuella för indirekt översättning av hebreisk skönlitteratur till svenska. I studien genomförs en kontrastiv undersökning av kulturspecifika element (ECR) med utgångspunkt i Tourys (1995/2012) coupled pairs kompletterad med Pedersens (2011) typologi. Materialet består av 3 x 136 coupled pairs excerperade från en novellsamling skriven av den israeliska högprestigeförfattaren Amos Oz och översatt till svenska genom engelska. Båda översättningarna utfördes av högprestigeöversättare. Resultatet antyder att indirekt översättning av skönlitteratur ansluter sig till adekvansnormen i enlighet med hypotesen om högprestigeöversättare (Lindqvist 2002). Hypotesen om acceptansinriktning beträffande indirekt översättning falsifierades i studien. / The following product–oriented study deals with translational norms operating in indirect translation of Hebrew literature into Swedish. The research was conducted as a contrastive study of Extra–linguistic Cultural References (ECR) based on Toury’s (1995/2012) coupled pairs and supplemented with Pedersen’s typology (2011). The material consisted of 3 x 136 coupled pairs excerpted from a collection of short stories written by an Israeli high–prestige writer Amos Oz and translated into Swedish through English. Both translations were carried out by high–prestige translators. The results suggest that indirect literary translation follows the adequacy norm in accordance with the hypothesis on high–prestige translation (Lindqvist 2002). The hypothesis on acceptancy norms operating in indirect translation is rejected.

Observed influences of system response delay in spoken human-machine dialogues are rather ambiguous and mainly focus on perceived system quality. Studies that systematically inspect effects on cognitive performance are still lacking, and effects of individual characteristics are also often neglected. Building on benefits of cognitive training for decelerating cognitive decline, this Wizard-of-Oz study addresses both issues by testing 62 elderly participants in a dialogue-based memory training with a virtual agent. Participants acquired the method of loci with fading instructional guidance and applied it afterward to memorizing and recalling lists of German nouns. System response delays were randomly assigned, and training performance was included as potential mediator. Participants’ age, gender, and subscales of affinity for technology (enthusiasm, competence, positive and negative perception of technology) were inspected as potential moderators. The results indicated positive effects on recall performance with higher training performance, female gender, and less negative perception of technology. Additionally, memory retention and facets of affinity for technology moderated increasing system response delays. Participants also provided higher ratings in perceived system quality with higher enthusiasm for technology but reported increasing frustration with a more positive perception of technology. Potential explanations and implications for the design of spoken dialogue systems are discussed.

Os materiais de estrutura perovskita compreendem um vasto grupo de compostos cuja estrutura na sua forma mais simples pode ser representada pela fórmula química ABO3. Uma das principais vantagens que a estrutura perovskita apresenta é o alto grau de flexibilidade em acomodar uma grande variedade de átomos nos sítios A e B, permitindo um maior controle de suas propriedades físicas e químicas bem como a manutenção de sua estrutura básica, mesmo para altas concentrações de átomos substituintes. Devido estas propriedades, estes materiais têm sido aplicados com sucesso como capacitores, varistores, fotoeletrodos, memóriasferroelétricas e sensores de gases. Nas últimas décadas, tem sido reportada a utilização do titanato de estrôncio (SrTiO3, ST) na forma de filmes finos e espessos como sensor de gás oxigênio em altas temperaturas (>500 °C). Recentemente, foi mostrado que o titanato de estrôncio dopado com Fe apresentava uma excelente sensibilidade ao gás ozônio. Entretanto, neste trabalho, somente uma composição foi caracterizada e nem todas as propriedades importantes em relação a esta aplicação foram completamente exploradas. Neste contexto, esta tese de doutorado teve como objetivo verificar o efeito da substituição do átomo de estrôncio pelo lantânio e do titânio pelo Ferro no composto SrTiO3 na forma de pó e filmes finos nanoestruturados com a finalidade de verificar o efeito destas substituições nas propriedades sensoras do material. Inicialmente, com o objetivo de avaliar a influência da adição de La na estrutura do composto ST, amostras na forma de pó do sistema Sr1-xLaxTiO3.(SLT) foram preparadas através do método dos precursores poliméricos. Posteriormente, pelo mesmo método, foram sintetizadas amostras do sistema SrTi1-xFexO3 (STF) e Sr1-XLaxTi1-yFeyO3 (SLTF). A partir das amostras na forma de pó e na forma de solução, filmes finos e espessos foram respectivamente obtidos através das técnicas de deposição por feixe de elétrons (EBD) e spin-coating (SC). As amostras nanoestruturadas na forma de pó e na forma de filmes foram caracterizadas por difração de raios X, espectroscopia de absorção de raios X (XANES) na borda K do Ti e do Fe e espectroscopia de fotoelétrons excitados por raios X (XPS). A análise morfológica foi realizada através das técnicas de microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) e microscopia de força atômica (MFA). As amostras do sistema STF e SLTF na forma de filmes finos foram avaliadas em relação à sensibilidade aos gases O3, NO2, NH3 e CO. Os resultados indicaram que os filmes do sistema SLTF depositados pela técnica de deposição por feixe de elétrons apresentam uma maior sensibilidade ao gás ozônio, enquanto o filme de mesma composição depositado pelo método de spin-coating apresentou uma melhor estabilidade e tempo de recuperação em relação a este mesmo gás. / The perovskite structure materials comprise a large group of compounds with the structure in simple form can be represented by the ABO3. chemical formula. The main advantage that the perovskite structure presents is the high degree of flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of atoms in sites A and B, allowing a greater control of physical and chemical properties of the material, maintaining its structure even for a high concentrations of substituent\'s. Due to these properties, these materials have been successfully applied as capacitors, varistors, photoelectrodes, ferroelectric memories and gas sensors. In the last decade, strontium titanate (SrTiO3, ST) in the form of thin and thick films have been reported as oxygen gas sensor at higher temperatures (> 500 °C). Recently, strontium titanate doped with Fe was used as the first ozone sensor. However, the work was carried out only with a certain composition and some important properties for this application have not been fully exploited. In this context, this PhD thesis aimed to the synthesis of strontium titanate system in powder form and nanostructured thin films with the substitution of Sr for La and Ti for Fe. In order to verify the effect of these substitutions in material properties initially Sr1-xLaxTiO3 (SLT) samples were prepared in powder form by the polymeric precursor method in order to evaluate the influence of the addition of La in the structure of the compound ST. Subsequently, samples were synthesized from SrTi1-x Fex O3 (STF) and Sr1-XLaxTi1-yFeyO3 (SLTF) systems through the polymeric precursors, which were used for the deposition of thin and thick films, which were respectively obtained through electron beam deposition techniques (EBD) and spin-coating (SC). Samples in the form of nanostructured powder and thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) at Ti and Fe K-edges and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Morphological analysis was performed using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The STF and SLTF samples in a thin film form were evaluated towards their sensitivity to O3, NO2, NH3 and CO gases. The results indicated that SLTF films deposited by electron beam deposition technique exhibit higher sensitivity to ozone gas. However the same composition deposited by spin-coating showed a better stability and recovery time relative to the same gas.