Search results for: social communication disorder

Authors: Molly Parker

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Unintended pregnancy rates in Australia are amongst the highest in the developed world. Women with Substance Use Disorder often have riskier sexual behavior with nil contraceptive use and face disproportionately higher unintended pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections, alongside Substance Use in Pregnancy (SUP) climbing at an alarming rate. In an inner-city Drug and Alcohol (D&A) service, significant barriers to sexual and reproductive health services have been identified, aligning with research. Rapid pathways were created for women seeking D&A treatment to be referred to Sexual and Reproductive Health services for the administration of Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) and sexual health screening. For clients attending a D&A service, this is an opportunistic time to offer sexual and reproductive health services. Collaboration and multidisciplinary team input between D&A and sexual health and reproductive services are paramount, with rapid referral pathways being identified as the main strategy to improve access to sexual and reproductive health support for this population. With this evidence, a rapid referral pathway was created for women using the D&A service to access LARC, particularly in view of fertility often returning once stable on D&A treatment. A closed-ended survey was used for D&A staff to identify gaps in reproductive health knowledge and views of referral accessibility. Results demonstrated a lack of knowledge of contraception and appropriate referral processes. A closed-ended survey for clients was created to establish the need and access to services and to quantify data. A follow-up data collection will be reviewed to access uptake and satisfaction of the intervention from clients. Sexual health screening access was also identified as a deficit, particularly concerning due to the higher rates of STIs in this cohort. A rapid referral pathway will be undergoing implementation, reducing risks of untreated STIS both pre and post-conception. Similarly, pre and post-intervention structured surveys will be used to identify client satisfaction from the pathway. Although currently in progress, the research and pathway aim to be completed by December 2023. This research and implementation of sexual and reproductive health pathways from the D&A service have significant health and well-being benefits to clients and the wider community, including possible fetal/infancy outcomes. Women now have rapid access to sexual and reproductive health services, with the aim of reducing unplanned pregnancies, poor outcomes associated with SUP, client/staff trauma from termination of pregnancy, and client/staff trauma following the assumption of care of the child due to substance use, the financial cost for out of home care as required, the poor outcomes of untreated STIs to the fetus in pregnancy and the spread of STIs in the wider community. As evidence suggests, the implementation of a streamlined referral process is required between D&A and sexual and reproductive health services and has positive feedback from both clinicians and clients in improving care.

Keywords: substance use in pregnancy, drug and alcohol, substance use disorder, sexual health, reproductive health, contraception, long-acting reversible contraception, neonatal abstinence syndrome, FASD, sexually transmitted infections, sexually transmitted infections pregnancy

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Authors: Yasser F. Hassan

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Social networking involves use of an online platform or website that enables people to communicate, usually for a social purpose, through a variety of services, most of which are web-based and offer opportunities for people to interact over the internet, e.g. via e-mail and ‘instant messaging’, by analyzing the voting behavior and ratings of judges in a popular comments in social networks. While most of the party literature omits the electorate, this paper presents a model where elites and parties are emergent consequences of the behavior and preferences of voters. The research in artificial intelligence and psychology has provided powerful illustrations of the way in which the emergence of intelligent behavior depends on the development of representational structure. As opposed to the classical voting system (one person – one decision – one vote) a new voting system is designed where agents with opposed preferences are endowed with a given number of votes to freely distribute them among some issues. The paper uses ideas from machine learning, artificial intelligence and soft computing to provide a model of the development of voting system response in a simulated agent. The modeled development process involves (simulated) processes of evolution, learning and representation development. The main value of the model is that it provides an illustration of how simple learning processes may lead to the formation of structure. We employ agent-based computer simulation to demonstrate the formation and interaction of coalitions that arise from individual voter preferences. We are interested in coordinating the local behavior of individual agents to provide an appropriate system-level behavior.

Keywords: voting system, rough sets, multi-agent, social networks, emergence, power indices

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Authors: Tina Abrefa-Gyan

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Background: In Ghana and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS is a public health threat and also causes medical crises for many who are infected with the virus. Objective: This study tested a social care intervention developed to help improve the quality of life of those living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Method: Adult respondents (N = 248) were assigned to receive the intervention or usual care for six weeks. Results: Results of the study revealed significant differences between the treatment and control groups in their reports of quality of life. Respondents reported better quality of life upon receiving the intervention. Implication: This study sheds light on the positive relationship between the intervention and quality of life among those living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. Conclusion: The intervention is innovative and novel in the setting. It will, therefore, help to reduce the risks such as depression, low cognitive functioning, and low physical functioning associated with low quality of life among people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana in specific, and in sub-Saharan Africa in general.

Keywords: social care intervention, HIV/AIDS, Ghana, quality of life

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Authors: Jorge R. Santos, Pedro Sebastiao

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In recent years there has been a great growth in the use of drones, being used in several areas such as security, agriculture, or research. The existence of some systems that allow the remote control of drones is a reality; however, these systems are quite simple and directed to specific functionality. This paper proposes the development of a web platform made in Vue.js and Node.js to control, manage, and monitor drones in real time. Using a microservice architecture, the proposed project will be able to integrate algorithms that allow the optimization of processes. Communication with remote devices is suggested via HTTP through 3G, 4G, and 5G networks and can be done in real time or by scheduling routes. This paper addresses the case of forest fires as one of the services that could be included in a system similar to the one presented. The results obtained with the elaboration of this project were a success. The communication between the web platform and drones allowed its remote control and monitoring. The incorporation of the fire detection algorithm in the platform proved possible a real time analysis of the images captured by the drone without human intervention. The proposed system has proved to be an asset to the use of drones in fire detection. The architecture of the application developed allows other algorithms to be implemented, obtaining a more complex application with clear expansion.

Keywords: drone control, microservices, node.js, unmanned aerial vehicles, vue.js

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Authors: Reiko Yamamoto

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This paper reports on a project to integrate Japanese (as a first language) and English (as a second language) education. This study focuses on the mutual effects of the two languages on the linguistic proficiency of elementary school students. The research team consisted of elementary school teachers and researchers at a university. The participants of the experiment were students between 3^rd and 6^th grades at an elementary school. The research process consisted of seven steps: 1) specifying linguistic proficiency; 2) developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2; 3) forming can-do statements; 4) creating a self-evaluation questionnaire; 5) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the school year; 6) instructing L1 and L2 based on the curriculum; and 7) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the next school year. In Step 1, the members of the research team brainstormed ways to specify elementary school students’ linguistic proficiency that can be observed in various scenes. It was revealed that the teachers evaluate their students’ linguistic proficiency on the basis of the students’ utterances, but also informed by their non-verbal communication abilities. This led to the idea that competency for understanding others’ minds through the use of physical movement or bodily senses in communication in L1 – to sympathize with others – can be transferred to that same competency in communication in L2. Based on the specification of linguistic proficiency that L1 and L2 have in common, a cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 was developed in Step 2. In Step 3, can-do statements based on the curriculum were also formed, building off of the action-oriented approach from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) used in Europe. A self-evaluation questionnaire consisting of the main can-do statements was given to the students between 3^rd grade and 6^th grade at the beginning of the school year (Step 4 and Step 5), and all teachers gave L1 and L2 instruction based on the curriculum to the students for one year (Step 6). The same questionnaire was given to the students at the beginning of the next school year (Step 7). The results of statistical analysis proved the enhancement of the students’ linguistic proficiency. This verified the validity of developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 and adapting it in elementary school. It was concluded that elementary school students do not distinguish between L1 and L2, and that they just try to understand others’ minds through physical movement or senses in any language.

Keywords: cross curriculum of L1 and L2, elementary school education, language proficiency, sympathy with others

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Authors: Archana Gandhi

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Indian apparel manufacturers see several benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). At the same time, they clearly face steep challenges in its implementation. From the perspective of the participants, the challenges tend to outweigh the benefits. The short-term expenses, misperceptions about the financial benefits of CSR and the additional burden of implementing CSR-related policies and activities tend to overshadow perceptions of the long-term benefits. CSR activities currently seen in the Indian apparel industry are primarily people focused, society-focused or environment-focused. However, most CSR activities focus on employee welfare, including teaching employees about health and safety awareness, creating opportunities for community building, and providing general education to employees. Employee retention is very high in socially responsible Indian firms as compared to non-CSR firms, largely because CSR plays a crucial role in overall employee satisfaction, which translates to worker loyalty and low turnover. Employee retention and commitment are not the​ only potential benefits of CSR in the Indian apparel industry. CSR can also enhance a company’s image. Although it is a long-term benefit, being socially responsible can build a company’s social reputation and help it to gain others’ trust. Buyers do not hesitate to do business with these companies, since it is difficult to find socially responsible firms in India.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, apparel industry, workers, improve work life

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Authors: P. S. Jagadeesh Kumar, Tracy Lin Huan, S. Meenakshi Sundaram

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Alzheimer’s disease is one of the prevalent kind of ailment, expected for impudent reconciliation or an effectual therapy is to be accredited hitherto. Probable detonation of patients in the upcoming years, and consequently an enormous deal of apprehension in early discovery of the disorder, this will conceivably chaperon to enhanced healing outcomes. Complex impetuosity of the brain is an observant symbolic of the disease and a unique recognition of genetic sign of the disease. Machine learning alongside deep learning and decision tree reinforces the aptitude to absorb characteristics from multi-dimensional data’s and thus simplifies automatic classification of Alzheimer’s disease. Susceptible testing was prophesied and realized in training the prospect of Alzheimer’s disease classification built on machine learning advances. It was shrewd that the decision trees trained with deep neural network fashioned the excellent results parallel to related pattern classification.

Keywords: Alzheimer's diagnosis, decision trees, deep neural network, machine learning, pattern classification

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Authors: Mohd Mudasir Shafi, Zafrul Hasan, Talat Saleem

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Information and communication Technology (ICT) services have been defined as a route to good governance. Introduction of ICT into Governance has given rise to the idea of e-governance which helps in enhancing transparency, generating accountability and responsiveness in the system in order to provide faster and quality service to the citizen. Advancement in ICT has provided governments all over the world to speed up the delivery of information and services to citizens and businesses and increase their participation in governance. There has been varying degree of success over the past decade into providing services to the citizens using internet and different web services. These e-government initiatives have been extensively researched. Our research is aimed at the transition from electronic government to mobile government (m-government) initiatives implementing the mobile services and concerned to understand the major factors which will aid to adoption and distribution of these services. There must be some amount of research done in the integration process between e-government and m-government. There must also be enough amount of investigation done all the factors that could affect the transition process. Such factors differ between different places and the advancement in information and technology available there. In this paper, we have discussed why mobile communication system can be used for effective e-governance and the areas where m-governance can be implemented. The paper will examine some of the reasons as well as the main opportunities for improving effective governance through mobile phones.

Keywords: e-governance, mobile phones, information technology, m-government

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Authors: Alessandra Turini Bolsoni-Silva, Sonia Regina Loureiro

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It is important to evaluate such variables simultaneously and differentiating types of behavior problems: internalizing, externalizing and with comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing. The objective was to compare, correlate and predict teacher educational practices (educational social skills and negative practices) and children's behaviors (social skills and behavior problems) of children with internalizing, externalizing and combined internalizing and externalizing problems, controlling variables of child (gender and education). A total of 262 children were eligible to compose the participants, considering preschool age from 3 to 5 years old (n = 109) and school age from 6 to 11 (n = 153) years old, and their teachers who were distributed, in designs case-control, non-clinical, with internalizing, externalizing problems and internalizing and externalizing comorbidity, using the Teacher's Report Form (TRF) as a criterion. The instruments were applied with the teachers, after consent from the parents/guardians: a) Teacher’s Report Form (TRF); b) Educational Social Skills Interview Guide for Teachers (RE-HSE-Pr); (c) Socially Skilled Response Questionnaire – Teachers (QRSH-Pr). The data were treated by univariate and multivariate analyses, proceeding with comparisons, correlations and predictions regarding the outcomes of children with and without behavioral problems, considering the types of problems. As main results stand out: (a) group comparison studies: in the Inter group there is emphasis on behavior problems in affection interactions, which does not happen in the other groups; as for positive practices, they discriminate against groups with externalizing and combined problems and not in internalizing ones, positive educational practices – hse are more frequent in the G-Exter and G-Inter+Exter groups; negative practices differed only in the G-Exter and G-Inter+Exter groups; b) correlation studies: it can be seen that the Inter+Exter group presents a greater number of correlations in the relationship between behavioral problems/complaints and negative practices and between children's social skills and positive practices/contexts; c) prediction studies: children's social skills predict internalizing, externalizing and combined problems; it is also verified that the negative practices are in the multivariate model for the externalizing and combined ones. This investigation collaborates in the identification of risk and protective factors for specific problems, helping in interventions for different problems.

Keywords: development, educational practices, social skills, behavior problems, teacher

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Authors: Ayman Hegab

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Dystonia is a neurological motor disorder characterized by involuntary and uncontrollable muscle contractions, tension, twisting, and tremors. The aim of the present study was to analyze the improvement in dystonic contractions in patients with dystonia following the use of a Hegab temporomandibular joint splint (HTS). The Fahn-Marsden Dystonia Movement Scale (DMS) and Disability Scale were used in the current study to evaluate dystonia. An HTS with a thickness ranging from 4 to 6 mm was used to treat the patients enrolled in the study. The final sample comprised 14 patients (10 female and four male) with mean (range) ages of 35.64 (18 to 55) years. Pre-treatment DMS ranged from 6.5 to 57 mean (SD) 18.21 (13.38). At the end of the study, DMS ranged from 0 to 15 mean (SD) 3.14 (3.86). Statistical analysis of the differences between pre-treatment and post-treatment DMS showed a significant decrease in DMS at the end of the treatment period (p = 0.0001). Regarding the disability scale, the pre-treatment disability scale ranged from 7 to 18 mean (SD) 9.46 (3.02). At the end of the study, DMS ranged from 0 to 3 mean (SD) 1.46 (1.13). There was a statistically highly significant decrease in the Disability Scale at the end of the treatment period (p-value 0.0001). This study suggests that the HTS can be considered an effective treatment modality for dystonia, as it significantly decreases both the DMS and the Disability scale.

Keywords: HTS, dystonia, DMS, disability scale

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Authors: Saul Estrin, Ute Stephan, Suncica Vujic

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Background and research question: Gender differences in pay are present at all organisational levels, including at the very top. One possible way for women to circumvent organizational norms and discrimination is to engage in entrepreneurship because, as CEOs of their own organizations, entrepreneurs largely determine their own pay. While commercial entrepreneurship plays an important role in job creation and economic growth, social entrepreneurship has come to prominence because of its promise of addressing societal challenges such as poverty, social exclusion, or environmental degradation through market-based rather than state-sponsored activities. This opens the research question whether social entrepreneurship might be a form of entrepreneurship in which the pay of men and women is the same, or at least more similar; that is to say there is little or no gender pay gap. If the gender gap in pay persists also at the top of social enterprises, what are the factors, which might explain these differences? Methodology: The Oaxaca-Blinder Decomposition (OBD) is the standard approach of decomposing the gender pay gap based on the linear regression model. The OBD divides the gender pay gap into the ‘explained’ part due to differences in labour market characteristics (education, work experience, tenure, etc.), and the ‘unexplained’ part due to differences in the returns to those characteristics. The latter part is often interpreted as ‘discrimination’. There are two issues with this approach. (i) In many countries there is a notable convergence in labour market characteristics across genders; hence the OBD method is no longer revealing, since the largest portion of the gap remains ‘unexplained’. (ii) Adding covariates to a base model sequentially either to test a particular coefficient’s ‘robustness’ or to account for the ‘effects’ on this coefficient of adding covariates might be problematic, due to sequence-sensitivity when added covariates are correlated. Gelbach’s decomposition (GD) addresses latter by using the omitted variables bias formula, which constructs a conditional decomposition thus accounting for sequence-sensitivity when added covariates are correlated. We use GD to decompose the differences in gaps of pay (annual and hourly salary), size of the organisation (revenues), effort (weekly hours of work), and sources of finances (fees and sales, grants and donations, microfinance and loans, and investors’ capital) between men and women leading social enterprises. Database: Our empirical work is made possible by our collection of a unique dataset using respondent driven sampling (RDS) methods to address the problem that there is as yet no information on the underlying population of social entrepreneurs. The countries that we focus on are the United Kingdom, Spain, Romania and Hungary. Findings and recommendations: We confirm the existence of a gender pay gap between men and women leading social enterprises. This gap can be explained by differences in the accumulation of human capital, psychological and social factors, as well as cross-country differences. The results of this study contribute to a more rounded perspective, highlighting that although social entrepreneurship may be a highly satisfying occupation, it also perpetuates gender pay inequalities.

Keywords: Gelbach’s decomposition, gender gap, returns to social entrepreneurship, values and preferences

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Authors: Soni Ariawan

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The discourse of language and culture relation is an interesting issue to be researched. The debate is not about what comes first, language or culture, but it strongly argues that learning foreign language also means learning the culture of the language. The more interesting issue found once constructing an EFL textbook dealing with proportional representation among source culture, target culture and international culture. This study investigates cultural content representation in EFL textbook grade 10 year 2017 in Indonesia. Cortazzi and Jin’s theoretical framework is employed to analyse the reading texts, conversations, and images. The finding shows that national character as the main agenda of Indonesian government is revealed in this textbook since the textbook more frequently highlights the source culture (Indonesian culture) compared to target and international culture. This is aligned with the aim of Indonesian government to strengthen the national identity and promoting local culture awareness through education. To conclude, the study is expected to be significant in providing the idea for government to consider cultural balances representation in constructing textbook. Furthermore, teachers and students should be aware of cultural content revealed in the EFL textbook and be able to enhance intercultural communication not only in the classroom but also in a wider society.

Keywords: EFL textbook, intercultural communication, local culture, target culture, international culture

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Authors: Ana Sofia Torres Pereira

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On January 15th 2015, Peter Bart, editor in chief of Variety Magazine, published an article in the aforementioned magazine posing the following question “Are screenwriters becoming obsolete in Hollywood?” Is Hollywood loosing its interest in well plotted, well written scripts crafted by professionals? That screenwriters have been undervalued, forgotten and left behind since the begging of film, is a well-known fact, but ate they now at the brink of extinction? If fiction films are about people, stories, so, simply put, all about the script, what does it mean to say that the screenwriter is becoming obsolete? What will be the consequences of the possible death of the screenwriter for the cinema world? All of these questions lead us to an ultimate one: What is the true importance of a screenwriter? What can a screenwriter do that a director, for instance, can’t? How should a script be written and read in order not to become obsolete? And what about those countries, like Portugal, for example, in which the figure of the screenwriter is yet to be heard and known? How can screenwriters find their voice in a world driven by the tyrannical voice of the Director? In a demanding cinema world where the Director is considered the author of a film, it’s important to know where we can find the voice of the screenwriter, the true language of the screenplay and the importance this voice and specific language might have for the future of story telling and of film. In a paper that admittedly poses more questions than answers, I will try to unveil the importance a screenplay might have in Hollywood, in Portugal and in the cinema and communication world in general.

Keywords: cinema, communication, director, language, screenplay, screenwriting, story

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Authors: Lars Andersen

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The development of design and engineering in large construction projects are characterized by an increased degree of flattening out of formal structures, extended use of parallel and integrated processes (‘Integrated Concurrent Engineering’) and an increased number of expert disciplines. The integration process is based on ongoing collaborations, dialogues, intercommunication and comments on each other’s work (iterations). This process based on reciprocal communication between actors and disciplines triggers value creation. However, communication between equals is not in itself sufficient to create effective decision making. The complexity of the process and time pressure contribute to an increased risk of a deficit of decisions and loss of process control. The paper refers to a study that aims at developing a resilient decision-making system that does not come in conflict with communication processes based on equality between the disciplines in the process. The study includes the construction of a hospital, following the phases design, engineering and physical building. The Research method is a combination of formative process research, process tracking and phenomenological analyses. The study tracked challenges and problems in the building process to the projection substrates (drawing and models) and further to the organization of the engineering and design phase. A comparative analysis of traditional and new ways of organizing the projecting made it possible to uncover an implicit material order or structure in the process. This uncovering implied a development of a material process perspective. According to this perspective the complexity of the process is rooted in material-functional differentiation. This differentiation presupposes a structuring material (the skeleton of the building) that coordinates the other types of material. Each expert discipline´s competence is related to one or a set of materials. The architect, consulting engineer construction etc. have their competencies related to structuring material, and inherent in this; coordination competence. When dialogues between the disciplines concerning the coordination between them do not result in agreement, the disciplines with responsibility for the structuring material decide the interface issues. Based on these premises, this paper develops a self-organized expert-driven interdisciplinary decision-making system.

Keywords: collaboration, complexity, design, engineering, materiality

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Authors: Inuusah Mahama

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The study focused on the importance of diversity and the use of evidence-based practices and strategies in teaching learners with ASD. The study employed a mixed-methods design, including surveys, interviews, and observations. A total of 500 K-12 practitioners participated in the study, including teachers, administrators, and support staff. The study sought to investigate the current understanding and knowledge level of K-12 practitioners regarding diversity, evidence-based practices, and strategies for teaching learners with ASD. The study also examined the challenges that K-12 practitioners face in preparing learners with ASD and the resources they require to improve their practice. The results indicated that K-12 practitioners in Ghana have limited knowledge and skills in teaching learners with ASD, particularly in using evidence-based practices and strategies. Therefore, there is a need for providing training and professional development opportunities for K-12 practitioners, developing and implementing evidence-based practices and strategies, and increasing awareness of ASD and the need for effective teaching strategies. This would go a long way to improve the quality of education for learners with ASD in Ghana and ultimately lead to better outcomes for these students.

Keywords: autism, practitioners, diversity, evidence-based practises

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Authors: Hana Almakky, Reza Sahandi, Jacqui Taylor

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Social media continue to grow, and user interfaces may become more appealing if cultural characteristics are incorporated into their design. Facebook was designed in the west, and the original language was English. Subsequently, the words in the user interface were translated to other languages, including Arabic. Arabic words are written from right to left, and English is written from left to right. The translated version may misrepresent the original design and users preferences may influence their culture, which should be considered in the user interface design. Previous research indicates that users are more comfortable when interacting with a user interface, which relates to their own culture. Therefore, this paper, using a survey investigates the preferences of Saudi Arabian on the Arabic version of user interface of Facebook.

Keywords: culture, social media, user interface design, Facebook, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: Abdulrahman M. Qahtani, Gary. B. Wills, Andy. M. Gravell

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Communicating and managing customers’ requirements in software development projects play a vital role in the software development process. While it is difficult to do so locally, it is even more difficult to communicate these requirements over distributed boundaries and to convey them to multiple distribution customers. This paper discusses the communication of multiple distribution customers’ requirements in the context of customised software products. The main purpose is to understand the challenges of communicating and managing customisation requirements across distributed boundaries. We propose a model for Communicating Customisation Requirements of Multi-Clients in a Distributed Domain (CCRD). Thereafter, we evaluate that model by presenting the findings of a case study conducted with a company with customisation projects for 18 distributed customers. Then, we compare the outputs of the real case process and the outputs of the CCRD model using simulation methods. Our conjecture is that the CCRD model can reduce the challenge of communication requirements over distributed organisational boundaries, and the delay in decision making and in the entire customisation process time.

Keywords: customisation software products, global software engineering, local decision making, requirement engineering, simulation model

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Authors: Tsang K. L. V., Lewis L. A., Griffith S., Tucker P.

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Background:  Many children with high incidence disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), struggle to participate in the community in a socially acceptable manner. There are limitations for clinical settings to provide natural, real-life scenarios for them to practice the life skills needed to meet their real-life challenges. Virtual reality (VR) offers potential solutions to resolve the existing limitations faced by clinicians to create simulated natural environments for their clients to generalize the facilitated skills. Research design: The research aimed to develop a prototype of an interactive VR system to provide realistic and immersive environments for clients to practice skills. The descriptive qualitative methodology is employed to design and develop the Artificial Interactive Reality Unified System (AIRUS) prototype, which provided insights on how to use advanced VR technology to create simulated real-life social scenarios and enable users to interact with the objects and people inside the virtual environment using natural eye-gazes, hand and body movements. The eye tracking (e.g., selective or joint attention), hand- or body-tracking (e.g., repetitive stimming or fidgeting), and facial tracking (e.g., emotion recognition) functions allowed behavioral data to be captured and managed in the AIRUS architecture. Impact of project: Instead of using external controllers or sensors, hand tracking software enabled the users to interact naturally with the simulated environment using daily life behavior such as handshaking and waving to control and interact with the virtual objects and people. The AIRUS protocol offers opportunities for breakthroughs in future VR-based psychosocial assessment and intervention in occupational therapy. Implications for future projects: AI technology can allow more efficient data capturing and interpretation of object identification and human facial emotion recognition at any given moment. The data points captured can be used to pinpoint our users’ focus and where their interests lie. AI can further help advance the data interpretation system.

Keywords: occupational therapy, psychosocial assessment and intervention, simulated interactive environment, virtual reality

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Authors: Amr Mansour, Boaz Granot, Amani Tatar, Assil Mahamid, Mohammad Haj Yahia, Fairoz Jayyusi, Eyal Behrbalk

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INTRODUCTION: Distal radius fractures are common orthopedic injuries often treated in the fast-paced, high-stress environment of emergency departments (EDs). In such settings, patient satisfaction can be significantly influenced by the clarity of communication and the accessibility of information This study explores the impact of providing an informational pamphlet that outlines ED processes, treatment expectations, and follow-up instructions on patient satisfaction across key domains, including trust, communication, organization, responsiveness, and overall experience. We hypothesize that a structured informational pamphlet will enhance patient satisfaction by fostering better understanding and aligning patient expectations with the realities of the ED visit. METHODS: A total of 100 adult patients treated for distal radius fractures between January and August 2024 participated in this survey-based study. Patients were randomized into two equal groups: one group received an informational pamphlet detailing their condition and treatment, while the other did not. Satisfaction levels were assessed using a structured questionnaire addressing five domains. Fisher's exact test was used to compare satisfaction measures between the two groups, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between receiving an information sheet and high satisfaction. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. RESULTS SECTION: Patients who received an informational pamphlet reported significantly higher satisfaction across all five domains (p < .001). In Trust and Understanding, 82% of info-sheet recipients felt “in good hands,” compared to 10% of non-recipients. For Communication, 86% rated doctor explanations as “very clear,” versus 16% among non-recipients. Logistic regression showed that receiving an informational pamphlet was a significant predictor of high satisfaction with Discharge Explanation—clarity on condition, treatment, and follow-up (OR = 17.65, 95% CI: 4.74 - 65.77, p < .001) and Reasonable Solution—feeling their primary concern was resolved (OR = 37.82, 95% CI: 8.75 - 163.42, p < .001). Other predictors, including fracture reduction, gender, and age, were not significant. DISCUSSION: This study highlights the substantial role that simple, cost-effective interventions like informational pamphlets can play in enhancing patient satisfaction in emergency care. By improving communication, fostering trust, and promoting a patient-centered approach, informational pamphlets offer a valuable tool for healthcare providers seeking to enhance the quality of care and patient experience in high-pressure emergency environments. However, the study's limitations, including its single-center design and reliance on self-reported satisfaction scores, may affect the generalizability of the results. Future research should consider a multi-center approach and explore long-term outcomes to further validate the efficacy of informational pamphlets in diverse ED settings. Ultimately, sustained improvement in patient satisfaction is a complex and dynamic issue necessitating a multifactorial approach, and other methods should also be explored to complement this strategy. SIGNIFICANCE/CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study demonstrates that providing an informational pamphlet in the ED setting can significantly improve patient satisfaction across multiple domains, emphasizing its potential as a simple, cost-effective tool to enhance communication, trust, and overall patient experience during emergency care for distal radius fractures. Integrating such interventions into standard ED protocols may foster a more patient-centered approach, improving both patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.

Keywords: distal radius fracture, quality care, patient satisfaction, emergency medicine, patient-centered care, communication

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Authors: Le Kang

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On the research question of 'how to achieve USR', this contribution reflects the concept of university social responsibility, identify three achievement models of USR as the society - diversified model, the university-cooperation model, the government - compound model, also conduct a case study to explore characteristics of Chinese achievement model of USR. The contribution concludes with discussion of how the university, government and society balance demands and roles, make necessarily strategic adjustment and innovative approach to repair the shortcomings of each achievement model.

Keywords: modern university, USR, achievement model, compound model

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Authors: Rasheed A. Saliu, Sunday E. Ogundipe, Oluwaseun A. Adefila

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in recent time has transformed the means by which we inform ourselves, with world events and areas of personal interests, and further our learning. Today, for many, books and journals are no longer the first or primary source of information or learning. We now regularly rely on images, video, animations and sound to acquire information and to learn. Increased and improved access to the internet has accelerated this phenomenon. We now acquire and access information in ways fundamentally different from the pre-ICT era. But to what extent is academic staff in colleges of education, having access to and the utilising of ICT devices in their lecture deliveries especially in School of Science and Vocational and Technical? The main focus of this paper is to proffer solution to this salient question. It is essentially an empirical study carried out in five colleges of education in south-west zone of Nigeria. The target population was the academic staff in the selected institution. A total number of 150 male and female lecturers were contacted for the study. The main instrument was questionnaire. The finding reveals that male lecturers are much more ICT inclined than women folk in the academics. Some recommendations were made to endear academics to utilizing ICT at their disposal to foster qualitative delivery in this digital era.

Keywords: education, gender, ICT, Nigeria

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Authors: Shakir Ullah

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This article reviews social science understanding to explore the challenges megaprojects face before and after implementation. It also sheds light on the problems directly and indirectly caused by mega development projects in the project implemented areas. By Using a qualitative approach such as thematic analysis, the article uses recent literature such as published articles, government reports, and books to cite examples of different mega projects worldwide. The study report that mega development projects are a necessary element of the modern-day infrastructural development process as they represent the perfect example of urban socioeconomic development. They are introduced and implemented by multinational companies with the support of state authorities to produce the common good. However, they are not devoid of their critical challenges and bring implicit and explicit problems to the targeted localities. The article takes insights from social science research for suggestions on how to reduce the challenges faced by project implementers and problems received by local people due to the fault lines of such projects.

Keywords: development, mega-projects, challenges, problems

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Authors: Hui Fang Huang Su, Leanne Lai, Pei-Fen Li, Mei-Hwei Ho, Yu-Wen Chiu

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This study aimed to provide a practical, systematic, and comprehensive intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A pilot study of quasi-experimental pre-post intervention with control group design was conducted to evaluate if the mathematical intervention (Project MIND - Math Is Not Difficult) increases the math comprehension of children with ASD Children with ASD in the primary grades (K-1, 2) participated in math interventions to enhance their math comprehension and cognitive ability. The Bracken basic concept scale was used to evaluate subjects’ language skills, cognitive development, and school readiness. The study found that our systemic interventions of Project MIND significantly improved the mathematical and cognitive abilities in children with autism. The results of this study may lead to a major change in effective and adequate health care services for children with ASD and their families. All statistical analyses were performed with the IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 for Windows. The significant level was set at 0.05 P-value.

Keywords: autism, mathematics, technology, family

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Authors: Wanqing He

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The current study explores aspects of exploratory behaviors and social capacities in urban Chinese infants to examine whether these factors mediate the link between infant walking and receptive and productive vocabularies. The linkage between the onset of walking and language attainment proves solid, but little is known about the factors that drive such link. This study examined whether joint attention, gesture use, and object activities mediate the association between locomotion and language development. Results showed that both the frequency (p = .05) and duration (p = .03) of carrying an object are strong mediators that afford opportunities for word comprehension. Also, accessing distal objects may be beneficial to infants’ language expression. Further studies on why object carrying may account for word comprehension and why infants with autism could not benefit from walking onset in terms of language development may yield valuable clinical implications.

Keywords: exploratory behaviors, infancy, language acquisition, motor development, social communicative skills

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Authors: Marlon P. Perez

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The study entitled “The Effect of Leader Motivating Language on Work Performance and Job Satisfaction as Perceived by the Employees of SoroSoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC)” primarily aims to evaluate the effect of leader’s use of motivating language in terms of the three types of speech acts namely, direction-giving language, empathetic language and meaning-making language with regard to the work performance and job satisfaction of the employees. The study made use of the descriptive method of this research that it followed certain processes in gathering the necessary and accurate information. Furthermore, survey questionnaires were used in order to congregate the respondents’ outlooks, opinions, and insight in the study. These survey questionnaires were distributed to one hundred fifty (150) employees from the five (5) outlets of SoroSoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC) in Batangas City who were chosen as the respondents of the study. However, only hundred twenty (120) out of one hundred fifty (150) or eighty (80) percent of the questionnaires were retrieved. Moreover, to accomplish the objectives of the study, different statistical treatments were used for the interpretation and analysis of the gathered data. These were the relative frequency, weighted mean, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson r. Based on those statistical treatments, researchers came up with the following results: first, most of the respondents were below 35 years old, males, college graduates and in regular status; second, direction-giving language, empathetic language, and meaning-making language affect the work performance and job satisfaction of the employees to a great extent; third, there was a non-significant difference with regards to the effect of leader motivating language on the work performance and job satisfaction of the employee; and, last, there was a significant relationship on the assessment of the effect of leader motivating language on work performance and job satisfaction when grouped according to respondents’ profile. Based on these results, various recommendations were conceptualized such as the designing of proposed activities like communication workshop and team-building to augment the communication between the leader and an employee. These activities could help for the development and attainment of an excellent communication within the different organizations and companies that are very important to any business success.

Keywords: leader motivating language, work performance, job satisfaction, employees

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Authors: Dana Hisham Mohamed Abdrabo

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The paper examines the effect of Drama works on the Egyptian public opinion regarding the religion of Judaism, Israel as a state and the Jew's image to Egyptian Muslims. The paper examines the role of Media and in particular, Dramas on achieving interreligious dialogue between Judaism and Islam and its role in making peace between the Egyptian Muslims -and Arabs in general- on the one hand, and the Jew on the other hand, and the implications of this on the relationship between Arab countries and Israel as a state. The research uses the Survey method with Egyptian Muslims as a main sample for the research to examine such effect. Dramas have a role in presenting the Jew, Judaism, and Israel as a state and as a political system in various ways. The paper is related to multidisciplinary fields; it is related to political sciences, political sociology, communication, social change, and cognitive sociology fields. The research adds a new analytical study for a new tool for the peacemaking process in the Middle East region through adopting an interdisciplinary approach which is needed in the studies aim to achieve stability and peace in the Middle East region and its neighboring countries.

Keywords: dramas tool, Egyptian public opinion, interreligious dialogue, Israel & Egyptian relations , Judaism

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Authors: Davut Uysal

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Turkish higher education system has experienced some structural changes in recent decades, which resulted in the concentration on English language teaching as a foreign language at high education institutions. However, the number of studies examining the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction among language teachers at higher education institutions, who are the key elements of the teaching process, is very limited in the country. The main objective of this study is to find out the perceptions of English language instructors regarding organizational culture and its impact on their job satisfaction at School of Foreign Language, Anadolu University in Turkey. Questionnaire technique was used in data collection, and the collected data was analysed with the help of SPSS data analysis program. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents of the study had positive perceptions regarding current organizational culture indicating satisfaction with co-worker relations and administration, supervision support and the work itself, as well as their satisfaction with the available professional development opportunities provided by their institution. A significant relationship between overall organizational culture and job satisfaction was found in the study. This study also presents some key elements to increase the job satisfaction levels of the language teachers by managing corporate communication and to improve the organisational culture based on the findings of the study as they are two interrelated issues.

Keywords: corporate communication, English teacher, organizational culture, job satisfaction

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Authors: Maisyatus Suadaa Irfana, Nove Eka Variant Anna, Dyah Puspitasari Sri Rahayu

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Technological developments provide convenience to all the people. Nowadays, the communication of human with the computer is done via text. With the development of technology, human and computer communications have been conducted with a voice like communication between human beings. It provides an easy facility for many people, especially those who have special needs. Voice search technology is applied in the search of book collections in the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog), so library visitors will find it faster and easier to find books that they need. Integration with Google is needed to convert the voice into text. To optimize the time and the results of searching, Server will download all the book data that is available in the server database. Then, the data will be converted into JSON format. In addition, the incorporation of some algorithms is conducted including Decomposition (parse) in the form of array of JSON format, the index making, analyzer to the result. It aims to make the process of searching much faster than the usual searching in OPAC because the data are directly taken to the database for every search warrant. Data Update Menu is provided with the purpose to enable users perform their own data updates and get the latest data information.

Keywords: OPAC, voice, searching, faster

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Authors: Andreas Aceranti, Riccardo Dossena, Marco Colorato, Simonetta Vernocchi

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By the term “limbic resonance,” we usually refer to a state of deep connection, both emotional and physiological, between people who, when in resonance, find their limbic systems in tune with one another. Limbic resonance is not only about sharing emotions but also physiological states. In fact, people in such resonance can influence each other’s heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Limbic resonance is fundamental for human beings to connect and create deep bonds among a certain group. It is fundamental for our social skills. A relationship between gifted and resonant subjects is perceived as feeling safe, living the relation like an isle of serenity where it is possible to recharge, to communicate without words, to understand each others without giving explanations, to strengthen the balance of each member of the group. Within the circle, self-esteem is consolidated and makes it stronger to face what is outside, others, and reality. The idea that gifted people who are together may be unfit for the world does not correspond to the truth. The circle made up of people with high cognitive potential characterized by a limbic resonance is, in general, experienced as a solid platform from which you can safely move away and where you can return to recover strength. We studied 8 adults (between 21 and 47 years old). All of them with IQ higher than 130. We monitored their brain waves frequency (alpha, beta, theta, gamma, delta) by means of biosensing tracker along with their physiological states (heart beat frequency, blood pressure, breathing frequency, pO2, pCO2) and some blood works only (5-HT, dopamine, catecholamines, cortisol). The subjects of the study were asked to adhere to a protocol involving bonding activities (such as team building activities), role plays, meditation sessions, and group therapy. All these activities were carried out together. We observed that after about 4 months of activities, their brain waves frequencies tended to tune quicker and quicker. After 9 months, the bond among them was so important that they could “sense” each other inner states and sometimes also guess each others’ thoughts. According to our findings, it may be hypothesized that large synchronized outbursts of cortex neurons produces not only brain waves but also electromagnetic fields that may be able to influence the cortical neurons’ activity of other people’s brain by inducing action potentials in large groups of neurons and this is reasonably conceivable to be able to transmit information such as different emotions and cognition cues to the other’s brain. We also believe that upcoming research should focus on clarifying the role of brain magnetic particles in brain-to-brain communication. We also believe that further investigations should be carried out on the presence and role of cryptochromes to evaluate their potential roles in direct brain-to-brain communication.

Keywords: limbic resonance, psychotherapy, brain waves, emotion regulation, giftedness

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Authors: Sohayla Khaled El Fakahany

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Cultural and structural limitations and conservative social norms have direct effects on the availability of sources of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the Arab Region. Nevertheless, SRHR advocates, healthcare providers, and organizations have created online spaces like websites, blogs, and social media platforms to increase people’s access and ability to share information, experiences, and services. While these efforts help increase the accessibility to information and services, they also create and reflect inequalities based on limited internet access. Furthermore, these emergent ways of sharing and raising awareness online cannot be seen as a substitute for the urgent need for public healthcare systems and services to address SRHR issues in Arab states. This research aims to analyze the impact of the increasing importance of the role of social media platforms and technologies in the dissemination of SRHR-related information online to the youth as well as the associated inequalities of access. It also seeks to assess the effects and inequalities of the dependence on online platforms, which should be complementary to public and private SRHR services. The theoretical framework adopts Asef Bayat’s concept of social non-movements to analyze how collective mobilization around SRHR issues is exercised in repressive and conservative settings in the Arab region. Using digital ethnography of four prominent digital platforms and a qualitative survey of people aged 18-30 years, the research draws attention to the urgent need for better access to knowledge and services around gender, bodily autonomy, and sexual and reproductive health in the Arab region.

Keywords: sexual and reproductive health and rights, social non-movements, digital platforms, Arab region

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