Search results for: theoretical computer science

Authors: Feifei Wu, Pius Babuna, Xiaohua Yang

Abstract:

The suitability evaluation of human settlements over time and space is essential to track potential challenges towards suitable human settlements and provide references for policy-makers. This study established a theoretical framework of human settlements based on the nature, human, economy, society and residence subsystems. Evaluation indicators were determined with the consideration of the coupling effect among subsystems. Based on the extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test algorithm, the global sensitivity analysis that considered the coupling effect among indicators was used to determine the weights of indicators. The human settlement suitability was evaluated at both subsystems and comprehensive system levels in 30 provinces of China between 2000 and 2016. The findings were as follows: (1) human settlements suitability index (HSSI) values increased significantly in all 30 provinces from 2000 to 2016. Among the five subsystems, the suitability index of the residence subsystem in China exhibited the fastest growinggrowth, fol-lowed by the society and economy subsystems. (2) HSSI in eastern provinces with a developed economy was higher than that in western provinces with an underdeveloped economy. In con-trast, the growing rate of HSSI in eastern provinces was significantly higher than that in western provinces. (3) The inter-provincial difference of in HSSI decreased from 2000 to 2016. For sub-systems, it decreased for the residence system, whereas it increased for the economy system. (4) The suitability of the natural subsystem has become a limiting factor for the improvement of human settlements suitability, especially in economically developed provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong. The results can be helpful to support decision-making and policy for improving the quality of human settlements in a broad nature, human, economy, society and residence context.

Keywords: human settlements, suitability evaluation, extended fourier amplitude, human settlement suitability

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Marie-Josée Morneau

Abstract:

A literacy-based approach, centred on the use of the language of instruction as a cognitive tool, can increase the L2 communication skills of French immersion students. Academic subject areas such as science and mathematics offer an authentic language learning context where students can become more proficient speakers while using specific vocabulary and language structures to learn, interact and communicate their reasoning, when provided the opportunities and guidance to do so. In this Canadian quasi-experimental study, the effects of teaching specific language elements during mathematic classes through literacy-based activities in Early French Immersion programming were compared between two Grade 7/8 groups: the experimental group, which received literacy-based teaching for a 6-week period, and the control group, which received regular teaching instruction. The results showed that the participants from the experimental group made more progress in their mathematical communication skills, which suggests that targeting L2 language as a cognitive tool can be beneficial to immersion learners who learn mathematic concepts and remind us that all L2 teachers are language teachers.

Keywords: mathematics, French immersion, literacy-based, oral communication, L2

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Fatemeh Asadi Farsad, Sima Modirkhameneh

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to explore the pattern of Psychological Well-Being (PWB) of Iranian male and female EFL teachers during the pandemic. It was intended to see if such a drastic change in the context and mode of teaching affects teachers' PWB. Furthermore, the possible difference between the six elements of PWB of Iranian EFL male vs. female teachers during the pandemic was investigated. The other purpose was to find out the EFL teachers’ perceptions of any modifications, and factors leading to such modifications in their PWB during pandemic. For the purpose of this investigation, a total of 81 EFL teachers (59 female, 22 male) with an age range of 25 to 35 were conveniently sampled from different cities in Iran. Ryff’s PWB questionnaire was sent to participant teachers through online platforms to elicit data on their PWB. As for their perceptions on the possible modifications and the factors involved in PWB during pandemic, a set of semi-structured interviews were run among both sample groups. The findings revealed that male EFL teachers had the highest mean on personal growth, followed by purpose of life, and self-acceptance and the lowest mean on environmental mastery. With a slightly similar pattern, female EFL teachers had the highest mean on personal growth, followed by purpose in life, and positive relationship with others with the lowest mean on environmental mastery. However, no significant difference was observed between the male and female groups’ overall means on elements of PWB. Additionally, participants perceived that their anxiety level in online classes altered due to factors like (1) Computer literacy skills, (2) Lack of social communications and interactions with colleagues and students, (3) Online class management, (4) Overwhelming workloads, and (5) Time management. The study ends with further suggestions as regards effective online teaching preparation considering teachers PWB, especially at severe situations such as covid-19 pandemic. The findings offer to determine the reformations of educational policies concerning enhancing EFL teachers’ PWB through computer literacy courses and stress management courses. It is also suggested that to proactively support teachers’ mental health, it is necessary to provide them with advisors and psychologists if possible for free. Limitations: One limitation is the small number of participants (81), suggesting that future replications should include more participants for reliable findings. Another limitation is the gender imbalance, which future studies should address to yield better outcomes. Furthermore, Limited data gathering tools suggest using observations, diaries, and narratives for more insights in future studies. The study focused on one model of PWB, calling for further research on other models in the literature. Considering the wide effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, future studies should consider additional variables (e.g., teaching experience, age, income) to understand Iranian EFL teachers’ vulnerabilities and strengths better.

Keywords: online teaching, psychological well-being, female and male EFL teachers, pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Victorine Mbong Shu

Abstract:

Very little research exists on family sex and sexuality communication and identity formation and how communication is helping adolescents in forming their sexual identities in South Africa. This study is designed to explore the impact of sexual communication in African families and the dynamics that influence the openness or closedness of adolescent sexual identities. The primary objectives of this study are threefold; to understand how sexuality communication in African families impacts the closedness and/or openness of adolescent African identities; to explore the nature of African children's sexuality given the status of their families’ communications on sex; to describe how parental or adult sexual knowledge, attitudes, values of sex, etc. are translated to children in African families, if at all. This study seeks answers to challenges faced by African parents and caregivers of adolescent children in South Africa regarding sex-sexuality communication and their shifting identities in different spaces. Its outcome seeks to empower these families on how to continue to effectively communicate sex and sexuality at different stages and circumstances. Two sets of people are interviewed separately in order to explore issues of familial communication and how to understand how together with religion and culture, adolescents are socialised to form the social and gender identities that they take to adulthood. They were parents of adolescents and young adult children who spoke in retrospect on when they were adolescents. The results of this study will fill knowledge gaps considering the chosen theory of communication that gives clarity to the topic of sex and sexuality communication in African families in South Africa and the dynamics of privacy that influence identity formation. A subset of the 40 conversations, 5 female parents, 5 male parents, 5 young female adults, and 5 male young adults, was used for this analysis. The preliminary results revealed five emergent themes informed by research questions and the theoretical framework of this study: Open communication, Discomfort discussing sex and sexuality, The importance of sex communication to African parents, Factors influencing African families’ communication about sex and sexuality and Privacy and boundaries.

Keywords: sex, sexuality, communication, African families, adolescents

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Srivatsav Sanjay Sridhar, Asvitha Raja, Prathit Kalra, Soni Gupta

Abstract:

Database management is a system that keeps track of details about a person in an organisation. Not a lot of orphanages these days are shifting to a computer and program-based system, but unfortunately, most have only pen and paper-based records, which not only consumes space but it is also not eco-friendly. It comes as a hassle when one has to view a record of a person as they have to search through multiple records, and it will consume time. This program will organise all the data and can pull out any information about anyone whose data is entered. This is also a safe way of storage as physical data gets degraded over time or, worse, destroyed due to natural disasters. In this developing world, it is only smart enough to shift all data to an electronic-based storage system. The program comes with all features, including creating, inserting, searching, and deleting the data, as well as printing them.

Keywords: database, orphans, programming, C⁺⁺

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Itiola Kehinde Adeniran

Abstract:

This paper investigated the influence of harnessing entrepreneurial opportunities on the national security in Nigeria with a specific focus on the security situation of the post-amnesty programmes of the Federal Government in Ondo State. The self-administered structured questionnaire was employed to collect data from one hundred and twenty participants through purposive sampling method. Inferential statistics was used to analyze the data, specifically; ordinary least squares linear regression method was employed with the aid of statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20 in order to determine the influence of independent variable (entrepreneurial opportunities) on dependent variable (national security). The result showed that business opportunities have a significant influence on the rate of criminal activities. The study also revealed that entrepreneurial opportunity creation and discovery as well as providing a model on how these entrepreneurial opportunities could be effectively and efficiently utilized jointly predict better national security, which counted for 69% variance of crime rate reduction. The paper, therefore, recommended that citizens should be encouraged to develop an interest in the skill-based activities in order to change their mindset towards self-employment which can motivate them in identify entrepreneurial opportunities.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial opportunities, national security, unemployment

Procedia PDF Downloads 313

Authors: Diana Ivanova Bakalova, Ekaterina Evtimova Dimitrova

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictive power of optimistic expectations and satisfaction with life in the country of origin and residence – Bulgaria, over the attitudes towards emigration among young Bulgarians with regard to their generational belonging and differences (i.e. Generation Y or Millennials, born between 1981-1995/6, and Generation Z or Zoomers, born between 1996/7-2012). Although the correlation between satisfaction with life and migration (attitudes) has been studied in some countries, it has neither been examined to date in Bulgaria – a sending rather than receiving Eastern European country, nor scrutinized in the light of generational differences. Within a national survey(N=1200), representative of young Bulgarians aged 18-35 years – Zoomers aged 18-25years (N=444) and Millennials aged 26-35 years (N=756), carried out in September-October 2021, optimistic expectations and satisfaction with life in Bulgaria were respectively measured by a 5-item and4-item scales. The scales were designed to measure optimistic expectations and satisfaction with life in the country, as both general constructs and in terms of specific areas of life (education, profession, career, and income). The findings suggest that the higher satisfaction with life in Bulgaria is associated with more optimistic expectations about one’s further professional, financial, and career growth in the country and reasonably, with more negative attitudes towards emigration of young Bulgarians. Although no significant differences were found between Millennials and Zoomers in their optimistic expectations and satisfaction with life in Bulgaria, Millennials are still significantly less likely to emigrate than Zoomers. Positively, the population of young Bulgarians demonstrates higher than average satisfaction with life and optimism for their prospects in the country combined with neutral to negative overall attitudes towards emigration. These findings have some important interdisciplinary psychological and demographic theoretical, applied, and policy implications. The survey is carried out under Project КП-06-Н35/4 “Psychological determinants of young people's attitudes to emigration and life planning in the context of demographic challenges in Bulgaria,” funded by the NSF - MES, Bulgaria.

Keywords: optimistic expectations, life satisfaction, emigration attitudes, young bulgerians

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: R. G. D Jayawardena

Abstract:

The Buddha was known by great wise men from 6th century B.C up to date as a superhuman being born in the world beyond the omnipotent. The Buddha’s doctrinal descriptions reflect his deep enlightenment about imperial and metaphysical knowledge. Buddhology undertaken for this study is an unexposed subject in metaphysical points. The Buddhist wall painting in Sri Lanka depicts deep metaphysical meaning than its simple perspective of estheticism. Buddhology, in some perspectives, has been interpreted as a complete natural science discovered by the Buddha to teach the way of honorable living in perfect happiness and peace of mind till death. Such interpretations which emphasized are based on textual studies. The Buddhology conducted through literal tradition is depicted in wall paintings in Sri Lanka are in visual art with specific techniques rules. The Buddhology, which is investigated on wall paintings, portrays the Buddha in the form of a superhuman being and as an unparalleled person among the Devas, Brahmas, Yakshas, Maras, and humans. The Buddha concept is known to Sri Lankan Buddhists as a person attained to full awakening of wisdom. In personality, the Buddha is depicted as a supernormal person in the world and a rare birth. In brief, the paper will discuss and illustrate the Buddha’s transcendental position and the reality of what he experienced and its authenticity.

Keywords: Buddhology, Metaphysic, Sri Lanka, paintings

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Duygu Dere, Mert Ergeneci, Kaan Gokcesu

Abstract:

Google Trends data has gained increasing popularity in the applications of behavioral finance, decision science and risk management. Because of Google’s wide range of use, the Trends statistics provide significant information about the investor sentiment and intention, which can be used as decisive factors for corporate and risk management fields. However, an anomaly, a significant increase or decrease, in a certain query cannot be detected by the state of the art applications of computation due to the random baseline noise of the Trends data, which is modelled as an Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Since through time, the baseline noise power shows a gradual change an adaptive thresholding method is required to track and learn the baseline noise for a correct classification. To this end, we introduce an online method to classify meaningful deviations in Google Trends data. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate that our method can successfully classify various anomalies for plenty of different data.

Keywords: adaptive data processing, behavioral finance , convex optimization, online learning, soft minimum thresholding

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Gabriela Chmelikova, Ludmila Hurajova, Pavol Bozek

Abstract:

Current era has brought hand in hand with the vast and fast development of technologies enormous pressure on individuals to keep being well - oriented in their professional fields. Almost all projects in the real world require an interdisciplinary perspective. These days we notice some cases when students face that real requirements for jobs are in contrast to the knowledge and competences they gained at universities. Interlacing labor market and university programs is a big issue these days. Sometimes it seems that higher education only “chases” reality. Simulation-based learning can support students’ touch with real demand on competences and knowledge of job world. The contribution provided a descriptive study of some cases of simulation-based teaching environment in different courses at STU MTF in Trnava and discussed how students and teachers perceive this model of teaching-learning approach. Finally, some recommendations are proposed how to enhance closer relationship between academic world and labor market.

Keywords: interdisciplinary approach, simulation-based learning, students' job readiness, teaching environment in higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Olga Castiblanco, Diego Vizcaíno

Abstract:

Changing the traditional way of using experimentation in science teaching is quite a challenge. This research results talk about the characterization of physics experiments, not because of the topic it deals with, nor depending on the material used in the assemblies, but related to the possibilities it offers to enrich interaction in the classroom and thereby contribute to the development of scientific thinking skills. It is an action-research of type intervention in the classroom, with four courses of Physics Teaching undergraduate students from a public university in Bogotá. This process allows characterizing typologies such as discrepant, homemade, illustrative, research, recreational, crucial, mental, and virtual experiments. Students' production and researchers' reports on each class were the most relevant data. Content analysis techniques let to categorize the information and obtain results on the richness that each typology of experiment offers when interacting in the classroom. Results show changes in the comprehension of new teachers' role, far from being the possessor and transmitter of the truth. Besides, they understand strategies to engage students effectively since the class advances extending ideas, reflections, debates, and questions, either towards themselves, their classmates, or the teacher.

Keywords: physics teacher training, non-traditional experimentation, contextualized education, didactics of physics

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Boris Blostotsky, Elia Efraim

Abstract:

The phenomenon of buckling of structural elements under compression is revealed in many cases of loading and found consideration in many structures and mechanisms. In the present work the method and results of dynamic test for buckling of bar loaded by a compression force directed towards the pole are considered. Experimental determination of critical force for such system has not been made previously. The tested object is a bar with semi-rigid connection to the base at one of its ends, and with a hinge moving along a circle at the other. The test includes measuring the natural frequency of the bar at different values of compression load. The lateral stiffness is calculated based on natural frequency and reduced mass on the bar's movable end. The critical load is determined by extrapolation the values of lateral stiffness up to zero value. For the experimental investigation the special test-bed was created that allows the stability testing at positive and negative curvature of the movable end's trajectory, as well as varying the rotational stiffness of the other end connection. Decreasing a friction at the movable end allows extend the diapason of applied compression force. The testing method includes: - Methodology of the experiment planning, that allows determine the required number of tests under various loads values in the defined range and the type of extrapolating function; - Methodology of experimental determination of reduced mass at the bar's movable end including its own mass; - Methodology of experimental determination of lateral stiffness of uncompressed bar rotational semi-rigid connection at the base. For planning the experiment and for comparison of the experimental results with the theoretical values of critical load, the analytical dependencies of lateral stiffness of the bar with defined end conditions on compression load. In the particular case of perfectly rigid connection of the bar to the base, the critical load value corresponds to solution by S.P. Timoshenko. Correspondence of the calculated and experimental values was obtained.

Keywords: non-destructive test, buckling, dynamic method, semi-rigid connections

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Kathryn Redmond, Mojdeh Asadollahi Pajouh, Grace Panther, Rick Evans, Stacey Kulesza, Jia Liang

Abstract:

An on-going focus in engineering education research is on increasing the number of women in engineering. While the number of women participating in engineering project teams has increased over the past five years, the number of women enrolled in engineering colleges remains stagnant. Previous studies have explored why the number of women enrolled in engineering colleges remains small. In doing so, researchers focused primarily on negative experiences women encountered. Instead of looking at negative experiences, which can further deter women from entering the field, the aim of this study is to explore the personal and institutional factors that allow women to succeed and thrive in undergraduate engineering programs. There are two research questions addressed in this paper. The first is: what are the personal traits and characteristics that allow women to thrive in engineering? The other is: what are the institutional policies and culture, as well as micro-level behaviors on project teams, that influence the environment for women to thrive in engineering? Two women studying engineering at an R1 university were interviewed. Each woman was interviewed three times for a total of six interviews. The phenomenographic interviews focused on the lived experiences of the participants to better understand thriving in engineering. The first interview focused on the women’s personal life and background, the second on their learning journey and project team experiences, and the third focused on videos the women took through a method called Photovoice. Interviews were transcribed, and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Four themes were identified. Multiple coders were utilized to ensure trustworthiness and increase interrater reliability. Results indicate that thriving women have supportive families, experienced gender biases, and enjoy hands-on engineering and creating a final product. These traits and experiences may help inspire younger women to pursue engineering degrees and can help inform institutions as they make policy changes to support women. Additional women will be recruited from four different universities to further develop a theoretical framework to help inform institutions in how they can support women to thrive in engineering.

Keywords: diversity, inclusion, project teams, women in engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: W. K. Zahra, M. A. El-Beltagy, R. R. Elkhadrawy

Abstract:

So many practical problems in science and technology developed over the past decays. For instance, the mathematical boundary layer theory or the approximation of solution for different problems described by differential equations. When such problems consider large or small parameters, they become increasingly complex and therefore require the use of asymptotic methods. In this work, we consider the singularly perturbed boundary value problems which contain very small parameters. Moreover, we will consider these perturbation parameters as random variables. We propose a numerical method to solve this kind of problems. The proposed method is based on an exponential spline, Shishkin mesh discretization, and polynomial chaos expansion. The polynomial chaos expansion is used to handle the randomness exist in the perturbation parameter. Furthermore, the Monte Carlo Simulations (MCS) are used to validate the solution and the accuracy of the proposed method. Numerical results are provided to show the applicability and efficiency of the proposed method, which maintains a very remarkable high accuracy and it is ε-uniform convergence of almost second order.

Keywords: singular perturbation problem, polynomial chaos expansion, Shishkin mesh, two small parameters, exponential spline

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Yifan Fan, Xudong Luo, Pingping Lin

Abstract:

Nowadays, dialogue systems increasingly become the way for humans to access many computer systems. So, humans can interact with computers in natural language. A dialogue system consists of three parts: understanding what humans say in natural language, managing dialogue, and generating responses in natural language. In this paper, we survey deep learning based methods for dialogue management, response generation and dialogue evaluation. Specifically, these methods are based on neural network, long short-term memory network, deep reinforcement learning, pre-training and generative adversarial network. We compare these methods and point out the further research directions.

Keywords: dialogue management, response generation, deep learning, evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Mahan Qwamizadeh, Kun Zhou, Zuoqi Zhang, Yong Wei Zhang

Abstract:

Typical load-bearing biological materials like bone, mineralized tendon and shell, are biocomposites made from both organic (collagen) and inorganic (biomineral) materials. This amazing class of materials with intrinsic internally designed hierarchical structures show superior mechanical properties with regard to their weak components from which they are formed. Extensive investigations concentrating on static loading conditions have been done to study the biological materials failure. However, most of the damage and failure mechanisms in load-bearing biological materials will occur whenever their structures are exposed to dynamic loading conditions. The main question needed to be answered here is: What is the relation between the layout and architecture of the load-bearing biological materials and their dynamic behavior? In this work, a staggered model has been developed based on the structure of natural materials at nanoscale and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been used to study the dynamic behavior of the structure of load-bearing biological materials to answer why the staggered arrangement has been selected by nature to make the nanocomposite structure of most of the biological materials. The results showed that the staggered structures will efficiently attenuate the stress wave rather than the layered structure. Furthermore, such staggered architecture is effectively in charge of utilizing the capacity of the biostructure to resist both normal and shear loads. In this work, the geometrical parameters of the model like the thickness and aspect ratio of the mineral inclusions selected from the typical range of the experimentally observed feature sizes and layout dimensions of the biological materials such as bone and mineralized tendon. Furthermore, the numerical results validated with existing theoretical solutions. Findings of the present work emphasize on the significant effects of dynamic behavior on the natural evolution of load-bearing biological materials and can help scientists to design bioinspired materials in the laboratories.

Keywords: load-bearing biological materials, nanostructure, staggered structure, stress wave decay

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Yoshimoto Kurihara, Tad Gonsalves

Abstract:

Currently, in the field of object posture estimation, there is research on estimating the position and angle of an object by storing a 3D model of the object to be estimated in advance in a computer and matching it with the model. However, in this research, we have succeeded in creating a module that is much simpler, smaller in scale, and faster in operation. Our 6D pose estimation model consists of two different networks – a classification network and a regression network. From a single RGB image, the trained model estimates the class of the object in the image, the coordinates of the object, and its rotation angle in 3D space. In addition, we compared the estimation accuracy of each camera position, i.e., the angle from which the object was captured. The highest accuracy was recorded when the camera position was 75°, the accuracy of the classification was about 87.3%, and that of regression was about 98.9%.

Keywords: 6D posture estimation, image recognition, deep learning, AlexNet

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Almagul Nurgaliyeva

Abstract:

The phenomenon of novice teacher attrition is an urgent issue. The effective mechanisms to increase the retention rate of novice teachers relate to the nature and level of support provided at an employing site. This study considered novice teacher retention as a motivation-based process, which is based on a variety of support activities employed to satisfy novice teachers’ needs at an early career stage. The purpose of the study was to examine novice teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the induction program and other support structure(s) at a secondary school in Nur-Sultan. The study was guided by Abraham Maslow’s (1943) theory of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was used as a theoretical framework to identify the novice teachers’ primary needs and the extent to which the induction programs and other support mechanisms provided by the school administrators fulfill those needs. One school supervisor and eight novice teachers (four current and four former novice teachers) with a maximum of four years of teaching experience took part in the study. To investigate the perspectives and experiences of the participants, an online semi-structured interview was utilized. The responses were collected and analyzed. The study revealed four major challenges: educational, personal-psychological, sociological, and structural which are seen as the main constraints during the adaptation period. Four induction activities, as emerged from the data, are being carried out by the school to address novice teachers’ challenges: socialization activities, mentoring programs, professional development, and administrative support. These activities meet novice teachers’ needs and confront the challenges they face. Sufficient and adequate support structures provided to novice teachers during their first years of working experience is essential, as they may influence their decision to remain in the teaching profession, thereby reducing the attrition rate. The study provides recommendations for policymakers and school administrators about the structure and the content of induction program activities.

Keywords: beginning teacher induction, induction programme, orientation programmes, adaptation challenges, novice teacher retention

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Guilherme Reis Ranieri, Guilherme Leite Gaudereto, Michele Toledo, Luis Fernando Amato-Lourenco, Thais Mauad

Abstract:

Given the importance to urban sustainability and the growing relevance of the term ‘community garden’, this paper aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the term. Using SCOPUS as database, we analyzed 105 articles that contained the keywords ‘community garden’, and conducted a cluster analysis with the associated keywords. As results, we found 205 articles and 404 different keywords. Among the keywords, 334 are not repeated anytime, 44 are repeated 2 times and 9 appear 3 times. The most frequent keywords are: community food systems (74), urban activism (14), Communities of practice (6), food production (6) and public rethoric (5). Within the areas, which contains more articles are: social sciences (74), environmental science (29) and agricultural and biological sciences (24).The three main countries that concentrated the papers are United States (54), Canada (15) and Australia (12). The main journal with these keywords is Local Environment (10). The first publication was in 1999, and by 2010 concentrated 30,5% of the publications. The other 69,5% occurred 2010 to 2015, indicating an increase in frequency. We can conclude that the papers, based on the distribution of the keywords, are still scattered in various research topics and presents high variability between subjects.

Keywords: bibliometrics, community garden, metrics, urban agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 347

Authors: Beaudoin Marie-Joelle, Poirier Nathalie

Abstract:

Introduction: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to lack socio-emotional skills (e.g., emotional regulation and theory of mind). Eisenberg’s theoretical model on emotion-related socialization behaviors suggests that mothers of children with ASD could play a central role in fostering the acquisition of socio-emotional skills by engaging in frequent educational conversations about emotions. Although, mothers’ perceptions of their own emotional skills and their child’s personality traits and social deficits could mitigate the benefit of their educative role. Objective: Our study aims to explore the association between mother-child conversations about emotions and the socio-emotional skills of their children when accounting for the moderating role of the mothers’ perceptions. Forty-nine mothers completed five questionnaires about emotionally related conversations, self-openness to emotions, and perceptions of personality and socio-emotional skills of their children with ASD. Results: Regression analyses showed that frequent mother-child conversations about emotions predicted better emotional regulation and theory of mind skills in children with ASD (p < 0.01). The children’s theory of mind was moderated by mothers’ perceptions of their own emotional openness (p < 0.05) and their perceptions of their children’s openness to experience (p < 0.01) and conscientiousness (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Mothers likely play an important role in the socio-emotional education of children with ASD. Further, mothers may be most helpful when they perceive that their interventions improve their child’s behaviors. Our findings corroborate those of the Eisenberg model, which claims that mother-child conversations about emotions predict socio-emotional development skills in children with ASD. Our results also help clarify the moderating role of mothers’ perceptions, which could mitigate their willingness to engage in educational conversations about emotions with their children. Therefore, in special needs' children education, school professionals could collaborate with mothers to increase the frequency of emotion-related conversations in ASD's students with emotion dysregulation or theory of mind problems.

Keywords: autism, parental socialization of emotion, emotional regulation, theory of mind

Procedia PDF Downloads 71

Authors: Mrinal Kanti Bhowmik, Debanjana Debnath Jr., Debotosh Bhattacharjee

Abstract:

A facial expression is undeniably the human manners. It is a significant channel for human communication and can be applied to extract emotional features accurately. People in pain often show variations in facial expressions that are readily observable to others. A core of actions is likely to occur or to increase in intensity when people are in pain. To illustrate the changes in the facial appearance, a system known as Facial Action Coding System (FACS) is pioneered by Ekman and Friesen for human observers. According to Prkachin and Solomon, a set of such actions carries the bulk of information about pain. Thus, the Prkachin and Solomon pain intensity (PSPI) metric is defined. So, it is very important to notice that facial expressions, being a behavioral source in communication media, provide an important opening into the issues of non-verbal communication in pain. People express their pain in many ways, and this pain behavior is the basis on which most inferences about pain are drawn in clinical and research settings. Hence, to understand the roles of different pain behaviors, it is essential to study the properties. For the past several years, the studies are concentrated on the properties of one specific form of pain behavior i.e. facial expression. This paper represents a comprehensive study on pain assessment that can model and estimate the intensity of pain that the patient is suffering. It also reviews the historical background of different pain assessment techniques in the context of painful expressions. Different approaches incorporate FACS from psychological views and a pain intensity score using the PSPI metric in pain estimation. This paper investigates in depth analysis of different approaches used in pain estimation and presents different observations found from each technique. It also offers a brief study on different distinguishing features of real and fake pain. Therefore, the necessity of the study lies in the emerging fields of painful face assessment in clinical settings.

Keywords: facial action coding system (FACS), pain, pain behavior, Prkachin and Solomon pain intensity (PSPI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Alexandre D. Ferraz, Dario H. Alliprandini, Mauro Sampaio

Abstract:

Companies and other institutions are constantly seeking better organizational performance and greater competitiveness. In order to fulfill this purpose, there are many tools, methodologies and models for increasing performance. However, the Lean Management approach seems to be the most effective in terms of achieving a significant improvement in productivity relatively quickly. Although Lean tools are relatively easy to understand and implement in different contexts, many organizations are not able to transform themselves into 'Lean companies'. Most of the efforts in its implementation have shown single benefits, failing to achieve the desired impact on the performance of the overall enterprise system. There is also a growing perception of the importance of management in Lean transformation, but few studies have empirically investigated and described the 'Lean Management'. In order to understand more clearly the ideas that guide Lean Management and its influence on the maturity level of the production system, the objective of this research is analyze the relationship between the Lean Management principles and the Lean maturity level in the organizations. The research also analyzes the principles of Lean Management and its relationship with the 'Lean culture' and the results obtained. The research was developed using the case study methodology. Three manufacturing units of a German multinational company from industrial automation segment, located in different countries were studied, in order to have a better comparison between the practices and the level of maturity in the implementation. The primary source of information was the application of a research questionnaire based on the theoretical review. The research showed that higher the level of Lean Management principles, higher are the Lean maturity level, the Lean culture level, and the level of Lean results obtained in the organization. The research also showed that factors such as time for application of Lean concepts and company size were not determinant for the level of Lean Management principles and, consequently, for the level of Lean maturity in the organization. The characteristics of the production system showed much more influence in different evaluated aspects. The present research also left recommendations for the managers of the plants analyzed and suggestions for future research.

Keywords: lean management, lean principles, lean maturity level, lean manufacturing

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Adisai Thovicha

Abstract:

This study is the survey research, designed to study the work happiness level of personnel at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The sample group consisted of 329 personnel. The results were collected by stratified sampling, using work positions for each stage. The results were analyzed and calculated by computer program. Statistics used during analyzing were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. From the study, the work happiness level of personnel were in very high score range in both overall and specific category. The top category which received the most score was positive attitude, work satisfaction, life satisfaction, and negative attitude.

Keywords: work happiness, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, personnel, positive attitude

Procedia PDF Downloads 355

Authors: Maureen Lilian Klos

Abstract:

In this paper, the notion of autonomy in language teaching and learning is explored with a view to designing particular subject-specific academic literacy at higher education level, for mostly English second or third language learners at the Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. These courses that are contextualized in subject-specific fields studied by students in Arts, Education and Social Science Faculties aim to facilitate learners in the manipulation of cognitively demanding academic texts. However, classroom contact time for these courses is limited to one ninety sessions per week. Thus, learners need to be autonomously responsible for developing their own skills when manipulating and negotiating appropriate academic textual conventions. Thus, a model was designed to allow for gradual learner independence in language learning skills. Learners experience of the model was investigated using the Phenomenological Research Approach. Data in the form of individual written reflections and transcripts of unstructured group interviews were analyzed for themes and sub-themes. These findings are discussed in the article with a view to addressing the practical concerns of the learners in this case study.

Keywords: academic literacies, autonomy, language learning and teaching, subject-specific language

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Marzieh Khezerloo, Lyazid Djenidi

Abstract:

Owing to wide range of the micro-device applications, the problems of mixing at small scales is of significant interest. Also, because most of the processes produce heat, it is needed to develop and implement strategies for heat removal in these devices. There are many studies which focus on the effect of roughness or suction on heat transfer performance, separately, although it would be useful to take advantage of these two methods to improve heat transfer performance. Unfortunately, there is a gap in this area. The present numerical study is carried to investigate the combined effects of roughness and wall suction on heat transfer performance of a laminar channel flow; suction is applied on the top and back faces of the roughness element, respectively. The study is carried out for different Reynolds numbers, different suction rates, and various locations of suction area on the roughness. The flow is assumed two dimensional, incompressible, laminar, and steady state. The governing Navier-Stokes equations are solved using ANSYS-Fluent 18.2 software. The present results are tested against previous theoretical results. The results show that by adding suction, the local Nusselt number is enhanced in the channel. In addition, it is shown that by applying suction on the bottom section of the roughness back face, one can reduce the thickness of thermal boundary layer, which leads to an increase in local Nusselt number. This indicates that suction is an effective means for improving the heat transfer rate (suction by controls the thickness of thermal boundary layer). It is also shown that the size and intensity of vortical motion behind the roughness element, decreased with an increasing suction rate, which leads to higher local Nusselt number. So, it can be concluded that by using suction, strategically located on the roughness element, one can control both the recirculation region and the heat transfer rate. Further results will be presented at the conference for coefficient of drag and the effect of adding more roughness elements.

Keywords: heat transfer, laminar flow, numerical simulation, roughness, suction

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Archana Vadeyar, Smita Phatak

Abstract:

Nurturing flora and fauna is the crux of Environment Education yet one tends to forget to nurture the human minds. Youth education presently is too academic, exam oriented and lacks all-round development. A project is whole-hearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment. Projects at +2 stages have become, just an easier way of securing marks. The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of an experiential environment education (EE) project for youth involving community interaction. Youth were encouraged to plan activities for children-based on EE through General knowledge (GK), language, math, science, fun games, quiz, sports, art and craft, stories. A purposive sample of 73 students was administered a self-prepared and validated questionnaire; supported by content analysis of reports from EE Journals of 21 students and some photos. Responses of students revealed that project was a joyful and motivating experience, with learnings and realizations, developed concern for others, made them feel responsible, happy and contented. Community interaction programs need to be included in the regular schedule to add more meaning to EE projects and cater to the needs of adolescents for diverting youth energy towards positive action.

Keywords: experiential, project, environment education, youth, community interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 167

Authors: Farhad Asadi, Mohammad Javad Mollakazemi, Aref Ghafouri

Abstract:

Recent research in neural networks science and neuroscience for modeling complex time series data and statistical learning has focused mostly on learning from high input space and signals. Local linear models are a strong choice for modeling local nonlinearity in data series. Locally weighted projection regression is a flexible and powerful algorithm for nonlinear approximation in high dimensional signal spaces. In this paper, different learning scenario of one and two dimensional data series with different distributions are investigated for simulation and further noise is inputted to data distribution for making different disordered distribution in time series data and for evaluation of algorithm in locality prediction of nonlinearity. Then, the performance of this algorithm is simulated and also when the distribution of data is high or when the number of data is less the sensitivity of this approach to data distribution and influence of important parameter of local validity in this algorithm with different data distribution is explained.

Keywords: local nonlinear estimation, LWPR algorithm, online training method, locally weighted projection regression method

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Ghazala Yasmeen, Zahid Yousaf

Abstract:

Frequent social media use has significantly changed people's life and communication styles during the last two decades. Social media use has multiple dimensions, and there are nuanced relationships between it and how it affects different societal subgroups. With the increased popularity and rapid growth of social networking sites, people are experiencing potential social media addiction, which causes severe mental health problems. How social media is dramatically influencing the lives and mental health of its users, and particularly of the students, creating psychological issues, e.g., isolation, depression, and anxiety, will be the primary objective of this study. This research will address the problems confronted by many students who are regular social media users and can undergo mental distress. This study aims to explore how social media use can lead to isolation, depression, and anxiety. This research will also investigate the effects of cyber-bullying on social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. For this purpose, the researcher will use the survey technique as a method of inquiry. Ryff's theory of Psychological wellbeing will be used as a theoretical framework to explore the association between social media addiction and psychological effects among users. For data collection, the researcher will use the quantitative research method through a survey questionnaire from three universities in Pakistan from the public and private sectors. This study will imply a two-stage random sampling technique. At first, the researcher will select 20% of students from universities. In the second stage, 20% of students using different social networking sites will be chosen, and draw a representative sample from these will be. The intended study will use questionnaires comprising two portions. The first section will consist of social media engagement by the students, following impacts on their mental health and reported attitude towards psychological wellbeing. This study will spotlight the considerations of parents, educationists, and policymakers to take measures against the devastating effects of cyber-crimes on young adults.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, isolation, social media, wellbeing

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Annette McArthur

Abstract:

The traditional model of teaching and learning, where ICT sits as a separate entity is not a model for a 21st century school. It is imperative that teaching and learning embraces technological advancements. The challenge in schools lies in shifting the mindset of teachers so they see ICT as integral to their teaching, learning and curriculum rather than a separate E-Learning curriculum stream. This research project investigates how the effective, planned, intentional integration of ICT into a STEM curriculum, can enable the shift in the teacher mindset. The project incorporated: • Developing a professional coaching relationship with key STEM teachers. • Facilitating staff professional development involving student centered project based learning pedagogy in the context of a STEM curriculum. • Facilitating staff professional development involving digital literacy. • Establishing a professional community where collaboration; sharing and reflection were part of the culture of the STEM community. • Facilitating classroom support for the effective delivery innovative STEM curriculum. • Developing STEM learning spaces where technologies were used to empower and engage learners to participate in student-centered, project-based learning.

Keywords: e-learning, ICT, project based learning, STEM

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: C. F. Alegretti, F. R. Cunha, R. G. Gontijo

Abstract:

This work investigates the effects of an applied magnetic field on the geometry-driven boundary layer detachment flow of a ferrofluid over a sudden expansion. Both constitutive equation and global magnetization equation for a ferrofluid are considered. Therefore, the proposed formulation consists in a coupled magnetic-hydrodynamic problem. Computational simulations are carried out in order to explore, not only the viability to control flow instabilities, but also to evaluate the consistency of theoretical aspects. The unidirectional sudden expansion in a ferrofluid flow is investigated numerically under the perspective of Ferrohydrodynamics in a two-dimensional domain using a Finite Differences Method. The boundary layer detachment induced by the sudden expansion results in a recirculating zone, which has been extensively studied in non-magnetic hydrodynamic problems for a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Similar investigations can be found in literature regarding the sudden expansion under the magnetohydrodynamics framework, but none considering a colloidal suspension of magnetic particles out of the superparamagnetic regime. The vorticity-stream function formulation is implemented and results in a clear coupling between the flow vorticity and its magnetization field. Our simulations indicate a systematic decay on the length of the recirculation zone as increasing physical parameters of the flow, such as the intensity of the applied field and the volume fraction of particles. The results all are discussed from a physical point of view in terms of the dynamical non-dimensional parameters. We argue that the decrease/reduction in the recirculation region of the flow is a direct consequence of the magnetic torque balancing the action of the torque produced by viscous and inertial forces of the flow. For the limit of small Reynolds and magnetic Reynolds parameters, the diffusion of vorticity balances the diffusion of the magnetic torque on the flow. These mechanics control the growth of the recirculation region.

Keywords: boundary layer detachment, ferrofluid, ferrohydrodynamics, magnetization, sudden expansion

Procedia PDF Downloads 197