Search results for: language intervention

Authors: Munawar Malik, Muntaha Ahmad, Khalil Ullah Khan

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Linguistic abilities in students with hearing impairment yet remain a concern for educationists. The emerging technological support and provisions in recent era vows to have addressed the situation and claims significant contribution in terms of linguistic repertoire. Being a descriptive and quantitative paradigm of study, the purpose of this research set forth was to assess linguistic competencies of students with hearing impairment in English language. The goals were further broken down to identify level of reading abilities in the subject population. The population involved students with HI studying at higher secondary level in Lahore. Simple random sampling technique was used to choose a sample of fifty students. A purposive curriculum-based assessment was designed in line with accelerated learning program by Punjab Government, to assess Linguistic competence among the sample. Further to it, an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) corresponding to reading levels was also developed by researchers duly validated and piloted before the final use. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to reach to the findings. Spearman’s correlation was used to find out relationship between degree of hearing loss, grade level, gender and type of amplification device. Independent sample t-test was used to compare means among groups. Major findings of the study revealed that students with hearing impairment exhibit significant deviation from the mean scores when compared in terms of grades, severity and amplification device. The study divulged that respective students with HI have yet failed to qualify an independent level of reading according to their grades as majority falls at frustration level of word recognition and passage comprehension. The poorer performance can be attributed to lower linguistic competence as it shows in the frustration levels of reading, writing and comprehension. The correlation analysis did reflect an improved performance grade wise, however scores could only correspond to frustration level and independent levels was never achieved. Reported achievements at instructional level of subject population may further to linguistic skills if practiced purposively.

Keywords: linguistic competence, hearing impairment, reading levels, educationist

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Authors: Marco Frieslaar, Bing Chu, Eric Rogers

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Stroke is a devastating illness that is the second biggest cause of death in the world (after heart disease). Where it does not kill, it leaves survivors with debilitating sensory and physical impairments that not only seriously harm their quality of life, but also cause a high incidence of severe depression. It is widely accepted that early intervention is essential for recovery, but current rehabilitation techniques largely favor hospital-based therapies which have restricted access, expensive and specialist equipment and tend to side-step the emotional challenges. In addition, there is insufficient funding available to provide the long-term assistance that is required. As a consequence, recovery rates are poor. The relatively unexplored solution is to develop therapies that can be harnessed in the home and are formulated from technologies that already exist in everyday life. This would empower individuals to take control of their own improvement and provide choice in terms of when and where they feel best able to undertake their own healing. This research seeks to identify how effective post-stroke, rehabilitation therapy can be applied to upper limb mobility, within the physical context of a home rather than a hospital. This is being achieved through the design and construction of an automation scheme, based on iterative learning control and the Riener muscle model, that has the ability to adapt to the user and react to their level of fatigue and provide tangible physical recovery. It utilizes a SMART Phone and laptop to construct an iterative learning control (ILC) system, that monitors upper arm movement in three dimensions, as a series of exercises are undertaken. The equipment generates functional electrical stimulation to assist in muscle activation and thus improve directional accuracy. In addition, it monitors speed, accuracy, areas of motion weakness and similar parameters to create a performance index that can be compared over time and extrapolated to establish an independent and objective assessment scheme, plus an approximate estimation of predicted final outcome. To further extend its assessment capabilities, nerve conduction velocity readings are taken by the software, between the shoulder and hand muscles. This is utilized to measure the speed of response of neuron signal transfer along the arm and over time, an online indication of regeneration levels can be obtained. This will prove whether or not sufficient training intensity is being achieved even before perceivable movement dexterity is observed. The device also provides the option to connect to other users, via the internet, so that the patient can avoid feelings of isolation and can undertake movement exercises together with others in a similar position. This should create benefits not only for the encouragement of rehabilitation participation, but also an emotional support network potential. It is intended that this approach will extend the availability of stroke recovery options, enable ease of access at a low cost, reduce susceptibility to depression and through these endeavors, enhance the overall recovery success rate.

Keywords: home-based therapy, iterative learning control, Riener muscle model, SMART phone, stroke rehabilitation

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Authors: R. Dimitri Halley

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The research within Jungian Psychology presented here is on the wave state of Self. What has been discovered via shared dreaming, independently correlating dreams across dreamers, is beyond the Self stage into the deepest layer or the wave state Self: the very quantum ocean, the Self archetype is embedded in. A quantum wave or rhyming of meaning constituting synergy across several dreamers was discovered in dreams and in extensively shared dream work with small groups at a post therapy stage. Within the format of shared dreaming, we find synergy patterns beyond what Jung called the Self archetype. Jung led us up to the phase of Individuation and delivered the baton to Von Franz to work out the next synchronistic stage, here proposed as the finding of the quantum patterns making up the wave state of Self. These enfolded synchronistic patterns have been found in group format of shared dreaming of individuals approximating individuation, and the unfolding of it is carried by belief and faith. The reason for this format and operating system is because beyond therapy and of living reality, we find no science – no thinking or even awareness in the therapeutic sense – but rather a state of mental processing resembling more like that of spiritual attitude. Thinking as such is linear and cannot contain the deepest layer of Self, the quantum core of the human being. It is self reflection which is the container for the process at the wave state of Self. Observation locks us in an outside-in reactive flow from a first-person perspective and hence toward the surface we see to believe, whereas here, the direction of focus shifts to inside out/intrinsic. The operating system or language at the wave level of Self is thus belief and synchronicity. Belief has up to now been almost the sole province of organized religions but was viewed by Jung as an inherent property in the process of Individuation. The shared dreaming stage of the synchronistic patterns forms a larger story constituting a deep connectivity unfolding around individual Selves. Dreams of independent dreamers form larger patterns that come together as puzzles forming a larger story, and in this sense, this group work level builds on Jung as a post individuation collective stage. Shared dream correlations will be presented, illustrating a larger story in terms of trails of shared synchronicity.

Keywords: belief, shared dreaming, synchronistic patterns, wave state of self

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Authors: Silvia D. Vaca, Benjamin J. Kuo, Joao Ricardo Nickenig Vissoci, Catherine A. Staton, Linda W. Xu, Michael Muhumuza, Hussein Ssenyonjo, John Mukasa, Joel Kiryabwire, Henry E. Rice, Gerald A. Grant, Michael M. Haglund

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Background: Patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) can develop rapid neurological deterioration from swelling and intracranial hematomas, which can result in focal tissue ischemia, brain compression, and herniation. Moreover, delays in management increase the risk of secondary brain injury from hypoxemia and hypotension. Therefore, in TBI patients with subdural hematomas (SDHs) and epidural hematomas (EDHs), surgical intervention is both necessary and time sensitive. Significant delays are seen along the care continuum in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) largely due to limited healthcare capacity to address the disproportional rates of TBI in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). While many LMICs have subsidized systems to offset surgical costs, the burden of securing funds by the patients for medications, supplies, and CT diagnostics poses a significant challenge to timely surgical interventions. In Kampala Uganda, the challenge of obtaining timely CT scans is twofold: logistical and financial barriers. These bottlenecks contribute significantly to the care continuum delays and are associated with poor TBI outcomes. Objective: The objectives of this study are to 1) describe the temporal delays through a modified three delays model that fits the context of neurosurgical interventions for TBI patients in Kampala and 2) investigate the association between delays and mortality. Methods: Prospective data were collected for 563 TBI patients presenting to a tertiary hospital in Kampala from 1 June – 30 November 2016. Four time intervals were constructed along five time points: injury, hospital arrival, neurosurgical evaluation, CT results, and definitive surgery. Time interval differences among mild, moderate and severe TBI and their association with mortality were analyzed. Results: The mortality rate of all TBI patients presenting to MNRH was 9.6%, which ranged from 4.7% for mild and moderate TBI patients receiving surgery to 81.8% for severe TBI patients who failed to receive surgery. The duration from injury to surgery varied considerably across TBI severity with the largest gap seen between mild TBI (174 hours) and severe TBI (69 hours) patients. Further analysis revealed care continuum differences for interval 3 (neurosurgical evaluation to CT result) and 4 (CT result to surgery) between severe TBI patients (7 hours for interval 3 and 24 hours for interval 4) and mild TBI patients (19 hours for interval 3, and 96 hours for interval 4). These post-arrival delays were associated with mortality for mild (p=0.05) and moderate TBI (p=0.03) patients. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first analysis using a modified 'three delays' framework to analyze the care continuum of TBI patients in Uganda from injury to surgery. We found significant associations between delays and mortality for mild and moderate TBI patients. As it currently stands, poorer outcomes were observed for these mild and moderate TBI patients who were managed non-operatively or failed to receive surgery while surgical services were shunted to more severely ill patients. While well intentioned, high mortality rates were still observed for the severe TBI patients managed surgically. These results suggest the need for future research to optimize triage practices, understand delay contributors, and improve pre-hospital logistical referral systems.

Keywords: care continuum, global neurosurgery, Kampala Uganda, LMIC, Mulago, traumatic brain injury

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Authors: Sima Modirkhamene, Arezoo Khezri

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The purpose of the present investigation was to probe the main motivational strategies Iranian school vs. institute teachers use in virtual and in-person classes to motivate students in learning the English language. Yet another purpose was to understand teachers’ perceptions about any modifications in their use of motivational strategies before and during/after the pandemic. For the purpose of this investigation, a total of 63 EFL teachers (35 female, 28 male) were conveniently sampled from schools and institutes in the cities of Mahabad and Sardasht. Moreover, for the interview phase of the study, 20 percent (n=16) of the sample was selected conveniently. The required data was gathered through a modified questionnaire (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007) consisting of 42 items and a set of semi-structured interviews. The outcomes of a set of non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrated that presenting tasks properly in online classes and familiarizing learners with L2- related values in in-person classes came out as the most influential source of motivational strategies practiced by EFL school teachers. Additionally, it was found that proper teacher behavior(showing enthusiasm) in both in-person and virtual classes and presenting tasks properly in in-person classes were overwhelmingly endorsed by EFL institute teachers. The study also portrayed no statistically significant mean difference between school and institute EFL teachers’ overall use of motivational strategies in virtual and in-person classes. The interview results indicated that the strategies of designing tasks through technological aids, provision of videos, gamification techniques, assigning projects, and delivering formative online feedback were held in high regard during/after the pandemic due to the high reliance of teaching on the Internet connection. Meanwhile, the research has indicated that the spread of COVID-19 was the main reason for teachers’ modifications in motivational strategies, in response to the crisis of the pandemic, all educational contexts at all levels resorted to online education as a result their strategies were adapted to the new situation. The findings brought to light through this investigation provided initial evidence of the unintended consequences of the pandemic on teachers’ strategic choices. Therefore, to deliver a better education for the future, the study suggests more concentration on the quality of teaching as well as reframing the status quo of teaching .

Keywords: virtual teaching, motivational teaching strategies, teaching context, online education

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Authors: Dr Grace Scaplehorn, Mr Muhammad Adeel Akhtar, Dr Jane Gibson

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Background: Canoe Slalom entails the skilful navigation of a carbon composite canoe or kayak through a series of 18-25 hanging gates, strategically positioned along the course, either upstream or downstream, amidst currents of whitewater rapids in natural and man-made river settings. Athletes compete individually in timed trials, competing for the fastest course time, typically around 80 to 120 seconds. In the new discipline of Kayak Cross, descents of the course are initiated by groups of four athletes freefalling simultaneously from a starting platform situated 3m above the river. Kayak Cross athletes, in contrast to Canoe Slalom, can make physical contact with suspended gates without incurring time penalties and are required to perform a kayak roll half way down the course. The Canoe Slalom World Championships were held at Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, London, from 19th to 24th September 2023. The event comprised 299 international athletes competing for 10 World Championship titles in Canoe/Kayak Slalom events (Olympic Debut Munich 1972), and the new Kayak Cross discipline (Olympic Debut Paris 2024). The inaugural appearance of Kayak Cross at the World Championships occurred in 2017, in Pau, France. There is limited literature surrounding Kayak Cross and the incidence of athlete injuries compared to traditional Canoe Slalom, hence it was felt important to undertake this review to address the perception that the event is dangerous. Aim: The study aimed to quantify and collate data collected from athletes presenting to the event medical centre. Methods: Athletes’ details were collected at initial assessments from the start of the practice period (16th–18th September) and throughout the event. Demographics such as age, sex and nationality were recorded along with presenting complaints, treatment, medication administered and outcome. Specifically, injuries were then sub-classified into body regions. The data does not include athletes who sought medical attention from their own governing body’s medical team. Results: During the 8-day period, there were 11 individual presentations to the medical centre, 3.7% of the athlete population (n=299). The mean age was 23.9 years (n=7), 6 were male (n=10). The most common presentation was minor injury (n=9), with 6 being musculoskeletal and 3 comprising skin damage, followed by insect sting/allergy (n=1) and pain relief requests (n=1). Five presentations were event-related, all being musculoskeletal injuries; 2 shoulder/arm, 1 head/neck, 1 hand/wrist and 1 other (data was not recorded). Of these injuries, the only intervention was 2 cases of 400mg Ibuprofen, which was given to both shoulder/arm injuries. Four of the 11 presentations were pre-existing injuries, which had been exacerbated due to increased intensity of practice. Two patients were advised to return for review, with 100% compliance. There were no unplanned re-presentations, and no emergency transfers to secondary care. Both the Kayak Cross and Canoe Slalom competitions resulted in 1 new event-related athlete presentation each. Conclusion: The event resulted in a negligible incidence of presentations at the medical centre, for both Kayak Cross and Canoe Slalom. This data holds significance in informing risk assessments and medical protocols necessary for the organisation of canoe slalom events.

Keywords: canoe slalom, kayak cross, athlete injuries, event injuries

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Authors: Varinder Kaur Gambhir, Neema Gupta, Sonal Tickoo Chaudhuri

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Bengaluru, a rapidly growing metropolis in India, with a population of 12.5 million citizens, generates 5,757 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. Despite their invaluable contribution to waste management, society and the economy, waste pickers face significant stigma, suspicion and contempt and are left with a sense of shame about their work. In this context, BBC Media Action was funded by the H&M Foundation to develop a 3-year multi-phase social media campaign to shift perceptions of waste picking and informal waste pickers amongst the Bengaluru population. Research has been used to inform project strategy and adaptation, at all stages. Formative research to inform campaign strategy used mixed methods– 14 focused group discussions followed by 406 online surveys – to explore people’s knowledge of, and attitudes towards waste pickers, and identify potential barriers and motivators to changing perceptions. Use of qualitative techniques like metaphor maps (using bank of pictures rather than direct questions to understand mindsets) helped establish the invisibility of informal waste pickers, and the quantitative research enabled audience segmentation based on attitudes towards informal waste pickers. To pretest the campaign idea, eight I-GDs (individual interaction followed by group discussions) were conducted to allow interviewees to first freely express their feelings individually, before discussing in a group. Robert Plucthik’s ‘wheel of emotions’ was used to understand audience’s emotional response to the content. A robust monitoring and evaluation is being conducted (baseline and first phase of monitoring already completed) using a rotating longitudinal panel of 1,800 social media users (exposed and unexposed to the campaign), recruited face to face and representative of the social media universe of Bengaluru city. In addition, qualitative in-depth interviews are being conducted after each phase to better understand change drivers. The research methodology and ethical protocols for impact evaluation have been independently reviewed by an Institutional Review Board. Formative research revealed that while waste on the streets is visible and is of concern to the public, informal waste pickers are virtually ‘invisible’, for most people in Bengaluru Pretesting research revealed that the creative outputs evoked emotions like acceptance and gratitude towards waste-pickers, suggesting that the content had the potential to encourage attitudinal change. After the first phase of campaign, social media analytics show that #Invaluables content reached at least 2.6 million unique people (21% of the Bengaluru population) through Facebook and Instagram. Further, impact monitoring results show significant improvements in spontaneous awareness of different segments of informal waste pickers ( such as sorters at scrap shops or dry waste collection centres -from 10% at baseline to 16% amongst exposed and no change amongst unexposed), recognition that informal waste pickers help the environment (71% at baseline to 77% among exposed and no change among unexposed) and greater discussion about informal waste pickers among those exposed (60%) as against not exposed (49%). Using the insights from this research, the planned social media intervention is designed to increase the visibility of and appreciation for the work of waste pickers in Bengaluru, supporting a more inclusive society.

Keywords: awareness, discussion, discrimination, informal waste pickers, invisibility, social media campaign, waste management

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Authors: Rigas Kotsakis, Nikolaos Tsigilis, Vasilis Grammatikopoulos, Evridiki Zachopoulou

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During the last decade, Greece has faced an unprecedented financial crisis, affecting various aspects and functionalities of Higher Education. Besides the restricted funding of academic institutions, the students and their families encountered economical difficulties that undoubtedly influenced the effective completion of their studies. In this context, a fairly large number of students in Alexander campus of International Hellenic University (IHU) delay, interrupt, or even abandon their studies, especially when they come from low-income families, belong to sensitive social or special needs groups, they have different cultural origins, etc. For this reason, a European project, named “Umbrella”, was initiated aiming at providing the necessary psychological support and counseling, especially to disadvantaged students, towards the completion of their studies. To this end, a network of various academic members (academic staff and students) from IHU, namely iMentor, were implicated in different roles. Specifically, experienced academic staff trained students to serve as intermediate links for the integration and educational support of students that fall into the aforementioned sensitive social groups and face problems for the completion of their studies. The main idea of the project is held upon its person-centered character, which facilitates direct student-to-student communication without the intervention of the teaching staff. The backbone of the iMentors network are senior students that face no problem in their academic life and volunteered for this project. It should be noted that there is a provision from the Umbrella structure for substantial and ethical rewards for their engagement. In this context, a well-defined, stringent methodology was implemented for the evaluation of the extent of the problem in IHU and the detection of the profile of the “candidate” disadvantaged students. The first phase included two steps, (a) data collection and (b) data cleansing/ preprocessing. The first step involved the data collection process from the Secretary Services of all Schools in IHU, from 1980 to 2019, which resulted in 96.418 records. The data set included the School name, the semester of studies, a student enrolling criteria, the nationality, the graduation year or the current, up-to-date academic state (still studying, delayed, dropped off, etc.). The second step of the employed methodology involved the data cleansing/preprocessing because of the existence of “noisy” data, missing and erroneous values, etc. Furthermore, several assumptions and grouping actions were imposed to achieve data homogeneity and an easy-to-interpret subsequent statistical analysis. Specifically, the duration of 40 years recording was limited to the last 15 years (2004-2019). In 2004 the Greek Technological Institutions were evolved into Higher Education Universities, leading into a stable and unified frame of graduate studies. In addition, the data concerning active students were excluded from the analysis since the initial processing effort was focused on the detection of factors/variables that differentiated graduate and deleted students. The final working dataset included 21.432 records with only two categories of students, those that have a degree and those who abandoned their studies. Findings of the first phase are presented across faculties and further discussed.

Keywords: higher education, students support, economic crisis, mentoring

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Authors: S. Vaibhav Kant Sahu, Surabhi Bipin Seth

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Human well-being has multiple constituents including the basic material for a good life, freedom and choice, health, good social relations, and security. Poverty is also multidimensional and has been defined as the pronounced deprivation of well-being. Dhurwa tribe of Bastar (India) have symbiotic relation with nature, it provisions ecosystem service such as food, fuel and fiber; regulating services such as climate regulation and non-material benefits such as spiritual or aesthetic benefits and they are managing their forest from ages. The demand for ecosystem services is now so great that trade-off among services become rule. Aim of study to explore evidences for linkages between ecosystem services and well-being of indigenous community, how much it helps them in poverty reduction and interaction between them. Objective of study was to find drivers of change and evidence concerning link between ecosystem, human development and sustainability, evidence in decision making does it opt for multi sectoral objectives. Which means human well-being as the central focus for assessment, while recognizing that biodiversity and ecosystems also have intrinsic value. Ecosystem changes that may have little impact on human well-being over days or weeks may have pronounced impacts over years or decades; so assessments needed to be conducted at spatial and temporal scales under social, political, economic scales to have high-resolution data. Researcher used framework developed by Millennium ecosystem assessment; since human action now directly or unknowingly virtually alter ecosystem. Researcher used ethnography study to get primary qualitative data, secondary data collected from panchayat office. The responses were transcribed and translated into English, as interview held in Hindi and local indigenous language. Focus group discussion were held with group of 10 women at Tiriya village. Researcher concluded with well-being is not just gap between ecosystem service supply but also increases vulnerability. Decision can have consequences external to the decision framework these consequences are called externalities because they are not part of the decision-making calculus.

Keywords: Bastar, Dhurwa tribe, ecosystem services, millennium ecosystem assessment, sustainability

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Authors: Alison Marshall

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“Santo Niño in Canada – Religion, Migration, and the Filipino Underside” seeks to explore the intersection of religion, migration and the Filipino underside through research participant narratives, archival research, and fieldwork on the cult of Santo Niño in Canada. Santo Niño is the single most revered saint in Filipino religiosity. According to popular lore, the original statue of Santo Niño was brought to the Philippines by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, who claimed the islands on behalf of Spain. While Santo Niño is meant to be a manifestation of Jesus as a child, in Filipino thought and culture he very much resembles pre-Hispanic spirits, as well as patron saints introduced by the Spanish. Santo Niño shrines appear in churches, restaurants, businesses, and homes throughout the diaspora suggesting that he was much more than a Catholic image. He represents a deity who often shares a business or home shrine with non-Christian statues such as lucky cats, the Buddha, Guanyin, and Guangong, and sometimes the Chinese God of the Earth. He represents how Christian culture has been refashioned through indigenous, Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian influences. He embodies the religious superstructure that defines Christian piety and habits. On the one hand, he stands for Jesus, a pious son of God, and yet, on the other hand, he can be a simple vindictive child who punishes those who ignore him. Santo Niño is a complex character linked to the past before Christianity. As Filipinos engage with Santo Niño in Canada, they connect to him as Jesus, the son of God. They are also connecting to a childlike figure who sometimes uses his spiritual power to punish. A hybrid figure who comes came into being at the beginning of the Spanish colonial moment, he is maintained throughout the American one and continues to be a powerful reminder of Filipino identity and resilience when people leave the Philippines for migrant work. As this paper argues, Santo Niño beliefs, practices, and stories unite people in the diaspora regardless of language, gender, or nation. Santo Niño enables one to think about and understand what it means to be Filipino and living migrant lives in the diaspora today. In this way, the cult of Santo Niño expresses both Catholic orthodoxy and the heterodox Filipino underside that includes the use of magical amulets, healing, visions, and spirit mediumship.

Keywords: ethnography, migration, Philippines, religion

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Authors: Manutchanok Jongprasithporn, Rawiphorn Srivilai, Paweena Pongsopha

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Fall is the most serious accident leading to increased unintentional injuries and mortality. Falls are not only the cause of suffering and functional impairments to the individuals, but also the cause of increasing medical cost and days away from work. The early detection of falls could be an advantage to reduce fall-related injuries and consequences of falls. Smartphones, embedded accelerometer, have become a common device in everyday life due to decreasing technology cost. This paper explores a physical activity monitoring and fall detection application in smartphones which is a non-invasive biomedical device to determine physical activities and fall event. The combination of application and sensors could perform as a biomedical sensor to monitor physical activities and recognize a fall. We have chosen Android-based smartphone in this study since android operating system is an open-source and no cost. Moreover, android phone users become a majority of Thai’s smartphone users. We developed Thai 3 Axis (TH3AX) as a physical activities and fall detection application which included command, manual, results in Thai language. The smartphone was attached to right hip of 10 young, healthy adult subjects (5 males, 5 females; aged< 35y) to collect accelerometer and gyroscope data during performing physical activities (e.g., walking, running, sitting, and lying down) and falling to determine threshold for each activity. Dependent variables are including accelerometer data (acceleration, peak acceleration, average resultant acceleration, and time between peak acceleration). A repeated measures ANOVA was performed to test whether there are any differences between DVs’ means. Statistical analyses were considered significant at p<0.05. After finding threshold, the results were used as training data for a predictive model of activity recognition. In the future, accuracies of activity recognition will be performed to assess the overall performance of the classifier. Moreover, to help improve the quality of life, our system will be implemented with patients and elderly people who need intensive care in hospitals and nursing homes in Thailand.

Keywords: activity recognition, accelerometer, fall, gyroscope, smartphone

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Authors: J. Banski

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Regardless of residence place, the type of business and the social system, an individual or groups of people use the accumulated knowledge and continuously deepen and expand its scope. Knowledge is needed by human beings to carry out certain tasks, achieve desired goals or make decisions. Knowledge is an attribute of the people of a region and is identified with the total experience and information that its residents and institutions possess, including the ability to use it. It is subject to constant development, which is the result of both the deepening and exchange of knowledge among the residents of a particular area, as well as the influx of knowledge with newly arriving residents. A good example of the aforementioned processes is in rural areas, where we are dealing with two basic groups of people between whom knowledge transfer takes place. The first group is made up of people who have lived in the village for a long time, while the second group is made up of people who migrate temporarily or permanently to the countryside. The English-language literature uses the terms oldtimers and newcomers for these groups, respectively. Newcomers, usually possessing different life experiences, cultural patterns and competencies, can be rich sources of knowledge for villagers. At the same time, the latter, with different knowledge and experience, along with knowledge of local conditions and customs, can also be an important source of knowledge for incomers to the countryside. The countryside is a particularly interesting environment for studying social interactions and the accompanying transfer of knowledge. This is because it is characterized by a high intensity of neighborly contact and a high level of trust in the private sphere. As a result of the migratory influx of new residents, the social and cultural image of the countryside is changing due to the interpenetration of urban and rural life patterns. Research on rural-urban knowledge transfer is both an opportunity to halt negative trends in the social and economic development of rural areas and support the establishment of a basis for rural renewal. This paper discusses the results of research on urban-rural knowledge transfer based on case studies carried out in a dozen villages from different regions of Poland. Their purpose was to answer three basic research questions: 1) what types of knowledge are transferred between urban and rural residents? 2) what are the main directions and intensity in knowledge transfer? And 3) what are the consequences of knowledge transfer between urban and rural residents?

Keywords: rural areas, villages, newcomers, knowledge transfer, Poland

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Authors: Jinghui Wang, Minjie Xing

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The increasing number of international students for doctoral education has brought vitality and diversity to the educational environment in China, and at the same time constituted a new challenge to the English teaching in the higher education as the majority of international students come from developing countries where English is not their first language. To make their contribution to knowledge development and technical innovation, these international doctoral students need to present their research work in English, locally and globally. This study reports an exploratory study with an emphasis on the cognition and construction of academic discourse in the multicultural context. The present study aims to explore ways to better prepare them for international academic exchange in English. Voluntarily, all international doctoral students (n = 81) from 35 countries enrolled in the English Course: Speaking and Writing as a New Scientist, participated in the study. Two research questions were raised: 1) What did these doctoral students say about their cognition and construction of English academic discourses? 2) How did they manage to develop their productive skills in a multicultural context? To answer the research questions, data were collected from self-reports, in-depth interviews, and video-recorded class observations. The major findings of the study suggest that the participants to varying degrees benefitted from the cognition and construction of English academic discourse in the multicultural context. Specifically, 1) The cognition and construction of meta-discourse allowed them to construct their own academic discourses in English; 2) In the light of Swales’ CARS Model, they became sensitive to the “moves” involved in the published papers closely related to their study, and learned to use them in their English academic discourses; 3) Multimodality-driven presentation (multimedia modes) enabled these doctoral student to have their voice heard for technical innovation purposes; 4) Speaking as a new scientist, every doctoral student felt happy and able to serve as an intercultural mediator in the multicultural context, bridging the gap between their home culture and the global culture; and most importantly, 5) most of the participants reported developing an English discourse community among international doctoral students, becoming resourceful and productive in the multicultural context. It is concluded that the cognition and construction of academic discourse in the multicultural context proves to be conducive to the productivity and intercultural citizenship education of international doctoral students.

Keywords: academic discourse, international doctoral students, meta-discourse, multicultural context

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Authors: Gayani Ranawake

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Effective communication is widely regarded as an important aspect of any discipline. This particular study deals with written communication in science. Writing conventions and linguistic choices play a key role in conveying the message effectively to a target audience. Scientists are responsible for conveying their findings or research results not only to their discourse community but also to the general public. Recognizing appropriate linguistic choices is crucial since they vary depending on the target audience. The majority of scientists can communicate effectively with their discourse community, but public engagement seems more challenging to them. There is a lack of research into the language use of scientists, and in particular how it varies by discipline and audience (genre). A better understanding of the different linguistic conventions used in effective science writing by scientists for scientists and by scientists for the public will help to guide scientists who are familiar with their discourse community norms to write effectively for the public. This study investigates the differences and similarities of linguistic choices in biology articles written by scientists for their discourse community and biology magazine articles written by scientists and science communicators for the general public. This study is a part of a larger project investigating linguistic differences in different genres of science academic writing. The sample for this particular study is composed of 20 research articles from the journal Biological Reviews and 20 magazine articles from the magazine Australian Popular Science. Differences in the linguistic devices were analyzed using Hyland’s metadiscourse model for academic writing proposed in 2005. The frequency of the usage of interactive resources (transitions, frame markers, endophoric markers, evidentials and code glosses) and interactional resources (hedges, boosters, attitude markers, self-mentions and engagement markers) were compared and contrasted using the NVivo textual analysis tool. The results clearly show the differences in the frequency of usage of interactional and interactive resources in the two disciplines under investigation. The findings of this study provide a reference guide for scientists and science writers to understand the differences in the linguistic choices between the two genres. This will be particularly helpful for scientists who are proficient at writing for their discourse community, but not for the public.

Keywords: discourse analysis, linguistic choices, metadiscourse, science writing

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Authors: Yasmin A. M. Ferreira, Ana C. K. Pelissari, Sofia De C. F. Vicente, Raquel M. Da S. Campos, Deborah C. L. Masquio, Lian Tock, Lila M. Oyama, Flavia C. Corgosinho, Valter T. Boldarine, Ana R. Dâmaso

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The prevalence of overweight and obesity is growing around the world and currently considered a global epidemic. Food and nutrition are essential requirements for promoting health and protecting non-communicable chronic diseases, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. Specific dietary components may modulate the inflammation and oxidative stress in obese individuals. Few studies have investigated the dietary Inflammation Factor Rating (IFR) in obese adolescents. The IFR was developed to characterize an individual´s diet on anti- to pro-inflammatory score. This evaluation contributes to investigate the effects of inflammatory diet in metabolic profile in several individual conditions. Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary weight loss therapy on inflammation factor rating and cardiometabolic risk in obese adolescents. Methods: A total of 26 volunteers (14-19 y.o) were recruited and submitted to 20 weeks interdisciplinary therapy allied to health education website- Ciclo do Emagrecimento®, including clinical, nutritional, psychological counseling and exercise training. The body weight was monitored weekly by self-report and photo. The adolescents answered a test to evaluate the knowledge of the topics covered in the videos. A 24h dietary record was applied at the baseline and after 20 weeks to assess the food intake and to calculate IFR. A negative IFR suggests that diet may have inflammatory effects and a positive IFR indicates an anti-inflammatory effect. Statistical analysis was performed using the program STATISTICA version 12.5 for Windows. The adopted significant value was α ≤ 5 %. Data normality was verified with the Kolmogorov Smirnov test. Data were expressed as mean±SD values. To analyze the effects of intervention it was applied test t. Pearson´s correlations test was performed. Results: After 20 weeks of treatment, body mass index (BMI), body weight, body fat (kg and %), abdominal and waist circumferences decreased significantly. The mean of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) increased after the therapy. Moreover, it was found an improvement of inflammation factor rating from -427,27±322,47 to -297,15±240,01, suggesting beneficial effects of nutritional counselling. Considering the correlations analysis, it was found that pro-inflammatory diet is associated with increase in the BMI, very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL), triglycerides, insulin and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR); while an anti-inflammatory diet is associated with improvement of HDL-c and insulin sensitivity Check index (QUICKI). Conclusion: The 20-week blended multidisciplinary therapy was effective to reduce body weight, anthropometric circumferences and improve inflammatory markers in obese adolescents. In addition, our results showed that an increase in inflammatory profile diet is associated with cardiometabolic parameters, suggesting the relevance to stimulate anti-inflammatory diet habits as an effective strategy to treat and control of obesity and related comorbidities. Financial Support: FAPESP (2017/07372-1) and CNPq (409943/2016-9)

Keywords: cardiometabolic risk, inflammatory diet, multidisciplinary therapy, obesity

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Authors: Robbi Beyer, Tiffanye Vargas, Margaret Flores

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Within the United States, youths with hidden disabilities (specific learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, emotional behavioral disorders, mild intellectual disabilities and speech/language disorders) can often be part of the kindergarten through twelfth grade school population. Because individuals with hidden disabilities have no apparent physical disability, learning difficulties may be overlooked and these youths may be mistakenly labeled as unmotivated, or defiant because they don't understand and follow directions, or maintain enough attention to remember and perform. These behaviors are considered especially challenging for youth sport coaches to manage and they often find it difficult to successfully select and deliver effective accommodations for the athletes. These deficits can be remediated and compensated through the use of research-validated strategies and instructional methods. However, while these techniques are commonly included in teacher preparation, they rarely, if ever, are included in coaching preparation. Therefore, the purpose of this presentation is to summarize consecutive research studies that examined coaching education within the United States for youth athletes with hidden disabilities. Each study utilized a questionnaire format to collect data from coaches on attitudes, efficacy and solutions for addressing challenging behaviors. Results indicated that although the majority of coaches’ attitudes were positive and they perceived themselves confident in working with athletes who have hidden disabilities, there were significant differences in the understanding of appropriate teaching strategies and techniques for this population. For example, when asked to describe a videotaped situation of why an athlete is not performing correctly, coaches often found the athlete to be at fault, as opposed to considering the possibility of faulty directions, or the need for accommodations in teaching/coaching style. When considering coaches’ preparation, 83% of participants declared they were inadequately prepared to coach athletes with hidden disabilities and 92% strongly supported improved preparation for coaches. The comprehensive examination of coaches’ perceptions and efficacy in working with youth athletes with hidden disabilities has provided valuable insight and highlights the need for continued research in this area.

Keywords: health, hidden disabilties, physical activity, youth recreational sports

Procedia PDF Downloads 328

Authors: Chia-Pei Chen, Yu-Ju Chen, Yu-Juei Hsu

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The prevalence and incidence of end-stage renal disease in Taiwan ranks the highest in the world. According to the statistical survey of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2019, kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in Taiwan. It leads to autonomic dysfunction, inflammatory response and symptom distress, and further increases the damage to the structure and function of the kidneys, leading to increased demand for renal replacement therapy and risks of cardiovascular disease, which also has medical costs for the society. If we can intervene in a feasible manual to effectively regulate the autonomic nerve function of CKD patients, reduce the inflammatory response and symptom distress. To prolong the progression of the disease, it will be the main goal of caring for CKD patients. This study aims to test the effect of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVBF) on improving autonomic nerve function (Heart Rate Variability, HRV), inflammatory response (Interleukin-6 [IL-6], C reaction protein [CRP] ), symptom distress (Piper fatigue scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI], and Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II] ) in patients with chronic kidney disease. This study was experimental research, with a convenience sampling. Participants were recruited from the nephrology clinic at a medical center in northern Taiwan. With signed informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to the HRVBF or control group by using the Excel BINOMDIST function. The HRVBF group received four weekly hospital-based HRVBF training, and 8 weeks of home-based self-practice was done with StressEraser. The control group received usual care. We followed all participants for 3 months, in which we repeatedly measured their autonomic nerve function (HRV), inflammatory response (IL-6, CRP), and symptom distress (Piper fatigue scale, PSQI, and BDI-II) on their first day of study participation (baselines), 1 month, and 3 months after the intervention to test the effects of HRVBF. The results were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0 statistical software. The data of demographics, HRV, IL-6, CRP, Piper fatigue scale, PSQI, and BDI-II were analyzed by descriptive statistics. To test for differences between and within groups in all outcome variables, it was used by paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Thirty-four patients with chronic kidney disease were enrolled, but three of them were lost to follow-up. The remaining 31 patients completed the study, including 15 in the HRVBF group and 16 in the control group. The characteristics of the two groups were not significantly different. The four-week hospital-based HRVBF training combined with eight-week home-based self-practice can effectively enhance the parasympathetic nerve performance for patients with chronic kidney disease, which may against the disease-related parasympathetic nerve inhibition. In the inflammatory response, IL-6 and CRP in the HRVBF group could not achieve significant improvement when compared with the control group. Self-reported fatigue and depression significantly decreased in the HRVBF group, but they still failed to achieve a significant difference between the two groups. HRVBF has no significant effect on improving the sleep quality for CKD patients.

Keywords: heart rate variability biofeedback, autonomic nerve function, inflammatory response, symptom distress, chronic kidney disease

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Authors: Tesfaye Mengistu

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Power cables play a crucial role in the transmission and distribution of electrical energy. As the electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and storage systems become smarter, there is a growing emphasis on incorporating intelligent approaches to ensure the reliability of power cables. Various types of electrical cables are employed for transmitting and distributing electrical energy, with cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables being widely utilized due to their exceptional electrical and mechanical properties. However, insulation defects can occur in XLPE cables due to subpar manufacturing techniques during production and cable joint installation. To address this issue, experts have proposed different methods for monitoring XLPE cables. Some suggest the use of interdigital capacitive (IDC) technology for online monitoring, while others propose employing continuous wave (CW) terahertz (THz) imaging systems to detect internal defects in XLPE plates used for power cable insulation. In this study, we have developed models that employ a custom dataset collected locally to classify the physical safety status of individual power cables. Our models aim to replace physical inspections with computer vision and image processing techniques to classify defective power cables from non-defective ones. The implementation of our project utilized the Python programming language along with the TensorFlow package and a convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN-based algorithm was specifically chosen for power cable defect classification. The results of our project demonstrate the effectiveness of CNNs in accurately classifying power cable defects. We recommend the utilization of similar or additional datasets to further enhance and refine our models. Additionally, we believe that our models could be used to develop methodologies for detecting power cable defects from live video feeds. We firmly believe that our work makes a significant contribution to the field of power cable inspection and maintenance. Our models offer a more efficient and cost-effective approach to detecting power cable defects, thereby improving the reliability and safety of power grids.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, computer vision, defect detection, convolutional neural net

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Authors: Tawatchai Apidechkul

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This operational research was conducted and divided into two phases: the first phase aimed to determine the risk behaviors used a cross-sectional study design, following by the community participatory research design to develop the HIV/AIDS preventive model among the Akha youths. The instruments were composed of completed questionnaires and assessment forms that were tested for validity and reliability before use. Study setting was Jor Pa Ka and Saen Suk Akha villages, Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Study sample were the Akha youths lived in the villages. Means and chi-square test were used for the statistical testing. Results: Akha youths in the population mobilization villages live in agricultural families with low income and circumstance of narcotic drugs. The average age was 16 (50.00%), 51.52% Christian, 48.80% completed secondary school, 43.94% had annual family income of 30,000-40,000 baht. Among males, 54.54% drank, 39.39% smoked, 7.57% used amphetamine, first sexual intercourse reported at 14 years old, 50.00% had 2-5 partners, 62.50% had unprotected sex (no-condom). Reasons of unprotected sex included not being able to find condom, unawareness of need to use condoms, and dislike. 28.79% never been received STI related information, 6.06% had STI. Among females, 15.15% drank, 28.79% had sexual intercourse and had first sexual intercourse less than 15 year old. 40.00% unprotected sex (no-condom), 10.61% never been received STI related information, and 4.54% had STI. The HIV/AIDS preventive model contained two components. Peer groups among the youths were built around interests in sports. Improving knowledge would empower their capability and lead to choices that would result in HIV/AIDS prevention. The empowering model consisted of 4 courses: a. human reproductive system and its hygiene, b. risk-avoid skills, family planning, and counseling techniques, c. HIV/AIDS and other STIs, d. drugs and related laws and regulations. The results of the activities found that youths had a greater of knowledge and attitude levels for HIV/AIDS prevention with statistical significance (χ2-τεστ= 12.87, p-value= 0.032 and χ2-τεστ= 9.31, p-value<0.001 respectively). A continuous and initiative youths capability development program is the appropriate process to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in youths, particularly in the population who have the specific of language and culture.

Keywords: AIV/AIDS, preventive program, effective, hill tribe

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Authors: Lucas Berrini

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Academic libraries have always struggled with engaging with students and faculty. Striking the balance between what the community needs and what the library can afford has also been a point of contention for libraries. As academia begins to return to a new normal after COVID, library staff are rethinking how remind patrons that the library is open and ready for business. NC Wesleyan, a small liberal arts school in eastern North Carolina, decided to be proactive and reach out to the academic community. After shutting down in 2020 for COVID, the campus library saw a marked decrease in in-person attendance. For a small school whose operational budget was tied directly to tuition payments, it was imperative for the library to remind faculty and staff that they were open for business. At the beginning of the Summer 2022 term and continuing into the fall, the reference team created a marketing plan using email, physical meetings, and virtual events targeted at students and faculty as well as community members who utilized the facilities prior to COVID. The email blasts were gentle reminders that the building was open and available for use The target audiences were the community at large. Several of the emails contained reminders of previous events in the library that were student centered. The next phase of the email campaign centers on reminding the community about the libraries physical and electronic resources, including the makerspace lab. Language will indicate that student voices are needed, and a QR code is included for students to leave feedback as to what they want to see in the library. The final phase of the email blasts were faculty focused and invited them to connect with library reference staff for an in-person consultation on their research needs. While this phase is ongoing, the response has been positive, and staff are compiling data in hopes of working with administration to implement some of the requested services and materials. These email blasts will be followed up by in-person meetings with faculty and students who responded to the QR codes. This research is ongoing. This type of targeted outreach is new for Wesleyan. It is the hope of the library that by the end of Fall 2022, there will be a plan in place to address the needs and concerns of the students and faculty. Furthermore, the staff hopes to create a new sense of community for the students and staff of the university.

Keywords: academic, education, libraries, outreach

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Authors: George Kyriakopoulos, Photini Pazartzis, Anthi Koskina, Crystalie Bourcha

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The need for securing safe access to and return from outer space, as well as ensuring the viability of outer space operations, maintains vivid the debate over the promotion of organization of space traffic through a Space Traffic Management System (STM). The proliferation of outer space activities in recent years as well as the dynamic emergence of the private sector has gradually resulted in a diverse universe of actors operating in outer space. The said developments created an increased adverse impact on outer space sustainability as the case of the growing number of space debris clearly demonstrates. The above landscape sustains considerable threats to outer space environment and its operators that need to be addressed by a combination of scientific-technological measures and regulatory interventions. In this context, recourse to recent technological advancements and, in particular, to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning systems, could achieve exponential results in promoting space traffic management with respect to collision avoidance as well as launch and re-entry procedures/phases. New technologies can support the prospects of a successful space traffic management system at an international scale by enabling, inter alia, timely, accurate and analytical processing of large data sets and rapid decision-making, more precise space debris identification and tracking and overall minimization of collision risks and reduction of operational costs. What is more, a significant part of space activities (i.e. launch and/or re-entry phase) takes place in airspace rather than in outer space, hence the overall discussion also involves the highly developed, both technically and legally, international (and national) Air Traffic Management System (ATM). Nonetheless, from a regulatory perspective, the use of AI for the purposes of space traffic management puts forward implications that merit particular attention. Key issues in this regard include the delimitation of AI-based activities as space activities, the designation of the applicable legal regime (international space or air law, national law), the assessment of the nature and extent of international legal obligations regarding space traffic coordination, as well as the appropriate liability regime applicable to AI-based technologies when operating for space traffic coordination, taking into particular consideration the dense regulatory developments at EU level. In addition, the prospects of institutionalizing international cooperation and promoting an international governance system, together with the challenges of establishment of a comprehensive international STM regime are revisited in the light of intervention of AI technologies. This paper aims at examining regulatory implications advanced by the use of AI technology in the context of space traffic management operations and its key correlating concepts (SSA, space debris mitigation) drawing in particular on international and regional considerations in the field of STM (e.g. UNCOPUOS, International Academy of Astronautics, European Space Agency, among other actors), the promising advancements of the EU approach to AI regulation and, last but not least, national approaches regarding the use of AI in the context of space traffic management, in toto. Acknowledgment: The present work was co-funded by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program "Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning " (NSRF 2014-2020), under the call "Supporting Researchers with an Emphasis on Young Researchers – Cycle B" (MIS: 5048145).

Keywords: artificial intelligence, space traffic management, space situational awareness, space debris

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Authors: Jiamin Chen, Liping Yang

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In 2007, sociologist Putnam proposed a pessimistic forecast in the United States' "Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey," suggesting that "ethnic diversity would challenge social unity and undermine social cohesion." If this pessimistic assumption were proven true, it would indicate a risk of division in diverse societies. China, with 56 ethnic groups, is a multi-ethnic country. On May 26, 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed "building ethnically inter-embedded communities to promote deeper development in interactions, exchanges, and integration among ethnic groups." Researchers unanimously agree that ethnic inter-embedded communities can serve as practical arenas and pathways for solidifying the sense of the Chinese national community However, there is no research providing evidence that ethnic inter-embedded communities can foster the sense of the Chinese national community, and the influencing factors remain unclear. This study adopts a constructivist grounded theory research approach. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling were used in the study. Data were collected in three communities in Kunming City. Twelve individuals were eventually interviewed, and the transcribed interviews totaled 187,000 words. The research has obtained ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Nanjing Normal University (NNU202310030). The research analyzed the data and constructed theories, employing strategies such as coding, constant comparison, and theoretical sampling. The study found that: firstly, ethnic inter-embedded communities exhibit characteristics of diversity, including ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity. Diversity has positive functions, including increased opportunities for contact, promoting self-expansion, and increasing happiness; negative functions of diversity include highlighting ethnic differences, causing ethnic conflicts, and reminding of ethnic boundaries. Secondly, individuals typically engage in interactions within the community using active embedding and passive embedding strategies. Active embedding strategies include maintaining openness, focusing on similarities, and pro-diversity beliefs, which can increase external group identification, intergroup relational identity, and promote ethnic integration. Individuals using passive embedding strategies tend to focus on ethnic stereotypes, perceive stigmatization of their own ethnic group, and adopt an authoritarian-oriented approach to interactions, leading to a perception of more identity threats and ultimately rejecting ethnic integration. Thirdly, the commonality of the Chinese nation is reflected in the 56 ethnic groups as an "identity community" and "interest community," and both active and passive embedding paths affect individual understanding of the commonality of the Chinese nation. Finally, community work and environment can influence the embedding process. The research constructed a social psychological process and mechanism model for solidifying sense of the Chinese national community in ethnic inter-embedded communities. Based on this theoretical model, future research can conduct more micro-level psychological mechanism tests and intervention studies to enhance Chinese national cohesion.

Keywords: diversity, sense of the chinese national community, ethnic inter-embedded communities, ethnic group

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Authors: Paris Binos

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The present work investigates developmental aspects of the duration of isolated vowels in infants with normal hearing compared to those who received cochlear implants (CIs) before two years of age. Infants with normal hearing produced shorter vowel duration since this find related with more mature production abilities. First isolated vowels are transparent during the protophonic stage as evidence of an increased motor and linguistic control. Vowel duration is a crucial factor for the transition of prelexical speech to normal adult speech. Despite current knowledge of data for infants with normal hearing more research is needed to unravel productions skills in early implanted children. Thus, isolated vowel productions by two congenitally hearing-impaired Greek infants (implantation ages 1:4-1:11; post-implant ages 0:6-1:3) were recorded and sampled for six months after implantation with a Nucleus-24. The results compared with the productions of three normal hearing infants (chronological ages 0:8-1:1). Vegetative data and vocalizations masked by external noise or sounds were excluded. Participants had no other disabilities and had unknown deafness etiology. Prior to implantation the infants had an average unaided hearing loss of 95-110 dB HL while the post-implantation PTA decreased to 10-38 dB HL. The current research offers a methodology for the processing of the prelinguistic productions based on a combination of acoustical and auditory analyses. Based on the current methodological framework, duration measured through spectrograms based on wideband analysis, from the voicing onset to the end of the vowel. The end marked by two co-occurring events: 1) The onset of aperiodicity with a rapid change in amplitude in the waveform and 2) a loss in formant’s energy. Cut-off levels of significance were set at 0.05 for all tests. Bonferroni post hoc tests indicated that difference was significant between the mean duration of vowels of infants wearing CIs and their normal hearing peers. Thus, the mean vowel duration of CIs measured longer compared to the normal hearing peers (0.000). The current longitudinal findings contribute to the existing data for the performance of children wearing CIs at a very young age and enrich also the data of the Greek language. The above described weakness for CI’s performance is a challenge for future work in speech processing and CI’s processing strategies.

Keywords: cochlear implant, duration, spectrogram, vowel

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Abiodun Afolabi, Rufus Adesoji Adedoyin

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This study investigated and compared the effects of gym-based exercise programme (GEBP) and audio-visual guided home-based exercise programme (AVGHBEP) on selected Anthropometric variables (Weight (W), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), Hip Circumference (HC), Thigh Circumference (TC), Waist-Hip-Ratio (WHR), Waist-Height-Ratio (WHtR), Waist-Thigh-Ratio (WTR), Biceps Skinfold Thickness (BSFT), Triceps Skinfold Thickness (TSFT), Suprailliac Skinfold Thickness (SISFT), Subscapular Skinfold Thickness (SSSFT) and Percent Body Fat (PBF)); and Cardiovasular variables (Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP), Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) and Heart Rate (HR)) of overweight and obese students of Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria, with a view to providing information and evidence for GBEP and AVGHBEP in reducing overweight and obesity for promoting cardiovascular fitness. Eighty overweight and obese students (BMI ≥ 25 Kg/m²) were involved in this pretest-posttest quasi experimental study. Participants were randomly assigned into GBEP (n = 40) and AVGBBEP (n = 40) groups. Anthropometric and cardiovascular variables were measured using a weighing scale, height meter, tape measure, skinfold caliper and electronic sphygmomanometer following standard protocols. GBEP and AVGHBEP were implemented following a circuit training (aerobic and resistance training) pattern with a duration of 40-60 minutes, thrice weekly for twelve weeks. GBEP consisted of gymnasium supervised exercise programme while AVGHBEP is a Visual Display guided exercise programme conducted at the home setting. Data were analyzed by Descriptive and Inferential Statistics. The mean ages of the participants were 22.55 ± 2.55 and 23.65 ± 2.89 years for the GBEP group and AVGHBEP group, respectively. Findings showed that in the GBEP group, there were significant reductions in anthropometric variables and adiposity measures of Weight, BMI, BSFT, TSFT, SISFT, SSSFT, WC, HC, TC, WHtR, and PBF at week 12 of the study. Similarly, in the AVGHBEP group, there were significant reductions in Weight, BMI, BSFT, TSFT, SISFT, SSSFT, WC, HC, TC, WHtR and PBF at the 12th week of intervention. Comparison of the effects of GEBP and AVGHBEP on anthropometric variables and measures of adiposity showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in weight, BMI, BSFT, TSFT, SISFT, SSSFT, WC, HC, TC, WHR, WHtR, WTR and PBF between the two groups at week 12 of the study. Furthermore, findings on the effects of exercise on programmes on cardiovascular variables revealed that significant reductions occurred in SBP in GBEP group and AVGHBEP group respectively. Comparison of the effects of GBEP and AVGHBEP on cardiovascular variables showed that there was no significant difference in SBP, DBP and HR between the two groups at week 12 of the study. It was concluded that the Audio-Visual Guided Home-based Exercise Programme was as effective as the Gym-Based Exercise Programme in causing a significant reduction in anthropometric variables and body fat among college students who are overweight and obese over a period of twelve weeks. Both Gymnasium-Based Exercise Programme and Audio-Visual Guided Home-Based Exercise Programme led to significant reduction in Systolic Blood Pressure over a period of weeks. Audio-Visual Guided Home-Based Exercise Programme can, therefore, be used as an alternative therapy in the non-pharmacological management of people who are overweight and obese.

Keywords: gym-based exercises, audio-visual guided home-based exercises, anthropometric parameters, cardiovascular parameters, overweight students, obese students

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Authors: Miguel Nino

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When considering the challenges of a changing and demanding globalizing world, it is important to reflect on how university students will be prepared for the realities of internationalization, marketization and intercultural conversation. The present study is an interdisciplinary program designed to respond to the needs of the global community. The proposal bridges the humanities and science through three different fields: Languages, graphic design and computer science, specifically, fundamentals of programming such as python, java script and software animation. Therefore, the goal of the four year program is twofold: First, enable students for intercultural communication between English and other languages such as Spanish, Mandarin, French or German. Second, students will acquire knowledge in practical software and relevant employable skills to collaborate in assisted computer projects that most probable will require essential programing background in interpreted or compiled languages. In order to become inclusive and constructivist, the cognitive linguistics approach is suggested for the three different fields, particularly for languages that rely on the traditional method of repetition. This methodology will help students develop their creativity and encourage them to become independent problem solving individuals, as languages enhance their common ground of interaction for culture and technology. Participants in this course of study will be evaluated in their second language acquisition at the Intermediate-High level. For graphic design and computer science students will apply their creative digital skills, as well as their critical thinking skills learned from the cognitive linguistics approach, to collaborate on a group project design to find solutions for media web design problems or marketing experimentation for a company or the community. It is understood that it will be necessary to apply programming knowledge and skills to deliver the final product. In conclusion, the program equips students with linguistics knowledge and skills to be competent in intercultural communication, where English, the lingua franca, remains the medium for marketing and product delivery. In addition to their employability, students can expand their knowledge and skills in digital humanities, computational linguistics, or increase their portfolio in advertising and marketing. These students will be the global human capital for the competitive globalizing community.

Keywords: curriculum, international, languages, technology

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Authors: Rafal Bryk, Holger Schmidt, Thomas Mull, Ingo Ganzmann, Oliver Herbst

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Prediction of the two-phase water mixture level during fast depressurization of the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) resulting from an accident scenario is an important issue from the view point of the reactor safety. Since the level swell may influence the behavior of some passive safety systems, it has been recognized that an assumption which at the beginning may be considered as a conservative one, not necessary leads to a conservative result. This paper discusses outcomes obtained during simulations of the water dynamics and heat transfer during sudden depressurization of a vessel filled up to a certain level with liquid water under saturation conditions and with the rest of the vessel occupied by saturated steam. In case of the pressure decrease e.g. due to the main steam line break, the liquid water evaporates abruptly, being a reason thereby, of strong transients in the vessel. These transients and the sudden emergence of void in the region occupied at the beginning by liquid, cause elevation of the two-phase mixture. In this work, several models calculating the water collapse and swell levels are presented and validated against experimental data. Each of the models uses different approach to calculate void fraction. The object-oriented models were developed with the Modelica modelling language and the OpenModelica environment. The models represent the RPV of the Integral Test Facility Karlstein (INKA) – a dedicated test rig for simulation of KERENA – a new Boiling Water Reactor design of Framatome. The models are based on dynamic mass and energy equations. They are divided into several dynamic volumes in each of which, the fluid may be single-phase liquid, steam or a two-phase mixture. The heat transfer between the wall of the vessel and the fluid is taken into account. Additional heat flow rate may be applied to the first volume of the vessel in order to simulate the decay heat of the reactor core in a similar manner as it is simulated at INKA. The comparison of the simulations results against the reference data shows a good agreement.

Keywords: boiling water reactor, level swell, Modelica, RPV depressurization, thermal-hydraulics

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Authors: Airy Huang, Fuji Foo, Aries Prasetya Wibowo

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In recent years, the focus of Natural Language Processing (NLP) development has been gradually shifting from the semantics-based approach to deep learning one, which performs faster with fewer resources. Although it performs well in many applications, the deep learning approach, due to the lack of semantics understanding, has difficulties in noticing and expressing a novel business case with a pre-defined scope. In order to meet the requirements of specific robotic services, deep learning approach is very labor-intensive and time consuming. It is very difficult to improve the capabilities of conversational AI in a short time, and it is even more difficult to self-learn from experiences to deliver the same service in a better way. In this paper, we present an adaptive conversational AI algorithm that combines both semantic knowledge and deep learning to address this issue by learning new business cases through conversations. After self-learning from experience, the robot adapts to the business cases originally out of scope. The idea is to build new or extended robotic services in a systematic and fast-training manner with self-configured programs and constructed dialog flows. For every cycle in which a chat bot (conversational AI) delivers a given set of business cases, it is trapped to self-measure its performance and rethink every unknown dialog flows to improve the service by retraining with those new business cases. If the training process reaches a bottleneck and incurs some difficulties, human personnel will be informed of further instructions. He or she may retrain the chat bot with newly configured programs, or new dialog flows for new services. One approach employs semantics analysis to learn the dialogues for new business cases and then establish the necessary ontology for the new service. With the newly learned programs, it completes the understanding of the reaction behavior and finally uses dialog flows to connect all the understanding results and programs, achieving the goal of self-learning process. We have developed a chat bot service mounted on a kiosk, with a camera for facial recognition and a directional microphone array for voice capture. The chat bot serves as a concierge with polite conversation for visitors. As a proof of concept. We have demonstrated to complete 90% of reception services with limited self-learning capability.

Keywords: conversational AI, chatbot, dialog management, semantic analysis

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Authors: Igor A. Bessmertny, Bidru C. Enkomaryam

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Active involving patients and communities in health decisions can improve both people’s health and the healthcare system. Adopting artificial intelligence can lead to more accurate and complete patient record management. This review aims to identify the current state of researches conducted using artificial intelligence techniques to improve patient engagement and wellbeing, medical domains used in patient engagement context, and lastly, to assess opportunities and challenges for patient engagement in the wellness process. A search of peer-reviewed publications, reviews, conceptual analyses, white papers, author’s manuscripts and theses was undertaken. English language literature published in 2013– 2022 period and publications, report and guidelines of World Health Organization (WHO) were also assessed. About 281 papers were retrieved. Duplicate papers in the databases were removed. After application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 41 papers were included to the analysis. Patient counseling in preventing adverse drug events, in doctor-patient risk communication, surgical, drug development, mental healthcare, hypertension & diabetes, metabolic syndrome and non-communicable chronic diseases are implementation areas in healthcare where patient engagement can be implemented using artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning and deep learning techniques and tools. The five groups of factors that potentially affecting patient engagement in safety are related to: patient, health conditions, health care professionals, tasks and health care setting. Active involvement of patients and families can help accelerate the implementation of healthcare safety initiatives. In sub-Saharan Africa, using digital technologies like artificial intelligence in patient engagement context is low due to poor level of technological development and deployment. The opportunities and challenges available to implement patient engagement strategies vary greatly from country to country and from region to region. Thus, further investigation will be focused on methods and tools using the potential of artificial intelligence to support more simplified care that might be improve communication with patients and train health care professionals.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, patient engagement, machine learning, patient involvement

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Authors: Jeffrey Siphiwe Mkhize

Abstract:

Twelve years of schooling for most South African children, particularly those children from disadvantaged past, are confronted with numerous and diverse challenges. These challenges range from infrastructural limitations, language of teaching, poor resources and varying family backgrounds. Likewise, schools are categorized to signify schools’ geographic location, poverty lines, societal class and type of students that the school are likely to enroll. Such categorization perpetuates particular lines of identities that are indirectly reinforced by the same system that seeks to redress. South African universities prefer point systems to determine students’ suitability to gain access to their programmes. Once students are admitted based on the qualifying points there is an assumed equity in the manner in which they receive tuition. They are assumed as equal; noting the widened access to South African universities as means to redress past inequalities. Given the challenges, inequalities, it is necessary to view higher education as a site for knowledge construction that is accessible to all students. Epistemological access is key to all students irrespective of their socio-economic status. This paper seeks to contribute to the discourse of student engagement using lecturer-student relationship as a lens to understand this phenomenon. Data were generated using South African Survey of Student Engagement, focus group interviews, semi-structured one-on-one-interviews as well as document analysis. The focus was on students registered for the first year of a Bachelor of Education degree as well as lecturers that teach high risk modules in this qualification at the same level. The findings suggest that lecturers are challenged by overcrowded classrooms and over-enrolled modules; this challenge hampers their good intentions to become more efficient and innovative in their teaching. Students lack confidence in approaching lecturers for assistance. Collaborative learning has stronger results and students believe in self-support to deal with their challenges based on their individual strengths. Collaborative learning is key to student academic performance.

Keywords: collaborative learning, consultations, student engagement, student performance

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Authors: Nabeel Mohammed Ali

Abstract:

Background and significance of the study: This study focuses on the experiences, perspectives, and issues of the working-class Aboriginals and immigrants in Australia. In addition to dealing with their lives, struggles, and aspirations of working-class people, poetry of labor presents an insight into a neglected literary writing that goes beyond the social discourse of class distinction. In this contemporary context, it explores a broader spectrum of challenges and experiences, such as the complexities of modern labor, immigration, indigenous rights, social justice, multiculturalism, economic inequality, advocating for workers' rights and labor movements, the impact of globalization on local industries, and the evolution of labor in the digital age. Aims of the Study: The study will try to answer the following questions: What insights does poetics of labor provide to affect the literary creation of poetry at the time, as well as whether it can create a change in the social fabric of Australian diversity? What are the main themes and issues that Aboriginal and immigrant poets address in their works? How do they reflect the realities and challenges of working-class people in Australia? How do they use language, form, and style to convey their messages and emotions? How do the poets engage with and critique the dominant narratives and ideologies of Australian society and culture? How do they challenge or resist the stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination that they face? And how do they show solidarity or empathy with others who share similar struggles or aspirations? Methodology: The study will utilize traditional Marxist paradigms to analyze the poetry of the selected poets in the context of the evolving sociopolitical landscape of the 21st century. The Neo-Marxist literary criticism is used as a theoretical tool to analyze the texts. The concept of Power dynamics to analyze the intersectionality of race, labor and class. Findings: The poetry of contemporary Australian Aboriginal and immigrant poets labor, represents a critical, yet under-explored, discussion of the intersection of labor, class, and a multicultural identity. The study will deal with the poetry of the Aboriginal poet Ali Cobby Eckermann (1963- ) and the immigrant Chinese poet Ouyang Yu ( 1955- ).

Keywords: aboriginals, immigrants, Australia, working-class, Ali eckermann, ouyang Yu

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