Search results for: mobile game based learning

Authors: Pedro J. Rolim-Neto, Leslie R. M. Ferraz, Fabiana L. A. Santos, Pablo A. Ferreira, Ricardo T. L. Maia-Jr., Magaly A. M. Lyra, Danilo A F. Fonte, Salvana P. M. Costa, Amanda C. Q. M. Vieira, Larissa A. Rolim

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Initially developed as an antimalarial agent, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) sulfate is often used as a slow-acting antirheumatic drug in the treatment of disorders of connective tissue. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 37 provides a reversed-phase HPLC method for quantification of HCQ. However, this method was not reproducible, producing asymmetric peaks in a long analysis time. The asymmetry of the peak may cause an incorrect calculation of the concentration of the sample. Furthermore, the analysis time is unacceptable, especially regarding the routine of a pharmaceutical industry. The aiming of this study was to develop a fast, easy and efficient method for quantification of HCQ sulfate by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) based on the Quality by Design (QbD) methodology. This method was optimized in terms of peak symmetry using the surface area graphic as the Design of Experiments (DoE) and the tailing factor (TF) as an indicator to the Design Space (DS). The reference method used was that described at USP 37 to the quantification of the drug. For the optimized method, was proposed a 33 factorial design, based on the QbD concepts. The DS was created with the TF (in a range between 0.98 and 1.2) in order to demonstrate the ideal analytical conditions. Changes were made in the composition of the USP mobile-phase (USP-MP): USP-MP: Methanol (90:10 v/v, 80:20 v/v and 70:30 v/v), in the flow (0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mL) and in the oven temperature (30, 35, and 40ºC). The USP method allowed the quantification of drug in a long time (40-50 minutes). In addition, the method uses a high flow rate (1,5 mL.min-1) which increases the consumption of expensive solvents HPLC grade. The main problem observed was the TF value (1,8) that would be accepted if the drug was not a racemic mixture, since the co-elution of the isomers can become an unreliable peak integration. Therefore, the optimization was suggested in order to reduce the analysis time, aiming a better peak resolution and TF. For the optimization method, by the analysis of the surface-response plot it was possible to confirm the ideal setting analytical condition: 45 °C, 0,8 mL.min-1 and 80:20 USP-MP: Methanol. The optimized HPLC method enabled the quantification of HCQ sulfate, with a peak of high resolution, showing a TF value of 1,17. This promotes good co-elution of isomers of the HCQ, ensuring an accurate quantification of the raw material as racemic mixture. This method also proved to be 18 times faster, approximately, compared to the reference method, using a lower flow rate, reducing even more the consumption of the solvents and, consequently, the analysis cost. Thus, an analytical method for the quantification of HCQ sulfate was optimized using QbD methodology. This method proved to be faster and more efficient than the USP method, regarding the retention time and, especially, the peak resolution. The higher resolution in the chromatogram peaks supports the implementation of the method for quantification of the drug as racemic mixture, not requiring the separation of isomers.

Keywords: analytical method, hydroxychloroquine sulfate, quality by design, surface area graphic

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Authors: Jairo Vega, Fabian Chamba, Jordy Urgiles

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In this work, the implementation of a Matlabcontrolled Musical Tesla Coil and external audio signals was presented. First, the audio signal was obtained from a mobile device and processed in Matlab to modify it, adding noise or other desired effects. Then, the processed signal was passed through a preamplifier to increase its amplitude to a level suitable for further amplification through a power amplifier, which was part of the current driver circuit of the Tesla coil. To get the Tesla coil to generate music, a circuit capable of modulating and generating the audio signal by manipulating electrical discharges was used. To visualize and listen to these discharges, a small Faraday cage was built to attenuate the external electric fields. Finally, the implementation of the musical Tesla coil was concluded. However, it was observed that the audio signal volume was very low, and the components used heated up quickly. Due to these limitations, it was determined that the project could not be connected to power for long periods of time.

Keywords: Tesla coil, plasma, electrical signals, GNU Radio

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Authors: Jay Ananth

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The drug discovery process currently requires numerous years of clinical testing as well as money just for a single drug to earn FDA approval. For drugs that even make it this far in the process, there is a very slim chance of receiving FDA approval, resulting in detrimental hurdles to drug accessibility. To minimize these inefficiencies, numerous studies have implemented computational methods, although few computational investigations have focused on a crucial feature of drugs: lipophilicity. Lipophilicity is a physical attribute of a compound that measures its solubility in lipids and is a determinant of drug efficacy. This project leverages Artificial Intelligence to predict the impact of a drug’s lipophilicity on its performance by accounting for factors such as binding affinity and toxicity. The model predicted lipophilicity and binding affinity in the validation set with very high R² scores of 0.921 and 0.788, respectively, while also being applicable to a variety of target receptors. The results expressed a strong positive correlation between lipophilicity and both binding affinity and toxicity. The model helps in both drug development and discovery, providing every pharmaceutical company with recommended lipophilicity levels for drug candidates as well as a rapid assessment of early-stage drugs prior to any testing, eliminating significant amounts of time and resources currently restricting drug accessibility.

Keywords: drug discovery, lipophilicity, ligand-receptor interactions, machine learning, drug development

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Authors: Faizal Mansyur

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The objective of this research is to find out whether there is a significant difference in the English language scores of senior high school students in the Indonesia National Examination for students tested by using computer-based and paper-based tests. The population of this research is senior high school students in South Sulawesi Province who sat the Indonesian National Examination for 2015/2016 academic year. The samples of this research are 800 students’ scores from 8 schools taken by employing the multistage random sampling technique. The data of this research is a secondary data since it is obtained from the education office for South Sulawesi. In analyzing the collected data, the researcher employed the independent samples T-Test with the help of SPSS v.24 program. The finding of this research reveals that there is a significant difference in the English language scores of senior high school students in the Indonesia National Examination for students tested by using computer-based and paper-based Tests (p < .05). Moreover, students tested by using PBT (Mean = 63.13, SD = 13.63) achieve higher score than those tested by using CBT (Mean = 46.33, SD = 14.68).

Keywords: computer-based test, paper-based test, Indonesian national examination, testing

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Authors: Sreenesh Shashidharan, Umesh Gaikwad

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QI or 'Chee' which is an interface standard for inductive electrical power transfer over distances of up to 4 cm (1.6 inches). The Qi system comprises a power transmission pad and a compatible receiver in a portable device which is placed on top of the power transmission pad, which charges using the principle of electromagnetic induction. An alternating current is passed through the transmitter coil, generating a magnetic field. This, in turn, induces a voltage in the receiver coil; this can be used to power a mobile device or charge a battery. The efficiency of the power transfer depends on the coupling (k) between the inductors and their quality (Q) The coupling is determined by the distance between the inductors (z) and the relative size (D2 /D). The coupling is further determined by the shape of the coils and the angle between them. If the receiver coil is at a certain distance to the transmitter coil, only a fraction of the magnetic flux, which is generated by the transmitter coil, penetrates the receiver coil and contributes to the power transmission. The more flux reaches the receiver, the better the coils are coupled.

Keywords: inductive electric power, electromagnetic induction, magnetic flux, coupling

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Authors: Souhir Ben Amor, Heni Boubaker, Lotfi Belkacem

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This aims of this paper is to forecast the electricity spot prices. First, we focus on modeling the conditional mean of the series so we adopt a generalized fractional -factor Gegenbauer process (k-factor GARMA). Secondly, the residual from the -factor GARMA model has used as a proxy for the conditional variance; these residuals were predicted using two different approaches. In the first approach, a local linear wavelet neural network model (LLWNN) has developed to predict the conditional variance using the Back Propagation learning algorithms. In the second approach, the Gegenbauer generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity process (G-GARCH) has adopted, and the parameters of the k-factor GARMA-G-GARCH model has estimated using the wavelet methodology based on the discrete wavelet packet transform (DWPT) approach. The empirical results have shown that the k-factor GARMA-G-GARCH model outperform the hybrid k-factor GARMA-LLWNN model, and find it is more appropriate for forecasts.

Keywords: electricity price, k-factor GARMA, LLWNN, G-GARCH, forecasting

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Authors: Soumya Mishra, Elena Neiterman

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Aligned with the growing interest in the impact of the pandemic on academic experiences of university students, this study aimed to examine the challenges Canadian undergraduate students experienced during the university closures due to COVID-19. Using qualitative methodological approach, the study utilized semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 undergraduate students enrolled in an Ontario university to explore their thoughts and experience regarding online learning during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, from January 2021 to March 2021. The interviews yielded four major themes with the following associated subthemes: Personal Challenges Associated with Adapting to the Pandemic (Change in the Type of Stress Experienced, Unique Impact on Certain Groups of Students, Decreased Motivation, Crucial Role of Resilience), Social Challenges Associated with Adapting to the Pandemic (Increased Loneliness, Challenges Faced while Communicating, Perception of Group work, Role of Living Conditions), Challenges associated with Accessing University Resources (Crucial Role of Professors, Perception of Virtual Events, Importance of Physical Spaces). Overall, the analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic fostered resilience and psychological flexibility amongst all students. However, the mental health and social wellbeing of students deteriorated during the COVID-19 pandemic and they reported experiencing chronic stress, anxiety and loneliness. International students, first year and final year students experienced a unique set of challenges. It was hard for participants in our study to make strong new connections with their classmates and maintain existing friendships with their peers. The importance of professors in facilitating learning was amplified in the online environment due to the lack of in-person interaction with other students. Despite these challenges, most participants reported that they received high grades during online learning. The findings from this study could be helpful for organizations and individuals working towards fostering the wellbeing of undergraduate students. They can also help in making post-secondary institutions more resilient to future emergencies by creating contingency plans regarding online instructions and risk management techniques.

Keywords: Canadian, COVID-19, university students, wellbeing

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Authors: Kim Haekyoung, Au Yunkyoung

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As digital technology continues to advance and become more widely accessible, young children are also growing up experiencing various media from infancy. In this changing environment, educating young children on media literacy has become an increasingly important task. With the diversification of media, it has become more necessary for children to understand, utilize, and critically explore the meaning of multimodal texts, which include text, images, and sounds connected to each other. Early childhood is a period when media literacy can bloom, and educational and policy support are needed to enable young children to express their opinions, communicate, and participate fully. However, most current media literacy education for young children focuses solely on teaching how to use media, with limited practical application and utilization. Therefore, this study aims to develop an inquiry-based media literacy education program for young children using topic-specific media content and explore the program's potential and impact on children's media literacy learning. Based on a theoretical and literature review on media literacy education, analysis of existing educational programs, and a survey on the current status and teacher perception of media literacy education for young children, this study developed a media literacy education program for young children considering the components of media literacy (understanding media characteristics, self-regulation, self-expression, critical understanding, ethical norms, social communication). To verify the effectiveness of the program, it was implemented with 20 five-year-old children from C City S Kindergarten, starting from March 24 to May 26, 2022, once a week for a total of 6 sessions. To explore quantitative changes before and after program implementation, repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted, and qualitative analysis was used to analyze observed changes in the process. significant improvement in media literacy levels, such as understanding media characteristics, self-regulation, self-expression, critical understanding, ethical norms, and social communication. The developed inquiry-based media literacy education program for young children in this study can be effectively applied to enhance children's media literacy education and help improve their media literacy levels. Observed changes in the process also confirmed that children improved their ability to learn various topics, express their thoughts, and communicate with others using media content. These findings emphasize the importance of developing and implementing media literacy education programs and can help children develop the ability to safely and effectively use media in their media environment. Based on exploring the potential and impact of the inquiry-based media literacy education program for young children, this study confirmed positive changes in children's media literacy levels as a result of the program's implementation. These findings suggest that beyond education on how to use media, it can help develop children's ability to safely and effectively use media in their media environment. Furthermore, to improve children's media literacy levels and create a safe media environment, a variety of content and methodologies are needed, and continuous development and evaluation of educational programs are anticipated.

Keywords: young children, media literacy, media literacy education program, media content

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Authors: Sonay Ödemiş

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Movement Staff Notation System (MSNS) is a movement transcription, analyzing method, and it's been constantly improved since it was first developed in 2005. This method is based on human anatomy, is being used and applied in the lessons at The Department of Turkish Folk Dances in Istanbul Technical University, nowadays. In this research, it is aimed to discover, how MSNS can help to participants about learning the basic movements of lower extremity. This experiment has six volunteers who were randomly selected. Each volunteer has been graded for their dance backgrounds and all the volunteers have been studied for six weeks. Each week has included different topic and examples such as contacts on foot, jumps, timing, directions and basic symbols of MSNS. Examples have changed from easy to hard. On conclusion, 6 volunteer subjects were tested in final test. The tests were recorded with the camera. In this presentation, it will be explained and detailed the results of the reading test on MSNS. Some of important video records will be watched and interpreted after the test. As a conclusion, all the scores will be interpreted and assessed from different perspectives.

Keywords: dance notation, Turkish dances, reading test, Education

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Authors: A. Ikhlef

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Image noise in computed tomography, is mainly caused by the statistical noise, system noise reconstruction algorithm filters. Since last few years, low dose x-ray imaging became more and more desired and looked as a technical differentiating technology among CT manufacturers. In order to achieve this goal, several technologies and techniques are being investigated, including both hardware (integrated electronics and photon counting) and software (artificial intelligence and machine learning) based solutions. From a hardware point of view, electronic noise could indeed be a potential driver for low and ultra-low dose imaging. We demonstrated that the reduction or elimination of this term could lead to a reduction of dose without affecting image quality. Also, in this study, we will show that we can achieve this goal using conventional electronics (low cost and affordable technology), designed carefully and optimized for maximum detective quantum efficiency. We have conducted the tests using large imaging objects such as 30 cm water and 43 cm polyethylene phantoms. We compared the image quality with conventional imaging protocols with radiation as low as 10 mAs (<< 1 mGy). Clinical validation of such results has been performed as well.

Keywords: computed tomography, electronic noise, scintillation detector, x-ray detector

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Authors: Ana Hol

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We live in a constantly changing environment where technology has become an integral component of our day to day life. We rely heavily on mobile devices, we search for data via web, we utilise smart home sensors to create the most suited ambiences and we utilise applications to shop, research, communicate and share data. Heavy reliance on technology therefore is creating new connections between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields which in turn rises a question of what the STEM education of the future should be like? This study was based on the reviews of the six Australian Information Systems students who undertook an international study tour to India where they were given an opportunity to network, communicate and meet local students, staff and business representatives and from them learn about the local business implementations, local customs and regulations. Research identifies that if we are to continue to implement and utilise electronic devices on the global scale, such as for example implement smart cars that can smoothly cross borders, we will need the workforce that will have the knowledge about the cars themselves, their parts, roads and transport networks, road rules, road sensors, road monitoring technologies, graphical user interfaces, movement detection systems as well as day to day operations, legal rules and regulations of each region and country, insurance policies, policing and processes so that the wide array of sensors can be controlled across country’s borders. In conclusion, it can be noted that allowing students to learn about the local conditions, roads, operations, business processes, customs and values in different countries is giving students a cutting edge advantage as such knowledge cannot be transferred via electronic sources alone. However once understanding of each problem or project is established, multidisciplinary innovative STEM projects can be smoothly conducted.

Keywords: STEM, curiosity, innovation, advancements

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Authors: Natasha Sharma, Kulbhushan Agnihotri

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Cellular Automata are discrete dynamical systems which are based on local character and spatial disparateness of the spreading process. These factors are generally neglected by traditional models based on differential equations for epidemic spread. The aim of this work is to introduce an SEIR model based on cellular automata on graphs to imitate epidemic spreading. Distinctively, it is an SEIR-type model where the population is divided into susceptible, exposed, infected and recovered individuals. The results obtained from simulations are in accordance with the spreading behavior of a real time epidemics.

Keywords: cellular automata, epidemic spread, graph, susceptible

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Authors: Shital Patil, Surendra Bhosale

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Cardiac diseases are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the world, from recent few decades accounting for a large number of deaths have emerged as the most life-threatening disorder globally. Machine learning and Artificial intelligence have been playing key role in predicting the heart diseases. A relevant set of feature can be very helpful in predicting the disease accurately. In this study, we proposed a comparative analysis of 4 different features selection methods and evaluated their performance with both raw (Unbalanced dataset) and sampled (Balanced) dataset. The publicly available Z-Alizadeh Sani dataset have been used for this study. Four feature selection methods: Data Analysis, minimum Redundancy maximum Relevance (mRMR), Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE), Chi-squared are used in this study. These methods are tested with 8 different classification models to get the best accuracy possible. Using balanced and unbalanced dataset, the study shows promising results in terms of various performance metrics in accurately predicting heart disease. Experimental results obtained by the proposed method with the raw data obtains maximum AUC of 100%, maximum F1 score of 94%, maximum Recall of 98%, maximum Precision of 93%. While with the balanced dataset obtained results are, maximum AUC of 100%, F1-score 95%, maximum Recall of 95%, maximum Precision of 97%.

Keywords: cardio vascular diseases, machine learning, feature selection, SMOTE

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Authors: Maria Korman, Carmit Gal, Ella Gabitov, Avi Karni

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The main question addressed in this study was whether the time-of-day wherein training is afforded is a significant factor for motor skill ('how-to', procedural knowledge) acquisition and consolidation into long term memory in the healthy elderly population. Twenty-nine older adults (60-75 years) practiced an explicitly instructed 5-element key-press sequence by repeatedly generating the sequence ‘as fast and accurately as possible’. Contribution of three parameters to acquisition, 24h post-training consolidation, and 1-week retention gains in motor sequence speed was assessed: (a) time of training (morning vs. evening group) (b) sleep quality (actigraphy) and (c) chronotype. All study participants were moderately morning type, according to the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire score. All participants had sleep patterns typical of age, with average sleep efficiency of ~ 82%, and approximately 6 hours of sleep. Speed of motor sequence performance in both groups improved to a similar extent during training session. Nevertheless, evening group expressed small but significant overnight consolidation phase gains, while morning group showed only maintenance of performance level attained at the end of training. By 1-week retention test, both groups showed similar performance levels with no significant gains or losses with respect to 24h test. Changes in the tapping patterns at 24h and 1-week post-training were assessed based on normalized Pearson correlation coefficients using the Fisher’s z-transformation in reference to the tapping pattern attained at the end of the training. Significant differences between the groups were found: the evening group showed larger changes in tapping patterns across the consolidation and retention windows. Our results show that morning-oriented older adults effectively acquired, consolidated, and maintained a new sequence of finger movements, following both morning and evening practice sessions. However, time-of-training affected the time-course of skill evolution in terms of performance speed, as well as the re-organization of tapping patterns during the consolidation period. These results are in line with the notion that motor training preceding a sleep interval may be beneficial for the long-term memory in the elderly. Evening training should be considered an appropriate time window for motor skill learning in older adults, even in individuals with morning chronotype.

Keywords: time-of-day, elderly, motor learning, memory consolidation, chronotype

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Authors: Jiangbo Hu, Frances Hoyte, Haiquan Huang

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Research identifies that mealtime talk can be a significant learning context that provides children with rich experiences to foster their language and cognitive development. Middle-classed parents create an extended learning discourse for their children through sophisticated vocabulary, narrative and explanation genres at dinner table. However, mealtime opportunities vary with some parents having little interaction with their children and some parents focusing on directive of children’s behaviors. This study investigated five Chinese families’ parent-child interaction during mealtime that was rarely reported in the literature. The five families differ in terms of their living styles. Three families are from professional background where both mothers the fathers work in Australian companies and both of them present at dinner time. The other two families own business. The mothers are housemakers and the fathers are always absent at dinner time due to their busy business life. Employing case study method, the five Chinese families’ parent-child interactions at dinner table were recorded using a video camera. More than 3000 clauses were analyzed with the framework of 'systems of clause complexing' from systemic functional linguistic theory. The finding shows that mothers played a critical role in the interaction with their children by initiating most conversations. The three mothers from professional background tended to use more language in extending and expanding pattern that is beneficial for children’s language development and high level of thinking (e.g., logical thinking). The two house making mothers’ language focused more on the directive of their children’s social manners and dietary behaviors. The fathers though seemed to be less active, contributing to the richness of the conversation through their occasional props such as asking open questions or initiating a new topic. In general, the families from professional background were more advantaged in providing learning opportunities for their children at dinner table than the families running business were. The home experiences of Chinese children is an important topic in research due to the rapidly increasing number of Chinese children in Australia and other English speaking countries. Such research assist educators in the education of Chinese children with more awareness of Chinese children experiences at home that could be very unlike the settings in English schools. This study contributes to the research in this area through the analysis of language in parent-child interaction during mealtime, which is very different from previous research that mainly investigated Chinese families through survey and interview. The finding of different manners in language use between the professional families and business families has implication for the understanding of the variation of Chinese children’s home experiences that is influenced not only by parents’ socioeconomic status but their lifestyles.

Keywords: Chinese children, Chinese parents, mealtime talk, parent-child interaction

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Authors: B. Adcock, H. van Rensburg

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Education is ever-changing to keep up with innovative technological development and the rapid acceleration of globalisation. This chapter introduces the historical development and transformation of teaching in distance education from correspondence to on-line learning in Queensland universities. It furthermore investigates changes to the delivery models of distance education that have impacted on teaching at tertiary level in Queensland, and reflects on the social changes that have taken place during the past 100 years. This includes an analysis of the following five different periods in time: Foundation period (1911-1919) including World War I; 1920-1939 including the Great Depression; 1940-1970s, including World War II and the post war reconstruction; and the current technological era (1980s to present). In Queensland, the concept of distance education was begun by the University of Queensland (UQ) in 1911, when it began offering extension courses. The introduction of modern technology, in the form of electronic delivery, dramatically changed tertiary distance education due to political initiatives. The inclusion of electronic delivery in education signifies change at many levels, including policy, pedagogy, curriculum and governance. Changes in delivery not only affect the way study materials are delivered, but also the way courses are be taught and adjustments made by academics to their teaching methods.

Keywords: distance education, innovative technological development, on line education, tertiary education

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Authors: Meenakshi Dahal

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Generally, children start verbal communication by the age of eighteen months. Though they have difficulties in constructing complete sentences, they try to make their thought s understandable to the audience. By the age of 36 months, when they enroll in preschool, their Language and communication skills are enhanced. Children need plenty of classroom experiences that will help them to develop their oral language skills. Oral language is the primary means through which each individual child is enabled to structure, evaluate, describe and to express his/her experiences. In the context of multi lingual and multi-cultural country like Nepal, the languages used in preschool and the communities vary. In such a case, the language of instruction in the preschool is different from the language used by the children to communicate at home. Using qualitative research method the socio-cultural aspect of the language learning has been analyzed. This has been done by analyzing and exploring preschool activities as well as the language of instruction and communication in the preschools in rural Nepal. It is found that the language of instruction is different from the language of communications primarily used by the children. Teachers seldom use local language resulting in difficulties for the children to understand. Instead of recognizing their linguistic, social and cultural capitals teachers conform to using the Nepali language which the children are not familiar with. Children have to adapt to new language structures and patterns of usage resulting them to be slow in oral language and communication in the preschool. The paper concludes that teachers have to recognize the linguistic capitals of the children and schools need to be responsible to facilitate this process for all children, whatever their language background.

Keywords: children, language, preschool, socio-culture

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Authors: Omair Ghori, Anton Stadler, Stefan Wilk, Wolfgang Effelsberg

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Fire-related incidents account for extensive loss of life and material damage. Quick and reliable detection of occurring fires has high real world implications. Whereas a major research focus lies on the detection of outdoor fires, indoor camera-based fire detection is still an open issue. Cameras in combination with computer vision helps to detect flames and smoke more quickly than conventional fire detectors. In this work, we present a computer vision-based smoke detection algorithm based on contrast changes and a multi-step classification. This work accelerates computer vision-based fire detection considerably in comparison with classical indoor-fire detection.

Keywords: contrast analysis, early fire detection, video smoke detection, video surveillance

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Authors: H. Abas Nejad, A. R. Teymoori

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Facial expression recognition is one of the open problems in computer vision. Robust neutral face recognition in real time is a major challenge for various supervised learning based facial expression recognition methods. This is due to the fact that supervised methods cannot accommodate all appearance variability across the faces with respect to race, pose, lighting, facial biases, etc. in the limited amount of training data. Moreover, processing each and every frame to classify emotions is not required, as the user stays neutral for the majority of the time in usual applications like video chat or photo album/web browsing. Detecting neutral state at an early stage, thereby bypassing those frames from emotion classification would save the computational power. In this work, we propose a light-weight neutral vs. emotion classification engine, which acts as a preprocessor to the traditional supervised emotion classification approaches. It dynamically learns neutral appearance at Key Emotion (KE) points using a textural statistical model, constructed by a set of reference neutral frames for each user. The proposed method is made robust to various types of user head motions by accounting for affine distortions based on a textural statistical model. Robustness to dynamic shift of KE points is achieved by evaluating the similarities on a subset of neighborhood patches around each KE point using the prior information regarding the directionality of specific facial action units acting on the respective KE point. The proposed method, as a result, improves ER accuracy and simultaneously reduces the computational complexity of ER system, as validated on multiple databases.

Keywords: neutral vs. emotion classification, Constrained Local Model, procrustes analysis, Local Binary Pattern Histogram, statistical model

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Authors: M. Caporale

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French Curricula across the US have recently suffered low enrollment and have experienced difficulties with retention, thus resulting in fewer students minoring and majoring in French and enrolling in upper-level classes. Successful undergraduate programs offer French courses with a strong cultural and interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary component. The World Language Curriculum in liberal arts colleges in America needs to take into account the cultural aspects of the language and encourage students to think critically about the country or countries they are studying. Limiting the critical inquiry to language or literature narrowly defined provides and incomplete and stagnant picture of France and the Francophone world in today's global community. This essay discusses the creation and implementation of a hybrid interdisciplinary L1/L2 course titled "Topics in Francophone Cinema" (subtitle "Francophone Women on Screen and Behind the Camera"). Content-based interdisciplinary courses undoubtedly increase the profile of French and Francophone cultural Studies by introducing students of other disciplines to fundamental questions relating to the French and Francophone cultures (in this case, women's rights in the Francophone world). At the same time, this study determines that through targeted reading and writing assignments, sustained aural exposure to L2 through film,and student participation in a one-credit supplementary weekly practicum (creative film writing workshop), significant advances in L2 competence are achieved with students' oral and written production levels evolving from Advanced Low to Advanced-mid, as defined by the ACFL guidelines. Use of differentiated assessment methods for L1/L2 and student learning outcomes for both groups will also be addressed.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, Francophone cultural studies, language competency, content-based

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Authors: Shikhar Shrivastava, Varun Khare

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Background: We are confronted by a society that is becoming more complex, more mobile, and more dysfunctional. Teen pregnancy, suicide, elopement, and the perusal of dangerous drugs have become commonplace. In addition, children do not settle their disputes as they once did. Guns and knives are quotidian. Therefore, it has been an exigent to have a "Juvenile Code" that would provide specific substantive and procedural rules for juveniles in the justice system. However, until the twentieth century, there was little difference between how the justice system treated adults and children. Age was considered only in terms of appropriate punishment and juveniles were eligible for the same punishment as adults. Findings: The increased prevalence and legislative support for specialized courts, Juvenile Justice Boards, including juvenile drug, mental health and truancy court programs, as well as diversion programs and evidence-based approaches into the fabric of juvenile justice are just a few examples of recent advances. In India, various measures were taken to prosecute young offenders who committed violent crimes as adults. But it was argued that equating juveniles with adult criminals was neither scientifically correct nor normatively defensible. It would defeat the very purpose of the justice system. Methodology and Conclusion: This paper attempts to bring forth the results of analytical and descriptive research that examined changing trends in juvenile justice legislation. It covers the investigative and inspective practices of police, the various administrative agencies who have roles in implementing the legislation, the courts, and the detention centers. In this paper we shall discuss about how the juvenile justice system is the dumping ground for many of a youths’ problem. The changing notions of justice, from retributive to restorative and rehabilitative shall be discussed. A comparative study of the Juvenile act in India and that of the U.S has been discussed. Specific social institutions and forces that explain juvenile delinquency are identified. In addition, various influences on juvenile delinquency are noted, such as families, schools, peer groups and communities. The text concludes by addressing socialization, deterrence, imprisonments, alternatives, restitution and preventions.

Keywords: juvenile, justice system, retributive, rehabilitative, delinquency

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Authors: Amina Babou

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Gender and language is a moot and miscellaneous arena in the sphere of sociolinguistics, which has been proliferated so widely and rapidly in recent years. The dawn of research on gender and foreign language education was against the feminist researchers who allowed space for the bustling concourse of voices and perspectives in the arena of gender and language differences, in the early to the mid-1970. The objective of this scrutiny is to explore to what extent teaching gender and language in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom plays a pivotal role in learning language information and skills. And the gist of this paper is to investigate how EFL students in Algeria conflate their gender identities with the linguistic practices and scholastic expertise. To grapple with the full range of issues about the EFL students’ awareness about the negotiation of meanings in the classroom, we opt for observing, interviewing, and questioning later to check using ‘how-do-you do’ procedure. The analysis of the EFL classroom discourse, from five Algerian universities, reveals that speaking strategies such as the manners students make an abrupt topic shifts, respond spontaneously to the teacher, ask more questions, interrupt others to seize control of conversations and monopolize the speaking floor through denying what others have said, do not sit very lightly on 80.4% of female students’ shoulders. The data indicate that female students display the assertive style as a strategy of learning to subvert the norms of femininity, especially in the speaking module.

Keywords: gender identities, EFL students, classroom discourse, linguistics

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Authors: M. Rilliard

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Based on a Multiliteracies-inspired and sociolinguistically-informed advanced French composition class, this study employed autobiographical narratives from speakers traditionally considered non-legitimate models for L2 teaching purposes of inspiring students to develop an authentic L2 voice and to see themselves as legitimate L2 speakers. Students explored their L2 identities in French through a self-inspired fictional character. Two autobiographical narratives of identity quest by non-traditional French speakers provided them guidance through this process: the novel Le Bleu des Abeilles (2013) and the film Qu’Allah Bénisse la France (2014). Written and French oral productions for different genres, as well as metalinguistic reflections in English, were collected and analyzed. Results indicate that ideas and materials that were relatable to students, namely relatable experiences and relatable language, were most useful to them in developing their L2 voices and achieving authentic and legitimate L2 speakership. These results point towards the benefits of using non-traditional speakers as pedagogical models, as they serve to legitimize students’ sense of their own L2-speakership, which ultimately leads them towards a better, more informed, mastery of the language.

Keywords: foreign language classroom, L2 identity, L2 learning and teaching, L2 writing, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Maria Giovanna Pacifico

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Maintenance, in Italy, is not yet a consolidated practice despite the benefits that could come from. Among the main reasons, there are the lack of financial resources and personnel in the public administration and a general lack of knowledge about how to activate and to manage a prevented and programmed maintenance. The experimentation suggests that users and tourists could be involved in the maintenance process from the knowledge phase to the monitoring ones by using mobile devices. The goal is to increase the quality of Facility Management for cultural heritage, prioritizing usage needs, and limiting interference between the key stakeholders. The method simplifies the consolidated procedures for the Information Systems, avoiding a loss in terms of quality and amount of information by focusing on the users' requirements: management economy, user safety, accessibility, and by receiving feedback information to define a framework that will lead to predictive maintenance. This proposal was designed to be tested in the Archaeological Park of Pompeii on the state property asset.

Keywords: asset maintenance, key stakeholders, Pompeii, user requirement

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Authors: Ahmad E. Aldousaria, Abdulla Al Kafy

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Urbanization is an incessant process that involves the transformation of land use/land cover (LULC), resulting in a reduction of cool land covers and thermal comfort zones (TCZs). This study explores the directional shrinkage of TCZs in Kuwait using Landsat satellite data from 1991 – 2021 to predict the future LULC and TCZ distribution for 2026 and 2031 using cellular automata (CA) and artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms. Analysis revealed a rapid urban expansion (40 %) in SE, NE, and NW directions and TCZ shrinkage in N – NW and SW directions with 25 % of the very uncomfortable area. The predicted result showed an urban area increase from 44 % in 2021 to 47 % and 52 % in 2026 and 2031, respectively, where uncomfortable zones were found to be concentrated around urban areas and bare lands in N – NE and N – NW directions. This study proposes an effective and sustainable framework to control TCZ shrinkage, including zero soil policies, planned landscape design, manmade water bodies, and rooftop gardens. This study will help urban planners and policymakers to make Kuwait an eco–friendly, functional, and sustainable country.

Keywords: land cover change, thermal environment, green cover loss, machine learning, remote sensing

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Authors: Julia Baker

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Development plays a major role in stopping biodiversity loss. But the ‘silo species’ protection of legislation (where certain species are protected while many are not) means that development can be ‘legally compliant’ and result in biodiversity loss. ‘Net Gain’ (NG) policies can help overcome this by making it an absolute requirement that development causes no overall loss of biodiversity and brings a benefit. However, offsetting biodiversity losses in one location with gains elsewhere is controversial because people suspect ‘offsetting’ to be an easy way for developers to buy their way out of conservation requirements. Yet the good practice principles (GPP) of offsetting provide several advantages over existing legislation for protecting biodiversity from development. This presentation describes the learning from implementing NG approaches based on GPP. It regards major upgrades of the UK’s transport networks, which involved removing vegetation in order to construct and safely operate new infrastructure. While low-lying habitats were retained, trees and other habitats disrupting the running or safety of transport networks could not. Consequently, achieving NG within the transport corridor was not possible and offsetting was required. The first ‘lessons learnt’ were on obtaining a commitment from business leaders to go beyond legislative requirements and deliver NG, and on the institutional change necessary to embed GPP within daily operations. These issues can only be addressed when the challenges that biodiversity poses for business are overcome. These challenges included: biodiversity cannot be measured easily unlike other sustainability factors like carbon and water that have metrics for target-setting and measuring progress; and, the mindset that biodiversity costs money and does not generate cash in return, which is the opposite of carbon or waste for example, where people can see how ‘sustainability’ actions save money. The challenges were overcome by presenting the GPP of NG as a cost-efficient solution to specific, critical risks facing the business that also boost industry recognition, and by using government-issued NG metrics to develop business-specific toolkits charting their NG progress whilst ensuring that NG decision-making was based on rich ecological data. An institutional change was best achieved by supporting, mentoring and training sustainability/environmental managers for these ‘frontline’ staff to embed GPP within the business. The second learning was from implementing the GPP where business partnered with local governments, wildlife groups and land owners to support their priorities for nature conservation, and where these partners had a say in decisions about where and how best to achieve NG. From this inclusive approach, offsetting contributed towards conservation priorities when all collaborated to manage trade-offs between: -Delivering ecologically equivalent offsets or compensating for losses of one type of biodiversity by providing another. -Achieving NG locally to the development whilst contributing towards national conservation priorities through landscape-level planning. -Not just protecting the extent and condition of existing biodiversity but ‘doing more’. -The multi-sector collaborations identified practical, workable solutions to ‘in perpetuity’. But key was strengthening linkages between biodiversity measures implemented for development and conservation work undertaken by local organizations so that developers support NG initiatives that really count.

Keywords: biodiversity offsetting, development, nature conservation planning, net gain

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Authors: Aliyu Aminu Baba, Mustapha Makama

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Tertiary institutions are citadel of learning and societal orientation. Due to the huge investment of various government to tertiary institutions, these institutions are solely financed by the government alone. As stakeholders of society, corporations have to have to intervene and provide corporate social responsibility. The study intends to investigate the role of Entrepreneurs in incorporating social Responsibility. Tertiary institutions are citadel of learning and societal orientation. Due to the huge investment of various government to tertiary institutions, the study intends to investigate the role of businesses and Entrepreneurs, which could be among the important contributions of businesses and Entrepreneurs on corporate social Responsibility to Tertiary Institutions in Bauchi State. Corporate social responsibility is vital in enhancing the infrastructural development of the tertiary institution as almost all individuals and corporate bodies benefit from this tertiary institutions. The study intends to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility to tertiary institutions and entrepreneurs in Bauchi state Nigeria. Questionnaires would be distributed to tertiary institutions and entrepreneurs in the Bauchi metropolis. The data collected will be analyzed with the help of SPSS version 23. The main objective is to investigate the role of businesses and Entrepreneurs, which could be among the important contributions of businesses and entrepreneurs on corporate social Responsibility to Tertiary Institutions in Bauchi State.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, tertiary, institutions, profitability

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Authors: Marina Fuertes

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Introduction: In everyday life experiences, children are solicited to cooperate with others. Often they perform cooperative tasks with their parents (e.g., setting the table for dinner) or in school. These tasks are very significant since children may learn to turn taking in interactions, to participate as well to accept others participation, to trust, to respect, to negotiate, to self-regulate their emotions, etc. Indeed, cooperative tasks contribute to children social, motor, cognitive and linguistic development. Therefore, it is important to study what learning, social and affective experiences are provided to children during these tasks. In this study, we included parents and preschool educators. Parents and educators are both significant: educative, interactive and affective figures. Rarely parents and educators behavior have been compared in studies about cooperative tasks. Parents and educators have different but complementary styles of interaction and communication. Aims: Therefore, this study aims to compare parents and educators' (of both genders) interactive behavior (cooperativity, empathy, ability to challenge the child, reciprocity, elaboration) during a play/individualized situation involving a cooperative task. Moreover, to compare parents and educators' behavior with girls and boys. Method: A quasi-experimental study with 45 dyads educators-children and 45 dyads with parents and their children. In this study, participated children between 3 and 5 years old and with age appropriate development. Adults and children were videotaped using a variety of materials (e.g., pencils, wood, wool) and tools (e.g., scissors, hammer) to produce together something of their choice during 20-minutes. Each dyad (one adult and one child) was observed and videotaped independently. Adults and children agreed and consented to participate. Experimental conditions were suitable, pleasant and age appropriated. Results: Findings indicate that parents and teachers offer different learning experiences. Teachers were more likely to challenged children to explore new concepts and to accept children ideas. In turn, parents gave more support to children actions and were more likely to use their own example to teach children. Multiple regression analysis indicates that parent versus educator status predicts their behavior. Gender of both children and adults affected the results. Adults acted differently with girls and boys (e.g., adults worked more cooperatively with girls than boys). Male participants supported more girls participation rather than boys while female adults allowed boys to make more decisions than girls. Discussion: Taking our results and past studies, we learn that different qualitative interactions and learning experiences are offered by parents, educators according to parents and children gender. Thus, the same child needs to learn different cooperative strategies according to their interactive patterns and specific context. Yet, cooperative play and individualized activities with children generate learning opportunities and benefits children participation and involvement.

Keywords: early childhood education, parenting, gender, cooperative tasks, adult-child interaction

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Authors: Huang Yajing

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Multimodal discourse refers to the phenomenon of using various senses such as hearing, vision, and touch to communicate through various means and symbolic resources such as language, images, sounds, and movements. With the development of modern technology and multimedia, language and technology have become inseparable, and foreign language teaching is becoming more and more modal. Teacher-student communication resorts to multiple senses and uses multiple symbol systems to construct and interpret meaning. The classroom is a semiotic space where multimodal discourses are intertwined. College English multi-modal teaching is to rationally utilize traditional teaching methods while mobilizing and coordinating various modern teaching methods to form a joint force to promote teaching and learning. Multimodal teaching makes full and reasonable use of various meaning resources and can maximize the advantages of multimedia and network environments. Based upon the above theories about multimodal discourse and multimedia technology, the present paper will propose a multi-modal teaching model for college English in China.

Keywords: multimodal discourse, multimedia technology, English education, applied linguistics

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Authors: Nurul Bin Ibrahim

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Advancements in neural networks have offered valuable insights into Fluid Dynamics, notably in addressing turbulence-related challenges. In this research, we introduce multiple applications of models of neural networks, namely Feed-Forward and Recurrent Neural Networks, to explore the relationship between jet formations and stratified turbulence within stochastically excited Boussinesq systems. Using machine learning tools like TensorFlow and PyTorch, the study has created models that effectively mimic and show the underlying features of the complex patterns of jet formation and stratified turbulence. These models do more than just help us understand these patterns; they also offer a faster way to solve problems in stochastic systems, improving upon traditional numerical techniques to solve stochastic differential equations such as the Euler-Maruyama method. In addition, the research includes a thorough comparison with the Statistical State Dynamics (SSD) approach, which is a well-established method for studying chaotic systems. This comparison helps evaluate how well neural networks can help us understand the complex relationship between jet formations and stratified turbulence. The results of this study underscore the potential of neural networks in computational physics and fluid dynamics, opening up new possibilities for more efficient and accurate simulations in these fields.

Keywords: neural networks, machine learning, computational fluid dynamics, stochastic systems, simulation, stratified turbulence

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