Search results for: human experience

Authors: J. Lino Alves, L. Lopes

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It is not new that industrial design projects are a result of cooperative work from different areas of knowledge. However, in the academic teaching of Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering courses, it is not recurrent that those competences are mixed before the professional life arrives. This abstract intends to describe two semester experiences carried out by two professors - a mechanical engineer and an industrial designer - in the last two academic years, for which they created mixed teams of Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering (UPorto University). The two experiences differ in several factors; the main one is related to the challenges of online education, a constraint that affected the second experience. In the first year, even before foreseeing the effects that the pandemic would reconfigure the education system, a partnership with the Education Service of Águas do Porto was established. The purpose of the exercise was the project development of a game that could be an interaction element oriented to potentiate a positive experience and as an educational contribution to the children. In the second year, already foreseeing that the teaching experience would be carried out online, it was decided to design an open briefing, which allowed the groups to choose among three themes: a hand scale game using additive manufacturing; a modular system for ventilated facade using a parametric design basis; or, a modular system for vertical gardens. In methodological terms, besides the weekly follow-up, with the simultaneous support of the two professors, a group self-evaluation was requested; and a form to be filled individually to evaluate other groups. One of the first conclusions is related to the briefing format. Industrial Design students seem comfortable working on an open briefing that allows them to draw the project on a conceptual basis created for that purpose; on the other hand, Mechanical Engineering students were uncomfortable and insecure in the initial phase due to the absence of concrete, closed "order." In other words, it is not recurrent for Mechanical Engineering students that the creative component is stimulated, seemingly leaving them reserved to the technical solution and execution, depriving them of the co-creation phase during the conceptual construction of the project's own brief. Another fact that was registered is related to the leadership positions in the groups, which alternated according to the state of development of the project: design students took the lead during the ideation/concept phase, while mechanical engineering ones took a greater lead during the intermediate development process, namely in the definition of constructive solutions, mass/volume calculations, manufacturing, and material resistance. Designers' competences were again more evident and assumed in the final phase, especially in communication skills, as well as in simulations in the context of use. However, at some moments, it was visible the capacity for quite balanced leadership between engineering and design, in a constant debate centered on the human factor of the project - evidenced in the final solution, in the compromise and balance between technical constraints, functionality, usability, and aesthetics.

Keywords: education, industrial design, mechanical engineering, teaching ethodologies

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Authors: Jimoh Yusuf Amuda

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Human security is a great panacea for sustainable development of world societies. Today the whole globe cum human species is living in nightmares of insecurity. This is due to acts of terrorism by various terrorists’ organization worldwide. The situation is on the increase daily. The number of lives and properties lost to religious insurgency cannot be quantifiably analyzed. It is on this note that this paper examine the book haram menace in northern Nigerian vis-à-vis it’s threat to the existence of human lives. The methodology applied for this research is the multi-disciplinary approach, the use journal articles, news papers, magazines, oral interview. Field trips to areas of terrorist attack and the use of text books. The following recommendations were made base on the findings. First of all the Nigerian government should declare total war on the book haram terrorist, then secondly the source of armament coming to this terrorist should be blocked, thirdly the European world should also place an arms embargo on terrorist source arms demands, also security agencies-police, the military, immigration, customs, state security service should work hand-in-hand, in a security tight measures to reduce the penetration of insurgent into the society.

Keywords: human, insecurity, security, terrorism

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Authors: Niina Meriläinen

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Digital platforms are arenas for dialogue, various kinds of political debates, information and news gathering, policymaking, and social change processes. Human rights serve as examples of social and political issues that are universally noted as principles and yet often violated on digital platforms as well as in the analog world. Digital platforms in this study are different Internet sites, blogs, discussion platforms, social media apps, and gaming. Various actors, from human rights activists and non-governmental organizations to individual people, governments, and corporations, use digital platforms along with analog arenas to discuss and defend human rights, while violators can find new victims and continue violating rights on the same platforms. Digital platforms create opportunities for various women and minorities to empower themselves and others and to be active in various arenas of society and policymaking. At the same time, digital platforms pose threats to human rights globally, especially to women, girls, and minorities. The results of this meta-study of n=120 academic case studies indicate that more research is needed to determine the framework of human rights and human rights on digital platforms. A broad discussion must be had on what human rights require in the digital realm and how ICTs may enhance or threaten our ability to respect, protect, and fulfill a wide variety of human rights while various digital platforms pose multiple threats to human rights. This relates to the willingness of political decision-makers to act upon various crimes committed on and with online platforms. More research is needed to determine the framework of digital human rights and human rights on digital platforms in relation to political communication and decision-making. It is important to develop a framework in which these are defined. It must be discussed who participates in this process: those whose rights are violated, companies that profit by selling our personal data, activists, governments, and some unknown actors. In the end, the question comes back to who has the power to define what we talk about, when, and where. This use of power plays a big role. Digital platforms illustrate the darker side of technological progress, which, on the one hand, has given various people the possibility to engage in society, empower themselves, and take ownership of their rights globally. At the same time, the platforms enable others to use the same platforms to find victims, abuse them, and exploit them. Bullying, harassment, and violence are rampant on various digital platforms, where minorities and people with limited support are victims. There is indeed a need for a discussion of normative values in the era of fake news, the power of influencers, Trumpism, and institutionalized disregard for human rights, gender equality, and the elimination of gender-based violence online. Attention and obligations must be placed on politicians and internet architecture, such as corporations, and their roles in human rights and their violations online.

Keywords: human rights, digital platforms, violations, internet, social media

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Authors: Ali Aghahosseini Dehaghani

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Every year in this globalized world, thousands of migrants leave their countries hoping to find a better situation of life in other parts of the world. In this regard, many questions, from a human rights point of view, have been raised about how this phenomenon should be managed in the host countries. Although legal approaches such as legislation and litigation are inevitable in the way to respect the human rights of migrants, there is an increasing consensus about the fact that a strict juridical approach is inadequate to protect as well as to prevent violations of migrants’ rights. Indeed, given the multiplicity of factors that affect and shape the application of these rights and considering the fact that law is a social phenomenon, what is needed is an interdisciplinary approach, which combines both juridical approaches and perspectives from other disciplines. In this respect, a sociological approach is important because it shows the social processes through which human rights of migrants have been constructed or violated in particular social situations. Sociologists who study international migration ask the questions such as how many people migrate, who migrates, why people migrate, what happens to them once they arrive in the host country, how migration affects sending and receiving communities, the extent to which migrants help the economy, the effects of migration on crimes, and how migrants change the local communities. This paper is an attempt to show how sociology can promote human rights of migrants. To this end, the article first explores the usefulness and value of an interdisciplinary approach to realize how and to what extent sociology may improve and promote the human rights of migrants in the destination country. It then examines mechanisms which help to reach to a systematic integration of law and sociological discipline to advance migrants’ rights as well as to encourage legal scholars to consider the implications of societal structures in their works.

Keywords: human rights, migrants, sociological approach, interdisciplinary study

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Authors: Lesa A. Thompson, Yoshinori Ikenaka, Victor Wepener, Mayumi Ishizuka

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One method for controlling malaria in endemic regions is the killing of vector mosquitoes using pesticides such as DDT in indoor residual spraying (IRS). This study was carried out to investigate the presence of and human health risk due to DDT and its metabolites (collectively, DDTs) contaminating human food sources in areas where DDT is used for IRS. Free-range chicken products (meat and eggs) were collected from homesteads in KwaZulu-Natal Province in the northeast of South Africa, and fish meat samples from Maputo Bay in neighbouring Mozambique. Samples were analysed for DDTs (o,p’-DDT, p,p’-DDT, o,p’-DDD, p,p’-DDD, o,p’-DDE and p,p’-DDE) using a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). DDTs were detected in all food types, with the predominant congener being p,p’-DDE. The presence of p,p’-DDT confirmed recent release of DDT into the environment. By using concentration levels detected in foods and national consumption levels, the risk to human health through consumption of such food products was calculated. In order of risk level, these were: chicken eggs > chicken meat > fish meat. Human risk (carcinogenic) values greater than one suggest there is an increased health risk through consumption of these foods.

Keywords: DDT, food contamination, human health risk, Mozambique, South Africa

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Authors: Michelle W. T. Cheng, Yau Y.

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Hong Kong continues to be ranked as the least affordable housing market in the world, making co-living a feasible alternative in this high-density city. Although the number of co-living residences has increased in Hong Kong, co-living as a housing typology is still a new concept for many. Little research has been conducted on this new housing typology, let alone the co-living experience. To address this gap, this study targeted student residents in university residential halls as it is a more controlled environment (e.g., with established rules and guidelines regarding the use of communal facilitates and housing management) for studying co-living experiences in Hong Kong. To date, no research study has systematically identified anti-social behavior (ASB) in co-living spaces. Since ASB can be influenced by factors such as social norms and individual interpretation, it has an elastic definition that results in different levels of acceptance. Unlike other types of housing, co-living spaces can be potentially more influenced by the neighborhood as residents share more time and space. As a pilot study, this research targeted one university residential hall to examine student co-living experiences. To clarify, the research question is focused on identifying the social factors that impact the residential satisfaction of those who co-living in residential halls. Quantitative data (n=100) were collected via a structured questionnaire to measure the residential environment, including ASB, social neighboring, community attachment, and perceived hall management efficacy. The survey was distributed at the end of the academic year to ensure that respondents had at least one year of first-hand experience living in a co-living space. To gather qualitative data, follow-up focus group interviews were conducted with 16 participants who completed the survey. The semi-structured interviews aimed to elicit the participants' perspectives on their co-living experience. Through analyzing their co-living experiences, the researcher identified factors that affected their residential satisfaction and provided recommendations to enhance their co-living experience.

Keywords: co-living, university residential hall, anti-social behabiour, neighbour relationship, community attachement

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Authors: Ana Paula Esteves, Diego S. Caetano, Louise L. B. Lomardo

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This paper presents an approach to the performance of the natural lighting, when the use of appropriated solar lighting systems on the roof is applied in cultural buildings such as museums and foundations. The roofs, as a part of contact between the building and the external environment, require special attention in projects that aim at energy efficiency, being an important element for the capture of natural light in greater quantity, but also for being the most important point of generation of photovoltaic solar energy, even semitransparent, allowing the partial passage of light. Transparent elements in roofs, as well as superior protection of the building, can also play other roles, such as: meeting the needs of natural light for the accomplishment of the internal tasks, attending to the visual comfort; to bring benefits to the human perception and about the interior experience in a building. When these resources are well dimensioned, they also contribute to the energy efficiency and consequent character of sustainability of the building. Therefore, when properly designed and executed, a roof light system can bring higher quality natural light to the interior of the building, which is related to the human health and well-being dimension. Furthermore, it can meet the technologic, economic and environmental yearnings, making possible the more efficient use of that primordial resource, which is the light of the Sun. The article presents the analysis of buildings that used zenith light systems in search of better lighting performance in museums and foundations: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the United States, the Iberê Camargo Foundation in Brazil, the Museum of Fine Arts in Castellón in Spain and the Pinacoteca of São Paulo.

Keywords: natural lighting, roof lighting systems, natural lighting in museums, comfort lighting

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Authors: Wendy Kramer

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How and when a donor-conceived person (DCP) learns about their conception significantly affects their experiences and choices, including whether they'd consider using a donor or donating their own gametes. Objective: We sought to identify factors that positively and negatively impact the experience of being a DCP. We sought to determine if DCP would consider utilizing donor gametes themselves, if unable to conceive spontaneously and if DCP were likely to be donors themselves. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of adult DCP was disseminated to members of the Donor Sibling Registry. The survey consisted of 31 items, including whether experience as DCP was positive or negative, the willingness to use donor gametes if spontaneous conception was not an option, and questions regarding donating gametes. Results: 529 people (81.7% female) completed the survey, the median age was 28 years (range 18-77 years), and 94.7% were conceived via donor sperm. Most felt "neutral" (31.6%), "positive" (26.3%) or "very positive" (20.8%) about being a DCP regardless of donor type. While most found out about being a DCP after age 18 (63.4%), those with a positive experience were more likely to "have always known" (40.7%). Conclusions: People conceived by donor-assisted reproduction are more likely to have neutral to overall positive feelings surrounding their conception if they are told at a very young age about their donor-conceived origins by a family member. The majority of DCPs are willing to adopt but would not consider using donated gametes themselves if unable to conceive spontaneously. DCPs are not likely to become donors themselves despite the majority of DCP having a high positive feeling regarding being donor-conceived.

Keywords: donor conception, sperm donation, oocyte donation, donor-conceived people, infertility

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Authors: M. Yoneda

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It is known that stationary human occupants act as dynamic mass-spring-damper systems and can change the modal properties of civil engineering structures. This paper describes the full scale measurement to explain the tuned mass damper effects of stationary people on structural damping of footbridge with center span length of 33 m. A human body can be represented by a lumped system consisting of masses, springs, and dashpots. Complex eigenvalue calculation is also conducted by using ISO5982:1981 human model (two degree of freedom system). Based on experimental and analytical results for the footbridge with the stationary people in the standing position, it is demonstrated that stationary people behave as a tuned mass damper and that ISO5982:1981 human model can explain the structural damping characteristics measured in the field.

Keywords: dynamic interaction, footbridge, stationary people, structural damping

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Authors: F. L. Bernardo, R. A. S. Zacarias

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The ways to translate are manifold since textual genres undergoing translations are diverse. In this essay, our goal is to give special attention to the literary genre and to the online translation tool Google Translate (GT), widely used either by nonprofessionals or by scholars, in order to show evidence of the indispensability of human wit in a good translation. Our study has its basis on a literary review of prominent authors, with emphasis on translation categories. Also highlighting the issue of polysemous literary translation, we aim to shed light on the translator’s craft and the fallible nature of online translation. To better illustrate these principles, the methodology consisted on performing a comparative analysis involving the original text Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe in English to its online translation given by GT and to a translation into Brazilian Portuguese performed by a human. We proceeded to identifying and analyzing the degrees of textual equivalence according to the following categories: volume, levels and order. The results have attested the unsuitability in a translation done by a computer connected to the World Wide Web.

Keywords: Google Translator, human translation, literary translation, Moll Flanders

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Authors: Veljko Turanjanin

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In this article, an author deals with the issue of life imprisonment. Life imprisonment represents a new sentence in the Serbian legislature, in addition to the standard one, imprisonment. The author elaborated on judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), imposing the possibility of parole for the person sentenced to life imprisonment, emphasizing rehabilitation as the primary goal of penalties. According to the ECtHR, life imprisonment without parole is not permitted. The right to rehabilitation is very strictly set in the ECtHR jurisprudence. Life imprisonment represents a new sentence in the Serbian legislature, in addition to the standard one, imprisonment. The legislator provided the possibility of parole for most criminal offenses after 27 years in prison, while for some of them, a possibility of parole is explicitly prohibited. The author points out the shortcomings of the legal solution that exists in Serbia, which flagrantly threatens to violate the human rights of the offenders.

Keywords: European Court of Human Rights, life imprisonment, parole, rehabilitation

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Authors: Yang Yang, Lu Xin

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The study of extant musical sites can provide a side-by-side picture of historical ethnomusicological information. In their data collection on Chinese opera houses, researchers found that one Ming Dynasty opera house reached a width of nearly 18 meters, while all opera houses of the same period and after it was far from such a width, being significantly smaller than 18 meters. The historical transient fluctuations in the data dimension of width that caused Chinese theatres to fluctuate in the absence of construction scale constraints have piqued the interest of researchers as to why there is data variation in width. What factors have contributed to the lack of further expansion in the width of theatres? To address this question, this study used a comparative approach to conduct a venue experiment between this theater stage and another theater stage for non-heritage opera performances, collecting the subjective perceptions of performers and audiences at different theater stages, as well as combining BK Connect platform software to measure data such as echo and delay. From the subjective and objective results, it is inferred that the Chinese ancients discovered and understood the acoustical phenomenon of the Haas effect by exploring the effect of stage width on musical performance and appreciation of listening states during the Ming Dynasty and utilized this discovery to serve music in subsequent stage construction. This discovery marked a node of evolution in Chinese architectural acoustics technology driven by musical demands. It is also instructive to note that, in contrast to many of the world's "unsuccessful civilizations," China can use a combination of heritage and intangible cultural research to chart a clear, demand-driven course for the evolution of human music technology, and that the findings of such research will complete the course of human exploration of music acoustics. The findings of such research will complete the journey of human exploration of music acoustics, and this practical experience can be applied to the exploration and understanding of other musical heritage base data.

Keywords: Haas effect, musical acoustics, history of acoustical technology, Chinese opera stage, structure

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Authors: Jo Rhodes, Peter Lok, Zahra Sadeghinejad

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The aim of this study is to determine the impact of metacognition on top management team members and firm performance based on full team integration. A survey of 1500 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) was initiated and 140 firms were obtained in this study (with response rate of 9%). The result showed that different metacognitive abilities of managers [knowledge and experience] could enhance team decision-making and problem solving, resulting in greater firm performance. This is a significant finding for SMEs because these organisations have small teams with owner leadership and entrepreneurial orientation.

Keywords: metacognition, behavioural integration, top management team (TMT), performance

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Authors: Gergely G. Karacsony

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Fundamental rights are the result of thousand years’ progress of legislation, adjudication and legal practice. They serve as the framework of peaceful cohabitation of people, protecting the individual from any abuse by the government or violation by other people. Artificial intelligence, however, is the development of the very recent past, being one of the most important prospects to the future. Artificial intelligence is now capable of communicating and performing actions the same way as humans; such acts are sometimes impossible to tell from actions performed by flesh-and-blood people. In a world, where human-robot interactions are more and more common, a new framework of peaceful cohabitation is to be found. Artificial intelligence, being able to take part in almost any kind of interaction where personal presence is not necessary without being recognized as a non-human actor, is now able to break the law, violate people’s rights, and disturb social peace in many other ways. Therefore, a code of peaceful coexistence is to be found or created. We should consider the issue, whether human rights can serve as the code of ethical and rightful conduct in the new era of artificial intelligence and human coexistence. In this paper, we will examine the applicability of fundamental rights to human-robot interactions as well as to the actions of artificial intelligence performed without human interaction whatsoever. Robot ethics has been a topic of discussion and debate of philosophy, ethics, computing, legal sciences and science fiction writing long before the first functional artificial intelligence has been introduced. Legal science and legislation have approached artificial intelligence from different angles, regulating different areas (e.g. data protection, telecommunications, copyright issues), but they are only chipping away at the mountain of legal issues concerning robotics. For a widely acceptable and permanent solution, a more general set of rules would be preferred to the detailed regulation of specific issues. We argue that human rights as recognized worldwide are able to be adapted to serve as a guideline and a common basis of coexistence of robots and humans. This solution has many virtues: people don’t need to adjust to a completely unknown set of standards, the system has proved itself to withstand the trials of time, legislation is easier, and the actions of non-human entities are more easily adjudicated within their own framework. In this paper we will examine the system of fundamental rights (as defined in the most widely accepted source, the 1966 UN Convention on Human Rights), and try to adapt each individual right to the actions of artificial intelligence actors; in each case we will examine the possible effects on the legal system and the society of such an approach, finally we also examine its effect on the IT industry.

Keywords: human rights, robot ethics, artificial intelligence and law, human-robot interaction

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Authors: Peter Pfeifer, Julian Pfeifer, Niko Pfeifer

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Information processing is the focus of brain and cognition research. This work has a different perspective; it starts with behaviors. The detailed analysis of behaviors leads to the discovery that a significant proportion of them are based on only five basic drives. These basic drives are combinable, and the combinations result in the diversity of human behavior and thinking. The key elements are drive memories. They collect memories of drive-related situations and feelings. They contain variations of basic drives in numerous areas of life and build combinations with different meanings depending on the area. Human thinking could be explained with variations on these nested combinations of basic drives.

Keywords: cognition, psycholinguistics, psychology, psychophysiology of cognition

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Authors: Duyen Lam, Thuong Hoang, Atul Sajjanhar, Feifei Chen

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With the emerging interactive technology applications helping users connect progressively with cultural artefacts in new approaches, the cultural heritage sector gains significantly. The interactive apps’ issues can be tested via several techniques, including usability surveys and usability evaluations. The severe usability problems for museums’ interactive technologies commonly involve interactions, control, and navigation processes. This study confirms the low quality of being immersive for audio guides in navigating the exhibition and involving experience in the virtual environment, which are the most vital features of new interactive technologies such as AR and VR. In addition, our usability surveys and heuristic evaluations disclosed many usability issues of these interactive technologies relating to interaction functions. Additionally, we use the Wayback Machine to examine what interactive apps/technologies were deployed on these websites during the physical visits limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Based on those inputs, we propose the reflection framework to enhance the UX in the cultural heritage domain with detailed guidelines.

Keywords: framework, user experience, cultural heritage, interactive technology, museum, COVID-19 pandemic, usability survey, heuristic evaluation, guidelines

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Authors: Nizar Mansour, Chiha Gaha, Emna Gara

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The present research investigates the relationship among HRM practices, knowledge sharing behavior and a certain number of intermediary variables in the context of Tunisian knowledge-intensive firms. Results suggest that five HR practices influence either directly or indirectly the knowledge sharing behavior through enhancing the value of human capital and fostering a learning-oriented organizational climate. Results have strong theoretical implications for both the fields of knowledge management and strategic human resource management. Managerial implications are also derived.

Keywords: human capital, knowledge intensive firms, knowledge sharing, organizational climate, Tunisia

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Authors: Roberto Cabezas H

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The current work shows the methodology developed to create narrative lighting spaces for the multimedia performance piece 'cluster: the vanished paradise.' This empirical research is focused on exploring unconventional roles for machines in subjective creative processes, by delving into the semantics of data and machine intelligence algorithms in hybrid technological, creative contexts to expand epistemic domains trough human-machine cooperation. The creative process in scenic and performing arts is guided mostly by intuition; from that idea, we developed an approach to embed collective intuition in computational creative systems, by joining the properties of Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN’s) and Fuzzy Clustering based on a semi-supervised data creation and analysis pipeline. The model makes use of GAN’s to learn from phenomenological data (data generated from experience with lighting scenography) and algorithmic design data (augmented data by procedural design methods), fuzzy logic clustering is then applied to artificially created data from GAN’s to define narrative transitions built on membership index; this process allowed for the creation of simple and complex spaces with expressive capabilities based on position and light intensity as the parameters to guide the narrative. Hybridization comes not only from the human-machine symbiosis but also on the integration of different techniques for the implementation of the aided design system. Machine intelligence tools as proposed in this work are well suited to redefine collaborative creation by learning to express and expand a conglomerate of ideas and a wide range of opinions for the creation of sensory experiences. We found in GAN’s and Fuzzy Logic an ideal tool to develop new computational models based on interaction, learning, emotion and imagination to expand the traditional algorithmic model of computation.

Keywords: fuzzy clustering, generative adversarial networks, human-machine cooperation, hybrid collective data, multimedia performance

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Authors: Ludmila Vucolova

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The thought is a process that underlies consciousness and cognition and understanding its origin and processes is a longstanding goal of many academic disciplines. By integrating over twenty novel ideas and hypotheses of this theoretical proposal, we can speculate that thought is an emergent property of coded neural events, translating the electro-chemical interactions of the body with its environment—the objects of sensory stimulation, X, and Y. The latter is a self- generated feedback entity, resulting from the arbitrary pattern of the motion of a body’s motor repertory (M). A culmination of these neural events gives rise to a thought: a state of identity between an observed object X and a symbol Y. It manifests as a “state of awareness” or “state of knowing” and forms our perception of the physical world. The values of the variables of a construct—X (object), S1 (sense for the perception of X), Y (object), S2 (sense for perception of Y), and M (motor repertory that produces Y)—will specify the particular conscious percept at any given time. The proposed principle of interaction between the elements of a construct (X, Y, S1, S2, M) is universal and applies for all modes of communication (normal, deaf, blind, deaf and blind people) and for various language systems (Chinese, Italian, English, etc.). The particular arrangement of modalities of each of the three modules S1 (5 of 5), S2 (1 of 3), and M (3 of 3) defines a specific mode of communication. This multifaceted paradigm demonstrates a predetermined pattern of relationships between X, Y, and M that passes from generation to generation. The presented analysis of a cognitive experience encompasses the key elements of embodied cognition theories and unequivocally accords with the scientific interpretation of cognition as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses, and cognition means thinking and awareness. By assembling the novel ideas presented in twelve sections, we can reveal that in the invisible “chaos”, there is an order, a structure with landmarks and principles of operations and mental processes (thoughts) are physical and have a biological basis. This innovative proposal explains the phenomenon of mental imagery; give the first insight into the relationship between mental states and brain states, and support the notion that mind and body are inseparably connected. The findings of this theoretical proposal are supported by the current scientific data and are substantiated by the records of the evolution of language and human intelligence.

Keywords: agent, awareness, cognitive, element, experience, feedback, first person, imagery, language, mental, motor, object, sensory, symbol, thought

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Authors: Borja Bordel, Ramón Alcarria, Marina Pérez

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In March 2020, in Spain, a sanitary and unexpected crisis caused by COVID-19 was declared. All of a sudden, all degrees, classes and evaluation tests and projects had to be transformed into online activities. However, the chaotic situation generated by a complex operation like that, executed without any well-established procedure, led to very different experiences and, finally, results. In this paper, we are describing three experiences in two different Universities in Madrid. On the one hand, the Technical University of Madrid, a public university with little experience in online education. On the other hand, Alfonso X el Sabio University, a private university with more than five years of experience in online teaching. All analyzed subjects were related to computer engineering. Professors and students answered a survey and personal interviews were also carried out. Besides, the professors’ workload and the students’ academic results were also compared. From the comparative analysis of all these experiences, we are extracting the most successful strategies, methodologies, and activities. The recommendations in this paper will be useful for courses during the next months when the sanitary situation is still affecting an educational organization. While, at the same time, they will be considered as input for the upcoming digitalization process of higher education.

Keywords: educational experience, online education, higher education digitalization, COVID, Spain

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Authors: Eugene Muambeh Muntoh

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Corruption has a destructive effect on State institutions and on the capacity of States to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, particularly of those persons and groups in situation of vulnerability and marginalization. In Cameroon, corruption pose a major challenge as it divert public revenues and cripple public budgets that should provide healthcare, housing, education, and other essential services. Corruption has undermined the States’ ability to meet the minimum core obligations and pre-existing legal obligations to maximize all available resources to respect, protect and fulfil Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This study therefore makes use of the qualitative research design, ranging from interviews, observations and content analysis of vital documents to provide evidence and associations between corruption and human rights concerns in Cameroon. The study made use of research material from both primary and secondary sources. Findings from the study reveals that the impact of corruption in Cameroon is especially pronounced regarding economic, social and cultural rights. In most cases, the right to be treated equally is violated, for example, when someone is requested to pay a bribe to obtain a public service. There is an urgent need for sustainable measures to counter corruption in order to protect and promote human rights.

Keywords: corruption, governance, human rights, law

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Authors: Dorcas I. Adeoye

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Disclosure experience of people living with HIV/AIDS has been a public health concern, it has also been attributed to effective way of limiting the spread of the disease. However, among working people living with HIV, it is a great issue that attracts several consequences, it is also a way of managing HIV and balancing their emotional, physical and social aspect of life. The economic, social and political aspect has been affected since the emergent of HIV. It is also not a medical problem that only needs a medical approach; it is a psychological problem that needs not to be ignored. Work attitude model and consequential theory were used to understanding the experience of disclosure or non-disclosure in the workplace. Work attitude model explains the job satisfaction and the organisational commitment of an employee that have effect on the decision and well-being in the workplace; it can also influence a decision to disclosure one’s health condition, however, consequential theory comes to play when a decision is being made, either to disclose or not, and that will attract consequences (either negative or positive) in which ever decision made. A phenomenological study was conducted among employed people that are infected with HIV/AIDS in a south-eastern region of Nigeria where unemployment rate is high. A one-to-one semi-structured interview was used to gather in-depth information about the experience of 20 working people living with HIV. Participants were recruited in a hospital and for some, hospital serves as their workplace. The outcome of the research shows that participants’ experiences vary. One thing that stood out and was found similar among all participants including participants that have disclosed, planning to disclose, or never intended to disclose, is that workplace is a place not to be trusted despite the positive outcomes disclosure could give in the workplace, and disclosure decision needs to be carefully taken. The study was concluded with recommendations that cover various aspects; however, clearer policies should be followed by all organisations to protect people living with HIV in the workplace.

Keywords: disclosure, employment, HIV/AIDS, Nigeria, workplace

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Authors: Meinrad Haule Lembuka

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Ubuntu is an African philosophy and model with the meaning of 'humanity to others' or 'care for other’s needs because of the guiding principle of interdependence’ that embraces collective and holistic efforts in development through the human face. The study uses a literature review method reflecting Julius Nyerere’s contributions in realizing Ubuntu and social work practice. Nyerere strived to restore Africa development in the lens of humanism through the values of solidarity, communal participation, compassion, care, justice etc; He later founded developmental social work through Ujamaa model, educational for self reliance and African dignity. Nyerere was against post-colonial syndromes through African socialism that envisioned values and principles of social work to provide social justice, human dignity, social change and social development. Also, he managed to serve the primary mission of the social work profession to enhance human wellbeing and help meet basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty with African Ubuntu practice of equal distribution of resources. Nyerere further endorsed social work legal framework that embraced universal human rights: service, equality, social justice, and human dignity, Importance of human relationship, integrity and competence. Nyerere proved that Indigenous model can work with formal system like Social work profession. In 2014 the National Heritage Council of South Africa (NHC) honored him an Award of African Ubuntu champion. Nyerere strongly upheld to be an ambassador of social work through his remarkably contributions in developmental social work (Ujamaa model), social change, human dignity, equality, social unity and social justice in Africa and globe at large.

Keywords: ubuntu, Indiginious knowledge, Indiginious social work, ubuntu social work

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Authors: Leon C. Prieto, Simone T. A. Phipps

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There is a need to promote social entrepreneurship in order to solve some of the complex problems facing various countries in Africa (poverty, unemployment, crime, HIV, etc.). For example, one possible consequence of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Zimbabwe and elsewhere is a deterioration in the educational opportunities for orphans and other vulnerable children. Given that high returns are associated with education, the loss of education for a large segment of the population would likely worsen the already dire economic consequences of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Using a systems approach, this paper argues that social entrepreneurship can be used as a vehicle to promote national human resource development, which will assist in the alleviation of societal ills on the national level as well as throughout Africa.

Keywords: human resource development, pan-african, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise

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Authors: Jalal Maqbool, Gyu Myoung Lee

Abstract:

Using smart devices for context aware mobile learning is becoming increasingly popular. This has led to mobile learning technology becoming an indispensable part of today’s learning environment and platforms. However, some fundamental issues remain - namely, mobile learning still lacks the ability to truly understand human reaction and user behaviour. This is due to the fact that current mobile learning systems are passive and not aware of learners’ changing contextual situations. They rely on static information about mobile learners. In addition, current mobile learning platforms lack the capability to incorporate dynamic contextual situations into learners’ preferences. Thus, this thesis aims to address these issues highlighted by designing a context aware framework which is able to sense learner’s contextual situations, handle data dynamically, and which can use contextual information to suggest bespoke learning content according to a learner’s preferences. This is to be underpinned by a robust recommendation system, which has the capability to perform these functions, thus providing learners with a truly context-aware mobile learning experience, delivering learning contents using smart devices and adapting to learning preferences as and when it is required. In addition, part of designing an algorithm for the recommendation engine has to be based on learner and application needs, personal characteristics and circumstances, as well as being able to comprehend human cognitive processes which would enable the technology to interact effectively and deliver mobile learning content which is relevant, according to the learner’s contextual situations. The concept of this proposed project is to provide a new method of smart learning, based on a capable recommendation engine for providing an intuitive mobile learning model based on learner actions.

Keywords: aware, context, learning, mobile

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Authors: Sean Roy, Mercedes Miller

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A study was conducted to assess the positive outcomes related to Filipino human trafficking survivors working at a social enterprise. As most existing research on human survivors pertains to the adverse outcomes of victims, the researchers were seeking to fill the dearth of existing data related to positive outcomes. A quantitative study was conducted using a convenience sample of 41 participants within three staggered cohorts of the social enterprise. A Kruskal-Wallis H test was conducted and indicated that participants in the third cohort (who were employed at the social enterprise the longest) had significantly lower anxiety scores than participants in other cohorts. This study indicates that social enterprises hold the promise of positively impacting anxiety of human trafficking survivors and provides a starting point for researchers looking to assess ways to positively influence the lives of survivors.

Keywords: human trafficking, Philippines, quantitative analysis, self-identity

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Authors: Eman Alhajjar, Albatool Jamjoom, Fatmah Bugshan

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This research aims to investigate the artificial intelligence (AI) application Jung GPT and how helpful it is, as a therapy AI, to users. Jung GPT has the potential to make mental health care more accessible and cheaper while also providing tailored support and advice. However, it is not intended to be a substitute for human therapists. Jung GPT is instructed to understand a wide range of concepts, including emojis, sensitive subjects, and various languages. Furthermore, participants were asked to fill out a survey based on their experience with Jung GPT. Additionally, analysis of the responses indicated that Jung GPT was helpful in identifying and exploring challenges, and the use of Jung GPT by participants in the future is highly possible. The results demonstrate that Jung GPT does help in recognizing challenges or problems within the users. On this basis, it is recommended that individuals use Jung GPT to explore their thoughts, feelings, and challenges. Moreover, further research is needed to better evaluate the effectiveness of Jung GPT.

Keywords: Jung GPT, artificial intelligence, therapy, mental health, AI application

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Authors: Divyanshi Singh

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Women’s right to have choices, sense of self-worth and their right to have access to opportunities have been a subject of serious concern. The health of women and their children in Indian society is adversely affected by the woman’s inferior status within households. The level of human development in society is a reflection of the better status of a woman, which has a clear impact on the usage of contraceptive methods and maternal health. The study is an attempt to assess the performance of Indian states on the parameters of levels of development and to see how the developmental trajectory is influencing the choice for contraception and maternal health. The objective of the paper is to study the relationship between usage of contraception, maternal health and levels of human development in Indian states. Data from NFHS-4th round, AHS (2012-13) and census 2011 is used. Three indicators of human development (effective literacy, infant mortality and gross district domestic product) have been taken. Maternal health for the study has been measured in MMR, IMR and pregnancy resulted in abortions, stillbirths and miscarriage. The multiple regression analysis has been done to analyze the relationship between them. The Developmental factor is found to be greatly influencing the choice of family planning and thus they both show strong relation with maternal health.

Keywords: human development, contraceptive usage, maternal health, effective literacy

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Authors: Mohsen Nouraei, M. Amouei

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Islamic studies are considered in both the Quran and Hadith. Hadith is defined as a set of reports that narrated the words, and behaviors, of infallible persons such as the holy Prophet (pbuh) or the Infallible Imams (as). The issue of biodiversity which is the one of the most important environmental aspects is considered in the field of Hadith. The present paper has investigated biodiversity on the basis of descriptive-analytical methods and with the approach of library-documentary. The household of the Prophet (as) have referred biodiversity that were included diversity of animals, plants, climate etc. In addition to, they also have emphasized on the human need to keep diversity and no damage. It should be noted that they have expressed the rights of the animals and plants for correct using of human, so that human can use these rights in conservation of diversity and their generation.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation of biodiversity, degradation of biodiversity, extinction of biodiversity

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Authors: Sina Mahdavi

Abstract:

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory autoimmune disease of the CNS that affects the myelination process in the central nervous system (CNS). Complex interactions of various "environmental or infectious" factors may act as triggers in autoimmunity and disease progression. The association between viral infections, especially human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and MS is one potential cause that is not well understood. This study aims to summarize the available data on human HIV infection in MS disease progression. In this study, the keywords "Multiple sclerosis", "Human immunodeficiency virus ", and "Central nervous system" in the databases PubMed, and Google Scholar between 2017 and 2022 were searched and 15 articles were chosen, studied, and analyzed. Revealed histologic signs of "MS-like illness" in the setting of HIV, which comprised widespread demyelination with reactive astrocytes, foamy macrophages, and perivascular infiltration with inflammatory cells, all of which are compatible with MS lesions. Human immunodeficiency virus causes dysfunction of the immune system, especially characterized by hypergammaglobulinemia and chronic activation of B cells. Activation of B cells leads to increased synthesis of immunoglobulin and finally to an excess of free light chains. Free light chains may be involved in autoimmune responses against neurons. There is a high expression of HIV during the course of MS, which indicates the relationship between HIV and MS, that this virus can play a role in the development of MS by creating an inflammatory state. Therefore, measures to modulate the expression of HIV may be effective in reducing inflammatory processes in demyelinated areas of MS patients.

Keywords: multiple sclerosis, human immunodeficiency virus, central nervous system, autoimmunity

Procedia PDF Downloads 75