Search results for: learning strategies

Authors: Saima Hirani, Emmanuela Ojukwu, Nilanga Aki Bandara

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Background: Mental health challenges that begin during the youth age period may continue across the entire life course. One way to support youth mental health is to encourage youth engagement in prosocial activities. This study aimed to explore youth’s perceptions about helping others and mental well-being, barriers, and enablers for youth to initiate and continue prosocial activities, and strategies for developing the attribute of helping others in youth. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured, virtual interviews with 18 young individuals (aged 16-24 years) living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Results: Youth perceived helping others as a source of feeling peace and calm, finding meaning in life, experiencing social connection and promoting self-care, and relieving stress. Participants reported opportunities to learn new skills, the role of religion, social connections, previous positive experiences, and role modeling as enablers for their prosocial behaviour. Heavy time commitment, negative behaviour from others, self-doubt, and late exposure to such activities were considered barriers by youth when participating in prosocial activities. Youth also brought forward key recommendations for engaging youth in helping others. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the notion that youth have positive experiences when engaging in helping others and that involving young people in prosocial activities could be used as a protective intervention for promoting youth mental health and overall well-being.

Keywords: helping others, prosocial behaviour, youth, mental well-being

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Authors: Michael Amankwaa Adu

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This study investigates the speech acts employed by a Career Technology teacher during classroom interactions in a junior high school. While much research exists on speech acts in language teaching, little attention has been given to technical subjects. This has created a gap in understanding how teachers of non-language subjects utilize speech acts in classroom communication. This study aims to analyze the types and frequencies of speech acts used by a Career Technology teacher during three key classroom encounters: lesson introduction, content delivery, and classroom management. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study examines 113 utterances from the teacher's lesson, categorizing them into four primary speech act types: directives, assertives, expressives, and commissives. Directives emerged as the most dominant form, accounting for 59.3% of the utterances, followed by assertives (20.4%), expressives (14.2%), and commissives (6.2%). No declarations were observed. The study demonstrates how the teacher uses directives to manage student behavior and assertives to reinforce information. Expressives are used sparingly but play a role in motivating or disciplining students, while commissives help establish classroom rules and set expectations. The findings contribute to understanding classroom interaction strategies in non-language subjects, offering insights that could inform teacher training and curriculum development. The study underscores the importance of effective communication in technical subjects and suggests ways in which language teaching techniques might be integrated into other subject areas.

Keywords: classroom management, directives, speech acts, technical subjects., assertives

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Authors: Nicolas Haber

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The study addresses the design process of integrated product-service offerings as a measure of answering environmental sustainability concerns by replacing stand-alone physical artefacts with comprehensive solutions relying on functional results rather than conventional product sales. However, views regarding this transformation are dissimilar and differentiated: The study discusses the importance and requirements of product-service systems before analysing the theoretical studies accomplished in the extent of their design and development processes. Based on this, a framework, built on a design science approach, is proposed, where the distinct approaches from the literature are merged towards a unified structure serving as a generic methodology to designing product-service systems. Each stage of this model is then developed to present a holistic design proposal called the Functional Engineered Product-Service System (FEPSS) model. Product-service systems are portrayed as customisable solutions tailored to specific settings and defined circumstances. Moreover, the approaches adopted to guide the design process are diversified. A thorough analysis of the design strategies and development processes however, allowed the extraction of a design backbone, valid to varied situations and contexts whether they are product-oriented, use-oriented or result-oriented. The goal is to guide manufacturers towards an eased adoption of these integrated offerings, given their inherited environmental benefits, by proposing a robust all-purpose design process.

Keywords: functional product, integrated product-service offerings, product-service systems, sustainable design

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Authors: M. Testa, L. Peotta, S. Giusiano, B. Lazzolino, U. Manera, A. Canosa, M. Grassano, F. Palumbo, A. Bombaci, S. Cabras, F. Di Pede, L. Solero, E. Matteoni, C. Moglia, A. Calvo, A. Chio

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease of adulthood, which primarily affects the central nervous system and is characterized by progressive bilateral degeneration of motor neurons. The degeneration processes in ALS extend far beyond the neurons of the motor system, and affects cognition, behaviour and language. To outline the prevalence of language deficits in an ALS cohort and explore their profile along with demographic and neuropsychological data. A full neuropsychological battery and language assessment was administered to 56 ALS patients. Neuropsychological assessment included tests of executive functioning, verbal fluency, social cognition and memory. Language was assessed using tests for verbal comprehension, production and pragmatics. Patients were cognitively classified following the Revised Consensus Criteria and divided in three groups showing different levels of language deficits: group 1 - no language deficit; group 2 - one language deficit; group 3 - two or more language deficits. Chi-square for independence and non-parametric measures to compare groups were applied. Nearly half of ALS-CN patients (48%) reported one language test under the clinical cut-off, and only 13% of patents classified as ALS-CI showed no language deficits, while the rest 87% of ALS-CI reported two or more language deficits. ALS-BI and ALS-CBI cases all reported two or more language deficits. Deficits in production and in comprehension appeared more frequent in ALS-CI patients (p=0.011, p=0.003 respectively), with a higher percentage of comprehension deficits (83%). Nearly all ALS-CI reported at least one deficit in pragmatic abilities (96%) and all ALS-BI and ALS-CBI patients showed pragmatic deficits. Males showed higher percentage of pragmatic deficits (97%, p=0.007). No significant differences in language deficits have been found between bulbar and spinal onset. Months from onset and level of impairment at testing (ALS-FRS total score) were not significantly different between levels and type of language impairment. Age and education were significantly higher for cases showing no deficits in comprehension and pragmatics and in the group showing no language deficits. Comparing performances at neuropsychological tests among the three levels of language deficits, no significant differences in neuropsychological performances were found between group 1 and 2; compared to group 1, group 3 appeared to decay specifically on executive testing, verbal/visuospatial learning, and social cognition. Compared to group 2, group 3 showed worse performances specifically in tests of working memory and attention. Language deficits have found to be spread in our sample, encompassing verbal comprehension, production and pragmatics. Our study reveals that also cognitive intact patients (ALS-CN) showed at least one language deficit in 48% of cases. Pragmatic domain is the most compromised (84% of the total sample), present in nearly all ALS-CI (96%), likely due to the influence of executive impairment. Lower age and higher education seem to preserve comprehension, pragmatics and presence of language deficits. Finally, executive functions, verbal/visuospatial learning and social cognition differentiate the group with no language deficits from the group with a clinical language impairment (group 3), while attention and working memory differentiate the group with one language deficit from the clinical impaired group.

Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, language assessment, neuropsychological assessment, language deficit

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Authors: Sobhani U. Pilapitiya, Tharanga Peiris

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Software Engineering curriculums generally consist of industry-based practices such as project-based learning (PBL) which mainly focuses on efficient and innovative product development. These approaches can be tailored and used in project-based modules in software engineering curriculums. However, there are very limited attempts in the area especially related to the Sri Lankan context. This paper describes a tailored pedagogical approach and its results of using design sprint which can be used for project-based modules in SE curriculums. A controlled group of second-year software engineering students was selected for the study. The study results indicate that 100% of students agreed that the Design Sprint approach is effective in group-based projects and 83% of students stated that it minimized the re-work compared to traditional project approaches. The tailored process was effective, easy to implement and produced desired results at the end of the session while providing students an enjoyable experience.

Keywords: design sprint, PBL, software engineering, curriculum

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Authors: Nastaran Rezaei, Mohammad Saeed Mossadegh, Farhan Kocheyli, Khalil Talebi Jahromi, Aurang Kavousi

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Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aims to combine biological and chemical strategies and measures, hence highlighting the study of acute toxicity and sub-lethal effects of pesticides comprehensively. The present research focused on the side effects of thiamethoxam and pirimicarb sub-lethal concentrations on demographic parameters of Diaeretiella rapae (McIntosh Laboratory) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Adult parasitoids were exposed to LC₂₅ of insecticides as well as distilled water as the control. The results showed that thiamethoxam adversely affected population parameters (r, λ, R₀, T), adults' longevity, females' oviposition period and mean fecundity, and a similar trend was obtained for pirimicarb with the exception of generation time (T), the latter did not significantly change compared to the control. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) in the control and those treated with pirimicarb and thiamethoxam were 0.2801, 0.2064, 0.1525 days^-1, respectively, and the sex ratio was biased toward females in all treatments. Furthermore, none of the insecticides influenced total pre-oviposition period (TPOP) and offspring emergence rate. In general, these results indicated that both insecticides potentially distort the demographic parameters of the parasitoid even at sub-lethal concentrations, and then they should not be considered for IPM program in the presence of D. rapae.

Keywords: Diaeretiella rapae, Lipaphis erysimi, life-table study, pirimicarb, thiamethoxam

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Authors: Tanja Salary

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This paper discusses a study conducted in a juvenile justice facility regarding medication errors. It includes an introduction to data collected about medication errors in a juvenile justice facility from 2011 - 2019 and explores contributing factors that relate to those errors. The data was obtained from electronic incident records of medication errors that were documented from the years 2011 through 2019. In addition, the presentation reviews both current and historical research of empirical data about patient safety standards and quality care comparing traditional health care facilities to juvenile justice residential facilities and acknowledges a gap in research. The theoretical/conceptual framework for the research study was Bandura and Adams’s self-efficacy theory of behavioral change and Mark Friedman’s results-based accountability theory. Despite the lack of evidence in previous studies addressing medication errors in juvenile justice facilities, this presenter will share information that adds to the body of knowledge, including the potential relationship of medication errors and contributing factors of race and age. Implications for future research include the effect that education and training will have on the communication among juvenile justice staff, including nurses, who administer medications to juveniles to ensure adherence to patient safety standards. There are several opportunities for future research concerning other characteristics about factors that may affect medication administration errors within the residential juvenile justice facility.

Keywords: Juvenile justice, medication errors, juveniles, error reduction strategies

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Authors: Li Kewen, Su Zhaoxin, Wang Xingmou, Zhu Jian Bing

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Conventional reservoir prediction methods ar not sufficient to explore the implicit relation between seismic attributes, and thus data utilization is low. In order to improve the predictive classification accuracy of reservoir lithology, this paper proposes a deep learning lithology prediction method based on ResNet (Residual Neural Network) and SENet (Squeeze-and-Excitation Neural Network). The neural network model is built and trained by using seismic attribute data and lithology data of Shengli oilfield, and the nonlinear mapping relationship between seismic attribute and lithology marker is established. The experimental results show that this method can significantly improve the classification effect of reservoir lithology, and the classification accuracy is close to 70%. This study can effectively predict the lithology of undrilled area and provide support for exploration and development.

Keywords: convolutional neural network, lithology, prediction of reservoir, seismic attributes

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Authors: Sona Lorencova

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The practice of kindergartens shows that the communication and cooperation of teachers and directors of kindergartens with parents, who come with different expectations and ideas about preschool education, is becoming an increasing problem, which leads to many misunderstandings in their mutual functioning. In practice, little attention is paid to communication and cooperation between kindergartens and families, whether in the professional development of educators, in professional articles and publications, or in the field of research. The approach of teachers to parents whose children attend kindergarten requires more and more skills on the part of educators, which is also related to the introduction of the institute of compulsory preschool education. Thus, the discrepancy in mutual expectations and requirements for children's preschool education on the part of the kindergarten and the family is increasing. The aim of the research was to look into the world of parents and learn about their subjective experience with preschool education of children in kindergarten. The findings could be useful in the search for appropriate strategies for mutual communication and cooperation between kindergartens and families in order to achieve more effective progress for children in education. The data were collected through the method of a constellation with figures, semi-structured interviews, and the use of a research diary. Through an interpretive phenomenological analysis, it was found that the parents' view of preschool education in kindergarten is connected to 6 basic topics - parenting with a preschooler, adaptation to kindergarten, professionalism of teachers, cooperation with kindergarten, and parents' satisfaction with preschool education. The conducted research also revealed that the determinants at the level of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem influenced parents' view of children's preschool education in kindergarten.

Keywords: preschool education, parents, kindergarten, interpretive phenomenological analysis, subjective experience

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Authors: Mark Heads, Carrie Adamson

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Introduction This study evaluated the educational merits of the teaching activities of ‘Sheffield Anatomy Society,’ a student society with minimal faculty oversight which delivers near peer teaching in a range of formats to support students in their revision. Near peer, teaching is defined as teaching delivered by more senior students who have themselves recently completed the course content. This study was conducted between early April and late May 2022. This programme aims to improve student knowledge of anatomy, increase student confidence in their anatomy learning and cultivate a sense of community. The sessions were delivered by more senior medical students and by medical students undertaking an intercalated Master's degree in Human Anatomy with Education. Background: The majority of studies concerning near peer teaching focus on faculty designed programmes. Few studies have examined entirely student led near peer teaching of anatomy. Existing studies have been favourable but have limited qualitative examination of the benefits and weaknesses of near peer teaching. Various drawbacks have been proposed in the literature but not extensively investigated in practice. This study examines student led near peer anatomy teaching across a range of formats and considers these proposed criticisms. Methods: The teaching series consisted of 11 online lectures, a small group teaching session, two in person mock spotter examinations, and an online mock examination. Feedback forms were given for each session, and follow up interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis utilising an interpretivist epistemology was conducted on the feedback form responses and interview transcripts. Findings: 207 first year medical students, 34 second year biomedical science students, and 12 third year biomedical science students completed one or more feedback forms following these sessions, with 875 responses being collected in total. Six interviews were conducted. 99.5% of respondents said that they would recommend these sessions to other students. The quantitative results ranged from a mean of 4.6-4.8/5 per session when asked to rate how useful the students found it. Qualitative: analysis yielded numerous strengths and some weaknesses of the programme. The most commonly cited strength was that students found the explanations readily comprehensible. Students also praised the interactive nature of the sessions, with students frequently saying they felt more able to engage with interactive elements and ask questions in these sessions than in faculty teaching. Students did, however, raise some issues. The most common drawback students mentioned was a desire for more help preparing for their examinations, especially more examination style questions. Criticisms of the teaching itself were less prominent and typically reflected time constraints and limited resources. Conclusions : This study suggests student organised near peer teaching, utilising interactive online lectures, small group teaching, and mock examinations, can be an effective method for supporting students studying anatomy. Students reported improvements in their knowledge as a result of the sessions, greater confidence approaching their examinations, and this programme has helped foster an environment where students feel able to ask questions outside of sessions and even get involved with teaching themselves the following academic year.

Keywords: medical education, near peer teaching, anatomy teaching, online learning

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Authors: Niracha Chompurach, Dararat Khampusaen

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EFL students have to be able to synthesize the texts they are reading critically to compose and connect the information. This study focuses on the effects of the application of Infographics as a supplementary tool to improve Thai EFL students’ Academic reading skills. Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, and knowledge offering students to work on gathering multiple types of information, such as pictures, texts, graphs, mapping, and charts. The study aims to investigate if the Infographics as a supplementary tool in academic reading lessons can make a difference in students’ reading skills, and the students’ opinions toward the application of infographics as a reading tool. The participants of this study were 3rd year Thai EFL Khon Kaen University students who took English Academic Reading course. This study employed Infographics assignments, Infographics rubric, and Gucus group interview. This study would advantage for both EFL teachers and students as a means to engage the students to handle the larger load of and represents the complex information in visible and comprehensible way.

Keywords: EFL, e-learning, infographics, language education

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Authors: Josephine Shamash, Stuart Smith

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We examine reasons for introducing definitions in teaching mathematics in a number of different cases. We try to determine if, where, and when to provide a definition, and which definition to choose. We characterize different types of definitions and the different purposes we may have for formulating them, and detail examples of each type. Giving a definition at a certain stage can sometimes be detrimental to the development of the concept image. In such a case, it is advisable to delay the precise definition to a later stage. We describe two models, the 'successive approximation model', and the 'model of the extending definition' that fit such situations. Detailed examples that fit the different models are given based on material taken from a number of textbooks, and analysis of the way the concept is introduced, and where and how its definition is given. Our conclusions, based on this analysis, is that some of the definitions given may cause discontinuities in the learning sequence and constitute obstacles and unnecessary cognitive conflicts in the formation of the concept definition. However, in other cases, the discontinuity in passing from definition to definition actually serves a didactic purpose, is unavoidable for the mathematical evolution of the concept image, and is essential for students to deepen their understanding.

Keywords: concept image, mathematical definitions, mathematics education, mathematics teaching

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Authors: April Mattix Foster, Kathleen A. Ramos, Sarah Rich, Rebecca Eisenberg, Lisa Dornan

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As the number of children from immigrant and refugee backgrounds in our schools continues to grow, the need to cultivate antiracist educators is crucial. This e-poster outlines the design of online university course modules, funded by the Longview Foundation, designed to support pre- and in-service educators in developing great awareness of, empathy for, and advocacy with immigrant and refugee students in the classroom. These modules guide educators in using children’s and adolescent literature that highlights the lived experiences of immigrant and refugee families, utilizing scaffolded reading and thinking protocols as a model for encouraging empathy and global competence in young learners. Educators reported several benefits of using the modules and curated literature, including greater awareness of the significance of diverse literature, deeper self-reflection and empathy, and stronger connections to classroom practice—ultimately benefiting both educators and their students.

Keywords: antiracist, children’s literature, global competence, empathy, self-reflection

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Authors: Wang Yanze

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Architectural design results from the interaction between space and drawing. Stemming from the Beaux-Arts architectural education, drawing kept its dominant position in teaching and learning process for centuries. However, this education system is being challenged in the present time due to the development of the times. Based on the architectural education of China after 1949, a brief introduction to the history of the evolution of the design concept and drawing is given in this paper. Illustrating with the reference to the students’ works in Nanjing Institute of Technology, the predecessor of Southeast University, in China, the paper analyses the relationship between concept and representation, as well as the participation of Space, the modernism discourse. This process contains the transmission of the character of architects, the renovation of drawing skills and the profound social background. With different purposes, the emphasis on representation tends to be combined with the operation on space, and the role of drawing in architectural design process also changes. Therefore, based on the continuity of the traditional architectural education system, the discussion on the “Drawing of Space” in contemporary education system is proposed.

Keywords: architectural education, beaux-arts, drawing, modernism

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Authors: Usha Lokala, Srinivas Nowduri, Prabhakar K. Sharma

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Useful information has been extracted from the road accident data in United Kingdom (UK), using data analytics method, for avoiding possible accidents in rural and urban areas. This analysis make use of several methodologies such as data integration, support vector machines (SVM), correlation machines and multinomial goodness. The entire datasets have been imported from the traffic department of UK with due permission. The information extracted from these huge datasets forms a basis for several predictions, which in turn avoid unnecessary memory lapses. Since data is expected to grow continuously over a period of time, this work primarily proposes a new framework model which can be trained and adapt itself to new data and make accurate predictions. This work also throws some light on use of SVM’s methodology for text classifiers from the obtained traffic data. Finally, it emphasizes the uniqueness and adaptability of SVMs methodology appropriate for this kind of research work.

Keywords: support vector mechanism (SVM), machine learning (ML), support vector machines (SVM), department of transportation (DFT)

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Authors: K. E. Oyetade, S. D. Eyono Obono

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One of the fundamental characteristics of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been the ever-changing nature of continuous release and models of ICTs with its impact on the academic, social, and psychological benefits of its introduction in schools. However, there seems to be a growing concern about its negative impact on students when introduced early in schools for teaching and learning. This study aims to design a model of child development factors affecting the early introduction of ICTs in schools in an attempt to improve the understanding of child development and introduction of ICTs in schools. The proposed model is based on a sound theoretical framework. It was designed following a literature review of child development theories and child development factors. The child development theoretical framework that fitted to the best of all child development factors was then chosen as the basis for the proposed model. This study hence found that the Jean Piaget cognitive developmental theory is the most adequate theoretical frameworks for modeling child development factors for ICT introduction in schools.

Keywords: child development factors, child development theories, ICTs, theory

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Authors: Antar Bouhank, Youcef Beellal, Samir Adjel, Abdelmadjid Ababsa

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This paper investigates the impact of 3D printing parameters using the cold metal transfer (CMT) technique on the morphological, mechanical, and tribological properties of walls and massive parts made from aluminum alloy. The parameters studied include current intensity, torch movement speed, printing increment, and the flow rate of shielding gas. The manufactured parts, using the technique mentioned above, are walls and massive parts with different filling strategies, using grid and zigzag patterns and at different current intensities. The main goal of the article is to find out the welding parameters suitable for having parts with low defects and improved properties from the previously mentioned properties point of view. It has been observed from the results thus obtained that the high current intensity causes rapid solidification, resulting in high porosity and low hardness values. However, the high current intensity can cause very rapid solidification, which increases the melting point, and the part remains in the most stable shape. Furthermore, the results show that there is an evident relationship between hardness, coefficient of friction and wear test where the high intensity is, the low hardness is. The same note is for the coefficient of friction. The micrography of the walls shows a random granular structure with fine grain boundaries with a different grain size. Some interesting results are presented in this paper.

Keywords: aluminum alloy, porosity, microstructures, hardness

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Authors: Yue Sun, Yuan Wang

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Most of the earliest national industries in Wuhan are located along the Hanjiang River, and Qiaokou is considered to be a gathering place for Dahankou old industrial base. Zongguan Waterworks, Pacific Soap Factory, Fuxin Flour Factory, Nanyang Tobacco Factory and other hundred-year-old factories are located along Hanjiang River in Qiaokou District, especially the Gutian Industrial Zone, which was listed as one of 156 national restoration projects at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. After decades of development, Qiaokou has become the gathering place of the chemical industry and secondary industry, causing damage to the city and serious pollution, becoming a marginalized area forgotten by the central city. In recent years, with the accelerated pace of urban renewal, Qiaokou has been constantly reforming and innovating, and has begun drastic changes in the transformation of old cities and the development of new districts. These factories have been listed as key reconstruction projects, and a large number of industrial heritage with historical value and full urban memory have been relocated, demolished and reformed, with only a few factory buildings preserved. Through the methods of industrial archaeology, image analysis, typology and field investigation, this paper analyzes and summarizes the spatial characteristics of industrial heritage in Qiaokou District, explores urban renewal from the perspective of industrial heritage protection, and provides design strategies for the regeneration of urban industrial sites and industrial heritage.

Keywords: industrial heritage, urban renewal, protection, urban memory

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Authors: Pau Rodriguez, Jordi Gonzalez, Josep M. Gonfaus, Xavier Roca

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Image sharing in social networks has increased exponentially in the past years. Officially, there are 600 million Instagrammers uploading around 100 million photos and videos per day. Consequently, there is a need for developing new tools to understand the content expressed in shared images, which will greatly benefit social media communication and will enable broad and promising applications in education, advertisement, entertainment, and also psychology. Following these trends, our work aims to take advantage of the existing relationship between text and personality, already demonstrated by multiple researchers, so that we can prove that there exists a relationship between images and personality as well. To achieve this goal, we consider that images posted on social networks are typically conditioned on specific words, or hashtags, therefore any relationship between text and personality can also be observed with those posted images. Our proposal makes use of the most recent image understanding models based on neural networks to process the vast amount of data generated by social users to determine those images most correlated with personality traits. The final aim is to train a weakly-supervised image-based model for personality assessment that can be used even when textual data is not available, which is an increasing trend. The procedure is described next: we explore the images directly publicly shared by users based on those accompanying texts or hashtags most strongly related to personality traits as described by the OCEAN model. These images will be used for personality prediction since they have the potential to convey more complex ideas, concepts, and emotions. As a result, the use of images in personality questionnaires will provide a deeper understanding of respondents than through words alone. In other words, from the images posted with specific tags, we train a deep learning model based on neural networks, that learns to extract a personality representation from a picture and use it to automatically find the personality that best explains such a picture. Subsequently, a deep neural network model is learned from thousands of images associated with hashtags correlated to OCEAN traits. We then analyze the network activations to identify those pictures that maximally activate the neurons: the most characteristic visual features per personality trait will thus emerge since the filters of the convolutional layers of the neural model are learned to be optimally activated depending on each personality trait. For example, among the pictures that maximally activate the high Openness trait, we can see pictures of books, the moon, and the sky. For high Conscientiousness, most of the images are photographs of food, especially healthy food. The high Extraversion output is mostly activated by pictures of a lot of people. In high Agreeableness images, we mostly see flower pictures. Lastly, in the Neuroticism trait, we observe that the high score is maximally activated by animal pets like cats or dogs. In summary, despite the huge intra-class and inter-class variabilities of the images associated to each OCEAN traits, we found that there are consistencies between visual patterns of those images whose hashtags are most correlated to each trait.

Keywords: emotions and effects of mood, social impact theory in social psychology, social influence, social structure and social networks

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Authors: Nadiya Didyk

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This thesis deals with the unique history of the emergence of the Ukrainian feminist movement. Ukrainian feminism is still in its making, so the field is under-investigated in general. Nevertheless, the perspective of political economy and the enabling and constraining effects of capitalist dynamics are almost absent from the research on the emergence and the development of the feminist movement in Ukraine. This research was inspired by Hetland and Goodwin’s approach and an attempt to test their approach on the case of the Ukrainian feminist movement. Hetland and Goodwin claim that many scholars tend to neglect political economy from analysis of feminism as a new social movements, namely because such movement are not about class or materialist concerns, and thus have no discernible connection to capitalism. Both scholars, however, point out that there at least four ways in which capitalism has been of high importance for any social movement. Accordingly, the following issues are analysed in this paper: capitalism as the facilitator of the emergence and development of Ukrainian feminism; the influence of class balance in society on the formation of the Ukrainian feminist movement, and the ways in which class divisions within the movement shape its goals and strategies. This paper also focuses on the role of capitalist institutions and free wage labour expansion in shaping collective feminist identities and solidarities. Specific attention is paid to the representativeness of women in the highest echelons in business and politics under the capitalist systems. This study shows that there is a significant hole in the literature regarding the feminist movement in Ukraine and aims to motivate further detailed research.

Keywords: feminism, hetland, goodwin, new soical movements, political economy

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Authors: Jana Abu Ahmada, Zaineb Mohamed, Ilyasse Aksikas

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The linear quadratic control system of hyperbolic first order partial differential equations (PDEs) are presented. The aim of this research is to control chemical reactions. This is achieved by converting the PDEs system to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using the method of characteristics to reduce the system to control it by using the integral reinforcement learning. The designed controller is applied to a catalytic cracking reactor. Background—Transport-Reaction systems cover a large chemical and bio-chemical processes. They are best described by nonlinear PDEs derived from mass and energy balances. As a main application to be considered in this work is the catalytic cracking reactor. Indeed, the cracking reactor is widely used to convert high-boiling, high-molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils into more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and others. On the other hand, control of PDEs systems is an important and rich area of research. One of the main control techniques is feedback control. This type of control utilizes information coming from the system to correct its trajectories and drive it to a desired state. Moreover, feedback control rejects disturbances and reduces the variation effects on the plant parameters. Linear-quadratic control is a feedback control since the developed optimal input is expressed as feedback on the system state to exponentially stabilize and drive a linear plant to the steady-state while minimizing a cost criterion. The integral reinforcement learning policy iteration technique is a strong method that solves the linear quadratic regulator problem for continuous-time systems online in real time, using only partial information about the system dynamics (i.e. the drift dynamics A of the system need not be known), and without requiring measurements of the state derivative. This is, in effect, a direct (i.e. no system identification procedure is employed) adaptive control scheme for partially unknown linear systems that converges to the optimal control solution. Contribution—The goal of this research is to Develop a characteristics-based optimal controller for a class of hyperbolic PDEs and apply the developed controller to a catalytic cracking reactor model. In the first part, developing an algorithm to control a class of hyperbolic PDEs system will be investigated. The method of characteristics will be employed to convert the PDEs system into a system of ODEs. Then, the control problem will be solved along the characteristic curves. The reinforcement technique is implemented to find the state-feedback matrix. In the other half, applying the developed algorithm to the important application of a catalytic cracking reactor. The main objective is to use the inlet fraction of gas oil as a manipulated variable to drive the process state towards desired trajectories. The outcome of this challenging research would yield the potential to provide a significant technological innovation for the gas industries since the catalytic cracking reactor is one of the most important conversion processes in petroleum refineries.

Keywords: PDEs, reinforcement iteration, method of characteristics, riccati equation, cracking reactor

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Authors: Belkacem Laimouche

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With the field of artificial intelligence (AI) experiencing exponential growth, fueled by technological advancements that pave the way for increasingly innovative and promising applications, there is an escalating need to develop rigorous methods for assessing their performance in pursuit of transparency and equity. This article proposes a metrology-inspired statistical framework for evaluating bias and explainability in AI systems. Drawing from the principles of metrology, we propose a pioneering approach, using a concrete example, to evaluate the accuracy and precision of AI models, as well as to quantify the sources of measurement uncertainty that can lead to bias in their predictions. Furthermore, we explore a statistical approach for evaluating the explainability of AI systems based on their ability to provide interpretable and transparent explanations of their predictions.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, metrology, measurement uncertainty, prediction error, bias, machine learning algorithms, probabilistic models, interlaboratory comparison, data analysis, data reliability, measurement of bias impact on predictions, improvement of model accuracy and reliability

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Authors: Mohammed A. Alhoot, Rathika A/P Nagarajan

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Climate change and variability are affecting human health and diseases direct or indirectly through many mechanisms. Change in rain pattern, an increase of temperature and humidity are showing an increased trend in Malaysia. This will affect the biological, physical and chemical component of water through different pathways and will enhance the risk of waterborne diseases. Besides, the warm temperature and humid climate provide very suitable conditions for the growth of pathogenic bacteria. This study is intended to highlight the relationship between the climate changes and the incidence food and water associated infections. Incidences of food and water associated infection and climate data were collected from Malaysian Ministry of health and Malaysian Metrological Department respectively. Maximum and minimum temperature showed high correlation with incidence of typhoid, hepatitis A, dysentery, food poisoning (P value <0.05 significant with 2 tailed / 0.5<[r]). Heavy rainfall does not associated with any outbreaks. Climate change brings out new challenges in controlling food and water associated infections. Adaptation strategies should involve all key stakeholders with a strong regional cooperation to prevent and deal with cross-boundary health crises. Moreover, the role of health care personnel at local, state and national levels is important to ensure the success of these programmes. As has been shown herein, climate variability is an important element influencing the food and water associated epidemiology in Malaysia. The results of this study are crucial to implementing climate changes as a factor to reduce any future outbreaks.

Keywords: climate change, typhoid, hepatitis A, dysentery, food poisoning

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Authors: Benjamin Ankomah-Asare, Richard Adade

Abstract:

Sea level rise (SLR) poses a significant threat to coastal communities globally. Ghana has over the years implemented protective measures such as the construction of groynes and revetment to serve as barriers to sea waves in major cities and towns to prevent sea erosion and flooding. For vulnerable rural coastal communities, the planned retreat is often proposed; however, relocation costs are often underestimated as losses of future social and cultural value are not always adequately taken into account. Through a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviews, surveys, and spatial analysis, the study examined the experiences of coastal rural communities in Ghana and assess the effectiveness of relocation strategies in addressing the socio-economic and environmental challenges posed by sea level rise. The study revealed the devastating consequences of sea level rise on these communities, including increased flooding, erosion, and saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources. Moreover, it highlights the adaptive capacities within these communities and how factors such as infrastructure, economic activities, cultural heritage, and governance structures shape their resilience in the face of environmental change. While relocation can be an effective strategy in reducing the risks associated with sea level rise, the study recommends that proper implementation of this adaptation strategy can be achieved when coupled with community-led planning, participatory decision-making, and targeted support for vulnerable groups.

Keywords: sea level rise, relocation, socio-ecological impacts, rural communities

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Authors: Martha Salinas, Valkyria Bernal

Abstract:

Creativity is a possible response to the profound social, economic, and global changes society is living and education is the source to develop this kind of capacity. However, institutional pressures often prevent teachers from engaging in creative teaching practices and make innovation not the main curricular focus when building learning scenarios and experiences. This study proposes and validates the use of a prototype of Educative Video – Capsules from the perspective of teacher training, presenting the different stages of design, the content plan, as well as the influences of its components and characteristics from the perspective of creativity. The paper presents literature findings of the factors that influence the innovative behavior of teachers, the beliefs of teachers about creativity and its nature, as well as the creative pedagogies that have generated better results. The results show that the disposition of teachers towards creative pedagogies improves significantly with the use of a tool that is based on the principles of microlearning and is developed in a non-academic, autonomous, and non-imposed family environment as traditional teacher training processes usually occur.

Keywords: educational innovation, resistance to innovation, creativity, creative pedagogy

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Authors: Rawan Masarwa, Merav Ben Natan, Yaron Berkovich

Abstract:

Background: Hip fracture repair surgery carries a certain mortality risk, yet evidence suggests that orthopedic surgeons often refrain from discussing this issue with patients prior to surgery. Aim: This study aims to examine whether orthopedic surgeons address the issue of one-year post-surgery mortality before hip fracture repair surgery and to explore the factors influencing this decision. Method: The study uses a cross-sectional design, administering validated digital questionnaires to 150 orthopedic surgeons. Results: A minority of orthopedic surgeons reported consistently informing patients about the risk of mortality in the year following hip fracture surgery. The primary reasons for not discussing this risk were a desire to avoid frightening patients, time constraints, and concerns about undermining patient hope. Surgeons reported a medium-high level of perceived self-efficacy, with higher self-efficacy linked to a reduced likelihood of discussing one-year mortality risk. In contrast, older age and holding a specialist status in orthopedic surgery were associated with a higher likelihood of discussing this risk with patients. Conclusions: The findings suggest a need for interventions to address communication barriers and ensure consistent provision of essential information to patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. Additionally, they emphasize the importance of considering individual factors such as self-efficacy, age, and expertise in developing strategies to enhance patient-provider communication in orthopedic care settings.

Keywords: orthopedic surgeons, hip fracture surgery, mortality risk communication, patient information

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Authors: Adria Rae Abigail R. Eda, Arvin C. Diesmos, Vance T. Vredenburg, Merab A. Chan

Abstract:

Mitigating strategies using symbiotic cutaneous bacteria is one of the major concerns in the conservation of amphibian population. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the causative agent of chytridiomycosis associated with mass mortality and amphibian extinctions worldwide. In the Philippines, there is a lack of study on the cutaneous bacteria of Philippine amphibians that may have beneficial effects to ward off the deadly fungal infection. In this study, cutaneous bacteria from frogs were isolated and examined for anti-B. dendrobatidis activity. Eight species of frogs were collected at Mt. Palay-palay Mataas na Gulod National Park in Cavite, a site positive for the presence of B. dendrobatidis. Bacteria were isolated from the skin of frogs by swabbing the surfaces of the body and inoculated in Reasoner´s 2A (R2A) agar. Isolated bacteria were tested for potential inhibitory properties against B. dendrobatidis through zoospore inhibition assay. Results showed that frog cutaneous bacteria significantly inhibited the growth of B. dendrobatidis in vitro. By means of 16S rRNA gene primers, the anti-B. dendrobatidis bacteria were identified to be Enterobacter sp., Alcaligenes faecalis and Pseudomonas sp. Cutaneous bacteria namely Enterobacter sp. (isolates PLd33 and PCv4) and Pseudomonas (isolate PLd31) remarkably cleared the growth of B. dendrobatidis zoospore in 1% tryptone agar. Therefore, frog cutaneous bacteria inhibited B. dendrobatidis in vitro and could possibly contribute to the immunity and defense of frogs against the lethal chytridiomycosis.

Keywords: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, cutaneous bacteria, frogs, zoospore inhibition assay

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Authors: Temitope Abiodun Balogun

Abstract:

Political interviews are one of the ways by which political office-seekers in Nigeria sell themselves to the electorates. Extant studies have examined the discourse of political interviews from conversational, philosophical, rhetorical, stylistic and pragmatic perspectives with insufficient attention paid to grammatical forms and communicative intentions of the interviews granted by the two presidential aspirants in the 2015 Nigerian general election. This study fills this scholarly gap to unmask their grammatical forms and communicative styles, intention and credibility. The paper adopts Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, specifically interpersonal function coupled with Searle’s Model of Speech Acts Theory as a theoretical framework. A total of six interviews granted by the two presidential aspirants in media serve as the source of data. It is discovered that, in most cases, politicians’ communicative intention is to “pull-down” their political opponents. While declarative and interrogatives are simple, direct and straightforward, the intention is to condemn, lambast and castigate their opponents. This communicative style does not allow the general populace to decipher the political manifestoes of the political aspirants and the party they represent. The paper recommends that before Nigeria can boast of any sustainable growth and development, there is the need for her political office-seekers to adopt effective communication strategies and styles to unveil their intention and manifestoes so that electorates can evaluate their performance after their tenure of office.

Keywords: general election, grammatical forms and function, political interviews, presidential aspirants

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Authors: Feng-Tsung Cheng, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Fang Wu, , Hui-Yu Chuang

Abstract:

Due to the rapid development of modern technology, the widespread usage of the Internet makes business environment changing quickly. In order to be a leader in the global competitive market and to pursuit survive, “changing” becomes an unspoken rules need to follow for the company survival. The purpose of this paper is to build change model by using SWOT, strategy map, and balance scorecard, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that organizational change plan formulated by the case company should require the employee to resist change factors and performance management system issues into consideration and must be set organizational change related programs, such as performance appraisal reward system, consulting and counseling mechanisms programs to improve motivation and reduce staff negative emotions. Then according to the model revised strategy maps and performance indicators proposed in this paper, such as strategy maps add and modify corporate culture, improve internal processes management, increase the growth rate of net income and other strategies. The performance indicators are based on strategy maps new and modified by adding net income growth rate, to achieve target production rate, manpower training achievement rates and other indicators, through amendments to achieve the company’s goal, be a leading brand of precision machinery industry.

Keywords: organizational change, SWOT analysis, strategy maps, performance indicators

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Authors: Danica Vidotto

Abstract:

Digital technology is continuing to disrupt and challenge local conventions of teaching and education. As mobile devices continue to make their way into contemporary classrooms, educators need new pedagogies incorporating information communication technology to help reform the learning environment. In physical education, however, this can seem controversial as physical inactivity is often related to an excess of screen-time. This qualitative research project is an investigation on how physical educators use mobile device applications (apps) in their pedagogy and to what end. A comprehensive literature review is included to examine and engage current academic research of new pedagogies and technology, and their relevance to physical activity. Data were collected through five semi-structured interviews resulting in three overarching themes; i) changing pedagogies in physical education; ii) the perceived benefits and experienced challenges of using apps; and iii) apps, physical activity, and physical education. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings engaging the literature, discussing the implications of findings, and recommendations for future research.

Keywords: applications (apps), mobile devices, new pedagogies, physical education

Procedia PDF Downloads 192