Search results for: visual demonstration

Authors: Lin Chang

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Birmingham, England was a town in the late-eighteenth century and became the nation’s second largest city in the late nineteenth century. The city expanded rapidly in terms of its population and size. Three generations of artists from a local family, the Lines, made a large number of drawings and paintings depicting the growth and changes of their city. At first sight, the meaning of the pictures seems straight-forward: providing records of what were torn down and newly-built. However, except for being read as maps, the pictures reveal a struggle in vision as to whether unsightly manufactories and their smoking chimneys should be visualized and how far the borders of the town should have been positioned and understood as they continued to grow and encroached upon its immediate countryside. This art-historic paper examines some topographic views by the Lines family and explores how they, through unusual depiction of rural and urban scenery, manage to give form to the borderlands between the country and the city. This paper argues that while the idea of the country and the city seems to be common sense, the two realms actually pose difficulty for visual representation as to where exactly their borders are and the idea itself has dichotomized the way people consider landscape imageries to be.

Keywords: Birmingham, suburb, urban fringes, landscape

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Authors: Vrinda Hari Ankolekar

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Introduction: The advancement of various audio-visual aids in the present era has led to progressive changes in education. Use of powerpoint presentations play a key role in anatomy to learn and understand a particular topic. As the subject of anatomy involves more of illustrations and demonstrations, powerpoint presentations become essential in conveying the necessary information. Objectives: To assess the students’ perspective about the use of powerpoint presentations in teaching anatomy.Method: A questionnaire was constructed and 55 students were asked to put forth their preferences for the powerpoint presentations or blackboard that would help them to understand the subject better. Results and conclusion: 30 voted PPT as better and effective tool to explain the subject efficiently. 35 chose PPT as more creative than Blackboard to create interest in the subject. 20 wanted to retain chalk and talk for teaching their subject instead of replacing it with PowerPoint. 36 felt chalk and talk as more useful and appropriate tool for teaching than PowerPoint. Only 25 felt chalk and talk relatively more boring than PowerPoint. 23 experienced more involvement and active participation in the class when chalk and talk is used as the teaching tool. 26 stated that chalk and talk has most of the features needed for teaching.One of the limitations of this study is that the sample size is drawn from one institution only and deals with the experience of one particular group of individuals.

Keywords: chalk and board, powerpoint presentation, presentation skills, teaching technologies

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Authors: Amanda Aliende da Matta, Maria del Pilar Fogueiras Bertomeu, Valeria de Ormaechea Otalora, Maria Paz Sandin Esteban, Miriam Comet Donoso

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This communication presents the preliminary emerging themes in a research on political participation of young women. The study follows a qualitative methodology; in particular, the applied hermeneutic phenomenological method, and the general objective of the research is to give an account of the experience of political participation as young women. The study participants are women aged 18 to 35 who have experience in political participation. The techniques of data collection are the descriptive story and the phenomenological interview. With respect to the first methodological steps, these have been: 1) collect and select stories of lived experience in political participation, 2) select descriptions of lived experience (DLEs) in political participation of the chosen stories, 3) to prepare phenomenological interviews from the selected DLEs, 4) to conduct phenomenological thematic analysis (PTA) of the DLEs. We have so far initiated the PTA on 5 vignettes. Hermeneutic phenomenology as a research approach is based on phenomenological philosophy and applied hermeneutics. Phenomenology is a descriptive philosophy of pure experience and essences, through which we seek to capture an experience at its origins without categorizing, interpreting or theorizing it. Hermeneutics, on the other hand, may be defined as a philosophical current that can be applied to data analysis. Max Van Manen wrote that hermeneutic phenomenology is a method of abstemious reflection on the basic structures of the lived experience of human existence. In hermeneutic phenomenology we focus, then, on the way we experience “things” in the first person, seeking to capture the world exactly as we experience it, not as we categorize or conceptualize it. In this study, the empirical methods used were: Lived experience description (written) and conversational interview. For these short stories, participants were asked: “What was your lived experience of participation in politics as a young woman? Can you tell me any stories or anecdotes that you think exemplify or typify your experience?”. The questions were accompanied by a list of guidelines for writing descriptive vignettes. And the analytical method was PTA. Among the provisional results, we found preliminary emerging themes, which could in the advance of the investigation result in meaning structures of political participation of young women. They are the following: - Complicity may be inherent/essential in political participation as a young woman; - Feelings may be essential/inherent in political participation as a young woman; - Hope may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - Frustration may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - Satisfaction may be essential in authentic political participation as a young woman; - There may be tension between individual/collective inherent/essential in political participation as a young woman; - Political participation as a young woman may include moments of public demonstration.

Keywords: applied hermeneutic phenomenology, hermeneutics, phenomenology, political participation

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Authors: Jeffrey A. Amelse

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Many corporations aspire to become Net Zero Carbon Carbon Dioxide by 2035-2050. This paper examines what it will take to achieve those goals. Achieving Net Zero CO₂ requires an understanding of where energy is produced and consumed, the magnitude of CO₂ generation, and proper understanding of the Carbon Cycle. The latter leads to the distinction between CO₂ and biomass carbon sequestration. Short reviews are provided for prior technologies proposed for reducing CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels or substitution by renewable energy, to focus on their limitations and to show that none offer a complete solution. Of these, CO₂ sequestration is poised to have the largest impact. It will just cost money, scale-up is a huge challenge, and it will not be a complete solution. CO₂ sequestration is still in the demonstration and semi-commercial scale. Transportation accounts for only about 30% of total U.S. energy demand, and renewables account for only a small fraction of that sector. Yet, bioethanol production consumes 40% of U.S. corn crop, and biodiesel consumes 30% of U.S. soybeans. It is unrealistic to believe that biofuels can completely displace fossil fuels in the transportation market. Bioethanol is traced through its Carbon Cycle and shown to be both energy inefficient and inefficient use of biomass carbon. Both biofuels and CO₂ sequestration reduce future CO₂ emissions from continued use of fossil fuels. They will not remove CO₂ already in the atmosphere. Planting more trees has been proposed as a way to reduce atmospheric CO₂. Trees are a temporary solution. When they complete their Carbon Cycle, they die and release their carbon as CO₂ to the atmosphere. Thus, planting more trees is just 'kicking the can down the road.' The only way to permanently remove CO₂ already in the atmosphere is to break the Carbon Cycle by growing biomass from atmospheric CO₂ and sequestering biomass carbon. Sequestering tree leaves is proposed as a solution. Unlike wood, leaves have a short Carbon Cycle time constant. They renew and decompose every year. Allometric equations from the USDA indicate that theoretically, sequestrating only a fraction of the world’s tree leaves can get the world to Net Zero CO₂ without disturbing the underlying forests. How can tree leaves be permanently sequestered? It may be as simple as rethinking how landfills are designed to discourage instead of encouraging decomposition. In traditional landfills, municipal waste undergoes rapid initial aerobic decomposition to CO₂, followed by slow anaerobic decomposition to methane and CO₂. The latter can take hundreds to thousands of years. The first step in anaerobic decomposition is hydrolysis of cellulose to release sugars, which those who have worked on cellulosic ethanol know is challenging for a number of reasons. The key to permanent leaf sequestration may be keeping the landfills dry and exploiting known inhibitors for anaerobic bacteria.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, net zero, sequestration, biomass, leaves

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Authors: Amir Mukhtar, Dr. Likun Xia

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An improved, robust and efficient visual target tracking algorithm using particle filtering is proposed. Particle filtering has been proven very successful in estimating non-Gaussian and non-linear problems. In this paper, the particle filter is used with color feature to estimate the target state with time. Color distributions are applied as this feature is scale and rotational invariant, shows robustness to partial occlusion and computationally efficient. The performance is made more robust by choosing the different (YIQ) color scheme. Tracking is performed by comparison of chrominance histograms of target and candidate positions (particles). Color based particle filter tracking often leads to inaccurate results when light intensity changes during a video stream. Furthermore, background subtraction technique is used for size estimation of the target. The qualitative evaluation of proposed algorithm is performed on several real-world videos. The experimental results demonstrate that the improved algorithm can track the moving objects very well under illumination changes, occlusion and moving background.

Keywords: tracking, particle filter, histogram, corner points, occlusion, illumination

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Authors: Mohamed Amine Ferhat, Mohamed Nadjib Bouhatem, Farid Chemat

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One of the principal aims of sustainable and green processing development remains the dissemination and teaching of green chemistry to both developed and developing nations. This paper describes one attempt to show that “north-south” collaborations yield innovative sustainable and green technologies which give major benefits for both nations. In this paper we present early results from a solvent free microwave extraction (SFME) of essential oils using fresh orange peel, a byproduct in the production of orange juice. SFME is performed at atmospheric pressure without added any solvent or water. SFME increases essential oil yield and eliminate wastewater treatment. The procedure is appropriate for the teaching laboratory, and allows the students to learn extraction, chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis skills, and are expose to dramatic visual example of rapid, sustainable and green extraction of essential oil, and are introduced to commercially successful sustainable and green chemical processing with microwave energy.

Keywords: essential oil, extraction, green processing, microwave

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Authors: Nidhi Patel, Amol Shinde, Amrin Moger

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Mainstream Hindi cinema also known as Bollywood, is the largest film producing industry in India. The Indian film industry underwent a sea change since last few years. The industry adapted to the latest technologies and creative manpower to improve visual and cinematic effects. The changes helped the industry to improve its creative looks and ease on production budget. The research focuses on this very change, i.e. the use of VFX. There has been growing use of VFX in feature films. The primary focus is on how VFX can make a difference in the experience of watching a movie. The research examines the use of CGI/VFX in the narrative, which delivers a visually fulfilling film. It also focuses on the use of CGI/ VFX as a cost cutting tool. The research was exploratory in nature. It studies the industry’s evolvement, increment in its use by filmmakers and their intention to use it in their films. The researcher used qualitative method for data collection as an in-depth interview of 10 artists from VFX studios in Mumbai was conducted. The finding reveals the way VFX is used in Hindi cinema by the directors. The researcher learnt that VFX is majorly used as a tool to enhance creativity and provide the audience with creative viewing experience.

Keywords: Bollywood, Hindi cinema, VFX, CGI, technology, creativity, cost cutting

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Authors: David O. A. Ogunrinade

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The significance of education to the growth and development of man is imperative. The Nigerian education philosophy and national objectives are geared towards self-realization, social, cultural, and economic, just to mention a few. The acquisition of skills and abilities, both mental and physical, for individual to live and contribute to the development of society should be of major importance to a functional education curriculum. This study specifically set out to examine the momentous potentials of popular music as a veritable tool to be properly incorporated into the curriculum of music education in Nigeria. This will equip the learners to be self-reliant and contribute to the national economy. Interviews with exponents of Nigerian popular music and the stakeholders in the music industry, as well as audio-visual materials were employed to elicit information. Findings reveal that there are lots of potentials and dexterities in popular music that can enable Nigerian music graduates to contribute their own quota to the national development of the nation, as well as being useful to themselves. If the Nigerian society is not to be plagued by a breed of unemployable youths who could not raise the economic productivity of the country, it is deemed pertinent that the music curriculum as one of the vocational education needs to be reviewed to incorporate popular music, as well as to reflect more of the Nigerian cultural heritage.

Keywords: popular music, music curriculum, music in schools, popular music prospect

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Authors: Pitimanus Bunlue

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The objectives of this study were to identify the unique characteristics of Salaya Old market, Phutthamonthon, Nakhon Pathom and develop the effective video media to promote the homeland awareness among local people and the characteristic features of this community were collectively summarized based on historical data, community observation, and people’s interview. The acquired data were used to develop a media describing prominent features of the community. The quality of the media was later assessed by interviewing local people in the old market in terms of content accuracy, video, and narration qualities, and sense of homeland awareness after watching the video. The result shows a 6-minute video media containing historical data and outstanding features of this community was developed. Based on the interview, the content accuracy was good. The picture quality and the narration were very good. Most people developed a sense of homeland awareness after watching the video also as well.

Keywords: audio-visual, creating homeland awareness, Phutthamonthon Nakhon Pathom, research and development

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Authors: Annika Barzen

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In this article, the collection and analysis of drawings are implemented and discussed as a methodological approach to reconstruct children's perspective on horse-assisted interventions. For this purpose, drawings of three children (8-10 years old) were included in the research process in order to clarify the question of what insights can be derived from the drawings about the child's perspective on the intervention. The children were asked to draw a picture of themselves at the horse stable. Practical implementation considerations are disclosed. The developed analysis steps consider the work of two art historians (Erwin Panofsky and Max Imdahl) to capture the visual sense and to interpret the children's drawings. Relevant topics about the children's perspective can be inferred from the drawings. In the drawings, the following topics are important for the children: Overcoming challenges and fears in handling the horse, support from an adult in handling the horse and feeling self-confident and competent to act after completing tasks with the horse. The drawings show the main topics which are relevant for the children and can be used as a basis for conversation. All in all, the child's drawing offers a useful addition to other survey methods in order to gain further insights into the experiences of children in a horse-assisted setting.

Keywords: children's perspective, interpret children's drawings, equine-assisted-intervention, methodical analysis

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Authors: Fatma Abdedayem

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We propose an extension to the famous method called Bag of words (BOW) which proved a successful role in the field of image categorization. Practically, this method based on representing image with visual words. In this work, firstly, we extract features from images using Spatial Pyramid Representation (SPR) and two dissimilar color descriptors which are opponent-SIFT and transformed-color-SIFT. Secondly, we fuse color local features by joining the two histograms coming from these descriptors. Thirdly, after collecting of all features, we generate multi-dictionaries coming from n random feature subsets that obtained by dividing all features into n random groups. Then, by using these dictionaries separately each image can be represented by n histograms which are lately concatenated horizontally and form the final histogram, that allows to combine Multiple Dictionaries (MDBoW). In the final step, in order to classify image we have applied Support Vector Machine (SVM) on the generated histograms. Experimentally, we have used two dissimilar image datasets in order to test our proposition: Caltech 256 and PASCAL VOC 2007.

Keywords: bag of words (BOW), color descriptors, multi-dictionaries, MDBoW

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Authors: Asha Dukkipati

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Cognitive neuroscience explores neural functioning and aberrant brain activity during cognitive and perceptual tasks. Neurocinematics is a subfield of cognitive neuroscience that observes neural responses of individuals watching a film to see similarities and differences between individuals. This method is typically used for commercial use, allowing directors and filmmakers to produce better visuals and increasing their results in the box office. However, neurocinematics is increasingly becoming a common tool for neuroscientists interested in studying similar patterns of brain activity across viewers outside of the film industry. In this review, it argue that neurocinematics provides an easy, naturalistic approach for studying and diagnosing learning disorders. While the neural underpinnings of developmental learning disorders are traditionally assessed with well-established methods like EEG and fMRI that target particular cognitive domains, such as simple visual and attention tasks, there is initial evidence and theoretical background in support of neurocinematics as a biomarker for learning differences. By using ADHD, dyslexia, and autism as case studies, this literature review discusses the potential advantages of neurocinematics as a new tool for learning disorders research.

Keywords: behavioral and social sciences, neuroscience, neurocinematics, biomarkers, neurobehavioral disorders

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Authors: B. Sabayan, A. Alidadi, S. Ebrahimi, N. M. Bakhshani

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Neuropsychological problems are more common in hemodialysis (HD) patients than in healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of long term HD on memory types of HD patients. To assess the different type of memory, we used memory parts of the Persian Papers and Pencil Cognitive assessment package (PCAP) and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination (ACE-R). Our study included 80 HD patients of whom 39 had less than six months of HD and 41 patients and another group which had a history of HD more than six months. The population had a mean age of 51.60 years old and 27.5% of them were female. The scores of patients who have been hemodialyzed for a long time (median time of HD was up to 4 years) had lower score in anterograde, explicit, visual, recall and recognition memory (5.44±1.07, 9.49±3.472, 22.805±6.6913, 5.59±10.435, 11.02±3.190 score) than the HD patients who underwent HD for a shorter term, where the median time was 3 to 5 months (P<0.01). The regression result shows that, by increasing the HD duration, all memory types are reduced (R2=0.600, P<0.01). The present study demonstrated that HD patients who were under HD for a long time had significantly lower scores in the different types of memory. However, additional researches are needed in this area.

Keywords: hemodialysis patients, duration of hemodialysis, memory types, Zahedan

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Authors: Edwin Forero-Garcia, Jaime Vitola, Brayan Cardenas, Johan Casagua

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This research article presents the integration of electronic and computer systems, which developed an ultrasonic signal processing system that performs the capture, adaptation, and analog-digital conversion to later carry out its processing and visualization. The capture and adaptation of the signal were carried out from the design and implementation of an analog electronic system distributed in stages: 1. Coupling of impedances; 2. Analog filter; 3. Signal amplifier. After the signal conditioning was carried out, the ultrasonic information was digitized using a digital microcontroller to carry out its respective processing. The digital processing of the signals was carried out in MATLAB software for the elaboration of A-Scan, B and D-Scan types of ultrasonic images. Then, advanced processing was performed using the SAFT technique to improve the resolution of the Scan-B-type images. Thus, the information from the ultrasonic images was displayed in a user interface developed in .Net with Visual Studio. For the validation of the system, ultrasonic signals were acquired, and in this way, the non-invasive inspection of the structures was carried out and thus able to identify the existing pathologies in them.

Keywords: acquisition, signal processing, ultrasound, SAFT, HMI

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Authors: Belkadi Adel, Beboucha Wahib, Cherara lalia

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of Kumi-kata in elite judokas and characterize the kinematic and temporal parameters of different types of handgrip (HG). Method: fourteen participated in this study male athlete (23.5±2.61 years; 1.81±0.37 0 m; 87.25±22.75 kg), members of the Georgian Judo team. To characterize the dominance and types of kumi-kata used, videos of international competitions from each athlete were analyzed, and to characterize kinematic and temporal parameters and handgrip, and the volunteers pressed a digital dynamometer with each hand for 30 seconds(s) after a visual signal. Results: The values of 0.26±0.69s and 0.31±0.03s for reaction time were obtained, respectively, in the full grip and pinch grip; 19.62±18.83N/cm/s and 6.17±3.48N/cm/s for the rate of force development; 475,21 ± 101,322N and 494,65±112,73 for the FDR; 1,37 ± 0,521s and 1,45 ± 0,824s for the time between the force onset to the TFP; and 41,27±4,54N/cm/s and 45,16 ± 5,64N/cm/s for the fall index, in the dominant hand. There was no significant difference between hands for any variable, except for the dominance of Kumi-kata (p<0.05) used in combat. Conclusion: The dominance of application of the Kumi-kata is a technical option, as it does not depend on the kinetic-temporal parameters of the handgrip.

Keywords: hand grip, judo, athletes, Kumi-Kata

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Authors: Omaymah Al-Otoom, Rajesh Mehta

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Introduction: Migration is an established risk factor in the development of schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis. The exposure to different social adversities, including social isolation, discrimination, and economic stress, is thought to contribute to elevated rates of psychosis in immigrants and their children. We present a case of resistant schizophrenia in an immigrant adolescent. Case: The patient is a 15-year-old male immigrant. In October 2021, the patient was admitted for irritability, suicidal ideations, and hallucinations. He was treated with Fluoxetine 10 mg daily for irritability. In November 2021, he presented with similar manifestations. Fluoxetine was discontinued, and Risperidone 1 mg at bedtime was started for psychotic symptoms. In March 2022, he presented with commanding auditory hallucinations (voices telling him that people were going to kill his father). Risperidone was gradually increased to 2.5 mg twice daily for hallucinations. The outpatient provider discontinued Risperidone and started Olanzapine 7.5 mg and Lurasidone 40 mg daily. In August 2022, he presented with worsening paranoia due to medication non-adherence. The patient had limited improvement on medications. In October 2022, the patient presented to the ED for visual hallucinations and aggression towards the family. His medications were Olanzapine 10 mg daily, Lurasidone 60 mg daily, and Haloperidol 2.5 mg twice daily. In the ED, he received multiple as-needed medications and was placed in seclusion for his aggressive behavior. The patient showed a positive response to a higher dose of Olanzapine and decreased dose of Lurasidone. The patient was discharged home in stable condition. Two days after discharge, he was brought for bizarre behavior, visual hallucinations, and homicidal ideations at school. Due to concerns for potential antipsychotic side effects and poor response, Lurasidone and Olanzapine were discontinued, and he was discharged home on Haloperidol 5 mg in the morning and 15 mg in the evening. Clozapine treatment was recommended on an outpatient basis. He has no family history of psychotic disorders. He has no history of substance use. A medical workup was done, the electroencephalogram was normal, and the urine toxicology was negative. Discussion: Our patient was on three antipsychotics at some point with no improvement in his psychotic symptoms, which qualifies as treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRP). It is well recognized that migrants are at higher risk of different psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, affective disorders, schizophrenia, and psychosis. This is thought to be related to higher exposure to traumatic life events compared to the general population. In addition, migrants are more likely to experience poverty, separation from family members, and discrimination which could contribute to mental health issues. In one study, they found that people who migrated before the age of 18 had twice the risk of psychotic disorders compared to the native-born population. It is unclear whether migration increases the risk of treatment resistance. In a Canadian study, neither ethnicity nor migrant status was associated with treatment resistance; however, this study was limited by its small sample size. There is a need to implement psychiatric prevention strategies and outreach programs through research to mitigate the risk of mental health disorders among immigrants.

Keywords: psychosis, immigrant, adolescent, treatment resistant schizophrenia

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Authors: Lai Junzhe, Wang Lihao, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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In recent years, due to today's global technological advances, big data and artificial intelligence technologies have been widely used in various industries and fields, playing an important role in reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Among them, artificial intelligence has derived another branch in its own continuous progress and the continuous development of computer personnel, namely distributed artificial intelligence computing systems. Distributed AI is a method for solving complex learning, decision-making, and planning problems, characterized by the ability to take advantage of large-scale computation and the spatial distribution of resources, and accordingly, it can handle problems with large data sets. Nowadays, distributed AI is widely used in military, medical, and human daily life and brings great convenience and efficient operation to life. In this paper, we will discuss three areas of distributed AI computing systems in vision processing, blockchain, and smart home to introduce the performance of distributed systems and the role of AI in distributed systems.

Keywords: distributed system, artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, visual information processing, smart home

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Authors: Anoop T. R., Otman Basir, Robert F. Hess, Ben Thompson

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Strabismus refers to a misalignment of the eyes. Early detection and treatment of strabismus in childhood can prevent the development of permanent vision loss due to abnormal development of visual brain areas. Currently, many children with strabismus remain undiagnosed until school entry because current automated screening methods have limited success in the preschool age range. A method for strabismus detection using eye alignment stability (EAS) is proposed. This method starts with face detection, followed by facial landmark detection, eye region segmentation, eye gaze extraction, and eye alignment stability estimation. Binarization and morphological operations are performed for segmenting the pupil region from the eye. After finding the EAS, its absolute value is used to differentiate the strabismic eye from the non-strabismic eye. If the value of the eye alignment stability is greater than a particular threshold, then the eyes are misaligned, and if its value is less than the threshold, the eyes are aligned. The method was tested on 175 strabismic and non-strabismic images obtained from Kaggle and Google Photos. The strabismic eye is taken as a positive class, and the non-strabismic eye is taken as a negative class. The test produced a true positive rate of 100% and a false positive rate of 7.69%.

Keywords: strabismus, face detection, facial landmarks, eye segmentation, eye gaze, binarization

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Authors: William Huang

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Retinal prostheses are currently limited to low resolution grayscale images that lack color and spatial information. This study develops a novel real-time image optimization framework and tools to encode maximum information to the prostheses which are constrained by the number of electrodes. One key idea is to localize main objects in images while reducing unnecessary background noise through region-contrast saliency maps. A novel color depth mapping technique was developed through MiniBatchKmeans clustering and color space selection. The resulting image was downsampled using bicubic interpolation to reduce image size while preserving color quality. In comparison to current schemes, the proposed framework demonstrated better visual quality in tested images. The use of the region-contrast saliency map showed improvements in efficacy up to 30%. Finally, the computational speed of this algorithm is less than 380 ms on tested cases, making real-time retinal prostheses feasible.

Keywords: retinal implants, virtual processing unit, computer vision, saliency maps, color quantization

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Authors: Sonja Giese, Tess N. Peacock

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South African based Innovation Edge is experimenting with technology to drive positive behavior change, enable data-driven decision making, and scale quality early years services. This paper uses five case studies to illustrate how technology can be used in resource-constrained environments to first, encourage parenting practices that build early language development (using a stage-based mobile messaging pilot, ChildConnect), secondly, to improve the quality of ECD programs (using a mobile application, CareUp), thirdly, how to affordably scale services for the early detection of visual and hearing impairments (using a mobile tool, HearX), fourthly, how to build a transparent and accountable system for the registration and funding of ECD (using a blockchain enabled platform, Amply), and finally enable rapid data collection and feedback to facilitate quality enhancement of programs at scale (the Early Learning Outcomes Measure). ChildConnect and CareUp were both developed using a design based iterative research approach. The usage and uptake of ChildConnect and CareUp was evaluated with qualitative and quantitative methods. Actual child outcomes were not measured in the initial pilots. Although parents who used and engaged on either platform felt more supported and informed, parent engagement and usage remains a challenge. This is contrast to ECD practitioners whose usage and knowledge with CareUp showed both sustained engagement and knowledge improvement. HearX is an easy-to-use tool to identify hearing loss and visual impairment. The tool was tested with 10000 children in an informal settlement. The feasibility of cost-effectively decentralising screening services was demonstrated. Practical and financial barriers remain with respect to parental consent and for successful referrals. Amply uses mobile and blockchain technology to increase impact and accountability of public services. In the pilot project, Amply is being used to replace an existing paper-based system to register children for a government-funded pre-school subsidy in South Africa. Early Learning Outcomes Measure defines what it means for a child to be developmentally ‘on track’ at aged 50-69 months. ELOM administration is enabled via a tablet which allows for easy and accurate data collection, transfer, analysis, and feedback. ELOM is being used extensively to drive quality enhancement of ECD programs across multiple modalities. The nature of ECD services in South Africa is that they are in large part provided by disconnected private individuals or Non-Governmental Organizations (in contrast to basic education which is publicly provided by the government). It is a disparate sector which means that scaling successful interventions is that much harder. All five interventions show the potential of technology to support and enhance a range of ECD services, but pathways to scale are still being tested.

Keywords: assessment, behavior change, communication, data, disabilities, mobile, scale, technology, quality

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Authors: Jong Boonpracha

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This paper studied the application of the design of local wisdom learning for providing creative activity for juveniles with exhibit media. The Suan-oui Youth Center has the objectives to design and develop exhibit media that encourage participation and learning of youths on local wisdom of Ratanakosin Island. The research was conducted in three stages: 1) to study the principle of local wisdom learning of cultural heritage at Ratanakosin Island 2) to study exhibit media that encouraged participation and creative activities of youth on local wisdom learning, and 3) to design a youth center that provide media exhibition for local wisdom learning. The research revealed the following: 34.6 percent of respondents wanted to apply local living wisdom in their career and for hobby. At least two kinds of exhibit media effectively provided creative activities for youths. A multi-purpose area, for example, with still pictures, visual symbols, and simulations would increase the level of youths’ interaction and participation.

Keywords: exhibit media, local wisdom, youth center, design

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Authors: Toni Maristela C. Estabillo, Michaela V. Matienzo, Mikaela L. Sabangan, Rosette M. Tienzo, Justine L. Bahinting

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This study is about blind watermarking on images with different categories and properties using two algorithms namely, Discrete Wavelet Transform and Patchwork Algorithm. A program is created to perform watermark embedding, extraction and evaluation. The evaluation is based on three watermarking criteria namely: image quality degradation, perceptual transparency and security. Image quality is measured by comparing the original properties with the processed one. Perceptual transparency is measured by a visual inspection on a survey. Security is measured by implementing geometrical and non-geometrical attacks through a pass or fail testing. Values used to measure the following criteria are mostly based on Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). The results are based on statistical methods used to interpret and collect data such as averaging, z Test and survey. The study concluded that the combined DWT and Patchwork algorithms were less efficient and less capable of watermarking than DWT algorithm only.

Keywords: blind watermarking, discrete wavelet transform algorithm, patchwork algorithm, digital watermark

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Authors: Jayakrishnan Narayanan, Sengamalam Periyasamy Dhanavel

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Indian classical (Karnatik) music videos across various media platforms have followed an audio-visual pattern that conforms to its socio-cultural and quasi-religious identity. The present paper analyzes the semiotic variations between ‘pure Karnatik music videos’ and ‘independent/contemporary-collaborative music videos’ posted on social media by young professional Karnatik musicians. The paper analyzes these media texts by comparing their various structural sememes namely, the title, artists, music, narrative schemata, visuals, lighting, sound, and costumes. The paper argues that the pure Karnatik music videos are marked by the presence of certain recurring mythological or third level signifiers and that these signifiers and codes are marked by their conspicuous absence in the independent music videos produced by the same musicians. While the music and the musical instruments used in both these sets of music videos remain similar, the meaning that is abducted by the beholder in each case is entirely different. The paper also attempts to study the identity conflicts that are projected through these music videos and the extent to which the cultural connotations of Karnatik music govern the production of its music videos.

Keywords: abduction, identity, media semiotics, music video

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Authors: Nawaporn Srisarankullawong

Abstract:

This research is about the creating the design by the inspiration of the flowers, which were once planted in Suan Sunandha Palace. The researcher have conducted the research regarding the history of Suan Sunandha Palace and the flowers which have been planted in the palace’s garden, in order to use this research to create the new designs in the future. The objective are as follows; 1. To study the shape and the pattern of the flowers in Suan Sunandha Palace, in order to select a few of them as the model to create the new design. 2. In order to create the flower design from the flowers in Suan Sunandha Palace by using the current photograph of the flowers which were once used to be planted inside the palace and using adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop programs to create the patterns and the model. The result of the research: From the research, the researcher had selected three types of flowers to crate the pattern model; they are Allamanda, Orchids and Flamingo Plant. The details of the flowers had been reduced in order to show the simplicity and create the pattern model to use them for models, so three flowers had created three pattern models and they had been developed into six patterns, using universal artist techniques, so the pattern created are modern and they can be used for further decoration.

Keywords: patterns design, Suan Sunandha Palace, pattern of the flowers, visual arts and design

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Awatef Hicheur Cairns, Billel Gueni, Hind Hafdi, Christian Joubert, Nasser Khelifa

Abstract:

Given the ever changing needs of the job markets, education and training centers are increasingly held accountable for student success. Therefore, education and training centers have to focus on ways to streamline their offers and educational processes in order to achieve the highest level of quality in curriculum contents and managerial decisions. Educational process mining is an emerging field in the educational data mining (EDM) discipline, concerned with developing methods to discover, analyze and provide a visual representation of complete educational processes. In this paper, we present our distributed computation platform which allows different education centers and institutions to load their data and access to advanced data mining and process mining services. To achieve this, we present also a comparative study of the different clustering techniques developed in the context of process mining to partition efficiently educational traces. Our goal is to find the best strategy for distributing heavy analysis computations on many processing nodes of our platform.

Keywords: educational process mining, distributed process mining, clustering, distributed platform, educational data mining, ProM

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Authors: Javed Y. Uppal

Abstract:

In this paper, a case study of a 13 storied multi storied main headquarters building of the Lahore Development Authority Lahore Pakistan has been presented, the 9th floor of which caught fire due to short circuiting and the flare spread through air-conditioning ducts to top three floors, and the building remained under fire for 15 hours before it was quenched. Some columns at the upper 3 floors started crumbling down, which were immediately propped. A visual inspection of site was first carried out, followed by onsite material tests and lab tests for residual strengths, which led to the decision of removal of the top 3 floors in a planned sequence of diamond cutting of middle strips, column strips, and shear walls, in panels and their lifting up by overhead cranes. The waffle slabs were stitched and jacketed with low viscosity polymer layer. The damaged bars were supplemented. The cracked columns were jacketed as well. The validity of rehabilitation procedure was established by load deflection behavior tests and long term performance observation over a period of 5 years. The paper concludes that the procedures adopted could be recommended for such events.

Keywords: fire damage, shotcrete, waffle slabs, delamination, drying cracking, jacketing

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Javed Khan, Aamir Saeed Malik, Nidal Kamel, Sarat Chandra Dass, Azura Mohd Affandi

Abstract:

Low contrast images can result from the wrong setting of image acquisition or poor illumination conditions. Such images may not be visually appealing and can be difficult for feature extraction. Contrast enhancement of color images can be useful in medical area for visual inspection. In this paper, a new technique is proposed to improve the contrast of color images. The RGB (red, green, blue) color image is transformed into normalized RGB color space. Adaptive histogram equalization technique is applied to each of the three channels of normalized RGB color space. The corresponding channels in the original image (low contrast) and that of contrast enhanced image with adaptive histogram equalization (AHE) are morphed together in proper proportions. The proposed technique is tested on seventy color images of acne patients. The results of the proposed technique are analyzed using cumulative variance and contrast improvement factor measures. The results are also compared with decorrelation stretch. Both subjective and quantitative analysis demonstrates that the proposed techniques outperform the other techniques.

Keywords: contrast enhacement, normalized RGB, adaptive histogram equalization, cumulative variance.

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Siddhi Deshpande, Jo Jo Chacko Eapen

Abstract:

Despite almost half of India’s female population engages in watching sports, their experiences in the sports fandom are concealed by ‘traditional masculinity,’ leading to potential exclusion and harassment. To explore these experiences in-depth, this qualitative study aims to understand what coping strategies Indian women fans employ, to sustain their team identification. Employing criterion sampling, participants were screened using The Sports Spectators Identification Scale (SSIS) to assess team identification and a Brief Sexism Questionnaire to confirm participants’ experience with sexism as it aligns with the purpose of the study. The participants were Indian women who had been following any sport for more than eight years, were fluent in English, and were not professionals in Sports. Ten highly identified fans with gendered experiences were recruited for one-on-one semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The data was analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to understand the lived-in experiences of women fans experiencing sexism and gender stereotypes, revealing superordinate themes of (1) Ontogenesis and Emotional Investment; (2) Gendered Expectations and Sexism; (3) Coping Strategies and Resilience; (4) Identity, Femininity, Empowerment; (5) Advocacy for Equality and Inclusivity. The findings reflect that Indian women fans experience social exclusion, harassment, sexualization, and commodification, in both online and offline fandoms, where they are disproportionately targeted with threats, misogynistic comments, and attraction-based assumptions, questioning their ‘authenticity’ as fans due to their gender. Women fans interchange between proactive strategies of assertiveness, humor, and knowledge demonstration with defensive strategies of selective engagement, self-regulatory censorship, and desensitization to deal with sexism. In this interplay, the integration of women’s ‘fan identity’ with their self-concept showcases how being a sports fan adds meaning to their lives, despite the constant scrutiny in a male-dominated space, reflecting that femininity and sports should coexist. As a result, they find refuge in female fan communities due to their similar experiences in the fandom and advocate for an equal and inclusive environment where sports are above gender, and not the other way around. A key practical implication of this research is enabling sports organizations to develop inclusive fan engagement policies that actively encourage female fan participation. This includes sensitizing stadium staff and security personnel, promoting gender-neutral language, and, most importantly, establishing safety protocols to protect female fans from adverse experiences in the fandom.

Keywords: coping strategies, female sports fans, femininity, gendered experiences, team identification

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Authors: Samar M. Alqhtani, Suhuai Luo, Brian Regan

Abstract:

Data fusion technology can be the best way to extract useful information from multiple sources of data. It has been widely applied in various applications. This paper presents a data fusion approach in multimedia data for event detection in twitter by using Dempster-Shafer evidence theory. The methodology applies a mining algorithm to detect the event. There are two types of data in the fusion. The first is features extracted from text by using the bag-ofwords method which is calculated using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF). The second is the visual features extracted by applying scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT). The Dempster - Shafer theory of evidence is applied in order to fuse the information from these two sources. Our experiments have indicated that comparing to the approaches using individual data source, the proposed data fusion approach can increase the prediction accuracy for event detection. The experimental result showed that the proposed method achieved a high accuracy of 0.97, comparing with 0.93 with texts only, and 0.86 with images only.

Keywords: data fusion, Dempster-Shafer theory, data mining, event detection

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Authors: Suryapeta Harini

Abstract:

Road surface roughness is one of the essential aspects of the road's functional condition, indicating riding comfort in both the transverse and longitudinal directions. The government of India has made maintaining good surface evenness a prerequisite for all highway projects. Pavement distress data was collected with a Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) on a National Highway. It determines the smoothness and frictional qualities of the pavement surface, which are related to driving safety and ease. Based on the data obtained in the field, a regression equation was created with the IRI value and the visual distresses. The suggested system can use wireless acceleration sensors and GPS to gather vehicle status and location data, as well as calculate the international roughness index (IRI). Potholes, raveling, rut depth, cracked area, and repair work are all affected by pavement roughness, according to the current study. The study was carried out in one location. Data collected through using Bump integrator was used for the validation. The bump integrator (BI) obtained using deflection from the network survey vehicle was correlated with the distress parameter to establish an equation.

Keywords: roughness index, network survey vehicle, regression, correlation

Procedia PDF Downloads 176