Search results for: cognitive card
784 Artificial Intelligence Methods for Returns Expectations in Financial Markets
Authors: Yosra Mefteh Rekik, Younes Boujelbene
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We introduce in this paper a new conceptual model representing the stock market dynamics. This model is essentially based on cognitive behavior of the intelligence investors. In order to validate our model, we build an artificial stock market simulation based on agent-oriented methodologies. The proposed simulator is composed of market supervisor agent essentially responsible for executing transactions via an order book and various kinds of investor agents depending to their profile. The purpose of this simulation is to understand the influence of psychological character of an investor and its neighborhood on its decision-making and their impact on the market in terms of price fluctuations. Therefore, the difficulty of the prediction is due to several features: the complexity, the non-linearity and the dynamism of the financial market system, as well as the investor psychology. The Artificial Neural Networks learning mechanism take on the role of traders, who from their futures return expectations and place orders based on their expectations. The results of intensive analysis indicate that the existence of agents having heterogeneous beliefs and preferences has provided a better understanding of price dynamics in the financial market.Keywords: artificial intelligence methods, artificial stock market, behavioral modeling, multi-agent based simulation
Procedia PDF Downloads 445783 Low Frequency Sound Intervention: Therapeutic Impact and Applications
Authors: Heidi Ahonen
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Since antiquity, many cultures have seemingly known the power of low frequencies, incorporating them in healing practices through drumming, singing, humming, etc. Many music therapists recognize there is something in music that is transformative enough to make a difference in people’s lives. This paper summarizes the key findings of several low-frequency research with various client populations conducted by the author. Utilizing low-frequency sound (30 or 40 Hz) may have diverse therapeutic impacts: (1) Calming effect – decreased agitation (autism, brain injury, AD, dementia) (2) Muscle relaxation (CP & spasticity & pain/after surgery patients, MS, fibromyalgia) (3) Relaxation/stress release (anxiety, stress, PTSD, trauma, insomnia) (4) Muscular/motor functioning/ decrease of tremor (CP, MS, Parkinson) (5) Increase in alertness, cognitive awareness & short-term memory function (brain injury, severe global developmental delay, AD) (6) Increased focus (AD, PTSD, trauma). The paper will conclude by presenting ideas informing the clinical practice. Future studies need to investigate what frequencies are effective for particular client populations and why, what theories can explain the effect, and finally, something that has been long debated - is it auditive or kinaesthetic stimulation or the combination of both that is effective?Keywords: low frequency, 40 Hz, sound, neuro disability
Procedia PDF Downloads 111782 Anemia and Nutritional Status as Dominant Factor of the Event Low Birth Weight in Indonesia: A Systematic Review
Authors: Lisnawati Hutagalung
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Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is one cause of newborn death. Babies with low birth weight tend to have slower cognitive development, growth retardation, more at risk of infectious disease event at risk of death. Objective: Identifying risk factors and dominant factors that influence the incidence of LBW in Indonesia. Method: This research used some database of public health such as Google Scholar, UGM journals, UI journals and UNAND journals in 2012-2015. Data were filtered using keywords ‘Risk Factors’ AND ‘Cause LBW’ with amounts 2757 study. The filtrate obtained 5 public health research that meets the criteria. Results: Risk factors associated with LBW, among other environment factors (exposure to cigarette smoke and residence), social demographics (age and socio-economic) and maternal factors (anemia, placental abnormal, nutritional status of mothers, examinations antenatal, preeclampsia, parity, and complications in pregnancy). Anemia and nutritional status become the dominant factor affecting LBW. Conclusions: The risk factors that affect LBW, most commonly found in the maternal factors. The dominant factors are a big effect on LBW is anemia and nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy.Keywords: low birth weight, anemia, nutritional status, the dominant factor
Procedia PDF Downloads 365781 Age Related Changes in the Neural Substrates of Emotion Regulation: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Interventions
Authors: Yasaman Mohammadi
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Emotion regulation is a complex process that allows individuals to manage and modulate their emotional responses in order to adaptively respond to environmental demands. As individuals age, emotion regulation abilities may decline, leading to an increased vulnerability to mood disorders and other negative health outcomes. Advances in neuroimaging techniques have greatly enhanced our understanding of the neural substrates underlying emotion regulation and age-related changes in these neural systems. Additionally, genetic research has identified several candidate genes that may influence age-related changes in emotion regulation. In this paper, we review recent findings from neuroimaging and genetic research on age-related changes in the neural substrates of emotion regulation, highlighting the mechanisms and consequences of these changes. We also discuss potential interventions, including cognitive and behavioral approaches, that may be effective in mitigating age-related declines in emotion regulation. We propose that a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying age-related changes in emotion regulation may lead to the development of more targeted interventions aimed at promoting healthy emotional functioning in older adults. Overall, this paper highlights the importance of studying age-related changes in emotion regulation and provides a roadmap for future research in this field.Keywords: emotion regulation, aging, neural substrates, neuroimaging, emotional functioning, healthy aging
Procedia PDF Downloads 112780 Attitudes towards Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Sultanate Oman Schools
Authors: Ibrahim Azem
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The purpose of the present study was to investigate the attitudes of regular classroom teachers, special education teachers, principals, social workers, parents of students without disabilities and parents of students with disabilities, in Sultanate Oman towards inclusion of students with disabilities in the general school setting. Participants’ Four hundred fifty schools were selected randomly from all public schools in Sultanate Oman. From these schools 2,025 individuals volunteered to participate in this study. The Attitude Scale toward inclusion was used to measure adults’ attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities with their peers in an inclusive classroom. The scale was developed based on the conceptualization of attitude as a tri component evaluation consisting of cognitive, affective, and behavioral intention. To investigate the validity and the reliability of the scale, it shows that it has valid appropriate connotations and reliability. The results of the study showed that the adult’s role had significant effect (p < .05) on the participants’ attitudes toward inclusion. Moreover, the results indicated significant (p < .05) gender differences in the attitudes toward inclusion, males scored significantly (p < .05) higher than females. The result of the study also showed that the special education teachers had positives attitudes more than the other type of stakeholders.Keywords: inclusion, students with disabilities, Oman, stakeholders
Procedia PDF Downloads 308779 Contentious Issues Concerning the Methodology of Using the Lexical Approach in Teaching ESP
Authors: Elena Krutskikh, Elena Khvatova
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In tertiary settings expanding students’ vocabulary and teaching discursive competence is seen as one of the chief goals of a professional development course. However, such a focus often is detrimental to students’ cognitive competences, such as analysis, synthesis, and creative processing of information, and deprives students of motivation for self-improvement and self-development of language skills. The presentation is going to argue that in an ESP course special attention should be paid to reading/listening which can promote understanding and using the language as a tool for solving significant real world problems, including professional ones. It is claimed that in the learning process it is necessary to maintain a balance between the content and the linguistic aspect of the educational process as language acquisition is inextricably linked with mental activity and the need to express oneself is a primary stimulus for using a language. A study conducted among undergraduates indicates that they place a premium on quality materials that motivate them and stimulate their further linguistic and professional development. Thus, more demands are placed on study materials that should contain new information for students and serve not only as a source of new vocabulary but also prepare them for real tasks related to professional activities.Keywords: critical reading, english for professional development, english for specific purposes, high order thinking skills, lexical approach, vocabulary acquisition
Procedia PDF Downloads 167778 The Relationship between Competency-Based Learning and Learning Efficiency of Media Communication Students at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Authors: Somtop Keawchuer
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This research aims to study (1) the relationship between competency-based learning and learning efficiency of new media communication students at Suan Sunandha University (2) the demographic factor effect on learning efficiency of students at Suan Sunandha University. This research method will use quantitative research; data was collected by questionnaires distributed to students from new media communication in management science faculty of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University for 1340 sample by purposive sampling method. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistic including percentage, mean, standard deviation and inferential statistic including T-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation for hypothesis testing. The results showed that the competency-based learning in term of ability to communicate, ability to think and solve the problem, life skills and ability to use technology has a significant relationship with learning efficiency in term of the cognitive domain, psychomotor domain and affective domain at the 0.05 level and which is in harmony with the research hypotheses.Keywords: competency-based learning, learning efficiency, new media communication students, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University
Procedia PDF Downloads 243777 The Influence of Mathematic Learning Outcomes towards Physics Ability in Senior High School through Authentic Assessment System
Authors: Aida Nurul Safitri, Rosita Sari
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Physics is science, which in its learning there are some product such as theory, fact, concept, law and formula. So that to understand physics lesson students not only need a theory or concept but also mathematical calculation to solve physics problem through formula or equation. This is can be taken from mathematics lesson which obtained by students. This research is to know the influence of mathematics learning outcomes towards physics ability in Senior High School through authentic assessment system. Based on the researches have been discussed, is obtained that mathematic lesson have an important role in physics learning but it according to one aspect only, namely cognitive aspect. In Indonesia, curriculum of 2013 reinforces displacement in the assessment, from assessment through test (measuring the competence of knowledge based on the result) toward authentic assessment (measuring the competence of attitudes, skills, and knowledge based on the process and results). In other researches are mentioned that authentic assessment system give positive responses for students to improve their motivation and increase the physics learning in the school.Keywords: authentic assessment, curriculum of 2013, mathematic, physics
Procedia PDF Downloads 248776 Philosophical Foundations of Education at the Kazakh Languages by Aiding Communicative Methods
Authors: Duisenova Marzhan
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This paper considers the looking from a philosophical point of view the interactive technology and tiered developing Kazakh language teaching primary school pupils through the method of linguistic communication, content and teaching methods formed in the education system. The values determined by the formation of new practical ways that could lead to a novel qualitative level and solving the problem. In the formation of the communicative competence of elementary school students would be to pay attention to other competencies. It helps to understand the motives and needs socialization of students, the development of their cognitive abilities and participate in language relations arising from different situations. Communicative competence is the potential of its own in pupils creative language activity. In this article, the Kazakh language teaching in primary school communicative method is presented. The purpose of learning communicative method, personal development, effective psychological development of the child, himself-education, expansion and growth of language skills and vocabulary, socialization of children, the adoption of the laws of life in the social environment, analyzed the development of vocabulary richness of the language that forms the erudition to ensure continued improvement of education of the child.Keywords: communicative, culture, training, process, method, primary, competence
Procedia PDF Downloads 339775 Effectiveness of a Physical Activity Loyalty Scheme to Maintain Behaviour Change: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial
Authors: Aisling Gough, Ruth F. Hunter, Jianjun Tang, Sarah F. Brennan, Oliver Smith, Mark A. Tully, Chris Patterson, Alberto Longo, George Hutchinson, Lindsay Prior, David French, Jean Adams, Emma McIntosh, Frank Kee
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Background: As a large proportion of the UK workforce is employed in sedentary occupations, worksite interventions have the potential to contribute significantly to the health of the population. The UK Government is currently encouraging the use of financial incentives to promote healthier lifestyles but there is a dearth of evidence regarding the effectiveness and sustainability of incentive schemes to promote physical activity in the workplace. Methods: A large cluster RCT is currently underway, incorporating nested behavioural economic field experiments and process evaluation, to evaluate the effectiveness of a Physical Activity Loyalty Scheme. Office-based employees were recruited from large public sector organisations in Lisburn and Belfast (Northern Ireland) and randomised to an Intervention or Control group. Participants in the Intervention Group were encouraged to take part in 150 minutes of physical activity per week through provision of financial incentives (retailer vouchers) to those who met physical activity targets throughout the course of the 6 month intervention. Minutes of physical activity were monitored when participants passed by sensors (holding a keyfob) placed along main walking routes, parks and public transport stops nearby their workplace. Participants in the Control Group will complete the same outcome assessments (waiting-list control). The primary outcome is steps per day measured via pedometers (7 days). Secondary outcomes include health and wellbeing (Short Form-8, EuroQol-5D-5L, Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale), and work absenteeism and presenteeism. Data will be collected at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. Information on PAL card & website usage, voucher downloads and redemption of vouchers will also be collected as part of a comprehensive process evaluation. Results: In total, 853 participants have been recruited from 9 workplaces in Lisburn, 12 buildings within the Stormont Estate, Queen’s University Belfast and Belfast City Hospital. Participants have been randomised to intervention and control groups. Baseline and 6-month data for the Physical Activity Loyalty Scheme has been collected. Findings regarding the effectiveness of the intervention from the 6-month follow-up data will be presented. Discussion: This study will address the gap in knowledge regarding the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a workplace-based financial incentive scheme to promote a healthier lifestyle. As the UK workforce is increasingly sedentary, workplace-based physical activity interventions have significant potential in terms of encouraging employees to partake in physical activity during the working day which could lead to substantial improvements in physical activity levels overall. Implications: If a workplace based physical activity intervention such as this proves to be both effective and cost-effective, there is great potential to contribute significantly to the health and wellbeing of the workforce in the future. Workplace-based physical activity interventions have the potential to improve the physical and mental health of employees which may in turn lead to economic benefits for the employer, such as reduction in rates of absenteeism and increased productivity.Keywords: behaviour change, cluster randomised controlled trial, loyalty scheme, physical activity
Procedia PDF Downloads 325774 Poz and Play: Exploring the Effectiveness of the Online Teleserye 'Mga Batang Poz' in Influencing the Reproductive Health Practices of Filipino Teenagers
Authors: Arlan Jay Jondonero
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The study explores the potential of teleseryes in improving the reproductive health practices of its Filipino teenage viewers. This includes the identification of the elements of teleseryes and the conditions that make it suitable for teleseryes to influence the practices of its viewers, as well as the assessment of how the Sabido methodology was applied in other countries to see if it can be applied in the Philippine context. It discusses the historical context of teleseryes in the Philippines, which are now in the online digital media platform. The study recognizes the role of the social cognitive theory and dramatic theory in a viewer’s acquisition of better reproductive health practices and evaluates if these theories can be applied in the Philippine context. Using the quasi-experimental approach, the study aims to determine if there is a causal relationship between how the online teleserye “Mga Batang Poz” is perceived by the Filipino teenage audience through its characters and storylines and the development of the audience’s knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors surrounding HIV/AIDS. The study looked into the components of the teleserye that made it relatable to the Filipino youth, as well as factors that should be taken into consideration to significantly influence the reproductive health practices of the Filipino youth.Keywords: entertainment-education, HIV, quasi-experimental, Sabido methodology, teleserye
Procedia PDF Downloads 114773 Irrelevant Angry Faces, Compared to Happy Faces, Facilitate the Response Inhibition
Authors: Rashmi Gupta
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It is unclear whether arousal or valence modulates the response inhibition process. It has been suggested that irrelevant positive emotional information (e.g., happy faces) and negative emotional information (e.g., angry faces) interact with attention differently. In the present study, we used arousal-matched irrelevant happy and angry faces. These faces were used as stop-signals in the stop-signal paradigm. There were two kinds of trials: go-trials and stop-trials. Participants were required to discriminate between the letter X or O by pressing the corresponding keys on go-trials. However, a stop signal was occasionally presented on stop trials, where participants were required to withhold their motor response. A significant main effect of emotion on response inhibition was observed. It indicated that the valence of a stop signal modulates inhibitory control. We found that stop-signal reaction time was faster in response to irrelevant angry faces than happy faces, indicating that irrelevant angry faces facilitate the response inhibition process compared to happy faces. These results shed light on the interaction of emotion with cognitive control functions.Keywords: attention, emotion, response inhibition, inhibitory control
Procedia PDF Downloads 104772 Study of Multimodal Resources in Interactions Involving Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Fernanda Miranda da Cruz
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This paper aims to systematize, descriptively and analytically, the relations between language, body and material world explored in a specific empirical context: everyday co-presence interactions between children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disease ASD and various interlocutors. We will work based on 20 hours of an audiovisual corpus in Brazilian Portuguese language. This analysis focuses on 1) the analysis of daily interactions that have the presence/participation of subjects with a diagnosis of ASD based on an embodied interaction perspective; 2) the study of the status and role of gestures, body and material world in the construction and constitution of human interaction and its relation with linguistic-cognitive processes and Autistic Spectrum Disorders; 3) to highlight questions related to the field of videoanalysis, such as: procedures for recording interactions in complex environments (involving many participants, use of objects and body movement); the construction of audiovisual corpora for linguistic-interaction research; the invitation to a visual analytical mentality of human social interactions involving not only the verbal aspects that constitute it, but also the physical space, the body and the material world.Keywords: autism spectrum disease, multimodality, social interaction, non-verbal interactions
Procedia PDF Downloads 114771 Play in College: Shifting Perspectives and Creative Problem-Based Play
Authors: Agni Stylianou-Georgiou, Eliza Pitri
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This study is a design narrative that discusses researchers’ new learning based on changes made in pedagogies and learning opportunities in the context of a Cognitive Psychology and an Art History undergraduate course. The purpose of this study was to investigate how to encourage creative problem-based play in tertiary education engaging instructors and student-teachers in designing educational games. Course instructors modified content to encourage flexible thinking during game design problem-solving. Qualitative analyses of data sources indicated that Thinking Birds’ questions could encourage flexible thinking as instructors engaged in creative problem-based play. However, student-teachers demonstrated weakness in adopting flexible thinking during game design problem solving. Further studies of student-teachers’ shifting perspectives during different instructional design tasks would provide insights for developing the Thinking Birds’ questions as tools for creative problem solving.Keywords: creative problem-based play, educational games, flexible thinking, tertiary education
Procedia PDF Downloads 291770 Linguistic Insights Improve Semantic Technology in Medical Research and Patient Self-Management Contexts
Authors: William Michael Short
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Semantic Web’ technologies such as the Unified Medical Language System Metathesaurus, SNOMED-CT, and MeSH have been touted as transformational for the way users access online medical and health information, enabling both the automated analysis of natural-language data and the integration of heterogeneous healthrelated resources distributed across the Internet through the use of standardized terminologies that capture concepts and relationships between concepts that are expressed differently across datasets. However, the approaches that have so far characterized ‘semantic bioinformatics’ have not yet fulfilled the promise of the Semantic Web for medical and health information retrieval applications. This paper argues within the perspective of cognitive linguistics and cognitive anthropology that four features of human meaning-making must be taken into account before the potential of semantic technologies can be realized for this domain. First, many semantic technologies operate exclusively at the level of the word. However, texts convey meanings in ways beyond lexical semantics. For example, transitivity patterns (distributions of active or passive voice) and modality patterns (configurations of modal constituents like may, might, could, would, should) convey experiential and epistemic meanings that are not captured by single words. Language users also naturally associate stretches of text with discrete meanings, so that whole sentences can be ascribed senses similar to the senses of words (so-called ‘discourse topics’). Second, natural language processing systems tend to operate according to the principle of ‘one token, one tag’. For instance, occurrences of the word sound must be disambiguated for part of speech: in context, is sound a noun or a verb or an adjective? In syntactic analysis, deterministic annotation methods may be acceptable. But because natural language utterances are typically characterized by polyvalency and ambiguities of all kinds (including intentional ambiguities), such methods leave the meanings of texts highly impoverished. Third, ontologies tend to be disconnected from everyday language use and so struggle in cases where single concepts are captured through complex lexicalizations that involve profile shifts or other embodied representations. More problematically, concept graphs tend to capture ‘expert’ technical models rather than ‘folk’ models of knowledge and so may not match users’ common-sense intuitions about the organization of concepts in prototypical structures rather than Aristotelian categories. Fourth, and finally, most ontologies do not recognize the pervasively figurative character of human language. However, since the time of Galen the widespread use of metaphor in the linguistic usage of both medical professionals and lay persons has been recognized. In particular, metaphor is a well-documented linguistic tool for communicating experiences of pain. Because semantic medical knowledge-bases are designed to help capture variations within technical vocabularies – rather than the kinds of conventionalized figurative semantics that practitioners as well as patients actually utilize in clinical description and diagnosis – they fail to capture this dimension of linguistic usage. The failure of semantic technologies in these respects degrades the efficiency and efficacy not only of medical research, where information retrieval inefficiencies can lead to direct financial costs to organizations, but also of care provision, especially in contexts of patients’ self-management of complex medical conditions.Keywords: ambiguity, bioinformatics, language, meaning, metaphor, ontology, semantic web, semantics
Procedia PDF Downloads 132769 Study of Objectivity, Reliability and Validity of Pedagogical Diagnostic Parameters Introduced in the Framework of a Specific Research
Authors: Emiliya Tsankova, Genoveva Zlateva, Violeta Kostadinova
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The challenges modern education faces undoubtedly require reforms and innovations aimed at the reconceptualization of existing educational strategies, the introduction of new concepts and novel techniques and technologies related to the recasting of the aims of education and the remodeling of the content and methodology of education which would guarantee the streamlining of our education with basic European values. Aim: The aim of the current research is the development of a didactic technology for the assessment of the applicability and efficacy of game techniques in pedagogic practice calibrated to specific content and the age specificity of learners, as well as for evaluating the efficacy of such approaches for the facilitation of the acquisition of biological knowledge at a higher theoretical level. Results: In this research, we examine the objectivity, reliability and validity of two newly introduced diagnostic parameters for assessing the durability of the acquired knowledge. A pedagogic experiment has been carried out targeting the verification of the hypothesis that the introduction of game techniques in biological education leads to an increase in the quantity, quality and durability of the knowledge acquired by students. For the purposes of monitoring the effect of the application of the pedagogical technique employing game methodology on the durability of the acquired knowledge a test-base examination has been applied to students from a control group (CG) and students form an experimental group on the same content after a six-month period. The analysis is based on: 1.A study of the statistical significance of the differences of the tests for the CG and the EG, applied after a six-month period, which however is not indicative of the presence or absence of a marked effect from the applied pedagogic technique in cases when the entry levels of the two groups are different. 2.For a more reliable comparison, independently from the entry level of each group, another “indicator of efficacy of game techniques for the durability of knowledge” which has been used for the assessment of the achievement results and durability of this methodology of education. The monitoring of the studied parameters in their dynamic unfolding in different age groups of learners unquestionably reveals a positive effect of the introduction of game techniques in education in respect of durability and permanence of acquired knowledge. Methods: In the current research the following battery of methods and techniques of research for diagnostics has been employed: theoretical analysis and synthesis; an actual pedagogical experiment; questionnaire; didactic testing and mathematical and statistical methods. The data obtained have been used for the qualitative and quantitative of the results which reflect the efficacy of the applied methodology. Conclusion: The didactic model of the parameters researched in the framework of a specific study of pedagogic diagnostics is based on a general, interdisciplinary approach. Enhanced durability of the acquired knowledge proves the transition of that knowledge from short-term memory storage into long-term memory of pupils and students, which justifies the conclusion that didactic plays have beneficial effects for the betterment of learners’ cognitive skills. The innovations in teaching enhance the motivation, creativity and independent cognitive activity in the process of acquiring the material thought. The innovative methods allow for untraditional means for assessing the level of knowledge acquisition. This makes possible the timely discovery of knowledge gaps and the introduction of compensatory techniques, which in turn leads to deeper and more durable acquisition of knowledge.Keywords: objectivity, reliability and validity of pedagogical diagnostic parameters introduced in the framework of a specific research
Procedia PDF Downloads 392768 Narrative Psychology and Its Role in Illuminating the Experience of Suffering
Authors: Maureen Gibney
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The examination of narrative in psychology has a long tradition, starting with psychoanalytic theory and embracing over time cognitive, social, and personality psychology, among others. Narrative use has been richly detailed as well in medicine, nursing, and social service. One aspect of narrative that has ready utility in higher education and in clinical work is the exploration of suffering and its meaning. Because it is such a densely examined topic, suffering provides a window into identity, sense of purpose, and views of humanity and of the divine. Storytelling analysis permits an exploration of a host of specific manifestations of suffering such as pain and illness, moral injury, and the impact of prolonged suffering on love and relationships. This presentation will review the origins and current understandings of narrative theory in general, and will draw from psychology, medicine, ethics, nursing, and social service in exploring the topic of suffering in particular. It is suggested that the use of narrative themes such as meaning making, agency and communion, generativity, and loss and redemption allows for a finely grained analysis of common and more atypical sources of suffering, their resolution, and the acceptance of their continuation when resolution is not possible. Such analysis, used in professional work and in higher education, can enrich one’s empathy and one’s sense of both the fragility and strength of everyday life.Keywords: meaning making, narrative theory, suffering, teaching
Procedia PDF Downloads 265767 Meditation-Based Interventions in the Workplace
Authors: Louise Fitzgerald, John Allman
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Introduction: Having previously engaged in a meditation-based programme (MBP) for staff in general practice, we explore the evidence and extent to which MBPs are employed in the workplace. Aim of the study: We aim to understand the current workplace MBP intervention literature, which will help inform the suitability of these interventions within the workplace domain. Objectives: Uptake of MBPs in the workplace has grown as organizations look to support employee health, wellbeing, and performance. We will discuss the current MBP literature, including the large variability across MBPs and the associated difficulties in evaluating their efficacy. Learning points: 1) MBPs have a positive impact on cognitive function including concentration and memory and as such job performance. MBPs appear to have a positive impact on objective and subjective job satisfaction, productivity, motivation and work engagement. Meditation in the workplace may have positive impacts on mental health issues - including stress reduction and depression. 2) From our review MBPs appear to be implementable in a wide range of professions and work contexts - regardless of individual factors. Given many companies are focusing on health and wellbeing of employees, this could be included in employee wellbeing programmes. 3) Despite the benefits of mindfulness and meditation interventions in psychosocial workplace health and work performance the long-term efficacy has yet to be fully determined.Keywords: meditation-based programmes, mindfulness, meditation, well-being
Procedia PDF Downloads 140766 Applied Complement of Probability and Information Entropy for Prediction in Student Learning
Authors: Kennedy Efosa Ehimwenma, Sujatha Krishnamoorthy, Safiya Al‑Sharji
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The probability computation of events is in the interval of [0, 1], which are values that are determined by the number of outcomes of events in a sample space S. The probability Pr(A) that an event A will never occur is 0. The probability Pr(B) that event B will certainly occur is 1. This makes both events A and B a certainty. Furthermore, the sum of probabilities Pr(E₁) + Pr(E₂) + … + Pr(Eₙ) of a finite set of events in a given sample space S equals 1. Conversely, the difference of the sum of two probabilities that will certainly occur is 0. This paper first discusses Bayes, the complement of probability, and the difference of probability for occurrences of learning-events before applying them in the prediction of learning objects in student learning. Given the sum of 1; to make a recommendation for student learning, this paper proposes that the difference of argMaxPr(S) and the probability of student-performance quantifies the weight of learning objects for students. Using a dataset of skill-set, the computational procedure demonstrates i) the probability of skill-set events that have occurred that would lead to higher-level learning; ii) the probability of the events that have not occurred that requires subject-matter relearning; iii) accuracy of the decision tree in the prediction of student performance into class labels and iv) information entropy about skill-set data and its implication on student cognitive performance and recommendation of learning.Keywords: complement of probability, Bayes’ rule, prediction, pre-assessments, computational education, information theory
Procedia PDF Downloads 161765 Determining a Bilingualism Index: Evidence From Lebanese Control Bilinguals
Authors: Rania Kassir, Christophe Dos Santos, Halim Abboud, Olivier Godefroy
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The ability to communicate in at least two different languages is shared by a growing number of humans. Recently, many researchers have been studying the elderly bilingual population around the world in neuroscience, and yet, until today there’s no accurate nor universal measure or methodology used to examine bilingualism across these studies which constitute a real challenge for results generalization. This study contributes to the quest of a multidimensional bilingualism index and language proficiency literature by investigating a new bilingualism index from a reliable subjective questionnaire the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q), multi-linguistic tests, and a diverse bilingual population all featured in one analysis and one index. One hundred Lebanese subjects aged between 55 and 92 years old divided into three different bilingualism subgroups (Arabic prominent, balanced, and French prominent) were recruited and underwent the LEAP-Q with a set of linguistic and cognitive tests. The analysis of the collected data led to the creation of a robust bilingualism index from speaking and oral understanding scores that underline specifically bilingualism subtype according to cutoffs scored. The practice implications of this index, particularly its use within bilingual populations, are addressed in the conclusion of this work.Keywords: bilingualism, language dominance, bilingualism index, balanced bilingualism, Arabic first language, Lebanese, Arabic-French bilingualism
Procedia PDF Downloads 128764 Constructive Alignment in the Digital Age: Challenges and Opportunities at the University of Sulaimani
Authors: Daban Mohammed Haji
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This paper explores the application of constructive alignment in digital education at the University of Sulaimani, focusing specifically on the Language and Culture Center, Translation Department, and English Department. Constructive alignment, an outcome-based pedagogical framework developed by John Biggs, ensures that learning activities and assessments are directly aligned with the intended learning outcomes (ILOs). The study's findings reveal a significant gap in awareness and understanding of this pedagogical concept among lecturers. Many instructors are unfamiliar with constructive alignment, and those who have some knowledge of it face considerable challenges. These challenges include aligning learning activities and assessments with the ILOs and fostering higher-order cognitive skills as outlined in the SOLO taxonomy and revised Bloom’s taxonomy. To address this issue, the existing pedagogy center at the University of Sulaimani could play a pivotal role. This center has the potential to foster faculty development and promote the adoption of constructive alignment in online teaching. By leveraging the center's expertise and resources, a tailored program can be designed to enhance faculty understanding and application of this pedagogical framework.Keywords: constructive alignment, student-centerdness, pedagogy, bologna process
Procedia PDF Downloads 32763 A Study of Transferable Strategies in Multilanguage Learning
Authors: Zixi You
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With the demand of multilingual speakers increasing in the job market, multi-language learning programs have become more and more popular among undergraduate students. A study on multi-language learning strategies is therefore highly demanded on both practical and theoretical levels. Based on previous classification of learning strategies in SLA, and an investigation of BA Modern Language program students (with post-A level L2 and ab initio L3 learning experience from year one), this study explores and compares different types of learning strategies used by multi-language speakers and learners, transferable learning strategies between L2 and L3, and factors affecting the transfer. The results indicate that all the 23 types of learning strategies of L2 are employed when learning L3 from ab initio level, yet with different tendencies. Learning strategy transfer from L2 to L3 (i.e., the learners attribute the applying of these L3 learning strategies to be a direct result of their L2 learning experience) are observed in all 23 types of learning strategies. Comparatively, six types of “cognitive strategies” have higher transfer tendency than others. With regard to the failure of the transfer of some particular L2 strategies and the development of independent L3 strategies of individual learners, factors such as language proficiency, language typology and learning environment have played important roles among others. The presentation of this study will provide audiences with detailed data, insightful analysis and discussion on both theoretical and practical aspects of multi-language learning that will benefit both students and educators.Keywords: learning strategy, multi-language acquisition, second language acquisition, strategy transfer
Procedia PDF Downloads 575762 Data Collection Techniques for Robotics to Identify the Facial Expressions of Traumatic Brain Injured Patients
Authors: Chaudhary Muhammad Aqdus Ilyas, Matthias Rehm, Kamal Nasrollahi, Thomas B. Moeslund
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This paper presents the investigation of data collection procedures, associated with robots when placed with traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients for rehabilitation purposes through facial expression and mood analysis. Rehabilitation after TBI is very crucial due to nature of injury and variation in recovery time. It is advantageous to analyze these emotional signals in a contactless manner, due to the non-supportive behavior of patients, limited muscle movements and increase in negative emotional expressions. This work aims at the development of framework where robots can recognize TBI emotions through facial expressions to perform rehabilitation tasks by physical, cognitive or interactive activities. The result of these studies shows that with customized data collection strategies, proposed framework identify facial and emotional expressions more accurately that can be utilized in enhancing recovery treatment and social interaction in robotic context.Keywords: computer vision, convolution neural network- long short term memory network (CNN-LSTM), facial expression and mood recognition, multimodal (RGB-thermal) analysis, rehabilitation, robots, traumatic brain injured patients
Procedia PDF Downloads 155761 Enhancing Development through Music: Insights from the Tehran Conservatory’s Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Ailin Agaahi, Nafise Daneshvar Hoseini, Shahnaz Tamizi, Mehrdad Sabet
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This study investigates the impact of the Tehran Conservatory's music program on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. Recognizing music education as a beneficial therapeutic intervention, the research highlights how engagement in musical activities can foster cognitive, emotional, and social growth. Through qualitative interviews with parents of children enrolled in the program, the study explores their motivations for participation, observations of their children's progress, and assessments of the program's effectiveness. Preliminary findings indicate that the program significantly enhances social interaction, emotional regulation, and communication skills in children with ASD. Parents appreciate the program's adaptability to individual needs and the supportive training of instructors. Despite these positive outcomes, the study identifies challenges, including a lack of awareness and limited access to similar programs. The findings contribute valuable perspectives to the existing literature and suggest pathways for developing more inclusive music education initiatives, both in Iran and globally, to better support children with ASD and their families.Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, music education, therapeutic intervention, parental perspectives, social interaction
Procedia PDF Downloads 19760 Trading Volume on the Tunisian Financial Market: An Approach Explaining the Hypothesis of Investors Overconfidence
Authors: Fatma Ismailia, Malek Saihi
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This research provides an explanation of exchange incentives on the Tunis stock market from a behavioural point of view. The elucidation of the anomalies of excessive volume of transactions and that of excessive volatility cannot be done without the recourse to the psychological aspects of investors. The excessive confidence has been given the predominant role for the explanation of these phenomena. Indeed, when investors store increments, they become more confident about the precision of their private information and their exchange activities then become more aggressive on the subsequent periods. These overconfident investors carry out the intensive exchanges leading to an increase of securities volatility. The objective of this research is to identify whether the trading volume and the excessive volatility of securities observed on the Tunisian stock market come from the excessive exchange of overconfident investors. We use a sample of daily observations over the period January 1999 - October 2007 and we relied on various econometric tests including the VAR model. Our results provide evidence on the importance to consider the bias of overconfidence in the analysis of Tunis stock exchange specificities. The results reveal that the excess of confidence has a major impact on the trading volume while using daily temporal intervals.Keywords: overconfidence, trading volume, efficiency, rationality, anomalies, behavioural finance, cognitive biases
Procedia PDF Downloads 411759 GABARAPL1 (GEC1) mRNA Expression Levels in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Ali Bayram, Burak Uz, Ilhan Dolasik, Remzi Yiğiter
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The GABARAP (GABAA-receptor-associated protein) family consists of GABARAP, GABARAPL1 (GABARAP-like 1) and GABARAPL2 (GABARAP-like 2). GABARAPL1, like GABARAP, was described to interact with both GABAA receptor and tubulin, and to be involved in intracellular GABAA receptor trafficking and promoting tubulin polymerization. In addition, GABARAPL1 is thought to be involved in various physiological (autophagosome closure, regulation of circadian rhythms) and/or pathological mechanisms (cancer, neurodegeneration). Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neuro degenerative disorder characterized with impaired cognitive functions. Disruption of the GABAergic neuro transmission as well as cholinergic and glutamatergic interactions, may also be involved in the pathogenesis of AD. GABARAPL1 presents a regulated tissue expression and is the most expressed gene among the GABARAP family members in the central nervous system. We, herein, conducted a study to investigate the GABARAPL1 mRNA expression levels in patients with AD. 50 patients with AD and 49 control patients were enrolled to the present study. Messenger RNA expression levels of GABARAPL1 were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. GABARAPL1 mRNA expression in AD / control patients was 0,495 (95% confidence interval: 0,404-0,607), p= 0,00000002646. Reduced activity of GABARAPL1 gene might play a role, at least partly, in the pathophysiology of AD.Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, GABARAPL1, mRNA expression, RT-PCR
Procedia PDF Downloads 458758 Mind Care Assistant - Companion App
Authors: Roshani Gusain, Deep Sinha, Karan Nayal, Anmol Kumar Mishra, Manav Singh
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In this research paper, we introduce "Mind Care Assistant - Companion App", which is a Flutter and Firebase-based mental health monitor. The app wants to improve and monitor the mental health of its users, it uses noninvasive ways to check for a change in their emotional state. By responding to questions, the app will provide individualized suggestions ᅳ tasks and mindfulness exercises ᅳ for users who are depressed or anxious. The app features a chat-bot that incorporates cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles and combines natural language processing with machine learning to develop personalised responses. The feature of the app that makes it easy for us to choose between iOS and Android is cross-platform, which allows users from both mobile systems to experience almost no changes in their interfaces. With Firebase integration synchronized and real-time data storage, security is easily possible. The paper covers the architecture of the app, how it was developed and some important features. The primary research result presents the promise of a "Mind Care Assistant" in mental health care using new wait-for-health technology, proposing a full stack application to be able to manage depression/anxiety and overall Mental well-being very effectively.Keywords: mental health, mobile application, flutter, firebase, Depression, Anxiety
Procedia PDF Downloads 12757 Compared Psychophysiological Responses under Stress in Patients of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Depressive Disorder
Authors: Fu-Chien Hung, Chi‐Wen Liang
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Background: People who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) frequently complain about continuous tiredness, weakness or lack of strength, but without apparent organic etiology. The prevalence rate of the CFS is nearly from 3% to 20%, yet more than 80% go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as depression. The biopsychosocial model has suggested the associations among the CFS, depressive syndrome, and stress. This study aimed to investigate the difference between individuals with the CFS and with the depressive syndrome on psychophysiological responses under stress. Method: There were 23 participants in the CFS group, 14 participants in the depression group, and 23 participants in the healthy control group. All of the participants first completed the measures of demographic data, CFS-related symptoms, daily life functioning, and depressive symptoms. The participants were then asked to perform a stressful cognitive task. The participants’ psychophysiological responses including the HR, BVP and SC were measured during the task. These indexes were used to assess the reactivity and recovery rates of the automatic nervous system. Results: The stress reactivity of the CFS and depression groups was not different from that of the healthy control group. However, the stress recovery rate of the CFS group was worse than that of the healthy control group. Conclusion: The results from this study suggest that the CFS is a syndrome which can be independent from the depressive syndrome, although the depressive syndrome may include fatigue syndrome.Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, stress response, misdiagnosis
Procedia PDF Downloads 457756 A Follow–Up Study of Bachelor of Science Graduates in Applied Statistics from Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University during the 1999-2012 Academic Years
Authors: Somruedee Pongsena
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The purpose of this study is to follow up on the graduated students of Bachelor of Science in Applied Statistics from Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (SSRU) during the 1999 – 2012 academic years and to provide the fundamental guideline for developing the current curriculum according to Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF: HEd). The sample was collected from 75 graduates by interview and online questionnaire. The content covered 5 subjects: ethics and moral, knowledge, cognitive skills, interpersonal skills and responsibility, numerical analysis as well as communication and information technology skills. Data were analyzed by using statistical methods as percentiles, means, standard deviation, t-tests, and F-tests. The findings showed that samples were mostly females younger than 26 years old. The majority of graduates had income in the range of 10,001-20,000 Baht and their experience range was 2-5 years. In addition, overall opinions from receiving knowledge to apply to work were at agree; mean score was 3.97 and standard deviation was 0.40. In terms of opinion difference, the hypothesis' testing results indicate gender only had different opinion at a significant level of 0.05.Keywords: follow-up, graduates, knowledge, opinion, work performance.
Procedia PDF Downloads 211755 A Self-Heating Gas Sensor of SnO2-Based Nanoparticles Electrophoretic Deposited
Authors: Glauco M. M. M. Lustosa, João Paulo C. Costa, Sonia M. Zanetti, Mario Cilense, Leinig Antônio Perazolli, Maria Aparecida Zaghete
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The contamination of the environment has been one of the biggest problems of our time, mostly due to developments of many industries. SnO2 is an n-type semiconductor with band gap about 3.5 eV and has its electrical conductivity dependent of type and amount of modifiers agents added into matrix ceramic during synthesis process, allowing applications as sensing of gaseous pollutants on ambient. The chemical synthesis by polymeric precursor method consists in a complexation reaction between tin ion and citric acid at 90 °C/2 hours and subsequently addition of ethyleneglycol for polymerization at 130 °C/2 hours. It also prepared polymeric resin of zinc, cobalt and niobium ions. Stoichiometric amounts of the solutions were mixed to obtain the systems (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 . The metal immobilization reduces its segregation during the calcination resulting in a crystalline oxide with high chemical homogeneity. The resin was pre-calcined at 300 °C/1 hour, milled in Atritor Mill at 500 rpm/1 hour, and then calcined at 600 °C/2 hours. X-Ray Diffraction (XDR) indicated formation of SnO2 -rutile phase (JCPDS card nº 41-1445). The characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope of High Resolution showed spherical ceramic powder nanostructured with 10-20 nm of diameter. 20 mg of SnO2 -based powder was kept in 20 ml of isopropyl alcohol and then taken to an electrophoretic deposition (EPD) system. The EPD method allows control the thickness films through the voltage or current applied in the electrophoretic cell and by the time used for deposition of ceramics particles. This procedure obtains films in a short time with low costs, bringing prospects for a new generation of smaller size devices with easy integration technology. In this research, films were obtained in an alumina substrate with interdigital electrodes after applying 2 kV during 5 and 10 minutes in cells containing alcoholic suspension of (Zn, Nb)-SnO2 and (Co, Nb) SnO2 of powders, forming a sensing layer. The substrate has designed integrated micro hotplates that provide an instantaneous and precise temperature control capability when a voltage is applied. The films were sintered at 900 and 1000 °C in a microwave oven of 770 W, adapted by the research group itself with a temperature controller. This sintering is a fast process with homogeneous heating rate which promotes controlled growth of grain size and also the diffusion of modifiers agents, inducing the creation of intrinsic defects which will change the electrical characteristics of SnO2 -based powders. This study has successfully demonstrated a microfabricated system with an integrated micro-hotplate for detection of CO and NO2 gas at different concentrations and temperature, with self-heating SnO2 - based nanoparticles films, being suitable for both industrial process monitoring and detection of low concentrations in buildings/residences in order to safeguard human health. The results indicate the possibility for development of gas sensors devices with low power consumption for integration in portable electronic equipment with fast analysis. Acknowledgments The authors thanks to the LMA-IQ for providing the FEG-SEM images, and the financial support of this project by the Brazilian research funding agencies CNPq, FAPESP 2014/11314-9 and CEPID/CDMF- FAPESP 2013/07296-2.Keywords: chemical synthesis, electrophoretic deposition, self-heating, gas sensor
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