Search results for: memory duration

Authors: Aliaa M. Issa, Mahmoud N. ElRouby, Sahar A. S. Ahmad, Mahmoud M. El-Merzabani

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Sider honey is a type of honey produced by bees feeding on the nectar of Sider tree, Ziziphus spina-christi (L) Desf . Honey is an effective agent for preventing, inhibiting and treating the growth of human and animal cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of different dilutions from crude Sider honey and different duration times of exposure on the growth of six tumor cell lines (human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa; human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG-2; human larynx carcinoma cell line, Hep-2; brain tumor cell line, U251) as well as one animal cancerous cell line (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells line, EAC) and one normal cell line, Homo sapiens, human, (WISH) CCL-25. Different concentrations and treatment durations with Sider honey were tested on the growth of several cancer cell lines types. Histopathological changes in the tumor masses, animal survival, apoptosis and necrosis of the used cancer cell lines (using flow cytometry) were evaluated. Sider honey was administers either to the tumor mass itself by intratumoral injection or via drinking water. One-way ANOVA test was used for the analysis of (the means + standard error) of the optical density obtained from the Elisa reader and flow cytometry. The study revealed that different concentrations of Sider honey affected the growth patterns of all the studied cancer cell lines as well as their histopathological changes, and it depended on the cell line nature and the concentration of honey used. It is obvious that the relative animal survival percentage (bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, EAC cells) was proportionally increased with the increase in the used honey concentrations. The study of apoptosis and necrosis using the flow cytometry technique emphasized the viability results. In conclusion, Sider honey was effective as antitumor agent, in the used concentrations.

Keywords: antitumor, honey, sider, tumor cell lines

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Authors: Sanela Slavkovic, Congor Nad, Spela Golubovic

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Background: The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is a major life challenge and has repercussions on all aspects of the daily functioning of those attained by it – personal activities, social participation, and quality of life. Regular follow-up of only the neurological status is not informative enough so that it could provide data on the sort of support and rehabilitation that is required. Objective: The aim of this study was to establish the current level of functioning of persons attained by MS and the factors that influence it. Methods: The study was conducted in Serbia, on a sample of 108 persons with relapse-remitting form of MS, aged 20 to 53 (mean 39.86 years; SD 8.20 years). All participants were fully ambulatory. Methods applied in the study include Expanded Disability Status Scale-EDSS and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, WHODAS 2.0 (36-item version, self-administered). Results: Participants were found to experience the most problems in the domains of Participation, Mobility, Life activities and Cognition. The least difficulties were found in the domain of Self-care. Symptom duration was the only control variable with a significant partial contribution to the prediction of the WHODAS scale score (β=0.30, p < 0.05). The total EDSS score correlated with the total WHODAS 2.0 score (r=0.34, p=0.00). Statistically significant differences in the domain of EDSS 0-5.5 were found within categories (0-1.5; 2-3.5; 4-5.5). The more pronounced a participant’s EDSS score was, although not indicative of large changes in the neurological status, the more apparent the changes in the functional domain, i.e. in all areas covered by WHODAS 2.0. Pyramidal (β=0.34, p < 0.05) and Bowel and bladder (β=0.24, p < 0.05) functional systems were found to have a significant partial contribution to the prediction of the WHODAS score. Conclusion: Measuring functioning and disability is important in the follow-up of persons suffering from MS in order to plan rehabilitation and define areas in which additional support is needed.

Keywords: disability, functionality, multiple sclerosis, rehabilitation

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Authors: Carie Cunningham, Krsiten Lynch

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Despite a viewer’s thought that they may be paying attention, many times they are missing out on their surrounds-- a phenomenon referred to as inattentional blindness. Inattention blindness refers to the failure of an individual to orient their attention to a particular item in their visual field. This well-defined in the psychology literature. Similarly, this phenomenon has been evaluated in media types in advertising. In advertising, not comprehending/remembering items in one’s field of vision is known as banner blindness. On the other hand, banner blindness is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals habitually see a banner in a specific area on a webpage, and thus condition themselves to ignore those habitual areas. Another reason that individuals avoid these habitual areas (usually on the top or sides of a webpage) is due to the lack of personal relevance or pertinent information to the viewer. Banner blindness, while a web-based concept, may also relate this inattention blindness. This paper is proposing an analysis of the true similarities and differences between these concepts bridging the two dimensions of thinking together. Forty participants participated in an eye-tracking and post-survey experiment to test attention and memory measures in both a banner blindness and inattention blindness condition. The two conditions were conducted between subjects semi-randomized order. Half of participants were told to search through the content ignoring the advertising banners; the other half of participants were first told to search through the content ignoring the distractor icon. These groups were switched after 5 trials and then 5 more trials were completed. In review of the literature, sustainability communication was found to have many inconsistencies with message production and viewer awareness. For the purpose of this study, we used advertising materials as stimuli. Results suggest that there are gaps between the two concepts and that more research should be done testing these effects in a real world setting versus an online environment. This contributes to theory by exploring the overlapping concepts—inattention blindness and banner blindness and providing the advertising industry with support that viewers can still fall victim to ignoring items in their field of view even if not consciously, which will impact message development.

Keywords: attention, banner blindness, eye movement, inattention blindness

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Authors: Yunbin Deng

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Most existing applications of automatic speech recognition relies on cooperative subjects at a short distance to a microphone. Standoff speech recognition using microphone arrays can extend the subject to sensor distance somewhat, but it is still limited to only a few feet. As such, most deployed applications of standoff speech recognitions are limited to indoor use at short range. Moreover, these applications require air passway between the subject and the sensor to achieve reasonable signal to noise ratio. This study reports long range (50 feet) automatic speech recognition experiments using a Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) sensor. This study shows that the LDV sensor modality can extend the speech acquisition standoff distance far beyond microphone arrays to hundreds of feet. In addition, LDV enables 'listening' through the windows for uncooperative subjects. This enables new capabilities in automatic audio and speech intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) for law enforcement, homeland security and counter terrorism applications. The Polytec LDV model OFV-505 is used in this study. To investigate the impact of different vibrating materials, five parallel LDV speech corpora, each consisting of 630 speakers, are collected from the vibrations of a glass window, a metal plate, a plastic box, a wood slate, and a concrete wall. These are the common materials the application could encounter in a daily life. These data were compared with the microphone counterpart to manifest the impact of various materials on the spectrum of the LDV speech signal. State of the art deep neural network modeling approaches is used to conduct continuous speaker independent speech recognition on these LDV speech datasets. Preliminary phoneme recognition results using time-delay neural network, bi-directional long short term memory, and model fusion shows great promise of using LDV for long range speech recognition. To author’s best knowledge, this is the first time an LDV is reported for long distance speech recognition application.

Keywords: covert speech acquisition, distant speech recognition, DSR, laser Doppler vibrometer, LDV, speech intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, ISR

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Authors: Duong Thuy Nguyen, Giulia Bencini

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The present study examined structural and prosodic factors on the computation of antecedent-reflexive relationships and sentence comprehension in native English (L1) and Vietnamese-English bilinguals (L2). Participants read sentences presented on the computer screen in one of three presentation formats aimed at manipulating prosodic parsing: word-by-word (RSVP), phrase-segment (self-paced), or whole-sentence (self-paced), then completed a grammaticality rating and a comprehension task (following Pratt & Fernandez, 2016). The design crossed three factors: syntactic structure (simple; complex), grammaticality (target-match; target-mismatch) and presentation format. An example item is provided in (1): (1) The actress that (Mary/John) interviewed at the awards ceremony (about two years ago/organized outside the theater) described (herself/himself) as an extreme workaholic). Results showed that overall, both L1 and L2 speakers made use of a good-enough processing strategy at the expense of more detailed syntactic analyses. L1 and L2 speakers’ comprehension and grammaticality judgements were negatively affected by the most prosodically disrupting condition (word-by-word). However, the two groups demonstrated differences in their performance in the other two reading conditions. For L1 speakers, the whole-sentence and the phrase-segment formats were both facilitative in the grammaticality rating and comprehension tasks; for L2, compared with the whole-sentence condition, the phrase-segment paradigm did not significantly improve accuracy or comprehension. These findings are consistent with the findings of Pratt & Fernandez (2016), who found a similar pattern of results in the processing of subject-verb agreement relations using the same experimental paradigm and prosodic manipulation with English L1 and L2 English-Spanish speakers. The results provide further support for a Good-Enough cue model of sentence processing that integrates cue-based retrieval and implicit prosodic parsing (Pratt & Fernandez, 2016) and highlights similarities and differences between L1 and L2 sentence processing and comprehension.

Keywords: anaphora resolution, bilingualism, implicit prosody, sentence processing

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Authors: Saeed Ahmed, Tamoor Abbas, M. Amir, M. S. Iqbal, D. Hussain

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This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation of different levels of yeast culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) in Beetal male goats diets on growth performance, digestibility of nutrients and selected blood metabolites. Another objective was to determine the inclusion level of yeast culture for optimal growth performance of Beetal male goats. Eighteen (n=18) Beetal male goats were randomly assigned to three total mixed ration treatments (n=6 goats/treatment): T1, T2 and T3 containing 0gm, 3gm and 6gm/day yeast culture (YC) mixed with total mixed ration (TMR). The diets were iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric having crude protein 15.2% and ME 2.6Mcal/kg. The total duration of the experiment was 8 weeks. Beetal bucks were fed on TMR diets (T1, T2 and T3) having blend of oat silage, Lucerne hay and concentrate mixed with yeast culture (YC). Bucks were housed individually and feed was offered @ 4% of body weight on dry matter basis. Samples of fresh feed and refusal were collected twice weekly of moisture percentage using hot air oven. Data for daily dry matter intake, body weight gain, nutrient digestibility and selected blood metabolites were analyzed through one-way ANOVA technique under Complete randomised design (SAS Institute Inc, 2002-03). Results were declared significant at P≤0.05. Overall, DMI was not affected (P≥0.05) by dietary treatments. Body weight gain, digestibility of crude protein and crude fibre were improved. Blood glucose concentration was detected higher in the group having supplementation of yeast culture (YC) 6gm/day compared to other two dietary treatments. This study suggested the positive impact of inclusion of yeast culture (YC) up to 6gm/day in the TMR diet for optimal growth performance and digestibility of nutrients in Beetal male goats.

Keywords: yeast culture, growth performance, digestibility, beetle goat

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Authors: P. Hari Prasad Reddy, Shimna Paulose, V. Sai Kumar, C. H. Rama Vara Prasad

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Soil environment gets contaminated due to rapid industrialisation, agricultural-chemical application and improper disposal of waste generated by the society. Unexpected volume changes can occur in soil in the presence of certain contaminants usually after the long duration of interaction. Alkali is one of the major soil contaminant that has a considerable effect on behaviour of soils and capable of inducing swelling potential in soil. Chemical heaving of clayey soils occurs when they are wetted by aqueous solutions of alkalis. Mineralogical composition of the soil is one of the main factors influencing soil- alkali interaction. In the present work, studies are carried out to understand the swell potential of soils due to soil-alkali interaction with different concentrations of NaOH solution. Locally available soil, namely, red earth containing kaolinite which is of non-swelling nature is selected for the study. In addition to this, two commercially available clayey soils, namely ball clay and china clay containing mainly of kaolinite are selected to understand the effect of alkali interaction in various kaolinitic soils. Non-swelling red earth shows maximum swell at lower concentrations of alkali solution (0.1N) and a slightly decreasing trend of swelling with further increase in concentration (1N, 4N, and 8N). Marginal decrease in swell potential with increase in concentration indicates that the increased concentration of alkali solution exists as free solution in case of red earth. China clay and ball clay both falling under kaolinite group of clay minerals, show swelling with alkaline solution. At lower concentrations of alkali solution both the soils shows similar swell behaviour, but at higher concentration of alkali solution ball clay shows high swell potential compared to china clay which may be due to lack of well ordered crystallinity in ball clay compared to china clay. The variations in the results obtained were corroborated by carrying XRD and SEM studies.

Keywords: alkali, kaolinite, swell potential, XRD, SEM

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Authors: Trunov V.O., Ryabov A. B., Poddubny I.V

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Introduction: cystic and solid pancreatic tumors have a relevant and disruptive position in many positions. The results of the treatment of children with tumors and pancreatic cysts aged 3 to 17 years for the period from 2008 to 2019 on the basis of the Morozov State Children's Clinical Hospital in Moscow were analyzed. The total number of children with solid tumors was 17, and 31 with cysts. In all children, the diagnosis was made on the basis of ultrasound, followed by CT and MRI. In most patients with solid tumors, they were located in the area of the pancreas tail - 58%, in the body area - 14%, in the area of the pancreatic head - 28%. In patients with pancreatic cysts, the distribution of patients by topography was as follows: head of the pancreas - 10%, body of the pancreas - 16%, tail of the pancreas - 68%, total cystic transformation of the Wirsung duct - 6%. In pancreatic cysts, the method of surgical treatment was based on the results of MRCP, the level of amylase in the contents of the cyst, and the localization of the cyst. Thus, pathogenetically substantiated treatment included: excision of cysts, internal drainage on an isolated loop according to Ru, the formation of pancreatojejunoanastomosis in a child with the total cystic transformation of the Wirsung duct. In patients with solid pancreatic lesions, pancretoduodenalresection, central resection of the pancreas, and distal resection from laparotomy and laparoscopic access were performed. In the postoperative period, in order to prevent pancreatitis, all children underwent antisecretory therapy, parenteral nutrition, and drainage of the omental bursa. Results: hospital stay ranged from 7 to 12 days. The duration of postoperative fermentemia in patients with solid formations lasted from 3 to 6 days. In all cases, according to the histological examination, a pseudopapillary tumor of the pancreas was revealed. In the group of children with pancreatic cysts, fermentemia was observed from 2 to 4 days, recurrence of cysts in the long term was detected in 3 children (10%). Conclusions: the treatment of cystic and solid pancreatic neoplasms is a difficult task in connection with the anatomical and functional features of the organ.

Keywords: pancreas, tumors, cysts, resection, laparoscopy, children

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Authors: Richa Shri, Varinder Singh, Kundan Singh Bora, Abhishek Bhanot, Rahul Kumar, Amit Kumar, Ravinder Kaur

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The term ‘neuroprotection’ means preserving/salvaging function and structure of neurons. Neuroprotection is an adjunctive treatment option for neurodegenerative disorders. Oxidative stress is considered a major culprit in neurodegenerative disorders; hence, management strategies include use of antioxidants. Our search for a neuroprotective agent began with Allium cepa L. or onions, (family Amaryllidaceae) - a potent antioxidant. We have investigated the neuroprotective potential of onions in experimental models of ischemic stroke, diabetic neuropathy, neuropathic pain, and dementia. In pre and post-ischemic stroke model, the methanol extract of outer scales of onion bulbs (MEOS) prevented memory loss and motor in-coordination; reduced oxidative stress and cerebral infarct size. This also prevented and ameliorated diabetic neuropathy in mice. The MEOS was fractionated to yield a flavonoid rich fraction (FRF) that successfully reversed ischemia-reperfusion induced neuronal damage, thereby demonstrating that the flavonoids are responsible for the activity. The FRF effectively ameliorated chronic constriction induced neuropathic pain in rats. The FRF was subjected to bioactivity-guided fractionated. It was seen that FRF is more effective as compared to the isolated components probably due to synergism among the constituents (i.e., quercetin and quercetin glucosides) in the FRF. The outer scales of onion bulbs have great potential for prevention as well as for treatment of neuronal disorders. Red onions, with higher amounts of flavonoids as compared to the white onions, produced more significant neuroprotection. Thus, the standardized FRF from the waste material of a commonly used vegetable, especially the red variety, may be developed as a valuable neuroprotective agent.

Keywords: Allium cepa, antioxidant activity, flavonoid rich fraction, neuroprotection

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Authors: Mohammed H. Karim, Bestoon M. Faraj

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Introduction: instrument separation is a common challenge in the endodontic field. Various techniques and technologies have been developed to improve the retrieval success rate. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a Dynamic Navigation System (DNS) and a three-dimensional microscope in retrieving broken rotary NiTi files when using trepan burs and the extractor system. Materials and Methods: Thirty maxillary first bicuspids with sixty separate roots were split into two comparable groups based on a comprehensive Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) analysis of the root length and curvature. After standardised access opening, glide paths, and patency attainment with the K file (sizes 10 and 15), the teeth were arranged on 3D models (three per quadrant, six per model). Subsequently, controlled-memory heat-treated NiTi rotary files (#25/0.04) were notched 4 mm from the tips and fractured at the apical third of the roots. The C-FR1 Endo file removal system was employed under both guidance to retrieve the fragments, and the success rate, canal aberration, treatment time and volumetric changes were measured. The statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS software at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The microscope-guided group had a higher success rate than the DNS guidance, but the difference was insignificant (p > 0.05). In addition, the microscope-guided drills resulted in a substantially lower proportion of canal aberration, required less time to retrieve the fragments and caused a minor change in the root canal volume (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although dynamically guided trephining with the extractor can retrieve separated instruments, it is inferior to three-dimensional microscope guidance regarding treatment time, procedural errors, and volume change.

Keywords: dynamic navigation system, separated instruments retrieval, trephine burs and extractor system, three-dimensional video microscope

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Authors: Kunal K. S., Shwetashri K. R., Keerthan G., Ajinkya R.

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Background: Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a condition caused by abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the brain resulting in enlarged cerebral ventricles due to a disruption of CSF formation, absorption, or flow. Over the course of time, ventriculoperitoneal shunt under general anesthesia has become a standard of care. Yet only a finite number of centers have started the inclusion of regional anesthesia techniques for the such patient cohort. Stem Case: We report a case of a 75-year-old male with underlying aortic sclerosis and cardiomyopathy who presented with complaints of confusion, forgetfulness, and difficulty in walking. Neuro-imaging studies revealed disproportionally enlarged subarachnoid space hydrocephalus (DESH). The baseline blood pressure was 116/67 mmHg with a heart rate of 106 beats/min and SpO2 of 96% on room air. The patient underwent smooth induction followed by sonographically guided superficial cervical plexus block and transverse abdominis plane block. Intraoperative pain indices were monitored with Analgesia nociceptive index monitor (ANI, MdolorisTM) and surgical plethysmographic index (SPI, GE Healthcare, Helsinki, FinlandTM). These remained stable during the application of the block and the entire surgical duration. No significant hemodynamic response was observed during the tunneling of the skin by the surgeon. The patient underwent a smooth recovery and emergence. Conclusion: Our decision to incorporate peripheral nerve blockade in conjunction with general anesthesia resulted in opioid-sparing anesthesia and decreased post-operative analgesic requirement by the patient. This blockade was successful in suppressing intraoperative stress responses. Our patient recovered adequately and underwent an uncomplicated post-operative stay.

Keywords: desh, NPH, VP shunt, cervical plexus block, transversus abdominis plane block

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Authors: Nuo Xu, Sijing Chen

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Background: Childbirth is considered a critical traumatic event throughout our lives, positively or negatively impacting the mother's physiology, psychology, and even the whole family. Adverse birth experiences, such as labor pain, anxiety, and fear can negatively impact the mother. Studies had shown that the immersive nature of VR can distract attention from pain and increase focus on interventions for pain relief. However, the existing studies that applied VR to maternal delivery were still in their infancy and showed disparate results, and the small sample size is not representative, so this review analyzed the effects of VR in labor, such as on maternal pain and anxiety, with a view to providing a basis for future applications. Search strategy: We searched Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan-Fang database from the building to November 17, 2021. Selection Criteria: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that intervened the pregnant women aged 18-35 years with gestational >34 weeks and without complications with VR technology were contained within this review. Data Collection and Analysis: Two researchers completed the study selection, data extraction, and assessment of study quality. For quantitative data we used MD or SMD, and RR (risk ratio) for qualitative data. Random-effects model and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used. Main Results: 12 studies were included. Using VR could relieve pain during labor (MD=-1.81, 95% CI (-2.04, -1.57), P< 0.00001) and active period (SMD=-0.41, 95% CI (-0.68, -0.14), P= 0.003), reduce anxiety (SMD=-1.39, 95% CI (-1.99, -0.78), P< 0.00001) and improve satisfaction (RR = 1.32; 95% CI (1.10, 1.59); P = 0.003), but the effect on the duration of first (SMD=-1.12, 95% CI (-2.38, 0.13), P=0.08) and second (SMD=-0.22, 95% CI (-0.67, 0.24), P=0.35) stage of labor was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Compared with conventional care, VR technology can relieve labor pain and anxiety and improve satisfaction. However, extensive experimental validation is still needed.

Keywords: virtual reality, delivery, labor pain, anxiety, meta-analysis, systematic review

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Authors: Samaneh Yavari, Christiane Pferrer, Elisabeth Engelke, Alexander Starke, Juergen Rehage

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Background: Nowadays, bovine limb interventions, especially any claw surgeries, raises selection of the most qualified and appropriate local anesthesia technique applicable for any superficial or deep interventions of the limbs. Currently, two local anesthesia methods of Intravenous Regional Anesthesia (IVRA), as well as Nerve Blocks, have been routine to apply. However, the lack of studies investigating the quality and duration as well as quantity and onset of full (complete) local anesthesia, is noticeable. Therefore, the aim of our study was comparing the onset and quality of both IVRA and our modified NBA at the hind limb of dairy cows. For this abstract, only the onset of full local anesthesia would be consider. Materials and Methods: For that reason, we used six healthy non pregnant non lactating Holestein Frisian cows in a cross-over study design. Those cows divided into two groups to receive IVRA and our modified four-point NBA. For IVRA, 20 ml procaine without epinephrine was injected into the vein digitalis dorsalis communis III and for our modified four-point NBA, 10-15 ml procaine without epinephrine preneurally to the nerves, superficial and deep peroneal as well as lateral and medial branches of metatarsal nerves. For pain stimulation, electrical stimulator Grass S48 was applied. Results: The results of electrical stimuli revealed the faster onset of full local anesthesia (p < 0.05) by application of our modified NBA in comparison to IVRA about 10 minutes. Conclusion and discussion: Despite of available references showing faster onset of foot local anesthesia of IVRA, our study demonstrated that our modified four point NBA not only can be well known as a standard foot local anesthesia method applicable to desensitize the hind limb of dairy cows, but also, selection of this modified validated local anesthesia method can lead to have a faster start of complete desensitization of distal hind limb that is remarkable in any bovine limb interventions under time constraint.

Keywords: IVRA, four point NBA, dairy cow, hind limb, full onset

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Authors: Tebikew Yeneabat, Tefera Belachew, Muluneh Haile

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Background: Exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) is the practice of feeding only breast milk (including expressed breast milk) during the first six months and no other liquids and solid foods except medications. The time to cessation of exclusive breast-feeding, however, is different in different countries depending on different factors. Studies showed the risk of diarrhea morbidity and mortality is higher among none exclusive breast-feeding infants, common during starting other foods. However, there is no study that evaluated the time to cessation of exclusive breast-feeding in the study area. The aim of this study was to show time to cessation of EBF and its predictors among mothers of index infants less than twelve months old. Methods: We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study from February 13 to March 3, 2012 using both quantitative and qualitative methods. This study included a total of 592 mothers of index infant using multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected by using interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed. Results: Cessation of exclusive breast-feeding occurred in 392 (69.63%) cases. Among these, 224 (57.1%) happened before six months, while 145 (37.0%) and 23 (5.9%) occurred at six months and after six months of age of the index infant respectively. The median time for infants to stay on exclusive breast-feeding was 6.36 months in rural and 5.13 months in urban, and this difference was statistically significant on a Log rank (Cox-mantel) test. Maternal and paternal occupation, place of residence, postnatal counseling on exclusive breast-feeding, mode of delivery, and birth order of the index infant were significant predictors of cessation of exclusive breast-feeding. Conclusion: Providing postnatal care counseling on EBF, routine follow-up and support of those mothers having infants stressing for working mothers can bring about implementation of national strategy on infant and young child feeding.

Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding, cessation, median duration, Ankesha Guagusa Woreda

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Authors: Sugeng Rianto, P.W. Arinto Yudi, Soemarno Muhammad Nurhuda

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A computation of a 3D compressible fluid flow for virtual environment with haptic interaction can be a non-trivial issue. This is especially how to reach good performances and balancing between visualization, tactile feedback interaction, and computations. In this paper, we describe our approach of computation methods based on parallel programming on a GPU. The 3D fluid flow solvers have been developed for smoke dispersion simulation by using combinations of the cubic interpolated propagation (CIP) based fluid flow solvers and the advantages of the parallelism and programmability of the GPU. The fluid flow solver is generated in the GPU-CPU message passing scheme to get rapid development of haptic feedback modes for fluid dynamic data. A rapid solution in fluid flow solvers is developed by applying cubic interpolated propagation (CIP) fluid flow solvers. From this scheme, multiphase fluid flow equations can be solved simultaneously. To get more acceleration in the computation, the Navier-Stoke Equations (NSEs) is packed into channels of texel, where computation models are performed on pixels that can be considered to be a grid of cells. Therefore, despite of the complexity of the obstacle geometry, processing on multiple vertices and pixels can be done simultaneously in parallel. The data are also shared in global memory for CPU to control the haptic in providing kinaesthetic interaction and felling. The results show that GPU based parallel computation approaches provide effective simulation of compressible fluid flow model for real-time interaction in 3D computer graphic for PC platform. This report has shown the feasibility of a new approach of solving the compressible fluid flow equations on the GPU. The experimental tests proved that the compressible fluid flowing on various obstacles with haptic interactions on the few model obstacles can be effectively and efficiently simulated on the reasonable frame rate with a realistic visualization. These results confirm that good performances and balancing between visualization, tactile feedback interaction, and computations can be applied successfully.

Keywords: CIP, compressible fluid, GPU programming, parallel computation, real-time visualisation

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Authors: Dusittorn Ngamying

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This investigation of Mon Dance is focused on using in Pathum Thani Province’s tradition and has the following objectives: 1) to study the background of Mon dance in Pathum Thani Province; 2) to study Mon dance in Pathum Thani Province; 3) to study of using Mon Dance in Pathum Thani province’s tradition. This qualitative research was conducted in Pathum Thani provinces (the central of Thailand). Data was collected from a documentary study and field data by means of observation, interview and group discussion. Workshops were also held with a total of 100 attendees, comprised of 20 key informants, 40 casual informants and 40 general informants. Data was validated using a triangulation technique and findings are presented using descriptive analysis. The results of the studied showed that the historical background of Mon dance in Pathum Thani Province initiated during the war evacuation from Martaban (south of Burma) to settle down in Sam Khok, Pathum Thani Province in Ayutthaya period to Rattanakosin. The study found that Mon dance typically consists of 12 dancing process. The melodies have 12 songs. Piphat Mon (Mon traditional music ensemble) was used in the performance. The costume was dressed on Mon traditional. The performers were 6-12 women and depending on the employer’s demands. Length of the performance varied from the duration of music orchestration. Rituals and Customs were paying homage to teachers before the performance. The offerings were composed of flowers, incense sticks, candles, money gifts which were well arranged on a tray with pedestal, and also liquors, tobaccos and pure water for asking propitiousness. To using Mon Dance in Pathum Thani Province’s tradition, was found that it commonly performed in the funeral ceremonial tradition at present because the physical postures of the performance were graceful and exquisite as approved conservative. In addition, the value since the ancient time had believed that Mon Dance was the sacred thing considered as the dignity glorification especially for funeral ceremonies of the priest or royal hierarchy classes. However, Mon dance was continued to use in the traditions associated with Mon people activities in Pathum Thani Province, for instance, customary welcome for honor guest and Songkran Festival.

Keywords: Mon dance, Pathum Tani Province, tradition, triangulation technique

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Authors: Palaniraj Rama Raj, Himeesh Kumar, Paul Adler

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Purpose: To investigate the effect of ultrasound energy, expressed as cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), on short and long-term outcomes after uncomplicated cataract surgery by phacoemulsification. Methods: In this single-surgeon, two-center retrospective study, non-glaucomatous participants who underwent uncomplicated cataract surgery were investigated. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured at 3 separate time points: pre-operative, Day 1 and ≥1 month. Anterior chamber (AC) inflammation and corneal odema (CO) were assessed at 2 separate time points: Pre-operative and Day 1. Short-term changes (Day 1) in BCVA, IOP, AC and CO and long-term changes (≥1 month) in BCVA and IOP were evaluated as a function of CDE using a multivariate multiple linear regression model, adjusting for age, gender, cataract type and grade, preoperative IOP, preoperative BCVA and duration of long-term follow-up. Results: 110 eyes from 97 non-glaucomatous participants were analysed. 60 (54.55%) were female and 50 (45.45%) were male. The mean (±SD) age was 73.40 (±10.96) years. Higher CDE counts were strongly associated with higher grades of sclerotic nuclear cataracts (p <0.001) and posterior subcapsular cataracts (p <0.036). There was no significant association between CDE counts and cortical cataracts. CDE counts also had a positive correlation with Day 1 CO (p <0.001). There was no correlation between CDE counts and Day 1 AC inflammation. Short-term and long-term changes in post-operative IOP did not demonstrate significant associations with CDE counts (all p >0.05). Though there was no significant correlation between CDE counts and short-term changes in BCVA, higher CDE counts were strongly associated with greater improvements in long-term BCVA (p = 0.011). Conclusion: Though higher CDE counts were strongly associated with higher grades of Day 1 postoperative CO, there appeared to be no detriment to long-term BCVA. Correspondingly, the strong positive correlation between CDE counts and long-term BCVA was likely reflective of the greater severity of underlying cataract type and grade. CDE counts were not associated with short-term or long-term postoperative changes in IOP.

Keywords: cataract surgery, phacoemulsification, cumulative dissipated energy, CDE, surgical outcomes

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Authors: Magdalena Barbara Kaziuk, Waldemar Kosiba

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Introduction: Despite the development of technologies and improvements in the interior of dialysis stations, dialysis remains an unpleasant procedure, difficult to accept by the patients (who undergo it 2 to 3 times a week, a single treatment lasting several hours). Haemodialysis is one of the renal replacement therapies, in Poland most commonly used in patients with chronic or acute kidney failure. Purpose: An attempt was made to evaluate the quality of life in haemodialysed patients using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Material and methods: The study covered 422 patients (200 women and 222 men, aged 60.5 ± 12.9 years) undergoing dialysis at three selected stations in Poland. The patients were divided into 2 groups, depending on the duration of their dialysis treatment. The evaluation was conducted with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire containing 26 questions analysing 4 areas of life, as well as the perception of the quality of life and health self-assessment. A 5-point scale is used to answer them. The maximum score in each area is 20 points. The results in individual areas have a positive direction. Results: In patients undergoing dialysis for more than 3 years, a reduction in the quality of life was found in the physical area and in their environment versus a group of patients undergoing dialysis for less than 3 years, where a reduced quality of life was found in the areas of social relations and mental well-being (p < 0.05). A significant correlation (p < 0.01) between the two groups was found in self-perceived general health, while no significant differences were observed in the general perception of the quality of life (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The study confirmed that in patients undergoing dialysis for more than three years, the quality of life is especially reduced in their environment (access to and quality of healthcare, financial resources, and mental and physical safety). The assessment of the quality of life should form a part of the therapeutic process, in which the role of the patient in chronic renal care should be emphasised, reflected in the quality of services provided by dialysis stations.

Keywords: haemodialysis, perception of quality of life, quality of services provided, dialysis station

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Authors: Pulari C. Milu Maria Anto

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Background: Cognitive Rehabilitation/Retraining has been variously used in the research literature to represent non-pharmacological interventions that target the cognitive impairments with the goal of ameliorating cognitive function and functional behaviors to optimize the quality of life. Along with adult’s cognitive impairments, the need to address acquired cognitive impairments (due to any chronic illnesses like CHD - congenital heart diseases or ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) among child populations is inevitable. Also, it has to be emphasized as same we consider the cognitive impairments seen in the children having neurodevelopmental disorders. Methods: All published brain image studies (Hermann, B. et al,2002, Khalil, A. et al., 2004, Follin, C. et al, 2016, etc.) and studies emphasizing cognitive impairments in attention, memory, and/or executive function and behavioral aspects (Henkin, Y. et al,2007, Bellinger, D. C., & Newburger, J. W. (2010), Cheung, Y. T., et al,2016, that could be identified were reviewed. Based on a systematic review of the literature from (2000 -2021) different brain imaging studies, increased risk of neuropsychological and psychosocial impairments are briefly described. Clinical and research gap in the area is discussed. Results:30 papers, both Indian studies and foreign publications (Sage journals, Delhi psychiatry journal, Wiley Online Library, APA PsyNet, Springer, Elsevier, Developmental medicine, and child neurology), were identified. Conclusions: In India, a very limited number of brain imaging studies and neuropsychological studies have done by indicating the cognitive deficits of a child having or undergone chronic illness. None of the studies have emphasized the relevance nor the need of implementingCR among such children, even though its high time to address but still not established yet. The review of the current evidence is to bring out an insight among rehabilitation professionals in establishing a child specific CR and to publish new findings regarding the implementation of CR among such children. Also, this study will be an awareness on considering cognitive aspects of a child having acquired cognitive deficit (due to chronic illness), especially during their critical developmental period.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation, neuropsychological impairments, congenital heart diseases, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, epilepsy, and neuroplasticity

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Authors: Laura Bickel

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This paper aims to investigate to what extent Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of body memory serves as a viable resource for the enactive approach to cognitive science and its first-person experience-based research on ‘recurrent depressive disorder’ coded F33 in ICD-10. In pursuit of this goal, the analysis begins by revisiting the neuroreductive paradigm. This paradigm serves biological psychiatry to explain the condition of vital contact in terms of underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. It is demonstrated that the neuroreductive model cannot sufficiently account for the depressed person’s episodical withdrawal in causal terms. The analysis of the irregular loss of vital resonance requires integrating the body as the subject of experience and its phenomenological time. Then, it is shown that the enactive approach to depression as disordered sense-making is a promising alternative. The enactive model of perception implies that living beings do not register pre-existing meaning ‘out there’ but unfold ‘sense’ in their action-oriented response to the world. For the enactive approach, Husserl’s passive synthesis of inner time consciousness is fundamental for what becomes perceptually present for action. It seems intuitive to bring together the enactive approach to depression with the long-standing view in phenomenological psychopathology that explains the loss of vital contact by appealing to the disruption of the temporal structure of consciousness. However, this paper argues that the disruption of the temporal structure is not justified conceptually. Instead, one may integrate Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the past as the unconscious into the enactive approach to depression. From this perspective, the living being’s experiential and biological past inserts itself in the form of habit and bodily skills and ensures action-oriented responses to the environment. Finally, it is concluded that the depressed person’s withdrawal indicates the impairment of this application process. The person suffering from F33 cannot actualize sedimented meaning to respond to the valences and tasks of a given situation.

Keywords: depression, enactivism, neuroreductionsim, phenomenology, temporality

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Authors: M. Kuzhko, M. Gumeniuk, D. Butov, T. Tlustova, O. Denysov, T. Sprynsian

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Abstract: The objective of this work was to study the efficacy and safety of inhaled nebulized chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis in comparison with standard antimycobacterial therapy. Materials and methods: The study involved 68 patients aged between 20 and 70 years with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis. Patients were allocated to two groups. The first (main, n=21) group of patients received standard chemotherapy and further 0.15 g of isoniazid and rifampicin 0.15 g inhaled through a nebulizer, also they received salmeterol 50 mcg + fluticasone propionate 250 mcg at 2 breaths twice a day for 2 months. The second (control, n=47) group of patients received standard chemotherapy, consisting of orally administered isoniazid (0.3 g), rifampicin (0.6 g), pyrazinamide (2 g), ethambutol (1.2 g) with a dose reduction after the intensive phase of the therapy. The anti-TB drugs were procured through the Ukraine’s centralized national supply system. Results: Intoxication symptoms in the first group reduced following 1.39±0.18 months, whereas in the second group, intoxication symptoms reduced following 2.7±0.1 months, p<.001. Moreover, respiratory symptoms regression in the first group was observed following 1.6±0.2 months, whereas in the second group – following 2.5±0.2 months, p<0.05. Bacillary excretion period evaluated within 1 month was reduced, as it was shown by 66.6±10.5% in the main group compared to 27.6±6.5%, p<0.05, in the control group. In addition, period of cavities healing was reduced to 2.9±0.2 months in the main group compared to 3.7±0.1 months, p<0.05, in the control group. Residual radiological lung damage findings (large residual changes) were observed in 22 (23.8±9.5 %) patients of the main group versus 24 (51.0±7.2 %) patients in the control group, p<0.05. After completion of treatment scar stenosis of the bronchi II-III art. diagnosed in 3 (14.2±7.8%) patients in main group and 17 (68.0±6.8%) - control group, p<0.05. The duration of hospital treatment was 2.4±0.4 months in main group and 4.1±0.4 months in control group, p<0.05. Conclusion: Administration of of inhaled nebulized chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis resulted in a comparatively quick reduction of disease manifestation.

Keywords: inhaled nebulized chemotherapy, pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculosis, treatment of tuberculosis

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Authors: K. Shyamnath, K. Suresh Kutty

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The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of three resistance training methods on performance-related variables of powerlifters. A total of forty male students (N=40) who had participated in Kannur University powerlifting championship were selected as subjects. The age group of the subjects ranged from 18 years old to 25 years old. The selected subjects were equally divided into four groups (n=10) of three experimental groups and a control group. The experimental Group I underwent traditional resistance training (TRTG), Group II underwent combined traditional resistance training and plyometrics (TRTPG), and Group III underwent combined traditional resistance training and resistance training with high rhythm (TRTHRG). Group IV acted as the control group (CG) receiving no training during the experimental period. The duration of the experimental period was sixteen weeks, five days per week. Powerlifting performance was assessed by the 1RM test in the squat, bench press and deadlift. Performance-related variables assessed were chest girth, arm girth, forearm girth, thigh girth, and calf girth. Pre-test and post-test were conducted a day before and two days after the experimental period on all groups. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was applied to analyze the significant difference. The 0.05 level of confidence was fixed as the level of significance to test the F ratio obtained by the analysis of covariance. The result indicates that there is a significant effect of all the selected resistance training methods on the performance and selected performance-related variables of powerlifters. Combined traditional resistance training and plyometrics and combined traditional resistance training and resistance training with high rhythm proved better than the traditional resistance training in improving performance and selected performance-related variables of powerlifters. There was no significant difference between combined traditional resistance training and plyometrics and combined traditional resistance training and resistance training with high rhythm in improving performance and selected performance-related variables of powerlifters.

Keywords: girth, plyometrics, powerlifting, resistance training

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Authors: Jiahui Song

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The use of electric fields with high intensity (~ 100kV/cm or higher) and ultra short pulse durations (nanosecond range) has been a recent development. Most of the studies of electroporation have ignored possible thermal effects because of the small duration of the applied voltage pulses. However, it has been predicted membrane temperature gradients ranging from 0.2×109 to 109 K/m. This research focuses on thermal effects that drive for electroporative enhancements, even though the actual temperature values might not have changed appreciably from their equilibrium levels. The dynamics of pore formation with the application of an externally applied electric field is studied on the basis of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the GROMACS package. MD simulations of a lipid layer with constant electric field strength of 0.5 V/nm at 25 °C and 47 °C are implemented to simulate the appropriate thermal effects. The GROMACS provides the force fields for the lipid membranes, which is taken to comprise of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidyl-choline (DPPC) molecules. The water model mimicks the aqueous environment surrounding the membrane. Velocities of water and membrane molecules are generated randomly at each simulation run according to a Maxwellian distribution. The high background electric field is typically used in MD simulations to probe electroporation. It serves as an accelerated test of the pore formation process since low electric fields would take inordinately long simulation time. MD simulation shows no pore is formed in a 1-ns snapshot for a DPPC membrane set at a temperature of 25°C after a 0.5 V/nm electric field is applied. A nano-sized pore is clearly seen in a 0.75-ns snapshot on the same geometry, but with the membrane surfaces kept at temperatures of 47°C. And the pore increases at 1 ns. The MD simulation results suggest the possibility that the increase in temperature can result in different degrees of electrically stimulated bio-effects. The results points to the role of thermal effects in facilitating and accelerating the electroporation process.

Keywords: high-intensity, ultra-short, electroporation, thermal effects, molecular dynamics

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Authors: Parya Tabei, Maryam Habibifar

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Decision-making is an important cognitive function that can be defined as the process of choosing an option among available options to achieve a specific goal. Consumer ‘need’ is the main reason for purchasing decisions. Human decision-making while buying products online is subject to various factors, one of which is the quality and effect of advertising photos. Advertising photo editing can have a significant impact on people's virtual purchase decisions. This technique helps improve the quality and overall appearance of photos by adjusting various aspects such as brightness, contrast, colors, cropping, resizing, and adding filters. This study, by examining the effect of editing advertising photos on the virtual purchase decision using EEG data, tries to investigate the effect of edited images on the decision-making of customers. A group of 30 participants were asked to react to 24 edited and unedited images while their EEG was recorded. Analysis of the EEG data revealed increased alpha wave activity in the occipital regions (O1, O2) for both edited and unedited images, which is related to visual processing and attention. Additionally, there was an increase in beta wave activity in the frontal regions (FP1, FP2, F4, F8) when participants viewed edited images, suggesting involvement in cognitive processes such as decision-making and evaluating advertising content. Gamma wave activity also increased in various regions, especially the frontal and parietal regions, which are associated with higher cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, and perception, when viewing the edited images. While the visual processing reflected by alpha waves remained consistent across different visual conditions, editing advertising photos appeared to boost neural activity in frontal and parietal regions associated with decision-making processes. These Findings suggest that photo editing could potentially influence consumer perceptions during virtual shopping experiences by modulating brain activity related to product assessment and purchase decisions.

Keywords: virtual purchase decision, advertising photo, EEG parameters, decision Making

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Authors: Dilara Balcı Gulpinar

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History, which can be defined as the narrative of the past, is a process of reproduction that takes place in current time. Scientificness of historiography is controversial for reasons such as the fact that the historian makes choices and comments; even the reason for choosing the subject distracts him/her from objectivity. Historians may take advantage of the current values, cannot be able to afford to contradict society and/or face pressures of dominant groups. In addition, due to the lack of documentation, interpretation, and fiction are used to integrate historical events that seem disconnected. In this respect, there are views that relate history to narrative arts rather than positive sciences. Popular historical films, which are visual historical representations, appeal to wider audiences by taking advantage of visuality, dramatic fictional narrative, various effects, music, stars, and other populist elements. Historical film, which does not claim to be scientific and even has the freedom to distort historical reality, can be perceived as reality itself and becomes an indispensable resource for individual and social memory. The ideological discourse of popular films is not only impressive and manipulative but also changeable. Socio-cultural and political changes can transform the representation of history in films extremely sharply and rapidly. In accordance with the above-mentioned hypothesis, this study is aimed at examining Turkish historical films about the conquest of Istanbul, using methods of historical and social analysis. İstanbul’un Fethi (Conquest of Istanbul, Aydin Arakon, 1953), Kuşatma Altında Aşk (Love Under Siege, Ersin Pertan, 1997) and Fetih 1453 (Conquest 1453, Faruk Aksoy, 2012) are the only three films in Turkish cinema that revolve around the said conquest, therefore constituting the sample of this study. It has been determined that real and fictional events, as well as characters, both focused and ignored, differ from one another in each film. Such significant differences in the dramatic and cinematographic structure of these three films shot respectively in the 50s, 90s, and 2010s show that the representation of history in popular cinema has altered throughout the years, losing its aspect of objectivity.

Keywords: cinema, conquest of Istanbul, historical film, representation

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Authors: Patricia Portugal Marques de Carvalho Lourenco

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A three-phase methodological multi-lingual path was designed, constructed and carried out using the 2020 Chinese Internet Drama Series We Are All Alone as a case study. Phase one, the backbone of the research, comprised of secondary data analysis, providing the structure on which the next two phases would be built on. Phase one incorporated a Google Scholar and a Baidu Index analysis, Star Network Influence Index and Mydramalist.com top two drama reviews, along with an article written about the drama and scrutiny of Chinese related blogs and websites. Phase two was field research elaborated across Latin Europe, and phase three was social media focused, having into account that perceptions are going to be memory conditioned based on past ideas recall. Overall, research has shown the poor cultural expression of Chinese entertainment in Latin Europe and demonstrated the inexistence of Chinese content in French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish Business to Consumer retailers; a reflection of their low significance in Latin European markets and the short-life cycle of entertainment products in general, bubble-gum, disposable goods without a mid to long-term effect in consumers lives. The process of conducting comprehensive international research was complex and time-consuming, with data not always available in Mandarin, the researcher’s linguistic deficiency, limited Chinese Cultural Knowledge and cultural equivalence. Despite steps being taken to minimize the international proposed research, theoretical limitations concurrent to Latin Europe and China still occurred. Data accuracy was disputable; sampling, data collection/analysis methods are heterogeneous; ascertaining data requirements and the method of analysis to achieve a construct equivalence was challenging and morose to operationalize. Secondary data was also not often readily available in Mandarin; yet, in spite of the array of limitations, research was done, and results were produced.

Keywords: research methodologies, international research, primary data, secondary data, research limitations, online dramas, china, latin europe

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Authors: Shahin A. Abdel-Naby, James P. Colgan, Michael S. Pindzola

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A time-dependent close-coupling method is developed to calculate a total, double and triple autoionization rates for hollow atomic ions of four-electron systems. This work was motivated by recent observations of the four-electron Auger process in near K-edge photoionization of C+ ions. The time-dependent close-coupled equations are solved using lattice techniques to obtain a discrete representation of radial wave functions and all operators on a four-dimensional grid with uniform spacing. Initial excited states are obtained by relaxation of the Schrodinger equation in imaginary time using a Schmidt orthogonalization method involving interior subshells. The radial wave function grids are partitioned over the cores on a massively parallel computer, which is essential due to the large memory requirements needed to store the coupled-wave functions and the long run times needed to reach the convergence of the ionization process. Total, double, and triple autoionization rates are obtained by the propagation of the time-dependent close-coupled equations in real-time using integration over bound and continuum single-particle states. These states are generated by matrix diagonalization of one-electron Hamiltonians. The total autoionization rates for each L excited state is found to be slightly above the single autoionization rate for the excited configuration using configuration-average distorted-wave theory. As expected, we find the double and triple autoionization rates to be much smaller than the total autoionization rates. Future work can be extended to study electron-impact triple ionization of atoms or ions. The work was supported in part by grants from the American University of Sharjah and the US Department of Energy. Computational work was carried out at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Berkeley, California, USA.

Keywords: hollow atoms, autoionization, auger rates, time-dependent close-coupling method

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Authors: Douglas MacCutcheon, Florian Pausch, Robert Ljung, Lorna Halliday, Stuart Rosen

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Contemporary classrooms are increasingly inclusive of children with mild to moderate disabilities and children from different language backgrounds (bilinguals, multilinguals), but classroom environments and standards have not yet been adapted adequately to meet these challenges brought about by this inclusivity. Additionally, classrooms are becoming noisier as a learner-centered as opposed to teacher-centered teaching paradigm is adopted, which prioritizes group work and peer-to-peer learning. Challenging listening conditions with distracting sound sources and background noise are known to have potentially negative effects on children, particularly those that are prone to struggle with speech perception in noise. Therefore, this research investigates two groups vulnerable to these environmental effects, namely children with a mild to moderate hearing loss (MMHLs) and sequential bilinguals learning in their second language. In the MMHL study, this group was assessed on speech-in-noise perception, and a number of receptive language and cognitive measures (auditory working memory, auditory attention) and correlations were evaluated. Speech reception thresholds were found to be predictive of language and cognitive ability, and the nature of correlations is discussed. In the bilinguals study, sequential bilingual children’s listening comprehension, speech-in-noise perception, listening effort and release from masking was evaluated under a number of different ecologically valid acoustic scenarios in order to pinpoint the extent of the ‘native language benefit’ for Swedish children learning in English, their second language. Scene manipulations included target-to-distractor ratios and introducing spatially separated noise. This research will contribute to the body of findings from which educational institutions can draw when designing or adapting educational environments in inclusive schools.

Keywords: sequential bilinguals, classroom acoustics, mild to moderate hearing loss, speech-in-noise, release from masking

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Authors: Jessica BrodeFrank, Beka Bryer, Lacey Wilson, Sierra Van Ryck deGroot

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Museums are enjoying quite the moment in pop culture. From discussions of labor in Bob’s Burger to introducing cultural repatriation in The Black Panther, discussions of various museum issues are making their way to popular media. “Talking Back to Hollywood” analyzes the impact museums have on movies and television. The paper will highlight a series of cultural cameos and discuss what each reveals about critical themes in museums: repatriation, labor, obfuscated histories, institutional legacies, artificial intelligence, and holograms. Using a mixed methods approach to include surveys, descriptive research, thematic analysis, and context analysis, the authors of this paper will explore how we, as the museum staff, might begin to cite museums and movies together as texts. Drawing from their experience working in museums and public history, this contingent of mid-career professionals will highlight the impact museums have had on movies and television and the didactic lessons these portrayals can provide back to cultural heritage professionals. From tackling critical themes in museums such as repatriation, labor conditions/inequities, obfuscated histories, curatorial choice and control, institutional legacies, and more, this paper is grounded in the cultural zeitgeist of the 2000s and the message these media portrayals send to the public and the cultural heritage sector. In particular, the paper will examine how portrayals of AI, holograms, and more technology can be used as entry points for necessary discussions with the public on mistrust, misinformation, and emerging technologies. This paper will not only expose the legacy and cultural understanding of the museum field within popular culture but also will discuss actionable ways that public historians can use these portrayals as an entry point for discussions with the public, citing literature reviews and quantitative and qualitative analysis of survey results. As Hollywood is talking about museums, museums can use that to better connect to the audiences who feel comfortable at the cinema but are excluded from the museum.

Keywords: museums, public memory, representation, popular culture

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Authors: Apoorva Bamal, Agnieszka Indiana Olbert

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Floods are known to be one of the most devastating hydro-climatic events, impacting a wide range of stakeholders in terms of environmental, social and economic losses. With difference in inundation durations and level of impact, flood hazards are of different degrees and strength. Amongst various set of domains being impacted by floods, environmental degradation in terms of water quality deterioration is one of the majorly effected but less highlighted domains across the world. The degraded water quality is caused by numerous natural and anthropogenic factors that are both point and non-point sources of pollution. Therefore, it is essential to understand the nature and source of the water pollution due to flooding. The major impact of floods is not only on the physico-chemical water quality parameters, but also on the biological elements leading to a vivid influence on the aquatic ecosystem. This deteriorated water quality is impacting many water categories viz. agriculture, drinking water, aquatic habitat, and miscellaneous services requiring an appropriate water quality to survive. This study identifies, reviews, evaluates and assesses multiple researches done across the world to determine the impact of floods on water quality. With a detailed statistical analysis of top relevant researches, this study is a synopsis of the methods used in assessment of impact of floods on water quality in different geographies, and identifying the gaps for further abridgement. As per majority of the studies, different flood magnitudes have varied impact on the water quality parameters leading to either increased or decreased values as compared to the recommended values for various categories. There is also an evident shift of the biological elements in the impacted waters leading to a change in its phenology and inhabitants of the specified water body. This physical, chemical and biological water quality degradation by floods is dependent upon its duration, extent, magnitude and flow direction. Therefore, this research provides an overview into the multiple impacts of floods on water quality, along with a roadmap of way forward to an efficient and uniform linkage of floods and impacted water quality dynamics.

Keywords: floods, statistical analysis, water pollution, water quality

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