Search results for: special needs assistant

Authors: David Ross Cameron

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In an attempt to alleviate the educational planning problem, double-shift schools have been created throughout various regions in Jordan, namely communities closer to the Syrian border, where a large portion of the refugee population settled, allowing Jordanians to attend the morning-shift and Syrians to attend the afternoon-shift. Subsequently, overcrowded classrooms have added a significant amount of stress on school facilities and teacher capacities. Established national policies and the implementation of inclusive educational practices have been jeopardized. In particular, teachers’ and student’s attitudes of the importance of inclusive education provisions in the classroom have deteriorated. To have a more comprehensive understanding of the current situation and possible plan for intervention, a focus study was carried out at a double-shift Jordanian/Syrian girls’ public school in Irbid, Jordan. Interviews and surveys of 29 students with physical, learning, emotional and behavioral disabilities, 33 students without any special needs and nine teachers were included with a mixed-method social research approach to highlight the current attitudes that students and teachers held and factors that contributed to shaping their inclinations and beliefs of inclusive education.

Keywords: capacity building, development, double-shift, Irbid, inclusive education, Jordan, pedagogy, planning, policy, refugee, special education, special needs, vulnerable population

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Authors: Huang Ying

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The present study was to investigate factors affecting children's improvement through the first two years of elementary school on a population-based sample of children with autism in Taiwan. All the children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by clinical psychologists according to DSM-IV. Children's development was assessed by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Chinese version (VABS-C) on the first and the third grade. Children's improvement was measured by the difference between the standardized total score of the third and the first year. In Taiwan, school-age children with special-education needs will be arranged into different classes, including normal classes (NC), resource classes (RC), and special classes (SC) by the government. Therefore, type of class was one of the independent variables. Moreover, as early intervention is considered to be crucial, the earliest age when intervention begins was collected from parents. Attention was also included in the analysis. Teachers were asked to evaluate children's attention with a 3-item Likert Scale. The frequency of paying attention to the class or the task was recorded and scores were summed up. Additionally, standardized scores of the VABS-C in the first grade were used as pretest scores representing children's developmental level at the beginning of elementary school. Multiple regression was conducted with improvement as the dependent variable. Results showed that children in special classes had smaller improvement compared to those in normal or resource classes. Attention positively predicted improvement yet the effect of earliest intervention age was not significant. Furthermore, scores in the first grade negatively predicted improvement, which indicated that children with higher developmental levels would make less progress in the following years. Results were to some degree consistent with previous findings through meta-analysis that the effectiveness of conventional intervention methods lacked sufficient evidence to support.

Keywords: attention, early intervention, elementary school, special education in Taiwan

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Authors: J. H. Low, S. H. Hew, C. O. Wong

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This paper proposes an innovative approach to represent the pictogram Chinese characters. The advantage of this representation is using an extraordinary to represent the pictogram Chinese character. This extraordinary representation is created accordingly to the original pictogram Chinese characters revolution. The purpose of this innovative creation is to assistant the learner learning Chinese as second language (SCL) in Chinese language learning specifically on memorize Chinese characters. Commonly, the SCL will give up and frustrate easily while memorize the Chinese characters by rote. So, our innovative representation is able to help on memorize the Chinese character by the help of visually storytelling. This innovative representation enhances the Chinese language learning experience of SCL.

Keywords: Chinese e-learning, innovative Chinese character representation, knowledge management, language learning

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Authors: José María Renteria, Vania Salas

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This study explores the impact of inclusive education on the educational outcomes of students without Special Educational Needs (non-SEN) in Peru, utilizing official Ministry of Education data and implementing cross-sectional regression analyses. Inclusive education is a complex issue that, without appropriate adaptations and comprehensive understanding, can present substantial challenges to the educational community. While prior research from developed nations offers diverse perspectives on the effects of inclusive education on non-SEN students, limited evidence exists regarding its impact in developing countries. Our study addresses this gap by examining inclusive education in Peru and its effects on non-SEN students, thereby contributing to the existing literature. the findings reveal that, on average, the presence of SEN students in regular classrooms does not significantly affect their non-SEN counterparts. However, we uncover heterogeneous effects contingent on the specific type of SEN and students’ academic placement. These results emphasize the importance of targeted resources, specialized teachers, and parental involvement in facilitating successful inclusive education, particularly for specific SEN types and students positioned at the lower end of the academic achievement spectrum. In summary, this study underscores the need for tailored strategies and additional resources to foster the success of inclusive education and calls for further research in this field to expand our understanding and enhance educational policy.

Keywords: inclusive education, special educational needs, learning achievement, Peru, Basic education

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Authors: Davoud Beheshtizadeh, Davood Jafari

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Concrete, with its special properties and advantages, has caused it to be widely and increasingly used in construction industry, especially in infrastructures of the country. On the other hand, some defects of concrete and, most importantly, micro-cracks in the concrete after setting have caused the cost of repair and maintenance of infrastructure; therefore, self-healing concretes have been of attention in other countries in the recent years. These concretes have been repaired with general mechanisms such as physical, chemical, biological and combined mechanisms, each of which has different subsets and methods of execution and operation. Also, some of these types of mechanisms are of high importance, which has led to a special production method, and as this subject is new in Iran, this knowledge is almost unknown or at least some part of it has not been considered at all. The present article completely introduces various self-healing mechanisms as a review and tries to present the disadvantages and advantages of each method along with its scope of application.

Keywords: micro-cracks, self-healing concrete, microcapsules, concrete, cement, self-sensitive

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Authors: Mari Chaikovskaia, Jean-Philippe Gayon, Alain Quilliot

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We consider a fleet of elementary robots that can be connected in different ways to transport loads of different types. For instance, a single robot can transport a small load, and the association of two robots can either transport a large load or two small loads. We seek to determine the optimal number of robots to transport a set of loads in a given time interval, with or without reconfiguration. We show that the problem with reconfiguration is strongly NP-hard by a reduction to the bin-packing problem. Then, we study a special case with unit capacities and derive simple formulas for the minimum number of robots, up to 3 types of loads. For this special case, we compare the minimum number of robots with or without reconfiguration and show that the gain is limited in absolute value but may be significant for small fleets.

Keywords: fleet sizing, reconfigurability, robots, transportation

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Authors: Awatif Habeeb Al-Shamare

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The number of social media users amongst special education teachers and parents of children with Down Syndrome (DS) is increasing annually. This is also the case in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, according to the best of the author’s knowledge, there are no qualitative studies which testify to the true nature of the interaction between teachers and parents when using social media, nor the role of social media in supporting and assisting parents and teachers with regards to the children’s educational needs in KSA. Therefore, this ongoing study aims to identify the role of social media in supporting parents and teachers of DS students, with a special emphasis on early intervention services in KSA. By bridging the knowledge gap on social media and special education in KSA and presenting socially relevant and applied information on the topic, this research provides a theoretical and practical base for the establishment of appropriate and effective programmes between the ministries of Information and Special Education in particular. A qualitative approach was selected because it was the most suitable approach for exploring the participants’ experiences, which could not be determined through scientific tests. Interviewing, chosen as the research instrument, allowed the researcher to obtain a detailed understanding of the topic linked to the study objectives. Initially, a pilot study was conducted at the Daycare Center in May 2016. Its aim was to examine and refine the methodology and assess whether the questions were understood with the potential for re-drafting them, if necessary. The main study consists of five teachers and five mothers with experience of using social media and with links to the Daycare Center. Thematic Analysis has been chosen for analysing the findings because it is a flexible method that allows themes to emerge from the data. Results of the current study are still in the initial stages, but the preliminary findings are as follows: (1) social media is an important tool in encouraging parents and teachers to access the necessary information and knowledge about, and experience in, early intervention services; (2) it acts as a support network for the parents; (3) it helps raise awareness about DS and the need for early intervention; (4) it can be used to put pressure on the government for an expansion in early intervention services, and finally (5) its use can be problematic in that parents and teachers face some difficulties and challenges when using the different platforms. It can be concluded that social media plays a significant role in the lives of teachers and parents with special needs children in KSA.

Keywords: down syndrome, early intervention services, social media, support parents and teachers

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Authors: Jon-Chao Hong, Tsai-Ru Fan, Shih-Min Hsu

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Virtual reality (VR) can generate mirror neurons that facilitate learners to transfer virtual skills to a real environment in skill training, and most studies approved the positive effect of applying in many domains. However, rare studies have focused on the experiential values of participants from a gender perspective. To address this issue, the present study used a VR program named kitchen assistant training, focusing on cutting vegetables and invited 400 students to practice for 20 minutes. Useful data from 367 were subjected to statistical analysis. The results indicated that male participants. From the comparison of average, it seems that females perceived higher than males in learning effectiveness. Expectedly, the VR-Cutting vegetables can be used for pre-training of real vegetable cutting.

Keywords: exponential value, facilitate learning, gender difference, virtual reality

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Authors: Nasir Sulman

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In Pakistan, the inclusion of persons with disabilities in higher education institutions has significantly been increased with every passing year and anyone can observe a sizeable number of these students in each faculty. The study executes to conduct a baseline survey for measuring faculty understanding about the special needs, experiences of students with disabilities and support provided by university administration in order to teach these students effectively. The researcher has used mixed methods and the University of Karachi was selected through non-probability-based sampling method. This university is one of the largest universities in Pakistan where more than 40,000 students have been enrolled. Data was gathered through a questionnaire and focused group discussion from three stakeholders including students with disabilities, faculty members and members of the university administration. The key findings show that students with disabilities experience a number of problems related to accommodating their special needs. However, the most encouraging factors identified are the attitude, support, and motivation they received from various faculty members and university administration. On the basis of the findings of the study the researcher has prepared a faculty guidebook and established a ‘Model Learning Assistance Centre for Students with Disabilities’ in the Department of Special Education, University of Karachi. Both these efforts will be helpful for improving the support services for students with disabilities to strengthen the existing laws, policies, and practices in institutions of higher education.

Keywords: persons with disabilities, higher education, learning assistance center, faculty guidebook

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Authors: Hao-Jun Hong, Jung-Tang Huang

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The world is gradually becoming an aging society, and with the lack of laboring forces, this phenomenon is affecting the nation’s economy growth. Although nursing centers are booming in recent years, the lack of medical resources are yet to be resolved, thus creating an innovative wearable medical device could be a vital solution. This research is focused on the design and development of a wearable device which obtains a more precise heart failure measurement than products on the market. The method used by the device is based on the sensor fusion and big data algorithm. From the test result, the modified structure of wearable device can significantly decrease the MA (Motion Artifact) and provide users a more cozy and accurate physical monitor experience.

Keywords: big data, heart failure, motion artifact, sensor fusion, wearable medical device

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Authors: E. O. Echeweozo

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This study evaluated radiation shielding and interaction characteristics of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer separately doped with 10% and 20% nanoscale Bi₂O₃, respectively, for medical apron design and shielding special electronic installations. Prepared samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The EDS results showed that Carbon (C), Oxygen (O), and bismuth (Bi) elements were the predominant elements present in the prepared samples. The SEM result displaced surface irregularities due to a special bonding matrix between PVA and Bi₂O₃. Mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), effective atomic number (Zeff), Half value layer (HVL), Mean free path (MFP), Fast neutron removal cross-section (R), Total Mass Stopping Power (TSP), and photon Range (R) of the prepared polymer composites (PV-1Bi and PV-2Bi) were evaluated with XCOM and PHITS computer programs. Results showed that the MAC of the prepared polymer samples was significantly higher than some recently developed composites at 0.662MeV and 1.25MeV gamma energy. Therefore, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer doped with Bi₂O₃ should be deployed in medical apron design and shielding special electronic installations where flexibility and high adhesion ability are crucial.

Keywords: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA);, polymer composite, gamma-rays, charged particles

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Authors: Heena Dabas, Anju Paul, Suman Chaurasia, Ramesh Agarwal, M. Jeeva Sankar, Anurag Bajpai, Manju Saksena

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Background: Traumatic lumbar puncture (LP) is a common occurrence and causes substantial diagnostic ambiguity. There is paucity of data regarding its epidemiology. Objective: To assess the incidence and risk factors of traumatic LP in newborns. Design/Methods: In a prospective cohort study, all inborn neonates admitted in NICU and planned to undergo LP for a clinical indication of sepsis were included. Neonates with diagnosed intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) of grade III and IV were excluded. The LP was done by operator - often a fellow or resident assisted by bedside nurse. The unit has policy of not routinely using any sedation/analgesia during the procedure. LP is done by 26 G and 0.5-inch-long hypodermic needle inserted in third or fourth lumbar space while the infant is in lateral position. The infants were monitored clinically and by continuous measurement of vital parameters using multipara monitor during the procedure. The occurrence of traumatic tap along with CSF parameters and other operator and assistant characteristics were recorded at the time of procedure. Traumatic tap was defined as presence of visible blood or more than 500 red blood cells on microscopic examination. Microscopic trauma was defined when CSF is not having visible blood but numerous RBCs. The institutional ethics committee approved the study protocol. A written informed consent from the parents and the health care providers involved was obtained. Neonates were followed up till discharge/death and final diagnosis was assigned along with treating team. Results: A total of 362 (21%) neonates out of 1726 born at the hospital were admitted during the study period (July 2016 to January, 2017). Among these neonates, 97 (26.7%) were suspected of sepsis. A total of 54 neonates were enrolled who met the eligibility criteria and parents consented to participate in the study. The mean (SD) birthweight was 1536 (732) grams and gestational age 32.0 (4.0) weeks. All LPs were indicated for late onset sepsis at the median (IQR) age of 12 (5-39) days. The traumatic LP occurred in 19 neonates (35.1%; 95% C.I 22.6% to 49.3%). Frank blood was observed in 7 (36.8%) and in the remaining, 12(63.1%) CSF was detected to have microscopic trauma. The preliminary risk factor analysis including birth weight, gestational age and operator/assistant and other characteristics did not demonstrate clinically relevant predictors. Conclusion: A significant number of neonates requiring lumbar puncture in our study had high incidence of traumatic tap. We were not able to identify modifiable risk factors. There is a need to understand the reasons and further reduce this issue for improving management in NICUs.

Keywords: incidence, newborn, traumatic, lumbar puncture

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Authors: Anqi Wang, Linye Zhang

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With the proliferation and development of mobile devices, various mobile apps have appeared to satisfy people’s needs. Metro, with the feature of convenient, punctuality and economic, is one of the most popular modes of transportation in cities. Yet, there are still some inconveniences brought by various factors, impacting tourists’ riding experience. The aim of this study is to help tourists to shorten the time of purchasing tickets, to provide them clear metro information and direct navigation, detailed schedule as well as a way to collect metro cards as souvenir. The study collects data through three phases, including observation, survey and test. Data collected from 106 tourists totally in Wuhan metro stations are discussed in the study. The result reflects tourists’ demand when they take the metro. It also indicates the feasibility of using mobile technology to improve passenger’s experience.

Keywords: mobile app, metro, public transportation, ticket, mobile payment, indoors positioning, tourists

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Authors: Ivan Struhár, Martin Sebera, Lenka Dovrtělová

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The aim of this study was to find out if the special type of exercise with elastic cord can improve the level of postural stability. The exercise programme was conducted twice a week for 3 months. The participants were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. The electronic balance board was used for testing of postural stability. All participants trained for 18 hours at the time of experiment without any special form of coordination programme. The experimental group performed 90 minutes plus of coordination exercise. The result showed that differences between pre-test and post-test occurred in the experimental group. It was used the nonparametric Wilcoxon t-test for paired samples (p=0.012; the significance level 95%). We calculated effect size by Cohen´s d. In the experimental group d is 1.96 which indicates a large effect. In the control group d is 0.04 which confirms no significant improvement.

Keywords: balance board, balance training, coordination, stability

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Authors: L. Bernabeo, T. Loftus

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Many children often experience phases of picky eating, food aversions and/or avoidance. For families with children who have special needs, these experiences are often exacerbated, which can lead to feelings that negatively impact a caregiver’s relationship with their child. Within the scope of speech language pathology practice, knowledge of both emotional and feeding development is key. This paper will explore the significance of “messy play” within typical feeding development, and the challenges that may arise if a child does not have the opportunity to engage in this type of exploratory play. This paper will consider several contributing factors that can result in a “picky eater.” Further, research has shown that individuals with special needs, including autism, possess a neurological makeup that differs from that of a typical individual. Because autism is a disorder of relating and communicating due to differences in the limbic system, an individual with special needs may respond to a typical feeding experience as if it is a traumatic event. As a result, broadening one’s dietary repertoire may seem to be an insurmountable challenge. This paper suggests that introducing new foods through exploratory play can help broaden and strengthen diets, as well as improve the feeding experience, of individuals with autism. The DIRFloortimeⓇ methodology stresses the importance of following a child's lead. Within this developmental model, there is a special focus on a person’s individual differences, including the unique way they process the world around them, as well as the significance of therapy occurring within the context of a strong and motivating relationship. Using this child-centered approach, we can support our children in expanding their diets, while simultaneously building upon their cognitive and creative development through playful and respectful interactions that include exposure to foods that differ in color, texture, and smell. Further, this paper explores the importance of exploration, self-feeding and messy play on brain development, both in the context of typically developing individuals and those with disordered development.

Keywords: development, feeding, floortime, sensory

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Authors: Maheshwari Payal, Shapurkar Mayaan

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The present research aimed at studying the awareness and attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education. The sample consisted of 60 teachers, teaching in the primary section (1st – 4th) of regular schools affiliated to the SSC board in Mumbai. The sample was selected by Multi-stage cluster sampling technique. A semi-structured self-constructed interview schedule and a self-constructed attitude scale were used to study the awareness of teachers about disability and Inclusive education, and their attitudes towards inclusive education respectively. Themes were extracted from the interview data and quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS package. Results revealed that teachers had some amount of awareness but an inadequate amount of information on disabilities and inclusive education. Disability to most (37) teachers meant “an inability to do something”. The difference between disability and handicap was stated by most as former being cognitive while handicap being physical in nature. With regard to Inclusive education, a large number (46) stated that they were unaware of the term and did not know what it meant. The majority (52) of them perceived maximum challenges for themselves in an inclusive set up, and emphasized on the role of teacher training courses in the area of providing knowledge (49) and training in teaching methodology (53). Although, 83.3% of teachers held a moderately positive attitude towards inclusive education, a large percentage (61.6%) of participants felt that being in inclusive set up would be very challenging for both children with special needs and without special needs. Though, most (49) of the teachers stated that children with special needs should be educated in a regular classroom, but they further clarified that only those should be in a regular classroom who have physical impairments of mild or moderate degree.

Keywords: attitude, awareness, inclusive education, teachers

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Authors: Abdullah Eqal Al Mazrooei

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Kalman filter is a famous algorithm that utilizes to estimate the state in the linear systems. It has numerous applications in technology and science. Since of the most of applications in real life can be described by nonlinear systems. So, Kalman filter does not work with the nonlinear systems because it is suitable to linear systems only. In this work, a nonlinear filtering algorithm is presented which is suitable to use with the special kinds of nonlinear systems. This filter generalizes the Kalman filter. This means that this filter also can be used for the linear systems. Our algorithm depends on a special linearization of the second degree. We introduced the nonlinear algorithm with a bilinear state-space model. A simulation example is presented to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm.

Keywords: Kalman filter, filtering algorithm, nonlinear systems, state-space model

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Authors: Constantinos Vayenas, Athanasios Fokas, Dimitrios Grigoriou

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We use special relativity to compute the inertial and thus gravitational mass of relativistic electron and muon neutrinos, and we find that, for neutrino kinetic energies above 150 MeV/c2, these masses are in the Planck mass range. Consequently, we develop a simple Bohr-type model using gravitational rather than electrostatic forces between the rotating neutrinos as the centripetal force in order to examine the bound rotational states formed by two or three such relativistic neutrinos. We find that the masses of the composite rotational structures formed, are in the meson and baryon mass ranges, respectively. These models contain no adjustable parameters and by comparing their predictions with the experimental values of the masses of protons and pions, we compute a mass of 0.0437 eV/c2 for the heaviest electron neutrino mass and of 1.1 x10-3 eV/c2 for the heaviest muon neutrino mass.

Keywords: geons, gravitational confinement, neutrino masses, special relativity

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Authors: Mohammadmehdi Torfehnejada, Serhan Senso

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Aftershock collapse capacity of Special Steel Moment Frames (SSMFs) is evaluated under aftershock earthquakes by considering building heights 8 and 12 stories. The assessment evaluates the residual collapse capacity under aftershock excitation when various levels of damage have been induced by the mainshock. For this purpose, incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) under aftershock follows the mainshock imposing the intended damage level. The study results indicate that aftershock collapse capacity of this structure may decrease remarkably when the structure is subjected to large mainshock damage. The capacity reduction under aftershock is finally related to the mainshock damage level through regression equations.

Keywords: aftershock collapse capacity, special steel moment frames, mainshock-aftershock sequences, incremental dynamic analysis, mainshock damage

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Authors: M. D. Nghiteke, A. Mji, G. T. Molepo

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Inclusive education stems from a philosophy and vision, which argues that all children should learn together at school. It is not only about treating all pupils in the same way. It is also about allowing all children to attend school without any restrictions. Ten primary school teachers in a circuit in Namibia volunteered to participate in face-to-face interviews about inclusive education. The teachers responded to three questions about their (i) understanding of inclusive education; (ii) whether inclusive education was implemented in primary schools; and (iii) whether they were able to work with learners with special needs. Findings indicated that teachers understood what inclusive education entailed; felt that inclusive education was not implemented in their primary schools, and they were unable to work with learners with special needs in their classrooms. Further, the teachers identified training and resources as important components of inclusive education. It is recommended that education authorities should perhaps verify the findings reported here as well as ensure that the concerns raised by the teachers are addressed.

Keywords: classrooms and schools, inclusive education, resources, training

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Authors: Poopak Dehshahri

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The applicability of intellectual property rights in the sports industry from the present paper’s perspective includes athletic skills, which are comprised of two parts: athletic movements and athletic methods. Also, the applicability pertaining to the athletes᾽ personality, such as the Name, the Image, the Voice, the Signature and their Shirt Number, are deemed as related to the sports natural persons. Radio and TV broadcasting rights of the sports events, the signs and symbols of the athletic institutions including the sign and symbol, trademark (brand name), the name and the place of residence of the sports clubs, the Sports events and the special sports, special slogan of the sports clubs or sports competitions and the sports clothing design are Included under the athletic institutions᾽ applicability of intellectual property rights.

Keywords: sport industry, intellectual property, sport skills, right to fame, radio and television broadcasting right, sport sign

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Authors: Mohadese Motahari

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In general, we consider the phenomenon of "fandism" or extreme fandom to be an aspect of fandom for a person, a group, or a collection, which leads to extreme support for them. So, for example, we consider a fan or a "fanatic" (which literally means a "fanatical person") to be a person who is extremely interested in a certain topic or topics and has a special passion and fascination for that issue. It may also be beyond the scope of logic and normal behavior of the society. With the expansion of the media and the advancement of technology, the phenomenon of fandom also underwent many changes and not only became more intense, but a large economy was also formed alongside it, and it is becoming more and more important every day. This economy, which emerged from the past with the formation of the first media, has now taken a different form with the development of media and social networks, as well as the change in the interaction between celebrities and audiences. Earning huge amounts of money with special methods in every social network and every media is achieved through fans and fandoms. In this article, we have studied the relationship between fans and famous people with reference to the economic debates surrounding it.

Keywords: fandism, famous people, social media, new media

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Authors: Zikra Faiz, Zaheer Asghar, Nisar Abid

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) includes computers, the Internet, and electronic delivery systems such as televisions, radios, multimedia, and overhead projectors etc. In the modern world, ICTs is considered as an essential element of the teaching-learning process. The study was aimed to discover the usage of ICTs in Special Education Institutions for Visually Impaired students, Lahore, Pakistan. Objectives of the study were to explore the problems faced by teachers while using ICT in the classroom. The study was phenomenology in nature; a qualitative survey method was used through a semi-structured interview protocol developed by the researchers. The sample comprised of eighty faculty members selected through a purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis technique with the help of open coding. The study findings revealed that multimedia, projectors, computers, laptops and LEDs are used in special education institutes to enhance the teaching-learning process. Teachers believed that ICTs could enhance the knowledge of visually impaired students and every student should use these technologies in the classroom. It was concluded that multimedia, projectors and laptops are used in classroom by teachers and students. ICTs can promote effectively through the training of teachers and students. It was suggested that the government should take steps to enhance ICTs in teacher training and other institutions by pre-service and in-service training of teachers.

Keywords: information and communication technologies, in-services teachers, special education institutions

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Authors: Genevieve R. Kan, Jolyon Ford

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Background: Caesarean section has become the routine route of delivery for breech fetuses, but breech cesarean deliveries are hypothesized to have poorer immediate neonatal outcomes when compared to cephalic deliveries. In accordance with this, in many Australian hospitals, the pediatric team is routinely required to attend every elective breech cesarean section in case urgent resuscitation is required. Our study aimed to determine whether term elective breech deliveries indeed had worse immediate neonatal outcomes at delivery, which will justify the necessity of pediatric staff presence at every elective breech cesarean delivery and influence the workload for the pediatric team. Objective: Elective breech cesarean deliveries were compared to elective cephalic cesarean deliveries at 37 weeks gestation or above to evaluate the immediate neonatal outcomes (Apgar scores <7 at 5 minutes, and Special Care Nursery admissions on Day 1 of life) of each group. Design: A retrospective cohort study Method: This study examined 2035 elective breech and cephalic singleton cesarean deliveries at term over 5 years from July 2017 to July 2022 at Frankston Hospital, a metropolitan hospital in Melbourne, Australia. There were 260 breech deliveries and 1775 cephalic deliveries. De-identified patient data were collected retrospectively from the hospital’s electronically integrated pregnancy and birth records to assess demographics and neonatal outcomes. Results: Apgar scores <7 at 5 minutes of life were worse in the breech group compared to the cephalic group (3.4% vs 1.6%). Special Care Nursery admissions on Day 1 of life were also higher for the breech cohort compared to the cephalic cohort (9.6% vs 8.7%). Conclusions: Our results support the expected findings that breech deliveries are associated with worse immediate neonatal outcomes. It, therefore, suggests that routine attendance at elective breech cesarean deliveries by the pediatric team is indeed required to assist with potentially higher needs for neonatal resuscitation and special care nursery admission.

Keywords: breech, cesarean section, Apgar scores, special care nursery admission

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Authors: David Dean Hampton, William Morrison, Mary Rizza, Jan Osborn

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This evaluation examined the effects of a supplemental reading intervThis evaluation examined the effects of a supplemental reading intervention for students with specific learning disabilities in reading who were presented with below grade level on fall benchmark scores on DIBELS 6th ed. Revised. Participants consisted of a condition group, those who received supplemental reading instruction in addition to core + special education services and a comparison group of students who were at grade level in their fall benchmark scores. The students in the condition group received 26 weeks of Project MORE instruction delivered multiple times each week from trained volunteer tutors. Using a regression-discontinuity design, condition and comparison groups were compared on reading development growth using DIBELS ORF. Significant findings were reported for grade 2, 3, and 4. ntion for students with specific learning disabilities in reading who presented with below grade level on fall benchmark scores on DIBELS 6th ed. Revised. Participants consisted of a condition group, those who received supplemental reading instruction in addition to core + special education services and a comparison group of students who were at grade level in their fall benchmark scores. The students in the condition group received 26 weeks of Project MORE instruction delivered multiple times each week from trained volunteer tutors. Using a regression-discontinuity design, condition and comparison groups were compared on reading development growth using DIBELS ORF. Significant findings were reported for grade 2, 3, and 4.

Keywords: special education, evidence-based practices, curriculum, tutoring

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Authors: Chick Loveline Ayoh Epse Ndi

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Our cultural stance has deep implications for the psychological and physical well-being of the old. Cameroon is still rooted on the traditional belief that stipulates that; the aged are best catered for in the family setting where the children and grandchildren are supposed to give in return for services invested on them by the former. This is why up till date, there are no “Rest Homes” or “Convalescent hospitals” despite the rising challenges faced by the aged in this context. Beside the special measure set aside to cater for the aged, such as “Rest Homes” for the healthy, “Convalescent hospitals” are created set to cater for the health of the aged in the Western context with other facilities such as geriatric units. The health care practitioners are aware of aging diseases and have trained human resources like Gerontologists to cater for the aged and aging diseases. Meanwhile, in Africa and Cameroon in particular, such infrastructural and human resources are still to be considered in the health care system. It can be assumed that the aged and aging diseases are still to be considered in the health care system in this context. This is why we talk of therapeutic nihilism, where the aged are mixed up with other categories of patients with no special attention given to them. This qualitative study carried out in the Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon, with their best referent hospitals, reveal that; the aged and aging diseases are still a myth in this context. Data collected in both private and public health institutions show that there is only one public institution in Cameroon that has a geriatric unit with no specialists. Patients who aretreated in this unit are considered as aged with terminal diseases that need palliative care and not intensive care. Cameroon is still lacking in terms of health care to the aged and ageing diseases. Like other patients, the aged are treated with a lot of laxity and no value. There is an emergency to create special health care units for geriatrics and and train gerontologist. Mentally or physically ill aged faced medical rational with psychodynamic treatment considered as waste of time. The aged are less likely to be regarded salvageable when they enter a hospital in serious conditions due to the lack of specialists and geriatric units for them. The implication of this study is to sensitization the stake holders for an urgent need to extend special care units for the aged and aging diseases in this context.

Keywords: challeng, therapy, agtng, diseases cameroon

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Authors: Manal Rayes

Abstract:

In its efforts to utilize the information and communication technology to enhance the quality of public service delivery, national and local governments around the world are competing to introduce more ICT applications as tools to automate processes related to law enforcement or policy execution, increase citizen orientation, trust, and satisfaction, and create one-stop-shops for public services. In its implementation, e-Government ICTs need to maintain transparency, participation, and collaboration. Due to this diverse of mixed goals and requirements, e-Government systems need to be designed based on special design considerations in order to eliminate the risks of failure to compliance to government regulations, citizen dissatisfaction, or market repulsion. In this article we suggest a framework with guidelines for designing government information systems that takes into consideration the special requirements of the public sector. Then we introduce two case studies and show how applying those guidelines would result in a more solid system design.

Keywords: e-government, framework, guidelines, system design

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Authors: Saima Haq

Abstract:

This paper presents the contribution of the Sunflowers Vocational Center, Karachi, Pakistan, by providing a platform for the students of special needs to work with recycled materials and express themselves in a more extravagant form. The concept was to create products that would generate enough income to sustain the program while keeping the students cognitively engaged through arts and crafts and tactile instructions due to their severe intellectual disabilities. Papier-mâché is an art form that is hands-on, repetitive, economical as well as beneficial for the environment. The process of tearing paper into long strips then covering them with paste and laying the strips atop the mold provides constant sensory input for our autistic students as well as the rest of our student population. Given the marginalized stance the society has on special needs, we have marketed the paper-mâché products on social media platforms and have set up booths in carnivals, festivities, open markets that are aimed towards a cause to sell. Our students in the vocational center have also made bins, baskets, and trays that are used in all classrooms. This has cut our costs on classroom materials considerably and has added a sense of accomplishment and furthered the teamwork skills in our sunflowers. The other achievement is our long clientele; orders have been placed from several persons for birthdays, parties, events, and the like. This exposure has raised awareness of the capabilities of persons of special needs and has started a conversation on the topic. And additional achievement is that we have made our teachers, their families, our students, and their families conscientious of the environment and incorporated reusing newspapers into classrooms. Situations where plastic would be bought, for example, bin, dustbins, containers, basket, trays, the paper-mâché products made by our students have been used instead. Due to the low cost of materials, this project is easily replicable and very easy to start. Piñatas are a very popular item for children’s parties everywhere and are gaining popularity through social media. This is also easily replicable in any environment and can have a great impact on the use of plastic in any work or home environment.

Keywords: vocational training, special needs, cognitive skills, teamwork

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Authors: Johanna Sagner, María José Sandoval

Abstract:

At the early stages of adolescence, young people, regardless of a disability or not, start to establish closer friendship ties. Unlike previous developmental phases, these ties are rather reciprocal, more committed, and require more time. Friendship ties during adolescence allow the development of social and personal skills, specifically the skills to start constructing identity. In an inclusive context that incorporates young people with a disability, friendship among peers also takes place. Nonetheless, the relation is shaped, among others, by the alterity construction about the other with disability. Research about peers’ relation between young people with and without disability in an inclusive context has shown that the relation tends to become a helper-helpee relation, where those with a disability are seen as people in need. Prejudices about the others’ condition or distancing from the other because of his/hers disability are common. In this sense, the helper-helpee relation, as a non-reciprocal and protective relation, will not promote friendship between classmates, but a rather asymmetric alterity. Our research is an explorative case study that wants to know how the relation between peers is shaped within a different inclusive program, were also the integrated group has special educational needs. Therefore, we analyze from a qualitative and quantitative approach the data of an inverted inclusive program. This is a unique case of a special public school for visual disability in Germany that includes young people from a mainstream school who had learning difficulties. For the research, we analyze data from interviews, focal interviews and open-ended questions with an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. The questionnaires include a five point Likert scale, for which we calculate the acceptance rate. The findings show that the alterity relation between pupils is less asymmetrical and represents a rather horizontal alterity. The helper-helpee relation is marked by exchange, since both groups have special educational needs and therefore, those with visual disability and those with learning difficulties help each other indistinctly. Friendship is more present among classmates. The horizontal alterity peers’ relation is influenced by a sort of tie, where none of the groups need more or less help than other groups. Both groups identify that they themselves and the other have special needs. The axiological axe of alterity is not of superiority or inferiority, recognizing each other’s differences and otherness. Another influential factor relates with the amount of time they spend together, since the program does not have a resource room or a teacher who teaches parallel lessons. Two probable causes for that rather equal peer relation might be the constellation of fewer pupils per classroom and the differentiated lessons taught by teachers with a special educational formation.

Keywords: alterity, disability, inverted inclusion, peers’ relation

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Authors: Manaranjan Pradhan, Shailaja Grover, U. Dinesh Kumar

Abstract:

Farming community in India, as well as other parts of the world, is one of the highly stressed communities due to reasons such as increasing input costs (cost of seeds, fertilizers, pesticide), droughts, reduced revenue leading to farmer suicides. Lack of integrated farm advisory system in India adds to the farmers problems. Farmers need right information during the early stages of crop’s lifecycle to prevent damage and loss in revenue. In this paper, we use deep learning techniques to develop an early warning system for detection of crop diseases using images taken by farmers using their smart phone. The research work leads to building a smart assistant using analytics and big data which could help the farmers with early diagnosis of the crop diseases and corrective actions. The classical approach for crop disease management has been to identify diseases at crop level. Recently, ImageNet Classification using the convolutional neural network (CNN) has been successfully used to identify diseases at individual plant level. Our model uses convolution filters, max pooling, dense layers and dropouts (to avoid overfitting). The models are built for binary classification (healthy or not healthy) and multi class classification (identifying which disease). Transfer learning is used to modify the weights of parameters learnt through ImageNet dataset and apply them on crop diseases, which reduces number of epochs to learn. One shot learning is used to learn from very few images, while data augmentation techniques are used to improve accuracy with images taken from farms by using techniques such as rotation, zoom, shift and blurred images. Models built using combination of these techniques are more robust for deploying in the real world. Our model is validated using tomato crop. In India, tomato is affected by 10 different diseases. Our model achieves an accuracy of more than 95% in correctly classifying the diseases. The main contribution of our research is to create a personal assistant for farmers for managing plant disease, although the model was validated using tomato crop, it can be easily extended to other crops. The advancement of technology in computing and availability of large data has made possible the success of deep learning applications in computer vision, natural language processing, image recognition, etc. With these robust models and huge smartphone penetration, feasibility of implementation of these models is high resulting in timely advise to the farmers and thus increasing the farmers' income and reducing the input costs.

Keywords: analytics in agriculture, CNN, crop disease detection, data augmentation, image recognition, one shot learning, transfer learning

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