Search results for: evidential contrasts

Authors: Erin Lawlor

Abstract:

In 2008 Time magazine named terrorist rehabilitation as one of the best ideas of the year. The term deradicalisation has become synonymous with rehabilitation within security discourse. The allure for a “quick fix” when managing terrorist populations (particularly within prisons) has led to a focus on prescriptive programmes where there is a distinct lack of exploration into the drivers for a person to disengage or deradicalise from violence. It has been argued that to tackle a snowballing issue that interventions have moved too quickly for both theory development and methodological structure. This overly quick acceptance of a term that lacks rigorous testing, measuring, and monitoring means that there is distinct lack of evidence base for deradicalisation being a genuine process/phenomenon, leading to academics retrospectively attempting to design frameworks and interventions around a concept that is not truly understood. The UK Home Office has openly acknowledged the lack of empirical data on this subject. This lack of evidence has a direct impact on policy and intervention development. Extremism and deradicalisation are issues that affect public health outcomes on a global scale, to the point that terrorism has now been added to the list of causes of trauma, both in the direct form of being victim of an attack but also the indirect context of witnesses, children and ordinary citizens who live in daily fear. This study critiques current deradicalisation discourses to establish whether public health approaches offer opportunities for development. The research begins by exploring the theoretical constructs of both what deradicalisation, and public health issues are. Questioning: What does deradicalisation involve? Is there an evidential base on which deradicalisation theory has established itself? What theory are public health interventions devised from? What does success look like in both fields? From establishing this base, current deradicalisation practices will then be explored through examples of work already being carried out. Critiques can be broken into discussion points of: Language, the difficulties with conducting empirical studies and the issues around outcome measurements that deradicalisation interventions face. This study argues that a public health approach towards deradicalisation offers the opportunity to attempt to bring clarity to the definitions of radicalisation, identify what could be modified through intervention and offer insights into the evaluation of interventions. As opposed to simply focusing on an element of deradicalisation and analysing that in isolation, a public health approach allows for what the literature has pointed out is missing, a comprehensive analysis of current interventions and information on creating efficacy monitoring systems. Interventions, policies, guidance, and practices in both the UK and Australia will be compared and contrasted, due to the joint nature of this research between Sheffield Hallam University and La Trobe, Melbourne.

Keywords: radicalisation, deradicalisation, violent extremism, public health

Procedia PDF Downloads 36

Authors: Scott A. Ochsner, Christopher M. Watkins, Apollo McOwiti, David L. Steffen Lauren B. Becnel, Neil J. McKenna

Abstract:

Understanding signaling by nuclear receptors (NRs) requires an appreciation of their cognate ligand- and tissue-specific transcriptomes. While target gene regulation data are abundant in this field, they reside in hundreds of discrete publications in formats refractory to routine query and analysis and, accordingly, their full value to the NR signaling community has not been realized. One of the mandates of the Nuclear Receptor Signaling Atlas (NURSA) is to facilitate access of the community to existing public datasets. Pursuant to this mandate we are developing a freely-accessible community web resource, Transcriptomine, to bring together the sum total of available expression array and RNA-Seq data points generated by the field in a single location. Transcriptomine currently contains over 25,000,000 gene fold change datapoints from over 1200 contrasts relevant to over 100 NRs, ligands and coregulators in over 200 tissues and cell lines. Transcriptomine is designed to accommodate a spectrum of end users ranging from the bench researcher to those with advanced bioinformatic training. Visualization tools allow users to build custom charts to compare and contrast patterns of gene regulation across different tissues and in response to different ligands. Our resource affords an entirely new paradigm for leveraging gene expression data in the NR signaling field, empowering users to query gene fold changes across diverse regulatory molecules, tissues and cell lines, target genes, biological functions and disease associations, and that would otherwise be prohibitive in terms of time and effort. Transcriptomine will be regularly updated with gene lists from future genome-wide expression array and expression-sequencing datasets in the NR signaling field.

Keywords: target gene database, informatics, gene expression, transcriptomics

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Mengdie Ruan

Abstract:

The authors investigate how subjective well-being (SWB) and social trust changed in China over the period 2010–2020 by relying on data from six rounds of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), then re-examine Easterlin’s hypothesis for China, with a more focus on the role of social trust and estimate income-compensating differentials for social trust. They find that the evolution of well-being is not sensitive to the measures of well-being one uses. Specifically, self-reported life satisfaction scores and hedonic happiness scores experienced a significant increase across all income groups from 2010 to 2020. Social trust seems to have increased based on CFPS in China for all socioeconomic classes in recent years, and male, urban resident individuals with higher income have a higher social trust at a given point in time and over time. However, when we use an alternative measure of social trust, out-group trust, which is a more valid measure of generalized trust and represents “most people”, social trust in China literally declines, and the level is extremely low. In addition, this paper also suggests that in the typical query on social trust, the term "most people" mostly denotes in-groups in China, which contrasts sharply with most Western countries where it predominantly connotes out-groups. Individual fixed effects analysis of well-being that controls for time-invariant variables reveals social trust and relative social status are important correlates of life satisfaction and happiness, whereas absolute income plays a limited role in boosting an individual’s well-being. The income-equivalent value for social capital is approximately tripling of income. It has been found that women, urban and coastal residents, and people with higher income, young people, those with high education care more about social trust in China, irrespective of measures on SWB. Policy aiming at preserving and enhancing SWB should focus on social capital besides economic growth.

Keywords: subjective well-being, life satisfaction, happiness, social trust, China

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Aline Giardin, Ana Fontoura, Thomas Anderson

Abstract:

Transsexuality is a condition that requires the work of professionals from various fields for diagnosis and treatment. The correct diagnosis is very important because the surgery is irreversible. Diagnostic elements are essentially clinical and an observation period of two years prior to surgery is recommended. In this review article, we discuss the importance of psychiatric nursing for the care of transgender patients, as well as their mental health. Transsexuality is a phenomenon that contrasts our common understandings of sexuality, but it is not a sexual issue. Also called gender dysphoria is a mismatch between the anatomical sex of an individual and their gender identity. In relation to mental health, among transsexuals, we find variations ranging from psychoses to total normality. As the etiology is still controversial, there is no biological marker and only the clinical criteria can be used. Portaria nº 2803, of November 19, 2013, Brazil, regulates the surgical reassignment of sex by the SUS and the nurse started to work also in operational groups (transsexuals who wish to perform surgery and other procedures of reassignment of sex). Health and education, establishes links and guides the care that female and male transsexual patients will have to have before and after surgery. It is also important to say that the work of health education is not only concerned with aspects related to the sexual reassignment surgery, but also with the mental health of its patients and with the family. One of the main complaints of patients is the impression that professionals seem to find them strange and feel extremely uncomfortable when they talk about their desire to undergo sex-change surgery: Investigate the role of nursing in the process of change sexual. Our methodology was a review of articles produced between 1994 and 2015. It was concluded that nursing should specialize for this new demand, which is growing more and more in our health services. We believe that nursing is specializing to enter this context and the expectations are good for the professionals and for the reception of the transsexual patient.

Keywords: transex, nursing, importance, patient

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Y. Jeon, A. Bissessur, J. Lin, P. Ndungu

Abstract:

Most transformers employ the usage of cellulose paper, which has been chemically modified through the Kraft process that acts as an effective insulator. Cellulose ageing and oil degradation are directly linked to fouling of the transformer and accumulation of large quantities of waste insulating paper. In addition to technical difficulties, this proves costly for power utilities to deal with. Currently there are no cost effective method for the rejuvenation of cellulose paper that has been documented nor proposed, since renewal of used insulating paper is implemented as the best option. This study proposes and contrasts different rejuvenation methods of accelerated aged cellulose insulating paper by chemical and bio-bleaching processes. Of the three bleaching methods investigated, two are, conventional chlorine-based sodium hypochlorite (m/v), and chlorine-free hydrogen peroxide (v/v), whilst the third is a bio-bleaching technique that uses a bacterium isolate, Acinetobacter strain V2. Through chemical bleaching, varying the strengths of the bleaching reagents at 0.3 %, 0.6 %, 0.9 %, 1.2 %, 1.5 % and 1.8 % over 4 hrs. were analyzed. Bio-bleaching implemented a bacterium isolate, Acinetobacter strain V2, to bleach the aged Kraft paper over 4 hrs. The determination of the amount of alpha cellulose, degree of polymerization and viscosity carried out on Kraft-cellulose insulating paper before and after bleaching. Overall the investigated techniques of chemical and bio-bleaching were successful and effective in treating degraded and accelerated aged Kraft-cellulose insulating paper, however, to varying extents. Optimum conditions for chemical bleaching were attained at bleaching strengths of 1.2 % (m/v) NaOCl and 1.5 % (v/v) H2O2 yielding alpha cellulose contents of 82.4 % and 80.7 % and degree of polymerizations of 613 and 616 respectively. Bio-bleaching using Acinetobacter strain V2 proved to be the superior technique with alpha cellulose levels of 89.0 % and a degree of polymerization of 620. Chemical bleaching techniques require careful and controlled clean-up treatments as it is chlorine and hydrogen peroxide based while bio-bleaching is an extremely eco-friendly technique.

Keywords: alpha cellulose, bio-bleaching, degree of polymerization, Kraft-cellulose insulating paper, transformer, viscosity

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Ramin Ghasemi Shayan, Morteza Janebifam

Abstract:

Tumors are regularly inhomogeneous. Provincial varieties in death, metabolic action, multiplication and body part are watched. There’s expanding proof that strong tumors may contain subpopulations of cells with various genotypes and phenotypes. These unmistakable populaces of malignancy cells can connect during a serious way and may contrast in affectability to medications. Most tumors show organic heterogeneity1–3 remembering heterogeneity for genomic subtypes, varieties inside the statement of development variables and genius, and hostile to angiogenic factors4–9 and varieties inside the tumoural microenvironment. These can present as contrasts between tumors in a few people. for instance, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, a DNA fix compound, is hushed by methylation of the quality advertiser in half of glioblastoma (GBM), adding to chemosensitivity, and improved endurance. From the outset, there includes been specific enthusiasm inside the usage of dissemination weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic complexity upgraded MRI (DCE-MRI). DWI sharpens MRI to water dispersion inside the extravascular extracellular space (EES) and is wiped out with the size and setup of the cell populace. Additionally, DCE-MRI utilizes dynamic obtaining of pictures during and after the infusion of intravenous complexity operator. Signal changes are additionally changed to outright grouping of differentiation permitting examination utilizing pharmacokinetic models. PET scan modality gives one of a kind natural particularity, permitting dynamic or static imaging of organic atoms marked with positron emanating isotopes (for example, 15O, 18F, 11C). The strategy is explained to a colossal radiation portion, which points of confinement rehashed estimations, particularly when utilized together with PC tomography (CT). At long last, it's of incredible enthusiasm to quantify territorial hemoglobin state, which could be joined with DCE-CT vascular physiology estimation to create significant experiences for understanding tumor hypoxia.

Keywords: heterogeneity, computerized tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, PET

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: Liyun Chang, Cheng-Hsiang Tsai

Abstract:

To ensure the radiation precisely delivering to the target of cancer patients, the linear accelerator equipped with the pretreatment on-board imaging system is introduced and through it the patient setup is verified before the daily treatment. New generation radiotherapy using beam-intensity modulation, usually associated the treatment with steep dose gradients, claimed to have achieved both a higher degree of dose conformation in the targets and a further reduction of toxicity in normal tissues. However, this benefit is counterproductive if the beam is delivered imprecisely. To avoid shooting critical organs or normal tissues rather than the target, it is very important to carry out the quality assurance (QA) of this on-board imaging system. The QA of the On-Board Imager® (OBI) system of one Varian Clinac-iX linear accelerator was performed through our procedures modified from a relevant report and AAPM TG142. Two image modalities, 2D radiography and 3D cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), of the OBI system were examined. The daily and monthly QA was executed for five months in the categories of safety, geometrical accuracy and image quality. A marker phantom and a blade calibration plate were used for the QA of geometrical accuracy, while the Leeds phantom and Catphan 504 phantom were used in the QA of radiographic and CBCT image quality, respectively. The reference images were generated through a GE LightSpeed CT simulator with an ADAC Pinnacle treatment planning system. Finally, the image quality was analyzed via an OsiriX medical imaging system. For the geometrical accuracy test, the average deviations of the OBI isocenter in each direction are less than 0.6 mm with uncertainties less than 0.2 mm, while all the other items have the displacements less than 1 mm. For radiographic image quality, the spatial resolution is 1.6 lp/cm with contrasts less than 2.2%. The spatial resolution, low contrast, and HU homogenous of CBCT are larger than 6 lp/cm, less than 1% and within 20 HU, respectively. All tests are within the criteria, except the HU value of Teflon measured with the full fan mode exceeding the suggested value that could be due to itself high HU value and needed to be rechecked. The OBI system in our facility was then demonstrated to be reliable with stable image quality. The QA of OBI system is really necessary to achieve the best treatment for a patient.

Keywords: CBCT, image quality, quality assurance, OBI

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Michael McMahon

Abstract:

The use of media (video/animation/graphics) has long been used by athletes, coaches, and sports scientists to analyse and improve performance in technical skills and team tactics. Sports educators are increasingly open to the use of technology to support coach and learner development. However, an overreliance is a concern., This paper is part of a larger Ph.D. study looking into these new challenges for Sports Educators. Most notably, how to exploit the deep-learning potential of Digital Media among expert learners, how to instruct sports educators to create effective media content that fosters deep learning, and finally, how to make the process manageable and cost-effective. Central to the study is Richard Mayers Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. Mayers Multimedia Learning Theory proposes twelve principles that shape the design and organization of multimedia presentations to improve learning and reduce cognitive load. For example, the Prior Knowledge principle suggests and highlights different learning outcomes for Novice and Non-Novice learners, respectively. Little research, however, is available to support this principle in modified domains (e.g., sports tactics and strategy). As a foundation for further research, this paper compares and contrasts a range of contemporary multimedia sports coaching content and assesses how they perform as learning tools for Strategic and Tactical Play Acquisition among elite sports practitioners. The stress tests applied are guided by Mayers's twelve Multimedia Learning Principles. The focus is on the elite athletes and whether current coaching digital media content does foster improved sports learning among this cohort. The sport of Gaelic Football was selected as it has high strategic and tactical play content, a wide range of Practitioner skill levels (Novice to Elite), and also a significant volume of Multimedia Coaching Content available for analysis. It is hoped the resulting data will help identify and inform the future instructional content design and delivery for Sports Practitioners and help promote best design practices optimal for different levels of expertise.

Keywords: multimedia learning, e-learning, design for learning, ICT

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Ahmad Lutfi, Nikolas Dhega

Abstract:

The Malala deposit in northwest Sulawesi is the only known porphyry molybdenum and the only source for rhenium, occurrence in Indonesia. The neural network method produces results that correspond very closely to those of the knowledge-based fuzzy logic method and weights of evidence method. This method required data of solid geology, regional faults, airborne magnetic, gamma-ray survey data and GIS data. This interpretation of the network output fits with the intuitive notion that a prospective area has characteristics that closely resemble areas known to contain mineral deposits. Contrasts with the weights of evidence and fuzzy logic methods, where, for a given grid location, each input-parameter value automatically results in an increase in the prospective estimated. Malala District indicated molybdenum anomalies in stream sediments from in excess of 15 km2 were obtained, including the Takudan Fault as most prominent structure with striking 40̊ to 60̊ over a distance of about 30 km and in most places weakly at anomaly B, developed over an area of 4 km2, with a ‘shell’ up to 50 m thick at the intrusive contact with minor mineralization occurring in the Tinombo Formation. Series of NW trending, steeply dipping fracture zones, named the East Zone has an estimated resource of 100 Mt at 0.14% MoS2 and minimum target of 150 Mt 0.25%. The Malala porphyries occur as stocks and dykes with predominantly granitic, with fluorine-poor class of molybdenum deposits and belongs to the plutonic sub-type. Unidirectional solidification textures consisting of subparallel, crenulated layers of quartz that area separated by layers of intrusive material textures. The deuteric nature of the molybdenum mineralization and the dominance of carbonate alteration.The nature of the Stage I with alteration barren quartz K‐feldspar; and Stage II with alteration quartz‐K‐feldspar‐apatite-molybdenite veins combined with the presence of disseminated molybdenite with primary biotite in the host intrusive.

Keywords: molybdenite, Malala, porphyries, anomaly B

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Mohd Harun, Cini Varghese, Eldho Varghese, Seema Jaggi

Abstract:

Hybridization crosses find a vital role in breeding experiments to evaluate the combining abilities of individual parental lines or crosses for creation of lines with desirable qualities. There are various ways of obtaining progenies and further studying the combining ability effects of the lines taken in a breeding programme. Some of the most common methods are diallel or two-way cross, triallel or three-way cross, tetra-allele or four-way cross. These techniques help the breeders to improve the quantitative traits which are of economical as well as nutritional importance in crops and animals. Amongst these methods, tetra-allele cross provides extra information in terms of the higher specific combining ability (sca) effects and the hybrids thus produced exhibit individual as well as population buffering mechanism because of the broad genetic base. Most of the common commercial hybrids in corn are either three-way or four-way cross hybrids. Tetra-allele cross came out as the most practical and acceptable scheme for the production of slaughter pigs having fast growth rate, good feed efficiency, and carcass quality. Tetra-allele crosses are mostly used for exploitation of heterosis in case of commercial silkworm production. Experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses have been studied extensively in literature. Optimality of designs has also been considered as a researchable issue. In practical situations, it is advisable to include sca effects in the model as this information is needed by the breeder to improve economically and nutritionally important quantitative traits. Thus, a model that provides information regarding the specific traits by utilizing sca effects along with general combining ability (gca) effects may help the breeders to deal with the problem of various stresses. In this paper, a model for experimental designs involving tetra-allele crosses that incorporates both gca and sca has been defined. Optimality aspects of such designs have been discussed incorporating sca effects in the model. Orthogonality conditions have been derived for block designs ensuring estimation of contrasts among the gca effects, after eliminating the nuisance factors, independently from sca effects. User friendly SAS macro and web solution (webPTC) have been developed for the generation and analysis of such designs.

Keywords: general combining ability, optimality, specific combining ability, tetra-allele cross, webPTC

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: George Hikah Benson

Abstract:

The promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and Intersex (LGBTQIs) rights within the continent of Africa in general and Ghana, in particular, has for some time now, met the fiercest of resistance; premised mainly on socio-cultural-religious factors. This phenomenon contrasts with notions of countries of the Global North where persons within the context of their fundamental freedoms and rights have the right to sexual choices and preferences. A Private Member’s Bill was introduced to the Ghanaian Parliament in 2021, seeking to criminalize the promotion and advocacy of LGBTQIs related activities. This paper in assessing public views on the matter also seeks to ascertain the security implications regarding the passage of the law at the community level. The study also evaluates LGBTQIs rights vis-a-vis the provisions of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Ghana Constitution and global legal jurisprudence on fundamental human rights. To that end, the study adopted a mixed design approach (quantitative and qualitative) to gather data from 1,550 respondents from all ‘walks of life, across all sixteen regions of Ghana. The main findings are that first, over 85% of Ghanaians abhor the practices of LGBTQIs in keeping with the societal, cultural and religious beliefs of Ghanaians, and will go any length to prevent its survival in the country. Further, the time is not ripe for the acceptance of LGBTQ rights in Ghana as the activities will disrupt family values and poison the existing peace that Ghanaians are currently enjoying. However, it is generally believed that when the bill is passed into law, Ghana’s international image will be dented, and 60% of participants and respondents will be unmoved. Against this hostile, intolerant backdrop regarding LGBTQIs rights in the country and in many other African countries, the study foremost recommends that such a law, when passed, should come with a ‘human face’ that will not just seek to be punitive of LGBTQIs persons but corrective. Additionally, the law should be one that offers them support in line with their rights as Ghanaian and African citizens. Moreover, religious and traditional bodies should endeavor to engage LGBTQIs persons in a friendlier, corrective and loving manner rather than in the current hostile environment that society exposes them to.

Keywords: Ghanaian parliament, LGBTQIs rights, perceptions, socio-culture-religious

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Dohun Kim

Abstract:

Technological innovations have stimulated flipped learning in many disciplines, including language teaching. It is a specific type of blended learning, which combines onsite (i.e. face-to-face) with online experiences to produce effective, efficient and flexible learning. Flipped learning literally ‘flips’ conventional teaching and learning activities upside down: it leverages technologies to deliver a lecture and direct instruction—other asynchronous activities as well—outside the classroom to reserve onsite time for interaction and activities in the upper cognitive realms: applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. Unlike the conventional flipped approaches, which focused on video lecture, followed by face-to-face or on-site session, new innovative methods incorporate various means and structures to serve the needs of different academic disciplines and classrooms. In the light of such innovations, this study adopted ‘student-engaged’ approaches to interpreter training and contrasts them with traditional classrooms. To this end, students were also encouraged to engage in asynchronous activities online, and innovative technologies, such as Telepresence, were employed. Based on the class implementation, a thorough examination was conducted to examine how we can structure and implement flipped classrooms for language and interpreting training while actively engaging learners. This study adopted a quantitative research method, while complementing it with a qualitative one. The key findings suggest that the significance of the instructor’s role does not dwindle, but his/her role changes to a moderator and a facilitator. Second, we can apply flipped learning to both theory- and practice-oriented modules. Third, students’ integration into the community of inquiry is of significant importance to foster active and higher-order learning. Fourth, cognitive presence and competence can be enhanced through strengthened and integrated teaching and social presences. Well-orchestrated teaching presence stimulates students to find out the problems and voices the convergences and divergences, while fluid social presence facilitates the exchanges of knowledge and the adjustment of solutions, which eventually contributes to consolidating cognitive presence—a key ingredient that enables the application and testing of the solutions and reflection thereon.

Keywords: blended learning, Community of Inquiry, flipped learning, interpreter training, student-centred learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 157

Authors: Chuan-Ming Tung, Tzu-Chiao Yuan

Abstract:

This research aims to construct the supply indicators and weights of shelter space from a perspective of the needs of the elderly by virtue of literature review, a systematical compilation of related regulations, and the use of the Analytical Hierarchy Process method, the questionnaires regarding the indicators filled out by 16 experts and scholars. The researcher then used 3 schools and 2 activity centers in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, as study cases to evaluate the ‘friendliness’ degree/level for the supply of shelters meeting the needs of elderly people. The supply evaluation indicators of friendly shelters meeting the needs of the elderly include "Administrative Operations and Service Needs" and "Residence-related and Living Needs"; under the "Administrative Operations and Service Needs" are "Management Operations and Information Provision", "Shelter Space Preparedness and Logistics Support", "Medical Care and Social Support", and "Shelters and Medical Environment", a total of 17 assessment items in four indicators, while under the "Residence-related and Living Needs" are "Dietary Needs", "Sleep Needs", "Hygiene and Sanitation Needs", "Accessibility and Convenience Needs ", etc., a total of 18 assessment items in four indicators. The results show that "Residence-related and Living Needs" is the most important item in the main levels of the supply indicators of the needs for friendly shelters to elderly people (weigh value 0.5504), followed by "Administrative Operations and Service Needs" (0.4496). The order of importance of the supply indicators of friendly shelters for the needs of elderly people is as follows: "Hygiene and Sanitation Needs" (0.1721), "Dietary Needs" (0.1340), "Medical Care and Social Support" (0.1300), "Sleep Needs" (0.1277), "Accessibility and Convenience Needs" (0.1166), "Basic Environment of Shelters" (0.1145), "Shelter Space Preparedness and Logistics Support" (0.1115) and "Management Operations and Information Provision" (0.0936). In addition, it can be noticed from the results of the case evaluation that the provision of refuges and shelters, mainly from schools and activity centers, is extremely inadequate for the needs of the elderly. In a set of comprehensive comparisons and contrasts, the evaluation indicators of refuges and shelters that need to be improved are "Medical Care and Social Support", "Hygiene and Sanitation Needs", "Sleep Needs", "Dietary Needs", and "Shelter Space Preparedness and Logistics Support".

Keywords: needs of the elderly people, urban shelters, evaluation indicators/indices., taiwan

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Lorand Ujhazi

Abstract:

The vast majority of existing canonical studies about migration are focused on examining the general pastoral and legal regulations of the Catholic Church. The weakness of this approach is that it ignores a number of important factors; like the financial, legal and personal circumstances of a particular church or the canonical position of certain organizations which actually look after the immigrants. This paper is a case study, which analyses the current and historical migration related policies and activities of the Catholic Church in Hungary. To achieve this goal the study uses canon law, historical publications, various instructions and communications issued by church superiors, Hungarian and foreign media reports and the relevant Hungarian legislation. The paper first examines how the Hungarian Catholic Church assisted migrants like Armenians fleeing from the Ottoman Empire, Poles escaping during the Second World War, East German and Romanian citizens in the 1980s and refugees from the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. These events underline the importance of past historical experience in the development of contemporary pastoral and humanitarian policy of the Catholic Church in Hungary. Then the paper turns to the events of the ongoing crisis by describing the unique challenges faced by churches in transit countries like Hungary. Then the research contrasts these findings with the typical responsibilities of churches in countries which are popular destinations for immigrants. The next part of the case study focuses on the changes to the pre-crisis legal and canonical framework which influenced the actions of hierarchical and charity organizations in Hungary. Afterwards, the paper illustrates the dangers of operating in an unclear legal environment, where some charitable activities of the church like a fundraising campaign may be interpreted as a national security risk by state authorities. Then the paper presents the reactions of Hungarian academics to the current migration crisis and finally it offers some proposals how to improve parts of Canon Law which govern immigration. The conclusion of the paper is that during the formulation of the central refugee policy of the Catholic Church decision makers must take into consideration the peculiar circumstances of its particular churches. This approach may prevent disharmony between the existing central regulations, the policy of the Vatican and the operations of the local church organizations.

Keywords: canon law, Catholic Church, civil law, Hungary, immigration, national security

Procedia PDF Downloads 280

Authors: Lunthita M. Duthely, John T. Avella, John Ganapati Coleman

Abstract:

For as many as one in three adolescents living in the United States, the adolescent years is a period of low well-being and mental health challenges—from depressive symptoms to mild to moderate psychological diagnoses. Longitudinal population health studies demonstrated that these challenges persist in young adulthood, and beyond. The positive psychology (PS) approach is a more preventative approach to well-being, which contrasts the traditional, deficits approach to curing mental illness. The research among adult populations formed the basis for PS studies among adolescents. The empirical evidence for the effectiveness of PS interventions exists for both adult and youth populations. Positive Psychology interventions target individuals’ strengths, such as hope and optimism, and positive emotions, such as gratitude. Positive psychology interventions such as increasing gratitude, proved effective in many outcomes among youth, including psychological, social, and academically-related outcomes. Although gratitude-inducing studies have been conducted for the past decade in the United States, few studies have been conducted among samples of urban youth, particularly youth of diverse cultural backgrounds. For nearly two decades, the secular practice of meditation has been tested among adults and more recently among youth, focused mostly among clinical samples. The field of Contemplative Sciences explores practices such as Hatha Yoga, Tai Chi, and Meditation, as preventative practices among children and adolescents. A more recent initiative is to explore Contemplative Practices in the school environment. Contemplative Practices yield a variety of positive outcomes, including academic, social, psychological, physiological, and neurological changes among children and adolescents. Again, few studies were conducted among adolescents of diverse cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this doctoral dissertation research study was to test a gratitude-meditation intervention among middle school students attending a public charter school, located in an urban region of Metropolitan Miami. The objective of this presentation is to summarize the challenges and success of bringing a positive psychology and meditation intervention into an urban middle school. Also, the most recent findings on positive psychology and meditation interventions conducted in school environments will be presented as well.

Keywords: adolescents, contemplative intervention, gratitude, secular meditation, positive psychology, school engagement, Sri Chinmoy

Procedia PDF Downloads 371

Authors: Roni Granot, Erica Polini

Abstract:

Music is often described in terms of non-auditory adjectives such as a rising melody, a bright sound, or a zigzagged contour. Such cross modal associations have been studied with simple isolated musical parameters, but only rarely in rich musical contexts. The current study probes cross sensory associations with polarity based dimensions by means of pairings of 10 adjectives: blunt-sharp, relaxed-tense, heavy-light, low (in space)-high, low (pitch)-high, big-small, hard-soft, active-passive, bright-dark, sad-happy. 30 participants (randomly assigned to one of two groups) were asked to rate one of 27 short saxophone improvisations on a 1 to 6 scale where 1 and six correspond to the opposite pole of each dimension. The 27 improvisations included three exemplars for each of three dimensions (size, brightness, sharpness), played by three different players. Here we focus on the question of whether ratings of scales corresponding with the musical dimension were consistently rated as such (e.g. music improvised to represent a white circle rated as bright in contrast with music improvised to represent a dark circle rated as dark). Overall the average scores by dimension showed an upward trend in the equivalent verbal scale, with a low rating for small, bright and sharp musical improvisations and higher scores for large, dark and blunt improvisations. Friedman tests indicate a statistically significant difference for brightness (χ2 (2) = 19.704, p = .000) and sharpness dimensions (χ2 (2) = 15.750, p = .000), but not for size (χ2 (2) = 1.444, p = .486). Post hoc analysis with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests within the brightness dimension, show significant differences among all possible parings resulted in significant differences: the rankings of 'bright' and 'dark' (Z = -3.310, p = .001), of 'bright' and 'medium' (Z = -2.438, p = .015) and of 'dark' and 'medium' music (Z = -2.714, p = .007); but only differences between the extreme contrasts within the sharpness dimension : 'sharp' and 'blunt' music (Z = -3.147, p = .002) and between 'sharp' and 'medium' music rated on the sharpness scale (Z = - 3.054, p = .002), but not between 'medium' and 'blunt' music (Z = -.982, p = .326). In summary our study suggests a privileged link between music and the perceptual and semantic domain of brightness. In contrast, size seems to be very difficult to convey in music, whereas sharpness seems to be mapped onto the two extremes (sharp vs. blunt) rather than continuously. This is nicely reflected in the musical literature in titles and texts which stress the association between music and concepts of light or darkness rather than sharpness or size.

Keywords: audiovisual, brightness, cross-modal perception, cross-sensory correspondences, size, visual angularity

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Yu-Fong Lin

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of different lighting arrangements that create different visual environments in a 3C retail store on the perception, psychology, and shopping tendencies of consumers of different genders. In recent years, the ‘emotional shopping’ model has been widely accepted in the consumer market; in addition to the emotional meaning and value of a product, the in-store ‘shopping atmosphere’ has also been increasingly regarded as significant. The lighting serves as an important environmental stimulus that influences the atmosphere of a store. Altering the lighting can change the color, the shape, and the atmosphere of a space. A successful retail lighting design can not only attract consumers’ attention and generate their interest in various goods, but it can also affect consumers’ shopping approach, behavior, and desires. 3C electronic products have become mainstream in the current consumer market. Consumers of different genders may demonstrate different behaviors and preferences within a 3C store environment. This study tests the impact of a combination of lighting contrasts and color temperatures in a 3C retail store on the visual perception and psychological reactions of consumers of different genders. The research design employs an experimental method to collect data from subjects and then uses statistical analysis adhering to a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design to identify the influences of different lighting environments. This study utilizes virtual reality technology as the primary method by which to create four virtual store lighting environments. The four lighting conditions are as follows: high contrast/cool tone, high contrast/warm tone, low contrast/cool tone, and low contrast/warm tone. Differences in the virtual lighting and the environment are used to test subjects’ visual perceptions, emotional reactions, store satisfaction, approach-avoidance intentions, and spatial atmosphere preferences. The findings of our preliminary test indicate that female subjects have a higher pleasure response than male subjects in a 3C retail store. Based on the findings of our preliminary test, the researchers modified the contents of the questionnaires and the virtual 3C retail environment with different lighting conditions in order to conduct the final experiment. The results will provide information about the effects of retail lighting on the environmental psychology and the psychological reactions of consumers of different genders in a 3C retail store lighting environment. These results will enable useful practical guidelines about creating 3C retail store lighting and atmosphere for retailers and interior designers to be established.

Keywords: 3C retail store, environmental stimuli, lighting, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 363

Authors: Hsiao-Lan Wang, Chun-Han Chiang, I-Chen Chen

Abstract:

In Chinese Mandarin, lexical tones play an important role to provide contrasts in word meaning. They are pitch patterns and can be quantified as the fundamental frequency (F0), expressed in Hertz (Hz). In this study, we aim to investigate the influence of frequency discrimination on Chinese children’s performance of reading abilities. Fifty participants from 3rd to 4th grades, including 24 children with reading difficulties and 26 age-matched children, were examined. A serial of cognitive, language, reading and psychoacoustic tests were administrated. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was also employed to study children’s auditory sensitivity. In the present study, auditory frequency was measured through slide-up pitch, slide-down pitch and frequency-modulated tone. The results showed that children with Chinese reading difficulties were significantly poor at phonological awareness and auditory discrimination for the identification of frequency-modulated tone. Chinese children’s character reading performance was significantly related to lexical tone awareness and auditory perception of frequency-modulated tone. In our MEG measure, we compared the mismatch negativity (MMNm), from 100 to 200 ms, in two groups. There were no significant differences between groups during the perceptual discrimination of standard sounds, fast-up and fast-down frequencies. However, the data revealed significant cluster differences between groups in the slow-up and slow-down frequencies discrimination. In the slow-up stimulus, the cluster demonstrated an upward field map at 106-151 ms (p < .001) with a strong peak time at 127ms. The source analyses of two dipole model and localization resolution model (CLARA) from 100 to 200 ms both indicated a strong source from the left temporal area with 45.845% residual variance. Similar results were found in the slow-down stimulus with a larger upward current at 110-142 ms (p < 0.05) and a peak time at 117 ms in the left temporal area (47.857% residual variance). In short, we found a significant group difference in the MMNm while children processed frequency-modulated tones with slow temporal changes. The findings may imply that perception of sound frequency signals with slower temporal modulations was related to reading and language development in Chinese. Our study may also support the recent hypothesis of underlying non-verbal auditory temporal deficits accounting for the difficulties in literacy development seen developmental dyslexia.

Keywords: Chinese Mandarin, frequency modulation sweeps, magnetoencephalography, mismatch negativity, reading difficulties

Procedia PDF Downloads 550

Authors: Selina Studer, Maria Kleinstäuber, Cornelia Weise

Abstract:

Background: Finding words to report what you have been through may be challenging, especially when dealing with stressful or highly emotional experiences. Photovoice (PV) represents a possible way of facilitating experience reporting. In this approach, people take photos about a particular topic (in our study: worries about the future) and talk about the topic based on the photos. So far, the benefits of Photovoice have been quantitatively insufficiently tested. There is a lack of randomized controlled trials investigating PV in comparison to other methods. This study aimed to fill this research gap. Methods: 65 participants took part in the study and were randomly assigned to the PV group, the writing group (WG), or the control group (CG). The PV group received the task to take photos of worries regarding the future for one week and send max. 5 of them to the interviewer before the interview. The WG had to write down the worries about the future and send max. 5 of them to the interviewer before the interview. The control group did not receive a specific assignment. The semi-structured interview consisted of six open-ended questions and was applied to all future worries. The questions included the content of the future worries, the meaning, and how the worry expressed itself emotionally and physically. The interview was recorded and later transcribed. After the interview, online questionnaires were filled out. They covered a range of variables such as access to emotional content, ability to describe feelings, the extent of self-disclosure, and relationship quality. Results: Contrary to our hypotheses, one-way ANOVA revealed no differences between the three conditions concerning all variables (access to emotional content, ability to describe feelings, the extent of self-disclosure, and so on), all p's > 0.14, BF₀₁ = 1.78-7.66. In a subsequent step, the words in the transcribed interviews were analyzed. The LIWC program counted how many emotional words occurred in the text and assigned them to predefined categories. Planned contrasts revealed that the PV reported more negative emotional words compared to the two groups t(62) = 2.62, p = .011, and also compared to the WG only, t(62) = 2.36, p = .022, BF₀₁ = 0.62. Conclusions and implications: The applied self-report instruments did not reveal any differences between the groups. However, the PV group used more negative emotional words than the other two groups. The discrepancy between self-report and observation variables regarding emotionality is noticeable. It is suggested that the highly educated and above-average female sample may not have needed PV to access emotional content. It is possible that the approach would yield clearer results in a clinical sample. This and other approaches are currently being investigated in a follow-up study.

Keywords: photovoice, controlled randomized study, online intervention, emotional awareness, self-disclosure, data triangulation, interviews

Procedia PDF Downloads 43

Authors: Austin Vander Wel, Katherin Vargas Henao

Abstract:

Washington, DC, is a city in which Spanish, along with several other minority languages, is prevalent not only among tourists but also those living within city limits. In response to this linguistic diversity and DC’s adoption of the Language Access Act in 2004, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) committed to addressing the need for equal linguistic representation and established a five-step plan to provide the best multilingual information possible for public transportation users. The current study, however, strongly suggests that this de jure policy does not align with the reality of Spanish’s representation on DC public transportation–although perhaps doing so in an unexpected way. In order to investigate Spanish’s de facto representation and how it contrasts with de jure policy, this study implements a linguistic landscapes methodology that takes critical language-policy as its theoretical framework (Tollefson, 2005). Specifically concerning de facto representation, it focuses on the discrepancies between digital spaces and the actual physical spaces through which users travel. These digital vs. in situ conditions are further analyzed by separately addressing aural and visual modalities. In digital spaces, data was collected from WMATA’s website (visual) and their bilingual hotline (aural). For in situ spaces, both bus and metro areas of DC public transportation were explored, with signs comprising the visual modality and recordings, driver announcements, and interactions with metro kiosk workers comprising the aural modality. While digital spaces were considered to successfully fulfill WMATA’s commitment to representing Spanish as outlined in the de jure policy, physical spaces show a large discrepancy between what is said and what is done, particularly regarding the bus system, in addition to the aural modality overall. These discrepancies in situ spaces place Spanish speakers at a clear disadvantage, demanding additional resources and knowledge on the part of residents with limited or no English proficiency in order to have equal access to this public good. Based on our critical language-policy analysis, while Spanish is represented as a right in the de jure policy, its implementation in situ clearly portrays Spanish as a problem since those seeking bilingual information can not expect it to be present when and where they need it most (Ruíz, 1984; Tollefson, 2005). This study concludes with practical, data-based steps to improve the current situation facing DC’s public transportation context and serves as a model for responding to inadequate enactment of de jure policy in other language policy settings.

Keywords: Urban landscape, language access, critical-language policy, spanish, public transportation

Procedia PDF Downloads 47

Authors: Inmaculada Yuste Martinez

Abstract:

Since July 5, 2014, Abubaker al Bagdadi, leader of the Islamic State since 2010 climbed the pulpit of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri of Mosul and proclaimed the Caliphate, the number of fighters who have travelled to Syria to join the Caliphate has increased as never before. Although it is true that the phenomenon of foreign fighters is not a new phenomenon, as it occurred after the Spanish Civil War, Republicans from Ireland and the conflict of the Balkans among others, it is highly relevant the fact that in this case, it has reached figures unknown in Europe until now. The approval of the resolution 2178 (2014) of the Security Council, foreign terrorist fighters placed the subject a priority position on the International agenda. The available data allow us to affirm that women have increasingly assumed operative functions in jihadist terrorism and in the activities linked to it in the development of attacks in the European Union, including minors and young adults. In the case of Spain, one in four of the detainees in 2016 were women, a significant increase compared to 2015. This contrasts with the fact that until 2014 no woman had been prosecuted in Spain for terrorist activities of a jihadist nature. It is fundamental when we talk about the prevention of radicalization and counterterrorism that we do not underestimate the potential threat to the security of countries like Spain that women from the West can assume to the global jihadist movement. This work aims to deepen the radicalization processes of these women and their profiles influencing the female inmate population. It also wants to focus on the importance of creating de-radicalization programs for these inmates since women are a crucial element in radicalization processes. A special focus it is made on young radicalized female inmate population as this target group is the most recoverable and on which it would result more fruitful to intervene. De-radicalization programs must also be designed to fit their profiles and circumstances; a sensitive environment will be prisons and juvenile centers, areas that until now had been unrelated to this problem and which are already hosting the first convicted in judicial offices in Spanish territory. A qualitative research and an empirical and analytical method has been implemented in this work, focused on the cases that took place in Spain of young women and the imaginary that the Islamic State uses for the processes of radicalization for this target group and how it does not fit with their real role in the Jihad, as opposed to other movements in which women do have a real and active role in the armed conflict as YPJ do it as a part of the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party of Syria.

Keywords: caliphate, de-radicalization, foreign fighter, gender perspective, ISIS, jihadism, recruitment

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Randall Gray Underwood

Abstract:

Within the past few decades, zombie cinema has evolved from a niche outgrowth of the horror genre into one of the most widely-discussed and thoroughly-analyzed subgenres of film. Rising to international popularity during the 1970s and 1980s following the release of George Romero’s landmark classic, Night of the Living Dead (1968), and its much-imitated sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978), the zombie genre returned to global screens in full force at the turn of the century following earth-shattering events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, America’s subsequent war in the Middle East, environmental pandemics, and the emergence of a divided and disconnected global populace in the age of social media. Indeed, the presence of the zombie in all manner of art and entertainment—movies, literature, television, video games, comic books, and more—has become nothing short of pervasive, engendering a plethora of scholarly writings, books, opinion pieces, and video essays from all manner of academics, cultural commentators, critics, and casual fans, with each espousing their own theories regarding the zombie’s allegorical and symbolic value within global fiction. Consequently, the walking dead of recent years have been variously positioned as fictive manifestations of human fears of societal collapse, environmental contagion, sexually-transmitted disease, primal regression, dwindling population rates, global terrorism, and the foreign “Other”. Less commonly analyzed within film scholarship, however, is the connection between the zombie’s folkloric roots and native African/Haitian spiritual practice; specifically, how this connection impacts the zombie’s presentation in African films by native storytellers versus in similar narratives told from a western perspective. This work will examine the unlikely connections and contrasts inherent the portrayal of the traditional African/Haitian zombie (or zombi, in Haitian French) in the Nollywood film Witchdoctor of the Livingdead (1985, Charles Abi Enonchong) versus its depiction in the early Hollywood films White Zombie (1932, Victor Halperin) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943, Jacques Tourneur), through analysis of each cinemas’ use of the zombie as a visual metaphor for subjugation/slavery, as well as differences in their representation of the the spiritual folklore from which the figure of the zombie originates. Select films from the post-Night of the Living Dead zombie cinema landscape will also warrant brief discussion in relation to Witchdoctor of the Livingdead.

Keywords: Nollywood, Zombie cinema, Horror cinema, Classical Hollywood

Procedia PDF Downloads 34

Authors: Geovana Soncin, Larissa Berti

Abstract:

Some aspects of prosody acquisition remain still unclear, especially regarding atypical speech development processes. This work deals with prosody acquisition and its implications for clinical purposes. Therefore, we analyze speech samples produced by adult speakers, children in typical language development, and children with phonological disorders. Phonological disorder comprises deviating manifestations characterized by inconsistencies in the phonological representation of a linguistic system under acquisition. The clinical assessment is performed mostly based on contrasts whose manifestations occur in the segmental level of a phonological system. Prosodic organization of spoken utterances is not included in the standard assessment. However, assuming that prosody is part of the phonological system, it was hypothesized that children with Phonological Disorders could present inconsistencies that also occur at a prosodic level. Based on this hypothesis, the paper aims to analyze contrastive focus marking in the speech of children with Phonological Disorders in comparison with the speech of children under Typical Language Development and adults. The participants of all groups were native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The investigation was designed in such a way as to identify differences and similarities among the groups that could be interpreted as clues of normal or deviant processes of prosody acquisition. Contrastive focus in Brazilian Portuguese is marked by increasing duration, f0, and intensity on the focused element as well as by a particular type of pitch accent (L*+H). Thirty-nine subjects participated, thirteen from each group. Acoustic analysis was performed, considering duration, intensity, and intonation as parameters. Children with PD were recruited in sessions from a service provided by Speech-Language Pathology Therapy; children in TD, paired in age and sex with the first group, were recruited in a regular school; and 20-24 years old adults were recruited from a University class. In a game prepared to elicit focused sentences, all of them produced the sentence “Girls love red dress,” marking focus on different syntactic positions: subject, verb, and object. Results showed that adults, children in typical language development, and children with Phonological Disorders marked contrastive focus differently: typical children used all parameters like adults do; however, in comparison with them, they exaggerated duration and, in the opposite direction, they did not increase f0 in a sufficient magnitude as adults; children with Phonological Disorder presented inconsistencies in duration, not increasing it in some syntactic positions, and also in intonation, not producing the representative pitch accent of contrastive focus. The results suggest prosody is also affected by phonological disorder and give clues of developmental processes of prosody acquisition.

Keywords: Brazilian Portuguese, contrastive focus, phonological disorder, prosody acquisition

Procedia PDF Downloads 45

Authors: Joshua Loebner

Abstract:

Tectonic shifts within the advertising industry regularly and repeatedly present a deluge of data to be intuited across a spectrum of key performance indicators with innumerable interpretations where live campaigns are vivisected to pivot towards coalescence amongst a digital diaspora. But within this amalgam of analytics, validation, and creative campaign manipulation, where do diversity and disability inclusion fit in? In 2018 several major brands were able to answer this question definitely and directly by incorporating people with disabilities into advertisements. Disability inclusion, representation, and portrayals are documented annually across a number of different media, from film to primetime television, but ongoing studies centering on advertising have not been conducted. Symbols and semiotics in advertising often focus on a brand’s features and benefits, but this analysis on advertising and disability shows, how in 2018, creative campaigns and the disability community came together with the goal to continue the momentum and spark conversations. More brands are welcoming inclusion and sharing positive portrayals of intersectional diversity and disability. Within the analysis and surrounding scholarship, a multipoint analysis of each advertisement and meta-interpretation of the research has been conducted to provide data, clarity, and contextualization of insights. This research presents an advertising disability index that can be monitored for trends and shifts in future studies and to provide further comparisons and contrasts of advertisements. An overview of the increasing buying power within the disability community and population changes among this group anchors the significance and size of the minority in the US. When possible, viewpoints from creative teams and advertisers that developed the ads are brought into the research to further establish understanding, meaning, and individuals’ purposeful approaches towards disability inclusion. Finally, the conclusion and discussion present key takeaways to learn from the research, build advocacy and action both within advertising scholarship and the profession. This study, developed into an advertising disability index, will answer questions of how people with disabilities are represented in each ad. In advertising that includes disability, there is a creative pendulum. At one extreme, among many other negative interpretations, people with disables are portrayed in a way that conveys pity, fosters ableism and discrimination, and shows that people with disabilities are less than normal from a societal and cultural perspective. At the other extreme, people with disabilities are portrayed with a type of undue inspiration, considered inspiration porn, or superhuman, otherwise known as supercrip, and in ways that most people with disabilities could never achieve, or don’t want to be seen for. While some ads reflect both extremes, others stood out for non-polarizing inclusion of people with disabilities. This content analysis explores television commercial advertisements to determine the presence of people with disabilities and any other associated disability themes and/or concepts. Content analysis will allow for measuring the presence and interpretation of disability portrayals in each ad.

Keywords: advertising, brand, disability, marketing

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Murray David Schane

Abstract:

Though years of clinical encounters with patients with autism spectrum disorders and those with a schizoid personality the many defining diagnostic features shared between these conditions have been explored and current neurobiological differences have been reviewed; and, critical and different treatment strategies for each have been devised. The paper compares and contrasts the apparent similarities between autism spectrum disorders and the schizoid personality are found in these DSM descriptive categories: restricted range of social-emotional reciprocity; poor non-verbal communicative behavior in social interactions; difficulty developing and maintaining relationships; detachment from social relationships; lack of the desire for or enjoyment of close relationships; and preference for solitary activities. In this paper autism, fundamentally a communicative disorder, is revealed to present clinically as a pervasive aversive response to efforts to engage with or be engaged by others. Autists with the Asperger presentation typically have language but have difficulty understanding humor, irony, sarcasm, metaphoric speech, and even narratives about social relationships. They also tend to seek sameness, possibly to avoid problems of social interpretation. Repetitive behaviors engage many autists as a screen against ambient noise, social activity, and challenging interactions. Also in this paper, the schizoid personality is revealed as a pattern of social avoidance, self-sufficiency and apparent indifference to others as a complex psychological defense against a deep, long-abiding fear of appropriation and perverse manipulation. Neither genetic nor MRI studies have yet located the explanatory data that identifies the cause or the neurobiology of autism. Similarly, studies of the schizoid have yet to group that condition with those found in schizophrenia. Through presentations of clinical examples, the treatment of autists of the Asperger type is revealed to address the autist’s extreme social aversion which also precludes the experience of empathy. Autists will be revealed as forming social attachments but without the capacity to interact with mutual concern. Empathy will be shown be teachable and, as social avoidance relents, understanding of the meaning and signs of empathic needs that autists can recognize and acknowledge. Treatment of schizoids will be shown to revolve around joining empathically with the schizoid’s apprehensions about interpersonal, interactive proximity. Models of both autism and schizoid personality traits have yet to be replicated in animals, thereby eliminating the role of translational research in providing the kind of clues to behavioral patterns that can be related to genetic, epigenetic and neurobiological measures. But as these clinical examples will attest, treatment strategies have significant impact.

Keywords: autism spectrum, schizoid personality traits, neurobiological implications, critical diagnostic distinctions

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: T. Lazzarini, M. Imbiki, P. E. Sutter, G. Borragan

Abstract:

While several strategies, such as the development of more efficient appliances, the financing of insulation programs or the rolling out of smart meters represent promising tools to reduce future energy consumption, their implementation relies on people’s decisions-actions. Likewise, engaging with consumers to reshape their behavior has shown to be another important way to reduce energy usage. For these reasons, integrating the human factor in the energy transition has become a major objective for researchers and policymakers. Digital education programs based on tangible and gamified user interfaces have become a new tool with potential effects to reduce energy consumption4. The B2020 program, developed by the firm “Économie d’Énergie SAS”, proposes a digital platform to encourage pro-environmental behavior change among employees and citizens. The platform integrates 160 eco-behaviors to help saving energy and water and reducing waste and CO2 emissions. A total of 13,146 citizens have used the tool so far to declare the range of eco-behaviors they adopt in their daily lives. The present work seeks to build on this database to identify the potential impact of adopted energy-saving behaviors (n=62) to reduce the use of energy in buildings. To this end, behaviors were classified into three categories regarding the nature of its implementation (Eco-habits: e.g., turning-off the light, Eco-actions: e.g., installing low carbon technology such as led light-bulbs and Home-Refurbishments: e.g., such as wall-insulation or double-glazed energy efficient windows). General Linear Models (GLM) disclosed the existence of a significantly higher frequency of Eco-habits when compared to the number of home-refurbishments realized by the platform users. While this might be explained in part by the high financial costs that are associated with home renovation works, it also contrasts with the up to three times larger energy-savings that can be accomplished by these means. Furthermore, multiple regression models failed to disclose the expected relationship between energy-savings and frequency of adopted eco behaviors, suggesting that energy-related practices are not necessarily driven by the correspondent energy-savings. Finally, our results also suggested that people adopting more Eco-habits and Eco-actions were more likely to engage in Home-Refurbishments. Altogether, these results fit well with a growing body of scientific research, showing that energy-related practices do not necessarily maximize utility, as postulated by traditional economic models, and suggest that other variables might be triggering them. Promoting home refurbishments could benefit from the adoption of complementary energy-saving habits and actions.

Keywords: energy-saving behavior, human performance, behavioral change, energy efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Gerald Gwamba

Abstract:

Formation and oil well sand production is one of the greatest and oldest concerns for the Oil and gas industry. The production of sand particles may vary from very small and limited amounts to far elevated levels which has the potential to block or plug the pore spaces near the perforated points to blocking production from surface facilities. Therefore, the timely and reliable investigation of conditions leading to the onset or quantifying sanding while producing is imperative. The challenges of sand production are even more elevated while producing in Waxy and Heavy wells with Clay Fine sands (WHFC). Existing research argues that both waxy and heavy hydrocarbons exhibit far differing characteristics with waxy more paraffinic while heavy crude oils exhibit more asphaltenic properties. Moreover, the combined effect of WHFC conditions presents more complexity in production as opposed to individual effects that could be attributed to a consolidation of a surmountable opposing force. However, research on a combined high WHFC system could depict a better representation of the surmountable effect which in essence is more comparable to field conditions where a one-sided view of either individual effects on sanding has been argued to some extent misrepresentative of actual field conditions since all factors act surmountably. In recognition of the limited customized research on sand production studies with the combined effect of WHFC however, our research seeks to apply the Design of Experiments (DOE) methodology based on latest literature to analyze the relationship between various interparticle factors in relation to selected sand control methods. Our research aims to unearth a better understanding of how the combined effect of interparticle factors including: strength, cementation, particle size and production rate among others could better assist in the design of an optimal sand control system for the WHFC well conditions. In this regard, we seek to answer the following research question: How does the combined effect of interparticle factors affect the optimization of sand control systems for WHFC wells? Results from experimental data collection will inform a better justification for a sand control design for WHFC. In doing so, we hope to contribute to earlier contrasts arguing that sand production could potentially enable well self-permeability enhancement caused by the establishment of new flow channels created by loosening and detachment of sand grains. We hope that our research will contribute to future sand control designs capable of adapting to flexible production adjustments in controlled sand management. This paper presents results which are part of an ongoing research towards the authors' PhD project in the optimization of sand control systems for WHFC wells.

Keywords: waxy-heavy oils, clay-fine sands, sand control optimization, interparticle factors, design of experiments

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Peter Modregger, Özgül Öztürk

Abstract:

Glass fabric reinforced thermoplastic (GFRT) are composite materials, which combine low weight and resilient mechanical properties rendering them especially suitable for automobile construction. However, defects in the glass fabric as well as in the polymer matrix can occur during manufacturing, which may compromise component lifetime or even safety. One type of these defects is local fiber shifts, which can be difficult to detect. Recently, we have experimentally demonstrated the reliable detection of local fiber shifts by X-ray scattering based on the edge-illumination (EI) principle. EI constitutes a novel X-ray imaging technique that utilizes two slit masks, one in front of the sample and one in front of the detector, in order to simultaneously provide absorption, phase, and scattering contrast. The principle of contrast formation is as follows. The incident X-ray beam is split into smaller beamlets by the sample mask, resulting in small beamlets. These are distorted by the interaction with the sample, and the distortions are scaled up by the detector masks, rendering them visible to a pixelated detector. In the experiment, the sample mask is laterally scanned, resulting in Gaussian-like intensity distributions in each pixel. The area under the curves represents absorption, the peak offset refraction, and the width of the curve represents the scattering occurring in the sample. Here, scattering is caused by the numerous glass fiber/polymer matrix interfaces. In our recent publication, we have shown that the standard deviation of the absorption and scattering values over a selected field of view can be used to distinguish between intact samples and samples with local fiber shift defects. The quantification of defect detection performance was done by using p-values (p=0.002 for absorption and p=0.009 for scattering) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR=3.0 for absorption and CNR=2.1 for scattering) between the two groups of samples. This was further improved for the scattering contrast to p=0.0004 and CNR=4.2 by utilizing a harmonic decomposition analysis of the images. Thus, we concluded that local fiber shifts can be reliably detected by the X-ray scattering contrasts provided by EI. However, a potential application in, for example, production monitoring requires fast data acquisition times. For the results above, the scanning of the sample masks was performed over 50 individual steps, which resulted in long total scan times. In this paper, we will demonstrate that reliable detection of local fiber shift defects is also possible by using single images, which implies a speed up of total scan time by a factor of 50. Additional performance improvements will also be discussed, which opens the possibility for real-time acquisition. This contributes a vital step for the translation of EI to industrial applications for a wide variety of materials consisting of numerous interfaces on the micrometer scale.

Keywords: defects in composites, X-ray scattering, local fiber shifts, X-ray edge Illumination

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: Dechao Meng, Yongqi Dong, Qiyuan Feng, Zhangzhang Cui, Xiang Hu, Haoliang Huang, Genhao Liang, Huanhua Wang, Hua Zhou, Hawoong Hong, Jinghua Guo, Qingyou Lu, Xiaofang Zhai, Yalin Lu

Abstract:

Great efforts have been taken to reveal the intrinsic origins of emerging ferromagnetism (FM) in strained LaCoO₃ (LCO) films. However, some macro magnetic performances of LCO are still not well understood and even controversial, such as magnetic anisotropy. Determining and understanding magnetic anisotropy might help to find the true causes of FM in turn. Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) was the first time to be directly observed in high-quality LCO films with different thickness. The in-plane (IP) and out of plane (OOP) remnant magnetic moment ratio of 30 unit cell (u.c.) films is as large as 20. The easy axis lays in the OOP direction with an IP/OOP coercive field ratio of 10. What's more, the PMA could be simply tuned by changing the thickness. With the thickness increases, the IP/OOP magnetic moment ratio remarkably decrease with magnetic easy axis changing from OOP to IP. Such a huge and tunable PMA performance exhibit strong potentials in fundamental researches or applications. What causes PMA is the first concern. More OOP orbitals occupation may be one of the micro reasons of PMA. A cluster-like magnetic domain pattern was found in 30 u.c. with no obvious color contrasts, similar to that of LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ films. And the nanosize domains could not be totally switched even at a large OOP magnetic field of 23 T. It indicates strong IP characters or none OOP magnetism of some clusters. The IP magnetic domains might influence the magnetic performance and help to form PMA. Meanwhile some possible nonmagnetic clusters might be the reason why the measured moments of LCO films are smaller than the calculated values 2 μB/Co, one of the biggest confusions in LCO films.What tunes PMA seems much more interesting. Totally different magnetic domain patterns were found in 180 u.c. films with cluster magnetic domains surrounded by < 110 > cross-hatch lines. These lines were regarded as structure domain walls (DWs) determined by 3D reciprocal space mapping (RSM). Two groups of in-plane features with fourfold symmetry were observed near the film diffraction peaks in (002) 3D-RSM. One is along < 110 > directions with a larger intensity, which is well match the lines on the surfaces. The other is much weaker and along < 100 > directions, which is from the normal lattice titling of films deposited on cubic substrates. The < 110 > domain features obtained from (103) and (113) 3D-RSMs exhibit similar evolution of the DWs percentages and magnetic behavior. Structure domains and domain walls are believed to tune PMA performances by transform more IP magnetic moments to OOP. Last but not the least, thick films with lots of structure domains exhibit different electrical transport behaviors. A metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) and an angular dependent negative magnetic resistivity were observed near 150 K, higher than FM transition temperature but similar to that of spin-orbital coupling related 1/4 order diffraction peaks.

Keywords: structure domain, magnetic anisotropy, magnetic domain, domain wall, 3D-RSM, strain

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Leonardo Coloma

Abstract:

The world changes constantly, every second its properties vary due either natural factors or human intervention. As the most intelligent creatures on the planet, human beings have transformed the environment and paradoxically –have allowed ‘mother nature’ to lose species, accelerate the processes of climate change, the deterioration of the ozone layer, among others. The rapid population growth, the procurement, administration and distribution of resources, waste management, and technological advances are some of the factors that boost urban sprawl whose gray stain extends over the territory, facing challenges such as pollution, overpopulation and scarcity of resources. In Ecuador, these problems are added to the social, cultural, economic and political anomalies that have historically affected it. This fact can represent a greater delay when trying to solve global problems, without having paid attention to local inconveniences –smaller ones, but ones that could be the key to project smart solutions on bigger ones. This research aims to highlight the main characteristics of the development models adopted by two Amazonian cities, and analyze the impact of such urban growth on society; to finally define the parameters that would allow the development of an intelligent city in Ecuador, prepared for the challenges of the XXI Century. Contrasts in the climate, temperature, and landscape of Ecuadorian cities are fused with the cultural diversity of its people, generating a multiplicity of nuances of an indecipherable wealth. However, we strive to apply development models that do not recognize that wealth, not understanding them and ignoring that their proposals will vary according to where they are applied. Urban plans seem to take a bit of each of the new theories and proposals of development, which, in the encounter with the informal growth of cities, with those excluded and ‘isolated’ societies, generate absurd morphologies - where the uncertain becomes tangible. The desire to project smart cities is ever growing, but it is important to consider that this concept does not only have to do with the use of information and communication technologies. Its success is achieved when advances in science and technology allow the establishment of a better relationship between people and their context (natural and built). As a research methodology, urban analysis through mappings, diagrams and geographical studies, as well as the identification of sensorial elements when living the city, will make evident the shortcomings of the urban models adopted by certain populations of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Following the vision of previous investigations started since 2014 as part of ‘Centro de Acciones Urbanas,’ the results of this study will encourage the dialogue between the city (as a physical fact) and those who ‘make the city’ (people as its main actors). This research will allow the development of workshops and meetings with different professionals, organizations and individuals in general.

Keywords: Latin American cities, smart cities, urban development, urban morphology, urban sprawl

Procedia PDF Downloads 128