Concussion Awareness Education: A Design and Development Research Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pilbeam, Renee M.

2016-01-01

This research study looks at the design and development of an online concussion awareness education module. The Keep Your Head in the Game: Concussion Awareness Training for High School Athletes, or Brainbook, is a stand-alone e-learning module designed to run for fifty minutes and to be highly interactive using short video clips with associated…

41 CFR 105-74.215 - What must I include in my drug-free awareness program?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What must I include in my drug-free awareness program? 105-74.215 Section 105-74.215 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System (Continued) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION...

Development and Relationships Between Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness and Word Reading in Spoken and Standard Arabic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Schiff

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study addressed the development of and the relationship between foundational metalinguistic skills and word reading skills in Arabic. It compared Arabic-speaking children’s phonological awareness (PA, morphological awareness, and voweled and unvoweled word reading skills in spoken and standard language varieties separately in children across five grade levels from childhood to adolescence. Second, it investigated whether skills developed in the spoken variety of Arabic predict reading in the standard variety. Results indicate that although individual differences between students in PA are eliminated toward the end of elementary school in both spoken and standard language varieties, gaps in morphological awareness and in reading skills persisted through junior and high school years. The results also show that the gap in reading accuracy and fluency between Spoken Arabic (SpA and Standard Arabic (StA was evident in both voweled and unvoweled words. Finally, regression analyses showed that morphological awareness in SpA contributed to reading fluency in StA, i.e., children’s early morphological awareness in SpA explained variance in children’s gains in reading fluency in StA. These findings have important theoretical and practical contributions for Arabic reading theory in general and they extend the previous work regarding the cross-linguistic relevance of foundational metalinguistic skills in the first acquired language to reading in a second language, as in societal bilingualism contexts, or a second language variety, as in diglossic contexts.

Development and Relationships Between Phonological Awareness, Morphological Awareness and Word Reading in Spoken and Standard Arabic

Science.gov (United States)

Schiff, Rachel; Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor

2018-01-01

This study addressed the development of and the relationship between foundational metalinguistic skills and word reading skills in Arabic. It compared Arabic-speaking children’s phonological awareness (PA), morphological awareness, and voweled and unvoweled word reading skills in spoken and standard language varieties separately in children across five grade levels from childhood to adolescence. Second, it investigated whether skills developed in the spoken variety of Arabic predict reading in the standard variety. Results indicate that although individual differences between students in PA are eliminated toward the end of elementary school in both spoken and standard language varieties, gaps in morphological awareness and in reading skills persisted through junior and high school years. The results also show that the gap in reading accuracy and fluency between Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA) was evident in both voweled and unvoweled words. Finally, regression analyses showed that morphological awareness in SpA contributed to reading fluency in StA, i.e., children’s early morphological awareness in SpA explained variance in children’s gains in reading fluency in StA. These findings have important theoretical and practical contributions for Arabic reading theory in general and they extend the previous work regarding the cross-linguistic relevance of foundational metalinguistic skills in the first acquired language to reading in a second language, as in societal bilingualism contexts, or a second language variety, as in diglossic contexts. PMID:29686633

SOFTWARE PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: AWARENESS, USE, AND BENEFITS IN CANADIAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FIRMS

OpenAIRE

CHEVERS, DELROY

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Since 1982, the software development community has been concerned with the delivery of quality systems. Software process improvement (SPI) is an initiative to avoid the delivery of low quality systems. However, the awareness and adoption of SPI is low. Thus, this study examines the rate of awareness, use, and benefits of SPI initiatives in Canadian software development firms. Using SPSS as the analytical tool, this study found that 59% of Canadian software development firms are aware...

The Development of Body Self-Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Chris; Mealiea, Jennifer; Garon, Nancy; Povinelli, Daniel J.

2007-01-01

Two experiments examined toddlers' performance on a new task designed to examine the development of body self-awareness. The new task was conceived from observations by Piaget (1953/1977) and theoretical work from Povinelli and Cant (1995) and involved a toy shopping cart to the back of which a small mat had been attached. Children were asked to…

Nuclear energy sustainable development and public awareness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murty, G.S.

2001-01-01

This paper provides the latest information about the importance of energy needs and its growth in the years to come, the role of the nuclear energy and the need for public awareness and acceptability of the programs to achieve sustainable development

Measuring the Effects of Self-Awareness: Construction of the Self-Awareness Outcomes Questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Sutton

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Dispositional self-awareness is conceptualized in several different ways, including insight, reflection, rumination and mindfulness, with the latter in particular attracting extensive attention in recent research. While self-awareness is generally associated with positive psychological well-being, these different conceptualizations are also each associated with a range of unique outcomes. This two part, mixed methods study aimed to advance understanding of dispositional self-awareness by developing a questionnaire to measure its outcomes. In Study 1, expert focus groups categorized and extended an initial pool of potential items from previous research. In Study 2, these items were reduced to a 38 item self-report questionnaire with four factors representing three beneficial outcomes (reflective self-development, acceptance and proactivity and one negative outcome (costs. Regression of these outcomes against self-awareness measures revealed that self-reflection and insight predicted beneficial outcomes, rumination predicted reduced benefits and increased costs, and mindfulness predicted both increased proactivity and costs. These studies help to refine the self-awareness concept by identifying the unique outcomes associated with the concepts of self-reflection, insight, reflection, rumination and mindfulness. It can be used in future studies to evaluate and develop awareness-raising techniques to maximize self-awareness benefits while minimizing related costs.

Optomechanical System Development of the AWARE Gigapixel Scale Camera

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Hui S.

Electronic focal plane arrays (FPA) such as CMOS and CCD sensors have dramatically improved to the point that digital cameras have essentially phased out film (except in very niche applications such as hobby photography and cinema). However, the traditional method of mating a single lens assembly to a single detector plane, as required for film cameras, is still the dominant design used in cameras today. The use of electronic sensors and their ability to capture digital signals that can be processed and manipulated post acquisition offers much more freedom of design at system levels and opens up many interesting possibilities for the next generation of computational imaging systems. The AWARE gigapixel scale camera is one such computational imaging system. By utilizing a multiscale optical design, in which a large aperture objective lens is mated with an array of smaller, well corrected relay lenses, we are able to build an optically simple system that is capable of capturing gigapixel scale images via post acquisition stitching of the individual pictures from the array. Properly shaping the array of digital cameras allows us to form an effectively continuous focal surface using off the shelf (OTS) flat sensor technology. This dissertation details developments and physical implementations of the AWARE system architecture. It illustrates the optomechanical design principles and system integration strategies we have developed through the course of the project by summarizing the results of the two design phases for AWARE: AWARE-2 and AWARE-10. These systems represent significant advancements in the pursuit of scalable, commercially viable snapshot gigapixel imaging systems and should serve as a foundation for future development of such systems.

Ovarian and cervical cancer awareness: development of two validated measurement tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Alice E; Wardle, Jane; Grimmett, Chloe; Power, Emily; Corker, Elizabeth; Menon, Usha; Matheson, Lauren; Waller, Jo

2012-07-01

The aim of the study was to develop and validate measures of awareness of symptoms and risk factors for ovarian and cervical cancer (Ovarian and Cervical Cancer Awareness Measures). Potentially relevant items were extracted from the literature and generated by experts. Four validation studies were carried out to establish reliability and validity. Women aged 21-67 years (n=146) and ovarian and cervical cancer experts (n=32) were included in the studies. Internal reliability was assessed psychometrically. Test-retest reliability was assessed over a 1-week interval. To establish construct validity, Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) scores of cancer experts were compared with equally well-educated comparison groups. Sensitivity to change was tested by randomly assigning participants to read either a leaflet giving information about ovarian/cervical cancer or a leaflet with control information, and then completing the ovarian/cervical CAM. Internal reliability (Cronbach's α=0.88 for the ovarian CAM and α=0.84 for the cervical CAM) and test-retest reliability (r=0.84 and r=0.77 for the ovarian and cervical CAMs, respectively) were both high. Validity was demonstrated with cancer experts achieving higher scores than controls [ovarian CAM: t(36)= -5.6, pcancer leaflet scored higher than those who received a control leaflet [ovarian CAM: t(49)=7.5, pcancer awareness in the general population.

Training early literacy related skills: To which degree does a musical training contribute to phonological awareness development?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Kempert

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Well-developed phonological awareness skills are a core prerequisite for early literacy development. Although effective phonological awareness training programs exist, children at risk often do not reach similar levels of phonological awareness after the intervention as children with normally developed skills. Based on theoretical considerations and first promising results the present study explores effects of an early musical training in combination with a conventional phonological training in children with weak phonological awareness skills. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design and measurements across a period of two years, we tested the effects of two interventions: a consecutive combination of a musical and a phonological training and a phonological training alone. The design made it possible to disentangle effects of the musical training alone as well the effects of its combination with the phonological training. The outcome measures of these groups were compared with the control group with multivariate analyses, controlling for a number of background variables. The sample included N = 424 German-speaking children aged 4 to 5 years at the beginning of the study. We found a positive relationship between musical abilities and phonological awareness. Yet, whereas the well-established phonological training produced the expected effects, adding a musical training did not contribute significantly to phonological awareness development. Training effects were partly dependent on the initial level of phonological awareness. Possible reasons for the lack of training effects in the musical part of the combination condition as well as practical implications for early literacy education are discussed.

Context-aware computing and self-managing systems

CERN Document Server

Dargie, Waltenegus

2009-01-01

Bringing together an extensively researched area with an emerging research issue, Context-Aware Computing and Self-Managing Systems presents the core contributions of context-aware computing in the development of self-managing systems, including devices, applications, middleware, and networks. The expert contributors reveal the usefulness of context-aware computing in developing autonomous systems that have practical application in the real world.The first chapter of the book identifies features that are common to both context-aware computing and autonomous computing. It offers a basic definit

Situation Awareness with Systems of Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laar, P. van de; Tretmans, J.; Borth, M.

2013-01-01

This book discusses various aspects, challenges, and solutions for developing systems-of-systems for situation awareness, using applications in the domain of maritime safety and security. Topics include advanced, multi-objective visualization methods for situation awareness, stochastic outlier

Abilities of phonological awareness in the context of cognitive development in preschool age

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Grofčíková Soňa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Phonological awareness is considered a key phenomenon having crucial position among abilities and processes which are important and responsible for the development of reading and writing (initial literacy. The paper deals with the significance and level of development of selected cognitive functions of a child in relation to the abilities of phonological awareness. The child’s current cognitive development is a predictor for certain level of phonological awareness. The paper is focused on a description of speech perception, language, oral vocabulary and phonological memory of children in preschool age. It is an output of the research project VEGA no. 1/0637/16 Development of a Diagnostic Tool to Assess the Level of Phonemic Awareness of Children in Preschool Age.

Phonological awareness of children with developmental dysphasia and children with typical language development

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Čolić Gordana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Phonological awareness is the ability of phonological processing of words. Children with developmental dysphasia manifest interference in the development of phonological abilities vital for the development of other language skills. The aim of this study is to investigate phonological awareness in children with typical language development and children with developmental dysphasia at preschool age. Phonological awareness is tested in 60 preschool children by a part of the ELLA test (Emerging Literacy & Language Assessment. The results showed a statistically significant difference in the tested elements of phonological awareness among children with typical language development and children with developmental dysphasia. The most significant differences are deletion of phonemes (p≤0.000, replacement of phonemes, as well as segmentation at the level of whole words (p≤0.000.

Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT

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Cynthia J. Price

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Emotion regulation involves a coherent relationship with the self, specifically effective communication between body, mind, and feelings. Effective emotion regulation involves the ability to accurately detect and evaluate cues related to physiological reactions to stressful events, accompanied by appropriate regulation strategies that temper and influence the emotional response. There is compelling evidence demonstrating links between poor or disrupted awareness of sensory information, or interoceptive awareness, and difficulties with emotion regulation. This paper presents a framework, based on psychological and neurobiological research, for understanding how interoceptive awareness facilitates regulation and an integrated sense of self, and thus contributes to health and well-being. A mind-body therapeutic approach called mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (MABT, uniquely designed to teach fundamental skills of interoceptive awareness, is described. MABT develops the distinct interoceptive awareness capacities of identifying, accessing, and appraising internal bodily signals that are identified in physiological models as the critical components of interoception for emotion regulation. The explanatory model is that the development of these key interoceptive capacities improves sensory (physical and emotional awareness, reduces distress, and improves regulation. Strategies for teaching and learning interoceptive awareness are not well-developed in mindfulness or psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly important for people who may have difficulty attending to interoceptive awareness due to stress, chronic pain or trauma. To address this issue, MABT provides an individualized protocol for scaffolding interoceptive awareness through a combination of psychoeducation and somatic approaches explicitly addressing difficulties with interoceptive processing. Clinical vignettes are included to provide exemplars of this approach and to highlight

Lessons Learned from Developing SAWA: A Situation Awareness Assistant

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Matheus, Christopher J; Kokar, Mieczyslaw M; Letkowski, Jerzy J; Call, Catherine; Baclawski, Kenneth; Hinman, Michael; Salerno, John; Boulware, Douglas

2005-01-01

.... During the process of its development several lessons were learned about advantages and limitations of certain approaches, techniques and technologies as they are applied to situation awareness...

Developing Cultural Awareness in English Writing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

邹强珍

2014-01-01

Language and culture have an intimate relationship,and cultural awareness plays an important role in language learning,involving aural comprehension,speaking,reading,writing and translation.This paper mainly discusses cultural awareness in English writing.

DEVELOPING 3D AWARENESS WHEN TEACHING TECHNICAL DRAFTING

OpenAIRE

RADUICA Felix; RUGESCU Ana-Maria Mihaela

2017-01-01

This paper details a new method of developing 3D awareness when teaching technical drafting. The latest advancements in technology allow us to develop 3D parts in a virtual environment relatively easy. Allowing students to see the 2D part they are drawing in a 3D presentation may allow them to better understand the concepts of spatiality and planes of view.

The Impact of Feedback on Phonological Awareness Development

Science.gov (United States)

Kazakou, Maria N.; Soulis, Spyros

2014-01-01

The utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in educational practice is indispensable, while it becomes imperative in the education of individuals with special educational needs, as it promotes the application of Individualized Education Programs. Feedback in digital activities aiming at phonological awareness development is…

DEVELOPING 3D AWARENESS WHEN TEACHING TECHNICAL DRAFTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RADUICA Felix

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper details a new method of developing 3D awareness when teaching technical drafting. The latest advancements in technology allow us to develop 3D parts in a virtual environment relatively easy. Allowing students to see the 2D part they are drawing in a 3D presentation may allow them to better understand the concepts of spatiality and planes of view.

Phonological Awareness and Early Reading Development in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

Science.gov (United States)

McNeill, B. C.; Gillon, G. T.; Dodd, B.

2009-01-01

Background: Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is associated with phonological awareness, reading, and spelling deficits. Comparing literacy skills in CAS with other developmental speech disorders is critical for understanding the complexity of the disorder. Aims: This study compared the phonological awareness and reading development of children…

Review of game theory applications for situation awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Blasch, Erik; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh D.; Chen, Genshe

2015-05-01

Game theoretical methods have been used for spectral awareness, space situational awareness (SSA), cyber situational awareness (CSA), and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance situation awareness (ISA). Each of these cases, awareness is supported by sensor estimation for assessment and the situation is determined from the actions of multiple players. Game theory assumes rational actors in a defined scenario; however, variations in social, cultural and behavioral factors include the dynamic nature of the context. In a dynamic data-driven application system (DDDAS), modeling must include both the measurements but also how models are used by different actors with different priorities. In this paper, we highlight the applications of game theory by reviewing the literature to determine the current state of the art and future needs. Future developments would include building towards knowledge awareness with information technology (e.g., data aggregation, access, indexing); multiscale analysis (e.g., space, time, and frequency), and software methods (e.g., architectures, cloud computing, protocols).

13 CFR 147.215 - What must I include in my drug-free awareness program?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., rehabilitation, and employee assistance programs; and (d) The penalties that you may impose upon them for drug...-free awareness program? 147.215 Section 147.215 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS... establish an ongoing drug-free awareness program to inform employees about— (a) The dangers of drug abuse in...

Development of Model for Teaching Cultural and Ethnic Awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Dorothy Z.

1991-01-01

A model for teaching cultural awareness includes three environments that affect an entity such as a family: (1) macroenvironment (cultural, political, and economic systems); (2) intermediate environment (motivation, needs, values, roles, and resources); and (3) microenvironment--the means by which goals are achieved (structure, communication,…

A Framework for Developing Context-aware Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vangalur Alagar

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Context-aware computing refers to a general class of mobile real-time reactive systems that continuously sense their physical environment, and adapt their behavior accordingly. Context-awareness is an essential inherent property of ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing systems. Such systems are much richer and more complex than many software systems. The richness mainly comes from context-awareness, the heterogeneity of mobile devices and their service types, while complexity arises in the multitude of adaptations enforced by system policies. In order to provide the true intended effect on the application of services without compromising on the richness, the complexity must be tamed. Towards this goal, this paper proposes a component-based architecture for a Context-aware Framework in which context, awareness capabilities, reactions, and adaptations are formally dealt with. Two formal languages are designed to express context situations and express workflow policies, which respectively lead to a context reasoner and to enforce adaptations.With these formalisms and a component design that can be formalized, this work fulfills a formal approach to construct context-aware applications. Two case studies are explained, of which one is a proof-of-concept case study from service-oriented domain. It is fully implemented to illustrate the expressiveness of the framework design and robustness of its implementation.

Development of a Cognate Awareness Measure for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Malabonga, Valerie; Kenyon, Dorry M.; Carlo, Maria; August, Diane; Louguit, Mohammed

2008-01-01

This paper describes the development and validation of the Cognate Awareness Test (CAT), which measures cognate awareness in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) in fourth and fifth grade. An investigation of differential performance on the two subtests of the CAT (cognates and noncognates) provides evidence that the instrument is…

Online Resources for Developing an Awareness of Poverty

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Kathy R.

2008-01-01

In the elementary school, poverty, hunger, and homelessness are most often discussed in terms of a canned food drive conducted during a holiday season, but there are other options for activities in which children can learn about poverty, and to do something about it. This article describes ways to develop students awareness of poverty. Some print…

White Awareness: The Frontier of Racism Awareness Training

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Judy H.; Ivey, Allen

1977-01-01

This article's purpose is to make white professional helpers aware of how racism undermines the helping field and to demonstrate how racism affects white people. A systematic training program for white people that develops an awareness of the masking effect of racism and develops interventions for changes is presented. (Author)

Design guidelines for rapid and simple context-aware mobile application development – an android case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Shams

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Presenting a context-aware service and information is a key aspect of ubiquitous computing, but development of such applications is quite complicated. Context-aware applications should be able to obtain raw data fromsensors, create highlevel context information, detect the user’s situation, and adapt the behavior of the application to the recognized situation . These complexities caused to reduce the impact of context -awareness in mobile computing while sensors of smartphones have made huge potential for developing context aware mobile applications. In this paper, we explain some guidelines to overcome the existing obstacles by separating the context -aware application layers and make a loosely coupled connection between them. These guidelines will bring easy and rapid development, reusability of the code and flexibility for developers. Finally, we provide a case study example in the Android platform to demonstrate how the guidelines can be used in a real application.

Professional Development through "Kizuki"--Cognitive, Emotional, and Collegial Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Nami

2011-01-01

The author traced an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher's professional development by examining her narrative and identifying the transformation of her awareness or "kizuki". "Kizuki," which is unique to Japanese culture, implies a sudden feeling of inner understanding of a phenomenon and can be roughly translated as…

Model-Driven Development of Context-Aware Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andrade Almeida, João; Iacob, Maria Eugenia; Jonkers, Henk; Quartel, Dick; Eliassen, Frank; Montresor, Alberto

2006-01-01

In this paper, we define a model-driven design trajectory for context-aware services consisting of three levels of models with different degrees of abstraction and platform independence. The models at the highest level of platform independence describe the behaviour of a context-aware service and

An investigation of low ergonomics risk awareness, among staffs at early product development phase in Malaysia automotive industries

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Fazilah Abdul; Razali, Noraini; Najmiyah Jaafar, Nur

2016-02-01

Currently there are many automotive companies still unable to effectively prevent consequences of poor ergonomics in their manufacturing processes. This study purpose is to determine the surrounding factors that influence low ergonomics risk awareness among staffs at early product development phase in Malaysia automotive industry. In this study there are four variables, low ergonomic risk awareness, inappropriate method and tools, tight development schedule and lack of management support. The survey data were gathered from 245 respondents of local automotive companies in Malaysia. The data was analysed through multiple regression and moderated regression using the IBM SPSS software. Study results revealed that low ergonomic risk awareness has influenced by inappropriate method and tool, and tight development schedule. There were positive linear relationships between low ergonomic risk awareness and inappropriate method and tools, and tight development schedule. The more inappropriate method and tools applied; the lower their ergonomic risk awareness. The more tight development schedule is the lower ergonomic risk awareness. The relationship between low ergonomic risk awareness and inappropriate method and tools depends on staff's age, and education level. Furthermore the relationship between low ergonomic risk awareness and tight development schedule depends on staff's working experience and number of project involvement. The main contribution of this paper was identified the number of factors of low ergonomics risk awareness and offers better understanding on ergonomics among researchers and automotive manufacturer's employees during product development process.

A development of a quantitative situation awareness measurement tool: Computational Representation of Situation Awareness with Graphical Expressions (CoRSAGE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yim, Ho Bin; Lee, Seung Min; Seong, Poong Hyun

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We proposed quantitative situation awareness (SA) evaluation technique. • We developed a computer based SA evaluation tool for NPPs training environment. • We introduced three rules and components to express more human-like results. • We conducted three sets of training with real plant operators. • Results showed that the tool could reasonably represent operator’s SA. - Abstract: Operator performance measures are used for multiple purposes, such as control room design, human system interface (HSI) evaluation, training, and so on. Performance measures are often focused on results; however, especially for a training purpose – at least in a nuclear industry, more detailed descriptions about processes are required. Situation awareness (SA) measurements have directly/indirectly played as a complimentary measure and provided descriptive insights on how to improve performance of operators for the next training. Unfortunately, most of the well-developed SA measurement techniques, such as Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) need an expert opinion which sometimes troubles easy spread of measurement’s application or usage. A quantitative SA measurement tool named Computational Representation of Situation Awareness with Graphical Expressions (CoRSAGE) is introduced to resolve some of these concerns. CoRSAGE is based on production rules to represent a human operator’s cognitive process of problem solving, and Bayesian inference to quantify it. Petri Net concept is also used for graphical expressions of SA flow. Three components – inference transition, volatile/non-volatile memory tokens – were newly developed to achieve required functions. Training data of a Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) scenario for an emergency condition and an earthquake scenario for an abnormal condition by real plant operators were used to validate the tool. The validation result showed that CoRSAGE performed a reasonable match to other performance

Developing critical awareness : the consequences of action and reflection for perceptions of group injustices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turner-Zwinkels, Felicity M.; Postmes, Tom; van Zomeren, Martijn

Individuals often cannot address (objective) group injustices until they develop a (subjective) critical awareness of them. In three studies, we tested two potential psychological pathways toward critical awareness: Reflection (deductive, knowledge driven) and action (inductive, action driven)

A neuro-socio-cognitive model of self-awareness

OpenAIRE

Morin, Alain

2003-01-01

Presents a model of self-awareness that proposes the existence of three sources of self-information. (1) The social milieu includes self-relevant feedback, a social comparison mechanism leading to perspective-taking, and audiences. (2) The physical environment contains self-focusing and reflecting stimuli such as mirrors and video cameras. (3) The self can develop bodily awareness through proprioception and can reflect upon itself using imagery and inner speech. Furthermore, self-awareness i...

The impact of feedback on phonological awareness development

OpenAIRE

Maria N. Kazakou; Spyros Soulis

2014-01-01

The utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in educational practice is indispensable, while it becomes imperative in the education of individuals with special educational needs, as it promotes the application of Individualized Education Programs. Feedback in digital activities aiming at phonological awareness development is the topic under consideration in the present paper. The study has two objectives. On the one hand to study feedback as a differentiating factor for...

Developing Cultural Awareness in Foreign Language Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Shemshadsara, Zahra Ghorbani

2012-01-01

Culture awareness has become an important focus of modern language education, a shift that reflects a greater awareness of the inseparability of language and culture, and the need to prepare students for intercultural communication. The paper reports on an ongoing study into the presence and status of cultural understanding in EFL teaching. In…

The Fluctuating Development of Cross-Linguistic Semantic Awareness: A Longitudinal Multiple-Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yongyan

2014-01-01

Second language (L2) learners' awareness of first language-second language (L1-L2) semantic differences plays a critical role in L2 vocabulary learning. This study investigates the long-term development of eight university-level Chinese English as a foreign language learners' cross-linguistic semantic awareness over the course of 10 months. A…

Awareness and Self-Awareness for Multi-Robot Organisms

OpenAIRE

Kernbach, Serge

2011-01-01

Awareness and self-awareness are two different notions related to knowing the environment and itself. In a general context, the mechanism of self-awareness belongs to a class of co-called "self-issues" (self-* or self-star): self-adaptation, self-repairing, self-replication, self-development or self-recovery. The self-* issues are connected in many ways to adaptability and evolvability, to the emergence of behavior and to the controllability of long-term developmental processes. Self-* are ei...

Developing A Renewable Energy Awareness Scale For Pre-service Chemistry Teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soner YAVUZ

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Developing A Renewable Energy Awareness Scale For Pre-service Chemistry Teachers Inci MORGIL Nilgün SECKEN A. Seda YUCEL Ozge OZYALCIN OSKAY Soner YAVUZ and Evrim URAL Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Chemistry Education, 06800 Beytepe, Ankara, TURKEY ABSTRACT In times when human beings used to live in a natural environment, their needs were also provided by natural resources. With the increases in population in time, human beings started to look for new resources willing to get “the more” and “the fastest”. Just like the invention of steam, firstly, they increased the density of the resources and produced “more” energy. However, instead of working on the density of water, which spreads with the solar energy, they chose an easier way, which was fuel that produced more energy when burnt. Unfortunately, the damages these fuel products create in the atmosphere and environment shaded their benefits. It did not take so long for the earth to run out of energy resources and to threaten environmental and human health. As a result of that, new energy resources were started to be sought and the studies enlightened the concepts of sustainable, renewable energy. Renewable energy is defined as “the energy source, which continues its existence for the following days within the evolution of nature”. Educators pointed out a need in students for gaining consciousness on renewable energy resources. In the light of the importance of renewable and sustainable energy, a “Renewable Energy Awareness Scale” that questioned to what extent the individuals were aware of renewable energy was developed. The Renewable Energy Awareness Scale, which consisted of 50 items, was administered as a pilot study. The factor analysis concluded with a scale of 39 items with a reliability coefficient of 0.944 was developed.

A Methodology and a Web Platform for the Collaborative Development of Context-Aware Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Martín, David; López-de-Ipiña, Diego; Alzua-Sorzabal, Aurkene; Lamsfus, Carlos; Torres-Manzanera, Emilio

2013-01-01

Information and services personalization is essential for an optimal user experience. Systems have to be able to acquire data about the user's context, process them in order to identify the user's situation and finally, adapt the functionality of the system to that situation, but the development of context-aware systems is complex. Data coming from distributed and heterogeneous sources have to be acquired, processed and managed. Several programming frameworks have been proposed in order to simplify the development of context-aware systems. These frameworks offer high-level application programming interfaces for programmers that complicate the involvement of domain experts in the development life-cycle. The participation of users that do not have programming skills but are experts in the application domain can speed up and improve the development process of these kinds of systems. Apart from that, there is a lack of methodologies to guide the development process. This article presents as main contributions, the implementation and evaluation of a web platform and a methodology to collaboratively develop context-aware systems by programmers and domain experts. PMID:23666131

First-Year College Students' Strengths Awareness and Perceived Leadership Development

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Soria, Krista M.; Roberts, Julia E.; Reinhard, Alex P.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine whether first-year college students' strengths awareness is associated with their perceived leadership development. The institution in this study offered all first-year students the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment and strengths-related programming. The results of hierarchical regression analysis of two…

Developing methodological awareness of reading, thinking and writing as knowledge producing practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Katan, Lina Hauge; Baarts, Charlotte

Developing methodological awareness among university students about reading, thinking and writing as knowledge producing practices Integrated acts of reading, thinking and writing comprise an extensive and extremely significant part of the learning processes through which we produce knowledge...... text books on method and classes too. As a consequence students have few chances of encountering the practices of reading, thinking and writing depicted as those imperative parts of knowledge making that we as researchers of the humanities and social sciences know them to be. Subsequently students...... are not taught to understand reading, thinking and writing as central practices of research nor do they come to develop methododological awareness about them as such. In this paper, we report from our endavour into designing and developing a course offered for under- and graduate students, with the aim...

Situation awareness with systems of systems

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Tretmans, Jan; Borth, Michael

2013-01-01

This book discusses various aspects, challenges, and solutions for developing systems-of-systems for situation awareness, using applications in the domain of maritime safety and security.  Topics include advanced, multi-objective visualization methods for situation awareness, stochastic outlier selection, rule-based anomaly detection, an ontology-based event model for semantic reasoning, new methods for semi-automatic generation of adapters bridging communication gaps, security policies for systems-of-systems, trust assessment, and methods to deal with the dynamics of systems-of-systems in run-time monitoring, testing, and diagnosis. Architectural considerations for designing information-centric systems-of-systems such as situation awareness systems, and an integrated demonstrator implementing many of the investigated aspects, complete the book.

The Role of Morphological and Phonological Awareness in the Early Development of Word Spelling and Reading in Typically Developing and Disabled Arabic Readers.

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Saiegh-Haddad, Elinor; Taha, Haitham

2017-11-01

The study is a cross-sectional developmental investigation of morphological and phonological awareness in word spelling and reading in Arabic in reading-accuracy disabled (RD) children and in age-matched typically developing (TR) controls in grades 1-4 (N = 160). Morphological awareness tasks targeted the root and word pattern derivational system of Arabic, in both the oral and the written modalities. Phonological awareness employed a variety of orally administered segmentation and deletion tasks. The results demonstrated early deficits in morphological awareness, besides deficits in phonological awareness, in RD children as compared with typically developing controls, as well as in word and pseudoword spelling and reading (voweled and unvoweled). While phonological awareness emerged as the strongest predictor of reading, morphological awareness was also found to predict unique variance in reading, and even more so in spelling, beyond phonological awareness and cognitive skills. The results demonstrate the early emergence of morphological awareness deficits, alongside phonological deficits in Arabic RD, as well as the role of morphological processing in early reading and spelling. These findings reflect the centrality of derivational morphology in the structure of the spoken and the written Arabic word. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Continuing midwifery education beyond graduation: Student midwives' awareness of continuous professional development.

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Embo, M; Valcke, M

2017-05-01

Midwifery education plays an important role in educating graduates about engaging in continuous professional development (CPD) but there is a lack of empirical research analysing student midwives' awareness of CPD beyond graduation. We aimed to explore student midwives' awareness of the need to become lifelong learners and to map their knowledge of CPD activities available after graduation. Therefore, forty-seven reflective documents, written in the last week of student midwives' training programme, were analysed in a thematic way. Content analysis confirmed student midwives' awareness of the importance of CPD before graduation. They mentioned different reasons for future involvement in CPD and described both, formal and informal CPD-activities. Respondents were especially aware of the importance of knowledge, to a lesser degree of skills-training and still less of the potential value of the Internet for individual and collective learning. Respondents perceived a need for a mandatory preceptorship. Supporting learning guides were highly valued and the importance of reflection on CPD was well-established. This could have resulted from an integrated reflective learning strategy during education. Undergraduate midwives are aware of the importance of CPD and the interplay of formal and informal learning activities. Virtual learning requires special attention to overcome CPD challenges. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Every teacher a language teacher? Developing awareness of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We conclude by highlighting the value of such courses as well as the awareness of multilingualism that it raised with students who were preparing to teach in these linguistically diverse contexts. Keywords: Bi/Multilingualism, teacher education, bi/multilingual language awareness, bi/multilingual materials design ...

Context Aware Middleware Architectures: Survey and Challenges

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Xin Li

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Context aware applications, which can adapt their behaviors to changing environments, are attracting more and more attention. To simplify the complexity of developing applications, context aware middleware, which introduces context awareness into the traditional middleware, is highlighted to provide a homogeneous interface involving generic context management solutions. This paper provides a survey of state-of-the-art context aware middleware architectures proposed during the period from 2009 through 2015. First, a preliminary background, such as the principles of context, context awareness, context modelling, and context reasoning, is provided for a comprehensive understanding of context aware middleware. On this basis, an overview of eleven carefully selected middleware architectures is presented and their main features explained. Then, thorough comparisons and analysis of the presented middleware architectures are performed based on technical parameters including architectural style, context abstraction, context reasoning, scalability, fault tolerance, interoperability, service discovery, storage, security & privacy, context awareness level, and cloud-based big data analytics. The analysis shows that there is actually no context aware middleware architecture that complies with all requirements. Finally, challenges are pointed out as open issues for future work.

Including a Service Learning Educational Research Project in a Biology Course-I: Assessing Community Awareness of Childhood Lead Poisoning

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Abu-Shakra, Amal; Saliim, Eric

2012-01-01

A university course project was developed and implemented in a biology course, focusing on environmental problems, to assess community awareness of childhood lead poisoning. A set of 385 questionnaires was generated and distributed in an urban community in North Carolina, USA. The completed questionnaires were sorted first into yes and no sets…

Development, Awareness and Inductive Selectivity

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Hayes, Brett K.; Lim, Melissa

2013-01-01

Two studies examined whether adults and children could learn to make context-dependent inferences about novel stimuli and the role of awareness of context cues in such learning. Participants were trained to match probes to targets on the basis of shape or color with the relevant dimension shifting according to item context. A selective induction…

Phonemic Awareness and Young Children.

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Wasik, Barbara A.

2001-01-01

Asserts that regardless of the method used to teach reading, children first need a strong basis in phonemic awareness. Describes phonemic awareness, differentiates it from phonics, and presents available research findings. Advises on the development of phonemic awareness and creation of a classroom environment supportive of its development. (SD)

Measuring Food Brand Awareness in Australian Children: Development and Validation of a New Instrument.

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Turner, Laura; Kelly, Bridget; Boyland, Emma; Bauman, Adrian E

2015-01-01

Children's exposure to food marketing is one environmental determinant of childhood obesity. Measuring the extent to which children are aware of food brands may be one way to estimate relative prior exposures to food marketing. This study aimed to develop and validate an Australian Brand Awareness Instrument (ABAI) to estimate children's food brand awareness. The ABAI incorporated 30 flashcards depicting food/drink logos and their corresponding products. An abbreviated version was also created using 12 flashcards (ABAI-a). The ABAI was presented to 60 primary school aged children (7-11 yrs) attending two Australian after-school centres. A week later, the full-version was repeated on approximately half the sample (n=27) and the abbreviated-version was presented to the remaining half (n=30). The test-retest reliability of the ABAI was analysed using Intra-class correlation coefficients. The concordance of the ABAI-a and full-version was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. The 'nomological' validity of the full tool was investigated by comparing children's brand awareness with food marketing-related variables (e.g. television habits, intake of heavily promoted foods). Brand awareness increased with age (pbrand awareness. It was shown to be a valid and reliable tool and may allow quantification of brand awareness as a proxy measure for children's prior food marketing exposure.

A MOF Metamodel for the Development of Context-Aware Mobile Applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guareis de farias, Cléver; Leite, M.M.; Calvi, C.Z.; Mantovaneli Pessoa, Rodrigo; Pereira Filho, J.G.; Pereira Filho, J.

Context-aware mobile applications are increasingly attracting interest of the research community. To facilitate the development of this class of applications, it is necessary that both applications and support platforms share a common context metamodel. This paper presents a metamodel defined using

Big data for space situation awareness

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Blasch, Erik; Pugh, Mark; Sheaff, Carolyn; Raquepas, Joe; Rocci, Peter

2017-05-01

Recent advances in big data (BD) have focused research on the volume, velocity, veracity, and variety of data. These developments enable new opportunities in information management, visualization, machine learning, and information fusion that have potential implications for space situational awareness (SSA). In this paper, we explore some of these BD trends as applicable for SSA towards enhancing the space operating picture. The BD developments could increase in measures of performance and measures of effectiveness for future management of the space environment. The global SSA influences include resident space object (RSO) tracking and characterization, cyber protection, remote sensing, and information management. The local satellite awareness can benefit from space weather, health monitoring, and spectrum management for situation space understanding. One area in big data of importance to SSA is value - getting the correct data/information at the right time, which corresponds to SSA visualization for the operator. A SSA big data example is presented supporting disaster relief for space situation awareness, assessment, and understanding.

Social Justice and Environmental Awareness Developed through a Citizens' Jury

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Knight, J.

2014-12-01

A Citizens' Jury (CJ) is a discussion forum in which managers, policymakers or politicians are able to present their case to the general public ('citizens') to whom they are accountable, and for these citizens to critically ask questions of the managers/policymakers/politicians in order to better understand issues surrounding local development, planning and policy, impacts and adaptive measures, and to highlight their concerns. A CJ can be useful with respect to developing social justice and environmental awareness issues because it can empower community action and present different viewpoints. A practical CJ exercise is used in a second-year undergraduate course entitled Climate Change and Society, at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The CJ is used to consider some of the impacts of management policies used for climate change and sustainable development adaption, based on a hypothetical scenario. This scenario is that a major energy company wants to build a dam with hydroelectric power station in a developing country. This will provide low-carbon renewable energy to the country, investment in electricity infrastructure, and the company is committed to help economic development in the country, including in jobs and education. However, building and flooding of the dam will involve displacing 10,000 people from rural communities, flooding agricultural areas and areas of high biodiversity, and archaeological sites. The exercise is based on students, in groups, assuming different 'identities' which may include a local business person, resident, politician, member of an NGO, tourist, engineer, farmer etc, from which viewpoint they must argue for/against the proposal and to question other peoples' viewpoints. This exercise is useful because it allows students to develop understandings of different viewpoints, evaluate risk and impacts on different communities, and highlights the complexity of real-world decision-making.

Awareness of disease in dementia: Development of a multidimensional rating scale

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Marcia Dourado

Full Text Available Abstract Objective: To describe the development of the Assessment Scale of Psychosocial Impact of the Diagnosis of Dementia (ASPIDD, a multidimensional scale to evaluate awareness of disease in dementia. Method: The development of this scale was conducted in four steps. In step one, questions were drawn up after a review of the literature. The second step involved the suggestions offered by a neurologist regarding the skills considered important for the scale. The third step involved the re-writing and review of the domains and questions in the scale followed by a semantic evaluation performed by two independent psychiatrists. Step four consisted of the preliminary study aimed at evaluating the applicability of the ASPIDD. Results: In the semantic evaluation only minor changes were proposed. The preliminary sample had 52 patients, comprising 23 CDR 1 (male=9; female=14 and 29 CDR2 (male=13; female=16. Mean age of patients was 69.7±5.51 (CDR1 and 73.6±9.4 (CDR2, and age at onset was 66.4±5.7 years (CDR1 and 68.3±9.3 year (CDR2. Mean schooling was 9.0±4.3 years (CDR1 and 8.8±4.4 years (CDR2. Mean MMSE was 21.0±3.3 (CDR1 and 17.6±3.5 (CDR2. Mean Cornell was 4.8±2.3 (CDR1 and 4.2±1.9 (CDR2. The patient and caregiver dyads were aware of problems, mainly of those related to social, family and affective relations. The higher rates of discrepant responses were found on the awareness of cognitive deficits and changes in ADL. Conclusion: The ASPIDD is a multidimensional instrument to assess awareness of disease among AD patients.

Developing robust arsenic awareness prediction models using machine learning algorithms.

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Singh, Sushant K; Taylor, Robert W; Rahman, Mohammad Mahmudur; Pradhan, Biswajeet

2018-04-01

Arsenic awareness plays a vital role in ensuring the sustainability of arsenic mitigation technologies. Thus far, however, few studies have dealt with the sustainability of such technologies and its associated socioeconomic dimensions. As a result, arsenic awareness prediction has not yet been fully conceptualized. Accordingly, this study evaluated arsenic awareness among arsenic-affected communities in rural India, using a structured questionnaire to record socioeconomic, demographic, and other sociobehavioral factors with an eye to assessing their association with and influence on arsenic awareness. First a logistic regression model was applied and its results compared with those produced by six state-of-the-art machine-learning algorithms (Support Vector Machine [SVM], Kernel-SVM, Decision Tree [DT], k-Nearest Neighbor [k-NN], Naïve Bayes [NB], and Random Forests [RF]) as measured by their accuracy at predicting arsenic awareness. Most (63%) of the surveyed population was found to be arsenic-aware. Significant arsenic awareness predictors were divided into three types: (1) socioeconomic factors: caste, education level, and occupation; (2) water and sanitation behavior factors: number of family members involved in water collection, distance traveled and time spent for water collection, places for defecation, and materials used for handwashing after defecation; and (3) social capital and trust factors: presence of anganwadi and people's trust in other community members, NGOs, and private agencies. Moreover, individuals' having higher social network positively contributed to arsenic awareness in the communities. Results indicated that both the SVM and the RF algorithms outperformed at overall prediction of arsenic awareness-a nonlinear classification problem. Lower-caste, less educated, and unemployed members of the population were found to be the most vulnerable, requiring immediate arsenic mitigation. To this end, local social institutions and NGOs could play a

Raising Awareness of Urban Environment Development in Primary Schools

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Rosi Maja

2016-12-01

educate children, toddlers, pupils, students, about the importance of urban environment development and create a positive learning environment, where children are able to develop as residents with a great understanding of the potential of the environment they live in. The paper explores the importance of raising awareness of the urban environment in primary schools from the theoretical, analytical and practical point of views. In the paper, we will examine whether primary schools in the city of Maribor, Slovenia educate children about their urban environment, if they are creating positive learning environments, where children can develop into proud citizens aware of the significance of the urban environment and its consequences for the quality of their lives. Further on, the curricula in chosen primary schools in Maribor is going to be analyzed. With the survey, we will try to identify the degree of children’s awareness of their surrounding urban environment, the information they receive about their environment, and their attitude towards it. And finally, what is most important, we will try to show the extreme significance of the learning environment and the curricula for raising the awareness of the environment and growing into responsible adults who will also act responsibly towards their urban environments.

Measuring Food Brand Awareness in Australian Children: Development and Validation of a New Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Boyland, Emma; Bauman, Adrian E.

2015-01-01

Background Children’s exposure to food marketing is one environmental determinant of childhood obesity. Measuring the extent to which children are aware of food brands may be one way to estimate relative prior exposures to food marketing. This study aimed to develop and validate an Australian Brand Awareness Instrument (ABAI) to estimate children’s food brand awareness. Methods The ABAI incorporated 30 flashcards depicting food/drink logos and their corresponding products. An abbreviated version was also created using 12 flashcards (ABAI-a). The ABAI was presented to 60 primary school aged children (7-11yrs) attending two Australian after-school centres. A week later, the full-version was repeated on approximately half the sample (n=27) and the abbreviated-version was presented to the remaining half (n=30). The test-retest reliability of the ABAI was analysed using Intra-class correlation coefficients. The concordance of the ABAI-a and full-version was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. The ‘nomological’ validity of the full tool was investigated by comparing children’s brand awareness with food marketing-related variables (e.g. television habits, intake of heavily promoted foods). Results Brand awareness increased with age (plevels of brand awareness. It was shown to be a valid and reliable tool and may allow quantification of brand awareness as a proxy measure for children’s prior food marketing exposure. PMID:26222624

Learning to drive: developing a workable awareness plan for monitoring new technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Berryman, Donna R

2010-04-01

Technology is constantly driving forward, and information professionals need to be informed about developments in order to work more effectively, provide new services, understand what users need and want, and to develop professionally. Learning how to monitor these developments in technology is a skill, just like learning to drive. This article provides information about developing a workable awareness plan and provides some suggested sites to monitor and tools to use.

Development of a Self-Rating instrument to Measure Team Situation Awareness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schraagen, J.M.C.; Koning, L. de; Hof, T.; Dongen, K. van

2010-01-01

The goal of this paper is to describe the development of an instrument to measure team situation awareness (TSA). Individual team member SA may or may not be shared through communication processes with other team members. Most existing instruments do not measure these processes but measure TSA as a

Teachers’ Vocabulary Develops Educational Awareness by Constructing Practical Arguments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lund, Lea; Robinson, Sarah

From a perspective of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) this paper considers the importance of the influence of teachers’ vocabulary in relation to their understanding and development of teaching practices. As the teacher spends most of her/his career teaching inside the classroom...... and discussing – teachers’ educational awareness strengthens and teachers develop clearer and more precise methods/tools for shaping and taking advantage of the opportunities offered in their everyday teaching. This paper demonstrates how teachers’ vocabulary forms and shapes dialogical procedures and the extent...... so it may be argued that much their CPD takes place there. However little attention has been given to how teachers develop understanding of their everyday practices, of what works and what doesn’t inside the classroom and how these experiences are reflected upon and articulated. How when teaching...

Developing situation-aware applications for disaster management with a distributed rule-based platform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreira, João; Moreira, Joao; Ferreira Pires, Luis; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Dockhorn Costa, P.

2015-01-01

In order to enhance interoperability and productivity in the develop-ment of situation-aware applications for disaster management, proper mecha-nisms and guidelines are required. They must address the lack of semantics in modelling emergency situations. In addition, the ever changing and

Measure of significance of holotropic breathwork in the development of self-awareness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, Tanja; Nielsen, Laila

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether Holotropic Breathwork™ (HB; Grof Transpersonal Training, Mill Valley, CA) has any significance in the development of self-awareness. DESIGN: A quasi-experiment design and multiple case studies. A single case design was replicated. The statistical design was a re......OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether Holotropic Breathwork™ (HB; Grof Transpersonal Training, Mill Valley, CA) has any significance in the development of self-awareness. DESIGN: A quasi-experiment design and multiple case studies. A single case design was replicated. The statistical design...... MEASURES: The novices (n = 9) underwent positive temperament changes and the experienced participants (n = 11) underwent positive changes in character. Overall, positive self-awareness changes were indicated; the participants' (n = 20) scores for persistence temperament, interpersonal problems, overly.......864; pre-during-test p = 0.0215, pre-post-test p = 0.021, pre-post-test d = 0.5). Pre-test hostility mean (50.50 ± 10.395) decreased at post-test (47.20 ± 9.001; p = 0.0185; d = 0.3). The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems total pre-test mean (59.05 ± 17.139) was decreased at post-test (54.8 ± 12.408; p...

Cloud Computing: The Level of Awareness Amongst Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Developing Economies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yeboah-Boateng, Ezer Osei; Essandoh, Kofi Asare

2013-01-01

Cloud computing services are being touted as a major enabler for small businesses lately. This new paradigm is seen to offer unique opportunities to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide and developing economies are no exception. It presents SMEs access to similar technologies available...... indicated that a slight majority of the respondents were familiar with cloud computing on the individual level but the level of awareness amongst the larger SME industry was low to medium. The finding therefore recommends education and sensitization on cloud computing in order to increase awareness...... to their larger counterparts and those in the developed world which inherently creates innovativeness, increases competitive advantage and impacts their operations and processes. This paper seeks to determine the level of awareness and familiarity with this emerging computing paradigm. The results of the study...

Norm-Aware Socio-Technical Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Savarimuthu, Bastin Tony Roy; Ghose, Aditya

The following sections are included: * Introduction * The Need for Norm-Aware Systems * Norms in human societies * Why should software systems be norm-aware? * Case Studies of Norm-Aware Socio-Technical Systems * Human-computer interactions * Virtual environments and multi-player online games * Extracting norms from big data and software repositories * Norms and Sustainability * Sustainability and green ICT * Norm awareness through software systems * Where To, From Here? * Conclusions

Development of the Huddle Observation Tool for structured case management discussions to improve situation awareness on inpatient clinical wards.

Science.gov (United States)

Edbrooke-Childs, Julian; Hayes, Jacqueline; Sharples, Evelyn; Gondek, Dawid; Stapley, Emily; Sevdalis, Nick; Lachman, Peter; Deighton, Jessica

2018-05-01

'Situation Awareness For Everyone' (SAFE) was a 3-year project which aimed to improve situation awareness in clinical teams in order to detect potential deterioration and other potential risks to children on hospital wards. The key intervention was the 'huddle', a structured case management discussion which is central to facilitating situation awareness. This study aimed to develop an observational assessment tool to assess the team processes occurring during huddles, including the effectiveness of the huddle. A cross-sectional observational design was used to psychometrically develop the 'Huddle Observation Tool' (HOT) over three phases using standardised psychometric methodology. Huddles were observed across four NHS paediatric wards participating in SAFE by five researchers; two wards within specialist children hospitals and two within district general hospitals, with location, number of beds and length of stay considered to make the sample as heterogeneous as possible. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using the weighted kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient. Inter - rater reliability was acceptable for the collaborative culture (weighted kappa=0.32, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.42), environment items (weighted kappa=0.78, 95% CI 0.52 to 1) and total score (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.87, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.95). It was lower for the structure and risk management items, suggesting that these were more variable in how observers rated them. However, agreement on the global score for huddles was acceptable. We developed an observational assessment tool to assess the team processes occurring during huddles, including the effectiveness of the huddle. Future research should examine whether observational evaluations of huddles are associated with other indicators of safety on clinical wards (eg, safety climate and incidents of patient harm), and whether scores on the HOT are associated with improved situation awareness and reductions in deterioration and adverse

Students multicultural awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F.I Soekarman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Multicultural awareness is the foundation of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. Multicultural awareness becomes central when we have to interact with people from other cultures. People see, interpret and evaluate things in a different ways. What is considered an appropriate behaviour in one culture is frequently inappropriate in another one. this research use descriptive- quantitative methodology to indentify level of students multicultural awareness specifically will be identified by gender and academic years. This research will identify multicultural awareness based on differences of gender, academic years. This research use random and purposive random sampling of 650 students from university. These studies identify of multicultural awareness 34, 11, 4% in high condition, 84, 1% medium and 4, 5% in low. Further, there is a significant difference in the level of multicultural awareness based on gender and academic year. These findings could not be generalized because of the limited sample and ethnicity; it should need a wider research so that can be generalized and recommended the efforts to development and improvement of multicultural awareness conditions for optimization the services.

The Empowerment Of Role Of The Family In Developing Character Of Environmental Awareness In Elementary School-Age Children

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Kadek Aria Prima Dewi PF

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This research aims to see the empowerment process of role of the family through Waste Bank media to develop character of environmental awareness in elementary school-age children. The qualitative descriptive research methodology is used. The result of this research shows that the empowerment of role of the family in developing character of environmental awareness in elementary school-age children in State Elementary School 1 Padangsambian is determined by the role of waste bank media through intervention of school to students' parents. The initial stage of intervention activity is performed with parenting activity in school with the theme of environmental awareness. Furthermore, all forms of activities or moral actions of environmental awareness are guided by Waste Bank community. The family becomes active in the environmental awareness activity and the control process is implemented together by school and Waste Bank community.

Developing a Peer Educator Program to Raise Awareness about Elder Abuse

Science.gov (United States)

Weeks, Lori E.; Bryanton, Olive; McInnis-Perry, Gloria; Chaulk, Paul

2015-01-01

There continues to be lack of public awareness about elder abuse. To help address this issue, we developed and piloted an elder abuse peer educator training program from an educational gerontology and health empowerment perspective. We describe the process employed to train older adults as peer educators. We present evaluation results from data…

Service platform for rapid development and deployment of context-Aware, mobile applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pokraev, S.; Koolwaaij, Johan; van Setten, Mark; Broens, Tom; Dockhorn Costa, Patrícia; Wibbels, Martin; Ebben, Peter; Strating, Patrick

2005-01-01

In this paper we present a web services-based platform that facilitates and speeds up the development and deployment of context-aware, integrated mobile speech and data applications. The platform is capable of handling different types of context and offers sophisticated personalization mechanisms.

Development of a music therapy assessment tool for patients in low awareness states.

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, Wendy L

2007-01-01

People in low awareness states following profound brain injury typically demonstrate subtle changes in functional behaviors which challenge the sensitivity of measurement tools. Failure to identify and measure changes in functioning can lead to misdiagnosis and withdrawal of treatment with this population. Thus, the development of tools which are sensitive to responsiveness is of central concern. As the auditory modality has been found to be particularly sensitive in identifying responses indicating awareness, a convincing case can be made for music therapy as a treatment medium. However, little has been recommended about protocols for intervention or tools for measuring patient responses within the music therapy setting. This paper presents the rationale for an assessment tool specifically designed to measure responses in the music therapy setting with patients who are diagnosed as minimally conscious or in a vegetative state. Developed over fourteen years as part of interdisciplinary assessment and treatment, the music therapy assessment tool for low awareness states (MATLAS) contains fourteen items which rate behavioral responses across a number of domains. The tool can provide important information for interdisciplinary assessment and treatment particularly in the auditory and communication domains. Recommendations are made for testing its reliability and validity through research.

Farmers’ Awareness of Ecosystem Services and the Associated Policy Implications

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Fangfang Xun

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the primary factors influencing farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services. This study, through questionnaires, conducts research on farmers’ awareness of and demand for ecosystem service functions. The research encapsulates 156 households from 21 groups of villagers in the Guangxi Karst Ecological Immigration District in China. The results of the factors influencing farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services, analyzed using a regression model, show that: (1 Farmers are concerned with ecosystem service functions that directly benefit them; however, they do not sufficiently understand the ecosystem’s ecological security maintenance or cultural landscape functions; (2 Farmers’ awareness of ecosystem service functions is not consistent with their corresponding demand, including the ecosystem’s leisure and entertainment, social security, disaster prevention and water purification services; (3 Education level, land area cultivated by the household, proportion of the household’s income from agriculture and immigration status directly affect farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services; (4 Farmers’ personal characteristics, family characteristics and subjective attitudes have different effects on the level of ecological service cognition. Understanding farmers’ awareness of ecosystem services, and the influencing factors can help policymakers and development managers plan local development and policies, and enable harmonious development of the human-earth system in immigration regions of China.

Influence Factor of Tertiary Students’ Employability Awareness Adjust Industry 4.0

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Chun-Mei Chou

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the correlation (N=621 among tertiary students’ career planning, erecruiting adoption acceptance, and employability awareness in Taiwan. Tertiary students’ perceived career planning includes four factors, namely, self-appraisal, job expectancy, goal selection, and problem solving. E-recruiting adoption acceptance includes four factors, namely, playfulness, ease of use, effectiveness, and usefulness. Employability awareness includes four factors, namely, personal adaptability, employability ambition, career identity, and labour market. Participants responded to a 5-point Likert-type scale for each factor. Analysis was conducted using the structural equation modeling (SEM, and a good model fit was found for both the measurement and structural models. Research findings demonstrate that tertiary students’ career planning significantly and directly influences employability awareness. Career planning significantly and indirectly influences employability awareness by e-recruiting adoption acceptance. Tertiary students’ career planning and e-recruiting adoption acceptance fit the influence model and empirical data of employability awareness. Implications of this study, including the value of student self-assessment of their skills and utility of the e-recruiting to underpin personal career development planning and inform graduate recruitment processes, are discussed and recommendations made.

EgoSENSE: A Framework for Context-Aware Mobile Applications Development

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E. M. Milic

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a context-aware mobile framework (or middleware, intended to support the implementation of context-aware mobile services. The overview of basic concepts, architecture and components of context-aware mobile framework is given. The mobile framework provide acquisition and management of context, where raw data sensed from physical (hardware sensors and virtual (software sensors are combined, processed and analyzed to provide high-level context and situation of the user to the mobile context-aware applications in near real-time. Using demo mobile health application, its most important components and functions, such as these supposed to detect urgent or alarming health conditions of a mobile user and to initiate appropriate actions demonstrated.

Human Resource and Nuclear Awareness Development: A Common Synergetic Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreimanis, A.

2016-01-01

Full text: The nuclear education problem is treated as societal optimization task of nuclear energy management, with the key parameter of optimization—stakeholder awareness level. As the key principles of optimisation are chosen: a self-organization concept, the principle of the requisite variety, where as a primary source of growth of internal variety is information and knowledge. We have shown: public education, social learning and the use of mass media are efficient self-organization mechanisms, thereby forming a knowledge-creating community. Such a created knowledge could facilitate solution of key issues: a) public acceptance of novel nuclear objects, b) promotion of adequate risk perception, and c) fostering of interest to nuclear energy. Comprehensive knowledge management and informational support firstly is needed in: a) for increasing general nuclear awareness and confidence level to nuclear activities, b) personnel education and training, c) reliable staff renascence, d) public education and involvement of all stakeholder categories in decision making, e) risk management. A common approach to nuclear education should include also comprehensive research activities, thereby joining knowledge acquisition with the generation of novel advanced knowledge. (author

Melanoma early detection and awareness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wainstein, Alberto; Algarra, Salvador Martin; Bastholt, Lars

2014-01-01

to increase public awareness and favor early diagnosis. Awareness campaigns, doctor education, and screening of high-risk subjects have all contributed to improve disease outcome in developed countries. The role of primary care physicians is particularly relevant in this regard. Developing countries...

Surveillance indicators for potential reduced exposure products (PREPs: developing survey items to measure awareness

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McNeill Ann

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the past decade, tobacco companies have introduced cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products (known as Potential Reduced Exposure Products, PREPs with purportedly lower levels of some toxins than conventional cigarettes and smokeless products. It is essential that public health agencies monitor awareness, interest, use, and perceptions of these products so that their impact on population health can be detected at the earliest stages. Methods This paper reviews and critiques existing strategies for measuring awareness of PREPs from 16 published and unpublished studies. From these measures, we developed new surveillance items and subjected them to two rounds of cognitive testing, a common and accepted method for evaluating questionnaire wording. Results Our review suggests that high levels of awareness of PREPs reported in some studies are likely to be inaccurate. Two likely sources of inaccuracy in awareness measures were identified: 1 the tendency of respondents to misclassify "no additive" and "natural" cigarettes as PREPs and 2 the tendency of respondents to mistakenly report awareness as a result of confusion between PREPs brands and similarly named familiar products, for example, Eclipse chewing gum and Accord automobiles. Conclusion After evaluating new measures with cognitive interviews, we conclude that as of winter 2006, awareness of reduced exposure products among U.S. smokers was likely to be between 1% and 8%, with the higher estimates for some products occurring in test markets. Recommended measurement strategies for future surveys are presented.

Surveillance indicators for potential reduced exposure products (PREPs): developing survey items to measure awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Bogen, Karen; Biener, Lois; Garrett, Catherine A; Allen, Jane; Cummings, K Michael; Hartman, Anne; Marcus, Stephen; McNeill, Ann; O'Connor, Richard J; Parascandola, Mark; Pederson, Linda

2009-01-01

Background Over the past decade, tobacco companies have introduced cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products (known as Potential Reduced Exposure Products, PREPs) with purportedly lower levels of some toxins than conventional cigarettes and smokeless products. It is essential that public health agencies monitor awareness, interest, use, and perceptions of these products so that their impact on population health can be detected at the earliest stages. Methods This paper reviews and critiques existing strategies for measuring awareness of PREPs from 16 published and unpublished studies. From these measures, we developed new surveillance items and subjected them to two rounds of cognitive testing, a common and accepted method for evaluating questionnaire wording. Results Our review suggests that high levels of awareness of PREPs reported in some studies are likely to be inaccurate. Two likely sources of inaccuracy in awareness measures were identified: 1) the tendency of respondents to misclassify "no additive" and "natural" cigarettes as PREPs and 2) the tendency of respondents to mistakenly report awareness as a result of confusion between PREPs brands and similarly named familiar products, for example, Eclipse chewing gum and Accord automobiles. Conclusion After evaluating new measures with cognitive interviews, we conclude that as of winter 2006, awareness of reduced exposure products among U.S. smokers was likely to be between 1% and 8%, with the higher estimates for some products occurring in test markets. Recommended measurement strategies for future surveys are presented. PMID:19840394

Measuring Food Brand Awareness in Australian Children: Development and Validation of a New Instrument.

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Laura Turner

Full Text Available Children's exposure to food marketing is one environmental determinant of childhood obesity. Measuring the extent to which children are aware of food brands may be one way to estimate relative prior exposures to food marketing. This study aimed to develop and validate an Australian Brand Awareness Instrument (ABAI to estimate children's food brand awareness.The ABAI incorporated 30 flashcards depicting food/drink logos and their corresponding products. An abbreviated version was also created using 12 flashcards (ABAI-a. The ABAI was presented to 60 primary school aged children (7-11 yrs attending two Australian after-school centres. A week later, the full-version was repeated on approximately half the sample (n=27 and the abbreviated-version was presented to the remaining half (n=30. The test-retest reliability of the ABAI was analysed using Intra-class correlation coefficients. The concordance of the ABAI-a and full-version was assessed using Bland-Altman plots. The 'nomological' validity of the full tool was investigated by comparing children's brand awareness with food marketing-related variables (e.g. television habits, intake of heavily promoted foods.Brand awareness increased with age (p<0.01 but was not significantly correlated with other variables. Bland-Altman analyses showed good agreement between the ABAI and ABAI-a. Reliability analyses revealed excellent agreement between the two administrations of the full-ABAI.The ABAI was able to differentiate children's varying levels of brand awareness. It was shown to be a valid and reliable tool and may allow quantification of brand awareness as a proxy measure for children's prior food marketing exposure.

Energy-Aware Software Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eder, Kerstin; Gallagher, John Patrick

2017-01-01

A great deal of energy in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems can be wasted by software, regardless of how energy-efficient the underlying hardware is. To avoid such waste, programmers need to understand the energy consumption of programs during the development process rather......, the chapter discusses how energy analysis and modelling techniques can be incorporated in software engineering tools, including existing compilers, to assist the energy-aware programmer to optimise the energy consumption of code....

Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign – The Compass Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Annemarie; McGorry, Patrick D; Harris, Meredith G; Jorm, Anthony F; Pennell, Kerryn

2006-01-01

Background Early detection and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults can lead to better health outcomes. Mental health literacy is a key to early recognition and help seeking. Whilst a number of population health initiatives have attempted to improve mental health literacy, none to date have specifically targeted young people nor have they applied the rigorous standards of population health models now accepted as best practice in other health areas. This paper describes the outcomes from the application of a health promotion model to the development, implementation and evaluation of a community awareness campaign designed to improve mental health literacy and early help seeking amongst young people. Method The Compass Strategy was implemented in the western metropolitan Melbourne and Barwon regions of Victoria, Australia. The Precede-Proceed Model guided the population assessment, campaign strategy development and evaluation. The campaign included the use of multimedia, a website, and an information telephone service. Multiple levels of evaluation were conducted. This included a cross-sectional telephone survey of mental health literacy undertaken before and after 14 months of the campaign using a quasi-experimental design. Randomly selected independent samples of 600 young people aged 12–25 years from the experimental region and another 600 from a comparison region were interviewed at each time point. A series of binary logistic regression analyses were used to measure the association between a range of campaign outcome variables and the predictor variables of region and time. Results The program was judged to have an impact on the following variables, as indicated by significant region-by-time interaction effects (p awareness of mental health campaigns, self-identified depression, help for depression sought in the previous year, correct estimate of prevalence of mental health problems, increased awareness of suicide risk, and a reduction

Developing a secured social networking site using information security awareness techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julius O. Okesola

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Ever since social network sites (SNS became a global phenomenon in almost every industry, security has become a major concern to many SNS stakeholders. Several security techniques have been invented towards addressing SNS security, but information security awareness (ISA remains a critical point. Whilst very few users have used social circles and applications because of a lack of users’ awareness, the majority have found it difficult to determine the basis of categorising friends in a meaningful way for privacy and security policies settings. This has confirmed that technical control is just part of the security solutions and not necessarily a total solution. Changing human behaviour on SNSs is essential; hence the need for a privately enhanced ISA SNS. Objective: This article presented sOcialistOnline – a newly developed SNS, duly secured and platform independent with various ISA techniques fully implemented. Method: Following a detailed literature review of the related works, the SNS was developed on the basis of Object Oriented Programming (OOP approach, using PhP as the coding language with the MySQL database engine at the back end. Result: This study addressed the SNS requirements of privacy, security and services, and attributed them as the basis of architectural design for sOcialistOnline. SNS users are more aware of potential risk and the possible consequences of unsecured behaviours. Conclusion: ISA is focussed on the users who are often the greatest security risk on SNSs, regardless of technical securities implemented. Therefore SNSs are required to incorporate effective ISA into their platform and ensure users are motivated to embrace it.

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek.

Science.gov (United States)

Diamanti, Vassiliki; Mouzaki, Angeliki; Ralli, Asimina; Antoniou, Faye; Papaioannou, Sofia; Protopapas, Athanassios

2017-01-01

Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme), and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational). Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets) featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology-orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is expected to

Preschool Phonological and Morphological Awareness As Longitudinal Predictors of Early Reading and Spelling Development in Greek

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vassiliki Diamanti

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Different language skills are considered fundamental for successful reading and spelling acquisition. Extensive evidence has highlighted the central role of phonological awareness in early literacy experiences. However, many orthographic systems also require the contribution of morphological awareness. The goal of this study was to examine the morphological and phonological awareness skills of preschool children as longitudinal predictors of reading and spelling ability by the end of first grade, controlling for the effects of receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. At Time 1 preschool children from kindergartens in the Greek regions of Attika, Crete, Macedonia, and Thessaly were assessed on tasks tapping receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness (syllable and phoneme, and morphological awareness (inflectional and derivational. Tasks were administered through an Android application for mobile devices (tablets featuring automatic application of ceiling rules. At Time 2 one year later the same children attending first grade were assessed on measures of word and pseudoword reading, text reading fluency, text reading comprehension, and spelling. Complete data from 104 children are available. Hierarchical linear regression and commonality analyses were conducted for each outcome variable. Reading accuracy for both words and pseudowords was predicted not only by phonological awareness, as expected, but also by morphological awareness, suggesting that understanding the functional role of word parts supports the developing phonology–orthography mappings. However, only phonological awareness predicted text reading fluency at this age. Longitudinal prediction of reading comprehension by both receptive vocabulary and morphological awareness was already evident at this age, as expected. Finally, spelling was predicted by preschool phonological awareness, as expected, as well as by morphological awareness, the contribution of which is

Shared Book Reading Promotes Not Only Language Development, But Also Grapheme Awareness in German Kindergarten Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Wesseling, Patricia B C; Christmann, Corinna A; Lachmann, Thomas

2017-01-01

Effects of shared book reading on expressive vocabulary and grapheme awareness without letter instruction in German kindergarteners (longitudinal; N = 69, 3;0-4;8 years) were investigated. Expressive vocabulary was measured by using a standardized test; grapheme awareness was measured by asking children to identify one grapheme per trial presented amongst non-letter distractors. Two methods of shared book reading were investigated, literacy enrichment (additional books) and teacher training in shared book reading strategies, both without explicit letter instruction. Whereas positive effects of shared book reading on expressive vocabulary were evident in numerous previous studies, the impact of shared book reading on grapheme awareness has not yet been investigated. Both methods resulted in positive effects on children's expressive vocabulary and grapheme awareness over a period of 6 months. Thus, early shared book reading may not only be considered to be a tool for promoting the development of expressive vocabulary, but also for implicit acquisition of grapheme awareness. The latter is considered an important precondition required for the explicit learning of grapheme-phoneme conversion rules (letter knowledge).

Development and preliminary validation of the Paediatric Awareness Questionnaire for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Lloyd, Owen; Ownsworth, Tamara; Fleming, Jennifer; Zimmer-Gembeck, Melanie J

2018-07-01

There is a lack of validated measures for assessing self-awareness of deficits after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI). The current study aimed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of the Paediatric Awareness Questionnaire (PAQ), and investigate factors related to self-awareness. The PAQ was administered to 32 children aged 8-16 years with mild to severe TBI (72% male, M age = 11.75, SD = 2.9), their parents, and treating clinicians, and to 32 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls and their parents. Children with TBI and their parents also completed the Knowledge of Injury Checklist (KIC), and parents completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21. The PAQ was found to have fair to excellent (α = .79-.97) internal consistency for all versions across both groups and good concordance between parent and clinician total scores (ICC = .78). There was also evidence of convergent validity between the PAQ and KIC for both child (r = -.45, p PAQ for assessing self-awareness after pediatric TBI.

Distributed context-aware systems

CERN Document Server

Ferreira, Paulo

2014-01-01

Context-aware systems aim to deliver a rich user experience by taking into?account the current user context (location, time, activity, etc.), possibly?captured without his intervention. For example, cell phones are now able to?continuously update a user's location while, at the same time, users execute?an increasing amount of activities online, where their actions may be easily?captured (e.g. login in a web application) without user consent. In the last decade, this topic has seen numerous developments that demonstrate its relevance and usefulness. The?trend was accelerated with the widespread?availability of powerful mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) that include a myriad of?sensors which enable applications to capture the user context. However, there are several challenges that must be addressed; we focus on scalability?(large number of context aware messages) and privacy (personal data that may be propagated).?This book is organized in five chapters starting with an introduction to?the theme raising the mo...

Malaysian consumers’ awareness, perception, and attitude toward cosmetic products: Questionnaire development and pilot testing

Science.gov (United States)

Ayob, Ain; Awadh, Ammar Ihsan; Hadi, Hazrina; Jaffri, Juliana; Jamshed, Shazia; Ahmad, Hawa Mas Azmar

2016-01-01

Background: Increased usage of cosmetic products has caused a growing concern about the safety of these products, and yet little is known about cosmetics from the consumers’ perspective. Hence, this study's aim is to develop a valid and reliable tool for assessing consumers’ awareness, perceptions, and attitudes toward cosmetic products. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was developed in the English language based on information collected from a literature search, in-depth interviews conducted with consumers prior to this study and consultations with experts. Subsequently, the questionnaire was subjected to translation, validation, and test-retest reliability. A final version of the questionnaire was piloted among 66 consumers via convenient sampling. A descriptive analysis was performed, and the internal consistency and the differences between variables in the questionnaire were analyzed. Results: The developed and translated questionnaire produced repeatable data for each of the domains (Spearman's correlation ≥ 0.7, P awareness, perceptions and attitudes indicates good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha value of more than 0.7 for each domain). Significant differences were found between the perception scores for the race, religion, and monthly expenses for cosmetic products, respectively, and the same pattern was found for the attitude scores, but monthly expenses for cosmetic products was replaced by monthly income. Conclusion: The results achieved via the Bahasa Malaysia questionnaire indicated that the developed and translated questionnaire can be used as a valid and reliable tool for assessing consumers’ awareness, perceptions, and attitudes toward cosmetic products in Malaysia in future studies. PMID:27413348

Developing Cross-Cultural Awareness through Foreign Immersion Programs: Implications of University Study Abroad Research for Global Competency Development

Science.gov (United States)

Lokkesmoe, Karen J.; Kuchinke, K. Peter; Ardichvili, Alexandre

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of foreign immersion programs in terms of increasing cross-cultural awareness among university students in business, accounting, human resources and agriculture. The authors extrapolate from their population to the practice of developing business professionals on international…

Context-awareness and Mobile HCI

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qin, Xiangang; Tan, Chee Wee; Clemmensen, Torkil

2017-01-01

-awareness has been employed broadly in developing applications and services on mobile platform, has had a huge impact on mobile user experience, and has altered the interaction between humans and computers by giving the latter a more active role to play. The significance of context-awareness in the usage......Context-awareness endows mobile devices and services with the capability of interacting with users in an efficient, intelligent, natural and smart fashion. Consequently, context-awareness makes a significant difference to mobile HCI. However, the challenges brought by context-awareness to users...... of mobile devices are rarely examined in depth. In this paper, previous conceptions of context and their contribution to context-awareness in mobile HCI is scrutinized and a preliminary context-computer interaction (CCI) model is advanced to illustrate the interaction characterized by mobile context...

The Social Awareness Inventory: Development and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldon, Kennon M.

1996-01-01

The Social Awareness Inventory (SAI), which assesses individual differences in eight social-perceptual styles, is introduced and applied in three studies. The model is derived by crossing the three binary dimensions of target (self or other), perspective (own or other's), and content (overt appearance or covert experience). The SAI appears to…

Brain mechanisms for loss of awareness of thought and movement

Science.gov (United States)

Oakley, David A.; Halligan, Peter W.; Mehta, Mitul A.; Deeley, Quinton

2017-01-01

Abstract Loss or reduction of awareness is common in neuropsychiatric disorders and culturally influenced dissociative phenomena but the underlying brain mechanisms are poorly understood. fMRI was combined with suggestions for automatic writing in 18 healthy highly hypnotically suggestible individuals in a within-subjects design to determine whether clinical alterations in awareness of thought and movement can be experimentally modelled and studied independently of illness. Subjective ratings of control, ownership, and awareness of thought and movement, and fMRI data were collected following suggestions for thought insertion and alien control of writing movement, with and without loss of awareness. Subjective ratings confirmed that suggestions were effective. At the neural level, our main findings indicated that loss of awareness for both thought and movement during automatic writing was associated with reduced activation in a predominantly left-sided posterior cortical network including BA 7 (superior parietal lobule and precuneus), and posterior cingulate cortex, involved in self-related processing and awareness of the body in space. Reduced activity in posterior parietal cortices may underlie specific clinical and cultural alterations in awareness of thought and movement. Clinically, these findings may assist development of imaging assessments for loss of awareness of psychological origin, and interventions such as neurofeedback. PMID:28338742

The Impact of Public Health Awareness Campaigns on the Awareness and Quality of Palliative Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Seymour, Jane

2018-01-01

The right to health includes a right of access to good quality palliative care, but inequalities persist. Raising awareness is a key plank of the public health approach to palliative care, but involves consideration of subjects most of us prefer not to address. This review addresses the question: "do public health awareness campaigns effectively improve the awareness and quality of palliative care"? The evidence shows that public awareness campaigns can improve awareness of palliative care and probably improve quality of care, but there is a lack of evidence about the latter. Rapid review and synthesis. A comprehensive public awareness campaign about palliative care (including advance care planning and end-of-life decision making) should be based on clear and shared terminology, use well piloted materials, and the full range of mass media to suit different ages, cultures, and religious/spiritual perspectives. Arts and humanities have a role to play in allowing individuals and communities to express experiences of illness, death, and grief and encourage conversation and thoughtful reflection. There is evidence about key factors for success: targeting, networking, and use of specific, measurable, achievable, realistic time-bound objectives; continuous evaluation; and complementarity to national and international policy. Campaigns should be located within the framework of public health promotion and the synergy between short national mass media campaigns and longer term local community action initiatives carefully considered. National and local projects to raise awareness should identify and address any barriers at the level of individuals, communities, and systems of care, for example, literacy skills and unequal access to resources.

Rising to the Challenge: Developing a Survey of Workplace Skills, Civic Engagement, and Global Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Ouimet, Judith A.; Pike, Gary R.

2008-01-01

This chapter describes the ongoing development of a survey of students' workplace skills, civic engagement, and global awareness that colleges and universities can use to document their contributions to the public good. The student growth survey currently under development offers colleges and universities an opportunity to refocus the attention of…

Exploring the Listening Process to Inform the Development of Strategy Awareness-Raising Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco, Maria; Guisado, Juan J.

2012-01-01

This article reports on a small-scale qualitative study aimed at exploring the listening process in a group of Spanish beginners in a UK higher education context. The specific aim of the study was to inform the development of materials for listening strategy awareness-raising activities. The exploration was focused on identifying (a) strategies…

Development of an Objective Measurement Method for Situation Awareness of Operation Teams in NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Woo; Kim, Ar Ryum; Kim, Hyoung Ju; Seong, Poong Hyun; Park, Jin Kyun

2011-01-01

Situation awareness (SA) continues to receive a considerable amount of attention from the ergonomics community since the need for operators to maintain SA is frequently cited as a key to effective and efficient performance. Even though complex and dynamic environments such as main control room (MCR) in the nuclear power plants (NPPs) is operated in teams and still SA which teams posses is important, research is currently focused on individual SA not for team situation awareness (TSA). Since there are not many measurement methods developed for TSA, individual SA measurement methods are at first reviewed and the critical requirements which new TSA measurements should consider are derived. With an assumption that TSA is an integration of individual SA, a new and objective TSA measurement method is developed. This method is developed mainly based on logical connections between TSA and team communication and implements verbal protocol analysis. This method provides measure for each level of TSA. By performing preliminary analysis with this method, it was shown that this method is feasible to some extent

Development of an Objective Measurement Method for Situation Awareness of Operation Teams in NPPs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seung Woo; Kim, Ar Ryum; Kim, Hyoung Ju; Seong, Poong Hyun [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jin Kyun [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2011-08-15

Situation awareness (SA) continues to receive a considerable amount of attention from the ergonomics community since the need for operators to maintain SA is frequently cited as a key to effective and efficient performance. Even though complex and dynamic environments such as main control room (MCR) in the nuclear power plants (NPPs) is operated in teams and still SA which teams posses is important, research is currently focused on individual SA not for team situation awareness (TSA). Since there are not many measurement methods developed for TSA, individual SA measurement methods are at first reviewed and the critical requirements which new TSA measurements should consider are derived. With an assumption that TSA is an integration of individual SA, a new and objective TSA measurement method is developed. This method is developed mainly based on logical connections between TSA and team communication and implements verbal protocol analysis. This method provides measure for each level of TSA. By performing preliminary analysis with this method, it was shown that this method is feasible to some extent.

Multimedia-assisted breathwalk-aware system.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Meng-Chieh; Wu, Huan; Lee, Ming-Sui; Hung, Yi-Ping

2012-12-01

Breathwalk is a science of combining specific patterns of footsteps synchronized with the breathing. In this study, we developed a multimedia-assisted Breathwalk-aware system which detects user's walking and breathing conditions and provides appropriate multimedia guidance on the smartphone. Through the mobile device, the system enhances user's awareness of walking and breathing behaviors. As an example application in slow technology, the system could help meditator beginners learn "walking meditation," a type of meditation which aims to be as slow as possible in taking pace, to synchronize footstep with breathing, and to land every footstep with toes first. In the pilot study, we developed a walking-aware system and evaluated whether multimedia-assisted mechanism is capable of enhancing beginner's walking awareness while walking meditation. Experimental results show that it could effectively assist beginners in slowing down the walking speed and decreasing incorrect footsteps. In the second experiment, we evaluated the Breathwalk-aware system to find a better feedback mechanism for learning the techniques of Breathwalk while walking meditation. The experimental results show that the visual-auditory mechanism is a better multimedia-assisted mechanism while walking meditation than visual mechanism and auditory mechanism.

Awareness of Climate Change and Sustainable Development Issues among Junior Secondary School (JSS Students in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State, Nigeria

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Chimezie Njoku

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the extent to which junior secondary school students in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State Nigeria are aware of issues related to climate change and sustainable development. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Four research questions were raised. Two instruments were used for data collection, a questionnaire and the junior secondary school teaching syllabus. The questionnaire titled “ Climate change and Sustainable Development Awareness Questionnaire” (CCSDA was used to obtain data from 1600 junior secondary school three (JSS3 students from the fourteen junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government of Rivers State, Nigeria. The questionnaire had three sections; A, B and C. Section A obtained the demographic features and bio-data of students, section B obtained information on the awareness level of climate change while section C obtained information on sustainable development awareness level. Simple percentages and mean were used to answer the research questions. The results from the data analysis revealed among other things that the JSS curriculum coverage of climate change is small; there is no sustainable development issues in the teaching syllabus of JSS; the level of awareness of sustainable Development issues is low; even though the climate change issues awareness level is high but the knowledge is low; students are eager and willing to know more about climate change and sustainable development issues. Based on these results, the researcher recommended among other things that more themes on Climate change and sustainable development should be introduced in social studies and integrated science in all the JSS level. Having very few topics on climate change and none at all on sustainable development at the junior secondary level is dangerous at this level of their development and more especially now that the world is striving to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs.

Comparing Canadian and American cybersecurity awareness levels: Educational strategies to increase public awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Hoggard, Amy

Cybersecurity awareness is an important issue that affects everyone who uses a computer or a mobile device. Canada and the United States both recognize the value of mitigating cybersecurity risks in terms of national safety, economic stability and protection of their citizens. The research performed compared the levels of cybersecurity awareness in Canadian and American Internet users. Canadian and American users were equally aware of cybersecurity measures, but were not implementing best practices to keep themselves safe. The research suggested users needed to understand why a cybersecurity measure was important before being motivated to implement it. Educational strategies were reviewed in both Canada and the United States and it was determined that although there were significant resources available, they were not being utilized by both the educators and the public. In order to increase cybersecurity awareness levels, nations should focus on increasing the public's awareness by using various types of messaging, such as cartoons, in media. One possible consideration is a compulsory awareness model before accessing the Internet. Cybersecurity topics should be included in the curriculum for students at all levels of education and a focus on providing training and resources to teachers will help increase the cybersecurity knowledge of children and youth.

The impact of awareness on epidemic spreading in networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Qingchu; Fu, Xinchu; Small, Michael; Xu, Xin-Jian

2012-03-01

We explore the impact of awareness on epidemic spreading through a population represented by a scale-free network. Using a network mean-field approach, a mathematical model for epidemic spreading with awareness reactions is proposed and analyzed. We focus on the role of three forms of awareness including local, global, and contact awareness. By theoretical analysis and simulation, we show that the global awareness cannot decrease the likelihood of an epidemic outbreak while both the local awareness and the contact awareness can. Also, the influence degree of the local awareness on disease dynamics is closely related with the contact awareness.

Examining the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness in a developing and transition economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Makanyeza

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Literature suggests that major political and socio-economic transformations may influence the measurement and dimensionality of consumer awareness. Research purpose: The study examined the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness after transformation in the political and socio-economic environments in Zimbabwe. Motivation for the study: There is a dearth of research to validate whether or not the measurement and dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness changes as the environment changes. Research design, approach and method: Data were collected from a cross-section of 305 consumers using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Consumers were intercepted at shopping malls. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse data. Main findings: The study confirmed that consumer awareness comprises five dimensions, namely product knowledge, bargain hunting, general consumer knowledge, price consciousness and information search. However, the study found that only 16 items, instead of the proposed 25, were relevant in measuring consumer awareness. Product knowledge, bargain hunting and information search were each measured by four items, whilst general consumer knowledge and price consciousness were each measured by two items. The other nine items were shown to be of no value. Practical/managerial implications: The study recommends that marketers and policymakers in developing and transition economies, such as Zimbabwe, consider these five dimensions when conducting consumer awareness research or when planning consumer awareness programmes. Contribution/value-add: The study provided evidence that the dimensionality of the construct of consumer awareness does not change as the socio-economic and political environments change. However, items used to measure the dimensions need to be updated from time to time.

Assessing Students' Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mokhtari, Kouider; Reichard, Carla A.

2002-01-01

Describes development and validation of a new self-report instrument, the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory, designed to assess adolescent and adult readers' metacognitive awareness and perceived use of reading strategies while reading academic materials. After a brief review of the literature, the development and validation…

Contextual-Analysis for Infrastructure Awareness Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramos, Juan David Hincapie; Tabard, Aurelien; Alt, Florian

Infrastructures are persistent socio-technical systems used to deliver different kinds of services. Researchers have looked into how awareness of infrastructures in the areas of sustainability [6, 10] and software appropriation [11] can be provided. However, designing infrastructure-aware systems...... has specific requirements, which are often ignored. In this paper we explore the challenges when developing infrastructure awareness systems based on contextual analysis, and propose guidelines for enhancing the design process....

Using a Corpus-Informed Pedagogical Intervention to Develop Language Awareness toward Appropriate Lexicogrammatical Choices

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Julieta; Yuldashev, Aziz

2015-01-01

The corpus-informed pedagogical intervention described in this article was developed for an advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) course designed for prospective International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) and implemented over the course of two class periods. Its primary goal was to offer students opportunities to gain language awareness of…

Physician self-awareness: the neglected insight.

OpenAIRE

Longhurst, M

1988-01-01

Self-awareness is vital to a physician's development. Understanding the impact of our internal subjective world on our attitudes and values and on the fantasies we have of reality is important to us as doctors. Some of the means of acquiring this self-knowledge include accurately perceiving the reflection of one's self in patients, understanding one's learning style, studying and enjoying the humanities, expressing one's self creatively, maintaining a sense of humour and examining one's react...

Distributed sensor management for space situational awareness via a negotiation game

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Bin; Shen, Dan; Pham, Khanh; Blasch, Erik; Chen, Genshe

2015-05-01

Space situational awareness (SSA) is critical to many space missions serving weather analysis, communications, and navigation. However, the number of sensors used in space situational awareness is limited which hinders collision avoidance prediction, debris assessment, and efficient routing. Hence, it is critical to use such sensor resources efficiently. In addition, it is desired to develop the SSA sensor management algorithm in a distributed manner. In this paper, a distributed sensor management approach using the negotiation game (NG-DSM) is proposed for the SSA. Specifically, the proposed negotiation game is played by each sensor and its neighboring sensors. The bargaining strategies are developed for each sensor based on negotiating for accurately tracking desired targets (e.g., satellite, debris, etc.) . The proposed NG-DSM method is tested in a scenario which includes eight space objects and three different sensor modalities which include a space based optical sensor, a ground radar, or a ground Electro-Optic sensor. The geometric relation between the sensor, the Sun, and the space object is also considered. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed NG-DSM sensor management methods, which facilitates an application of multiple-sensor multiple-target tracking for space situational awareness.

Evaluation of staff cultural awareness before and after attending cultural awareness training in an Australian emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Rose; Martin, Catherine; Smith, Tammy

2014-10-01

Cultural awareness of emergency department staff is important to ensure delivery of appropriate health care to people from all ethnic groups. Cultural awareness training has been found to increase knowledge about other cultures and is widely used as a means of educating staff, however, debate continues as to the effectiveness of these programs. To determine if an accredited cultural awareness training program affected emergency department staff knowledge, familiarity, attitude of and perception towards Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. One group pre-test and post-test intervention study compared the cultural awareness of 44 emergency department staff towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people before and after training. The cultural awareness training was delivered in six hours over three sessions and was taught by an accredited cultural awareness trainer. The cultural awareness training changed perception but did not affect attitude towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this group. Future strategies to improve staff cultural awareness need to be investigated, developed, implemented and evaluated. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review of breast cancer awareness among women in India: Cancer literate or awareness deficit?

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, A; Shridhar, K; Dhillon, P K

2015-09-01

Breast cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide including India, where advanced stages at diagnosis, and rising incidence and mortality rates, make it essential to understand cancer literacy in women. We conducted a literature review to evaluate the awareness levels of risk factors for breast cancer among Indian women and health professionals. A structured literature search using combined keywords was undertaken on bibliographic databases including MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) and SCOPUS. Searches were restricted to research published in English language peer-reviewed journals through December, 2014 in India. A total of 7066 women aged 15-70 years showed varied levels of awareness on risk factors such as family history (13-58%), reproductive history (1-88%) and obesity (11-51%). Literacy levels on risk factors did not improve over the 8-year period (2005-2013). On average, nurses reported higher, though still varied, awareness levels for risk factors such as family history (40.8-98%), reproductive history (21-90%) and obesity (34-6%). Awareness levels were not consistently higher for the stronger determinants of risk. Our review revealed low cancer literacy of breast cancer risk factors among Indian women, irrespective of their socio-economic and educational background. There is an urgent need for nation- and state-wide awareness programmes, engaging multiple stakeholders of society and the health system, to help improve cancer literacy in India. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Neuroscience and leadership : awareness, relevance and applications of neuroscience principles within leadership development in Germany

OpenAIRE

Dürrbeck, Klaus

2016-01-01

This bachelor’s thesis aimed to elaborate the current importance-level of neuroscience within leadership development as well as its future potential. Thereby awareness of leaders and human resource executives, general relevance for organisational success, and current applications of neuroscience principles within development programmes were identified. Additionally, existent and emergent triggers and forces that impede leadership or organisational success were investigated, in order to examin...

The Cultivation of Cultural Awareness in English Teaching

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王宁

2015-01-01

As the development of the information age,the cultivation of intercultural communicative competence has been extremely important. Thus foreign language teaching lays stress on the cultivation of language comprehensive application ability. Culture awareness is an important part of language comprehensive application ability. The cultivating of students’ cultural awareness is beneficial to improve their humanistic quality,broaden their international view,strengthen their patriotism spirit and sense of national mission,and achieve their all-round development. The paper will discuss the current situation of cultural awareness cultivation in English teaching. In view of the problems and its causes existing in the cultural awareness cultivation,three count measures have been proposed.

Context-Aware Elevator Scheduling

OpenAIRE

Strang, Thomas; Bauer, Christian

2007-01-01

Research on context-aware systems is usually user-centric and thus focussed on the context of a specific user to serve his or her needs in an optimized way. In this paper, we want to apply core concepts developed in research on context-awareness in a system-centric way, namely to elevator systems. We show with three different examples that the performance of an elevator system can be significantly improved if the elevator control has access to contextual knowledge. The first example demons...

The Influence of Spanish Vocabulary and Phonemic Awareness on Beginning English Reading Development: A Three-Year (K-2nd) Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Michael F.; Roe, Mary; Blanchard, Jay; Atwill, Kim

2015-01-01

This investigation examined the influence of varying levels of Spanish receptive vocabulary and phonemic awareness ability on beginning English vocabulary, phonemic awareness, word reading fluency, and reading comprehension development across kindergarten through second grade. The 80 respondents were Spanish speaking children with no English…

Basic Auditory Processing Skills and Phonological Awareness in Low-IQ Readers and Typically Developing Controls

Science.gov (United States)

Kuppen, Sarah; Huss, Martina; Fosker, Tim; Fegan, Natasha; Goswami, Usha

2011-01-01

We explore the relationships between basic auditory processing, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and word reading in a sample of 95 children, 55 typically developing children, and 40 children with low IQ. All children received nonspeech auditory processing tasks, phonological processing and literacy measures, and a receptive vocabulary task.…

Creating research and development awareness among dental care professionals by use of strategic communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morténius, Helena; Twetman, Svante

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Despite the availability of contemporary research advances, only a limited fraction is implemented into dental practice. One possible way to facilitate this process is to stimulate the research and development (R&D) awareness and interest with aid of strategic communication. METHODS......: The aim of the study was to analyse the role of a strategic communication in R&D awareness and interest among dental care professionals (DCP) over a 12-year period. A second aim was to compare the findings with those from primary care professionals (PCP). The project had a prospective design...... and the intervention was conducted through established oral, written and digital channels. The outcome was captured by two validated questionnaires submitted after 7 and 12 years, respectively. An additional Questionnaire file shows the details [see Additional file 1]. The material consisted of 599 health care...

Awareness of Climate Change and Sustainable Development among Undergraduates from Two Selected Universities in Oyo State, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

Agboola, Omowunmi Sola; Emmanuel, Michael

2016-01-01

This study investigated awareness of climate change and sustainable development among undergraduates in two universities: University of Ibadan, Ibadan and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso in Oyo State of Nigeria. This was aimed at increasing the knowledge of undergraduates on climate change and sustainable development. The study…

Awareness of financial skills in dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Wielingen, L E; Tuokko, H A; Cramer, K; Mateer, C A; Hultsch, D F

2004-07-01

The present study examined the relations among levels of cognitive functioning, executive dysfunction, and awareness of financial management capabilities among a sample of 42 community-dwelling persons with dementia. Financial tasks on the Measure of Awareness of Financial Skills (MAFS) were dichotomized as simple or complex based on Piaget's operational levels of childhood cognitive development. Severity of global cognitive impairment and executive dysfunction were significantly related to awareness of financial abilities as measured by informant-participant discrepancy scores on the MAFS. For persons with mild and moderate/severe dementia, and persons with and without executive dysfunction, proportions of awareness within simple and complex financial task categories were tabulated. Significantly less awareness of financial abilities occurred on complex compared with simple tasks. Individuals with mild dementia were significantly less aware of abilities on complex items, whereas persons with moderate/severe dementia were less aware of abilities, regardless of task complexity. Similar patterns of awareness were observed for individuals with and without executive dysfunction. These findings support literature suggesting that deficits associated with dementia first occur for complex cognitive tasks involving inductive reasoning or decision-making in novel situations, and identify where loss of function in the financial domain may first be expected. Copyright Taylor & Francis Ltd

Comparing ecological awareness in developed countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kessel, H.

1982-01-01

This paper addresses the questions ''Do people think about the environment in similar ways.'', ''What are the similarities and differences across different groups within a country, and what are the similarities and differences across countries.'' Using a new factor-analytical approach (which is described in detail in the appendix) four independent cognitive dimensions of the ecological awareness could be found from a set of 12 Items of the International Environmental Survey of 1980: 1. Attitude toward science and technology; 2. Concern about resources and energy supply; 3. Attitude toward nuclear power; 4. Concern about the limits to growth. The major similarities overall and the minor differences between the countries will be discussed. (orig.) [de

Awareness of fetal echo in Indian scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warrier, Dhanya; Saraf, Rahul; Maheshwari, Sunita; Suresh, PV; Shah, Sejal

2012-01-01

Fetal echocardiography is a well established sensitive tool to diagnose congenital heart disease (CHD) in utero. One of the determinants of effective utilization of fetal echocardiography is its awareness in the general population. The present hospital based study was undertaken to assess the awareness of the need for fetal echocardiography amongst Indian parents. One thousand one hundred and thirty eight consecutive parents who visited the pediatric cardiology outpatient department of a tertiary care centre over a period of two months were asked to fill up a questionnaire that included their demographic data, educational status, history of CHD in children, awareness of fetal echocardiography and source of information and timing of fetal echocardiogram if performed. The data was categorized and awareness was noted in different groups. The awareness in the study population was 2.2%. Awareness was found to be similar across the study population irrespective of the demographics and high risk status of the parents. The awareness of fetal echocardiography, an important tool in reducing the incidence of complex CHD, thereby impacting public health, is alarmingly low in the population studied. Appropriate action to increase awareness of fetal echocardiography needs to be looked into

Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL Students’ Lexical Tonal Development: An Investigation of Tonal Production and Awareness of Tonal Categories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Jin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on an empirical study examining the relationship between beginning-level CFL students’ tonal production and their awareness of lexical tonal categories. Additionally, it investigated CFL learners’ views about the relationship. A mixed method approach was adopted to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data from 23 beginning-level English-speaking adult CFL learners. The quantitative results show that the participants’ accuracy of lexical tonal production was statistically significantly correlated to their awareness of tonal categories and their tonal production was statistically more accurate than their awareness of tonal categories. The qualitative findings show that the participants didn’t rely on their awareness of tonal categories when conducting the production task. However, the participants stressed the importance of awareness of tonal categories in their tonal production, particularly when producing unfamiliar characters. Based on the discovered unique relationship, pedagogical suggestions for beginning-level CFL tonal development are offered.

Minimalism context-aware displays.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yang

2004-12-01

Despite the rapid development of cyber technologies, today we still have very limited attention and communication bandwidth to process the increasing information flow. The goal of the study is to develop a context-aware filter to match the information load with particular needs and capacities. The functions include bandwidth-resolution trade-off and user context modeling. From the empirical lab studies, it is found that the resolution of images can be reduced in order of magnitude if the viewer knows that he/she is looking for particular features. The adaptive display queue is optimized with real-time operational conditions and user's inquiry history. Instead of measuring operator's behavior directly, ubiquitous computing models are developed to anticipate user's behavior from the operational environment data. A case study of the video stream monitoring for transit security is discussed in the paper. In addition, the author addresses the future direction of coherent human-machine vision systems.

The importance of environmental awareness and public participation for sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Metka Špes

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In sustainable development which requires the balance between the economic, social and environmental objectives, it is of key importance that the public also participates in the broadest sense. For the comprehension of ecological and developmental decisions it is necessary to provide information and to raise the general environmental awareness. An individual or groups of people base their reactions to negative phenomena in the environment on their perception of it, which does not always correspond to the objective state but is modified by different factors, also by the access to information and by the participation of the public in taking the decisions.

Awareness and Awakening: A Narrative-Oriented Inquiry of Undergraduate Students' Development of Mindful Agency in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qing; Law, Ho Chung; Li, Yan; Xu, Zhanfei; Pang, Weiguo

2017-01-01

The article explores undergraduate students' experiences of developing mindful agency as a positive learning disposition, their perceived change as a learner, and the possible impact of mindful agency coaching on students' learning and personal growth, using a narrative research method. Seventy Chinese undergraduate students generated personal reflective journals and eight participants' journals were selected to enter into the narrative-oriented inquiry. Our analysis revealed a number of primary themes based on which we produced a meta-story. The supplements of the story were exacted for further critical cross-case discussion. The finding indicated that the multifaceted development of mindful agency involved learning methods, emotional regulation, strategic thinking, and awareness of planning, openness to experience, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and learning engagement, with enhanced sense of personal awareness and awakening. The coaching was supportive for students to foster positive self-identities and become more reflective, mindful, and self-determined.

Awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among Filipino immigrants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ursua, Rhodora; Aguilar, David; Wyatt, Laura; Tandon, Shiv Darius; Escondo, Kirklyn; Rey, Mariano; Trinh-Shevrin, Chau

2014-03-01

Filipino Americans have high rates of hypertension, yet little research has examined hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in this group. In a community-based sample of hypertensive Filipino American immigrants, we identify 1) rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control; and 2) factors associated with awareness, treatment, and control. Cross-sectional analysis of survey data from health screenings collected from 2006 to 2010. A total of 566 hypertensive Filipino immigrants in New York City, New York and Jersey City, New Jersey. Hypertension awareness, treatment, and control. Participants were included in analysis if they were hypertensive, based on: a past physician diagnosis, antihypertensive medication use, and/or high blood pressure (BP) screening measurements. Demographic variables included sex, age, time in the United States, location of residence, and English spoken language fluency. Health-related variables included self-reported health, insurance status, diabetes diagnosis, high cholesterol diagnosis, clinical measures (body mass index [BMI], glucose, and cholesterol), exercise frequency, smoking status, cardiac event history, family history of cardiac event, and family history of hypertension. Among the hypertensive individuals, awareness, treatment, and control rates were suboptimal; 72.1 % were aware of their status, 56.5 % were on medication, and only 21.7 % had controlled BP. Factors related to awareness included older age, worse self-reported health, family history of hypertension, and a diagnosis of high cholesterol or diabetes; factors related to treatment included older age, longer time lived in the United States, and being a non-smoker; having health insurance was found to be the main predictor of hypertension control. Many individuals had other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors; 60.4 % had a BMI ≥25, 12.0 % had at-risk glucose measurements and 12.8 % had cholesterol ≥ 240. Hypertensive Filipinos exhibit poor

AANCART best practices: cancer awareness activities for Seattle's Combodian community.

Science.gov (United States)

Seng, Paularita; Acorda, Elizabeth; Carey Jackson, J; Marchand, Ann; Thai, Hue; Tu, Shin-Ping; Taylor, Vicky

2005-12-15

Census data indicate that Cambodian Americans are economically disadvantaged and linguistically isolated. In addition, cancer registry data show that Southeast Asians experience several cancer-related health disparities (e.g., markedly elevated risks of cervical and liver cancer). The Seattle regional Asian American Network for Cancer, Awareness, Research, and Training (AANCART) site has implemented a community-based cancer awareness program for Cambodian immigrants in collaboration with a Cambodian community coalition. Our cancer awareness program has the following goals: to assist individuals and organizations in advocating for a healthy community, to provide information within a cultural context, and to deliver information in ways that are useful and meaningful to the community. The program was guided by a community assessment that included the use of published data as well as information from qualitative interviews, focus groups, and quantitative surveys. Examples of community awareness activities include group presentations at community-based organizations (e.g., during English as a second language classes), health fair participation (including at nontraditional venues such as a farmers' market serving Cambodians), and educational displays in neighborhood locations (e.g., at Cambodian video stores). In addition, the Seattle AANCART site has both inventoried and developed culturally appropriate Khmer language cancer education materials and disseminated materials through the ETHNO-MED website. Our approach recognizes that limited English language proficiency may preclude many Cambodians from understanding publicly disseminated information, and Cambodian immigrants are often isolated and tend to stay close to their own neighborhoods. Cancer 2005. (c) 2005 American Cancer Society.

[Impact on the development of parental awareness of excess weight in children].

Science.gov (United States)

Łupińska, Anna; Chlebna-Sokół, Danuta

2015-04-01

A lot of publications emphasize the special role of parents' eating habits and their lifestyle on the prevalence of excess body weight in children. The aim of this study was to answer the question whether parents of children who are overweight and obese are aware of this problem and what factors affect their perception of the excess body weight degree in their offspring. The study included 137 children aged 6,5- 13,5 years. 23 respondents were overweight and 76 obese. Compared group consisted of 113 children. All patients underwent physical examination with anthropometric measurements. Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire, where they evaluated the degree of excess body weight of their child. We also asked about both parents' weight and body height, their education and chronic diseases occurring in the family. In the group of obese children 56.2% of the respondents came from families where one parent had excess body weight while 32.9% of them from families where this problem affected both parents. In 51.3% of patients with a body mass index (BMI) above 95 centil, parents wrongly assessed the degree of excess body weight of their child, in overweight group this proportion accounted for 8.7%. There was a statistically significant (p = 0.007) correlation between the degree of children's excess body weight and the ability of parents to estimate that. Parents' education had no influence on the incidence of excess body weight in children and their ability to determine its extent. In the group of obese and overweight children only 4% of parents recognized obesity as a chronic disease. Parents of children who are overweight and obese have lower awareness about their child's weight in comparison to parents of children with normal weight. There is a statistical correlation between parents' perception of excess body weight and the development of obesity in children. © 2015 MEDPRESS.

Development of staffing evaluation principle for advanced main control room and the effect on situation awareness and mental workload

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Chiuhsiang Joe; Hsieh, Tsung-Ling; Lin, Shiau-Feng

2013-01-01

Highlights: • A staffing evaluation principle was developed for the advanced main control room. • The principle proposed to improve situation awareness and mental workload. • The principle has good validity that was examined by experimental design. - Abstract: Situation awareness and mental workload, both of which influence operator performance in the advanced main control room of a nuclear power plant, can be affected by staffing level. The key goal of staffing is to ensure the proper number of personnel to support plant operations and events. If the staffing level is not adaptive, the operators may have low situation awareness and an excessive mental workload, which lead to human error. Accordingly, this study developed a staffing evaluation principle based on CPM-GOMS modeling for operations in the advanced main control room. A within-subject experiment was designed to examine the validity of the staffing evaluation principle. The results indicated that the situation awareness, mental workload, and operating performance of the staffing level determined by the staffing evaluation principle was significantly better than that of the non-evaluated staffing level; thus, the validity of the staffing evaluation technique is acceptable. The implications of the findings of this study on managerial practice are discussed

Development of staffing evaluation principle for advanced main control room and the effect on situation awareness and mental workload

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Chiuhsiang Joe, E-mail: cjoelin@mail.ntust.edu.tw [Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43, Section 4, Keelung Road, Taipei 10607, Taiwan (China); Hsieh, Tsung-Ling, E-mail: bm1129@gmail.com [Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, 1000, Wenhua Road, Chiaan Village, Lungtan 32546, Taiwan (China); Lin, Shiau-Feng, E-mail: g9602411@cycu.edu.tw [Department of Industrial Engineering, Chung-Yuan Christian University, 200, Chung Pei Road, Chung-Li 32023, Taiwan (China)

2013-12-15

Highlights: • A staffing evaluation principle was developed for the advanced main control room. • The principle proposed to improve situation awareness and mental workload. • The principle has good validity that was examined by experimental design. - Abstract: Situation awareness and mental workload, both of which influence operator performance in the advanced main control room of a nuclear power plant, can be affected by staffing level. The key goal of staffing is to ensure the proper number of personnel to support plant operations and events. If the staffing level is not adaptive, the operators may have low situation awareness and an excessive mental workload, which lead to human error. Accordingly, this study developed a staffing evaluation principle based on CPM-GOMS modeling for operations in the advanced main control room. A within-subject experiment was designed to examine the validity of the staffing evaluation principle. The results indicated that the situation awareness, mental workload, and operating performance of the staffing level determined by the staffing evaluation principle was significantly better than that of the non-evaluated staffing level; thus, the validity of the staffing evaluation technique is acceptable. The implications of the findings of this study on managerial practice are discussed.

Consensus on core phenomena and statements describing Basic Body Awareness Therapy within the movement awareness domain in physiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Skjaerven, L H; Mattsson, M; Catalan-Matamoros, D; Parker, A; Gard, G; Gyllensten, A Lundvik

2018-02-26

Physiotherapists are facing complex health challenges in the treatment of persons suffering from long-lasting musculoskeletal disorders and mental health problems. Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) is a physiotherapy approach within the movement awareness domain developed to bridge physical, mental, and relational health challenges. The purpose of this study was to reach a consensus on core phenomena and statements describing BBAT. A consensus-building process was conducted using the nominal group technique (NGT). Twenty-one BBAT experts from 10 European countries participated in a concentrated weekend workshop of 20 hours. All participants signed informed consent. Participants reached a consensus on 138 core phenomena, clustered in three overarching categories: clinical core, historical roots, and research and evaluation phenomena. Of the 106 clinical core phenomena, the participants agreed on three categories of phenomena: movement quality, movement awareness practice, and movement awareness therapy and pedagogy. Furthermore, the participants reached 100 percent consensus on 16 of 30 statements describing BBAT. This study provides a consensus on core phenomena and statements describing BBAT. The data reveal phenomena implemented when promoting movement quality through movement awareness. Data provide clarity in some aspects of the vocabulary as fundamental theory. Further reearch will be developed.

Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics

CERN Document Server

Behrends, Ehrhard; Rodrigues, José Francisco

2012-01-01

This collective book aims to encourage and inspire actions directed towards raising public awareness of the importance of mathematical sciences for our contemporary society in a cultural and historical perspective. Mathematical societies, in Europe and around the world, can find ideas, blueprints and suggestions for activities - including concerted actions with other international organizations - directed towards raising public awareness of science, technology and other fields where mathematics plays a strong role. The material is divided into four parts: * National experiences * Exhibitions /

The Relationship Between Speech, Language, and Phonological Awareness in Preschool-Age Children With Developmental Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Barton-Hulsey, Andrea; Sevcik, Rose A; Romski, MaryAnn

2018-05-03

A number of intrinsic factors, including expressive speech skills, have been suggested to place children with developmental disabilities at risk for limited development of reading skills. This study examines the relationship between these factors, speech ability, and children's phonological awareness skills. A nonexperimental study design was used to examine the relationship between intrinsic skills of speech, language, print, and letter-sound knowledge to phonological awareness in 42 children with developmental disabilities between the ages of 48 and 69 months. Hierarchical multiple regression was done to determine if speech ability accounted for a unique amount of variance in phonological awareness skill beyond what would be expected by developmental skills inclusive of receptive language and print and letter-sound knowledge. A range of skill in all areas of direct assessment was found. Children with limited speech were found to have emerging skills in print knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, and phonological awareness. Speech ability did not predict a significant amount of variance in phonological awareness beyond what would be expected by developmental skills of receptive language and print and letter-sound knowledge. Children with limited speech ability were found to have receptive language and letter-sound knowledge that supported the development of phonological awareness skills. This study provides implications for practitioners and researchers concerning the factors related to early reading development in children with limited speech ability and developmental disabilities.

The State of Disability Awareness in American Medical Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidel, Erica; Crowe, Scott

2017-09-01

This study was designed to: (1) determine how many American medical schools include disability awareness in their curriculum, (2) explore the format of disability awareness programs in existence, and (3) understand why some schools do not include disability awareness in their curriculum. An online survey was sent to deans of medical education (or equivalent positions) at accredited allopathic and osteopathic American medical schools (N = 167) in 2015. Seventy-five schools (45%) completed surveys. Fifty-two percent (39/75) reported having a disability awareness program. The most common format was people with disabilities or caregivers speaking in a large group setting. Programs were most likely to focus on adults with physical disabilities. Among schools without a program, the top barriers were no one advocating for inclusion in the curriculum and time constraints. Nearly half of schools without a program expressed interest in adopting an awareness curriculum if one was made available. Such results indicate that efforts should be made to increase the number of schools that provide disability awareness education through increased advocacy and providing additional resources to schools without a curriculum.

[Working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis].

Science.gov (United States)

Gindri, Gigiane; Keske-Soares, Márcia; Mota, Helena Bolli

2007-01-01

Working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis. To verify the relationship between working memory, phonological awareness and spelling hypothesis in pre-school children and first graders. Participants of this study were 90 students, belonging to state schools, who presented typical linguistic development. Forty students were preschoolers, with the average age of six and 50 students were first graders, with the average age of seven. Participants were submitted to an evaluation of the working memory abilities based on the Working Memory Model (Baddeley, 2000), involving phonological loop. Phonological loop was evaluated using the Auditory Sequential Test, subtest 5 of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), Brazilian version (Bogossian & Santos, 1977), and the Meaningless Words Memory Test (Kessler, 1997). Phonological awareness abilities were investigated using the Phonological Awareness: Instrument of Sequential Assessment (CONFIAS - Moojen et al., 2003), involving syllabic and phonemic awareness tasks. Writing was characterized according to Ferreiro & Teberosky (1999). Preschoolers presented the ability of repeating sequences of 4.80 digits and 4.30 syllables. Regarding phonological awareness, the performance in the syllabic level was of 19.68 and in the phonemic level was of 8.58. Most of the preschoolers demonstrated to have a pre-syllabic writing hypothesis. First graders repeated, in average, sequences of 5.06 digits and 4.56 syllables. These children presented a phonological awareness of 31.12 in the syllabic level and of 16.18 in the phonemic level, and demonstrated to have an alphabetic writing hypothesis. The performance of working memory, phonological awareness and spelling level are inter-related, as well as being related to chronological age, development and scholarity.

Pre-Service Teacher Opinions about Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package Developed to Raise Environmental Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Candan, Sevcan; Erten, Sinan

2015-01-01

In this study, the effectiveness of Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package developed in order to raise environmental awareness in pre-service teachers and enable them to be an example of an eco-friendly teacher for their future students, and the responses about Eco-Friendly Person Activity Package were investigated. The study was conducted on 75…

The Role of Emergent Bilingualism in the Development of Morphological Awareness in Arabic and Hebrew

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Mila; Taha, Haitham; Assad, Hanan; Khamaisi, Ferdos; Eviatar, Zohar

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of dual language development and cross-linguistic influence on morphological awareness in young bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2). We examined whether (a) the bilingual children (L1/L2 Arabic and L1/L2 Hebrew) precede their monolingual Hebrew- or…

Awareness and Awakening: A Narrative-Oriented Inquiry of Undergraduate Students' Development of Mindful Agency in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article explores undergraduate students' experiences of developing mindful agency as a positive learning disposition, their perceived change as a learner, and the possible impact of mindful agency coaching on students' learning and personal growth, using a narrative research method. Seventy Chinese undergraduate students generated personal reflective journals and eight participants' journals were selected to enter into the narrative-oriented inquiry. Our analysis revealed a number of primary themes based on which we produced a meta-story. The supplements of the story were exacted for further critical cross-case discussion. The finding indicated that the multifaceted development of mindful agency involved learning methods, emotional regulation, strategic thinking, and awareness of planning, openness to experience, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and learning engagement, with enhanced sense of personal awareness and awakening. The coaching was supportive for students to foster positive self-identities and become more reflective, mindful, and self-determined.

Cyber defense and situational awareness

CERN Document Server

Kott, Alexander; Erbacher, Robert F

2015-01-01

This book is the first publication to give a comprehensive, structured treatment to the important topic of situational awareness in cyber defense. It presents the subject in a logical, consistent, continuous discourse, covering key topics such as formation of cyber situational awareness, visualization and human factors, automated learning and inference, use of ontologies and metrics, predicting and assessing impact of cyber attacks, and achieving resilience of cyber and physical mission. Chapters include case studies, recent research results and practical insights described specifically for th

Development of a health promotion programme to improve awareness of factors that affect fertility, and evaluation of its reach in the first 5 years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin Hammarberg

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Awareness among people of reproductive age about the factors that influence fertility and reproductive outcomes, including medically assisted reproduction outcomes, is generally low. To improve awareness about the potentially modifiable factors that affect fertility and reproductive outcomes, ‘Your Fertility’, a fertility health promotion programme funded by the Australian Government, was established in 2011. This paper describes the development and evaluation of the reach of the Your Fertility programme from its inception in 2011 to June 2016. Systematically recorded outcomes for the programme’s key focus areas and Google Analytics data were collated. Key achievements include developing and maintaining an internationally renowned website that experiences high growth and demand for fertility-related information; by 2016, over 5 million users had viewed more than 10 million webpages, and over 96,000 users had engaged in programme messages across social media. Programme messages have reached more than 4 million Australian social media users, and a potential audience of 150 million through media coverage across more than 320 media features. More than 4200 education and health professionals have completed online learning modules, and external partnerships have been established with 14 separate organizations. Data collected over 5 years indicate that the Your Fertility programme meets a need for targeted, evidence-based, accessible fertility-related information.

Situational Awareness and Logistics Division

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Volpe's Situational Awareness and Logistics Division researches, develops, implements, and analyzes advanced systems to protect, enhance, and ensure resilienceof the...

DEVELOPMENT OF PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS OF STUTTERING CHILDREN AND CHILDREN WITH FLUENT SPEECH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leila BEGIC

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine characteristics of phonological awareness of stuttering children and children with fluent speech. The sample consisted of 64 children, between 56 and 83 months old (4 years and 8 months to 6 years and 11 months. Examinees were divided in two groups. The first group consisted of 32 stuttering children, 19 males, and 13 females. The control group consisted of 32 children with fluent speech, whose age and sex were equal to the age and sex of the children in the experimental group. The research was conducted in preschools and primary schools in Tuzla and Una-Sana Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The subjects were examined with 7 subtests (syllable and phoneme blending abilities, ability to rhyme, phoneme segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme transposition and spoonerisms. Each of the subtest scores, which index a variety of phonological awareness abilities, was examined separately. Phonological awareness score is the total score which relates to a common result that the subjects achieved on these 7 individual subtests. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between stuttering children and their peers with fluent speech in relation to Phonological awareness score. The examination of differences between stuttering and non-stuttering children in individual variables, which describe phonological awareness, showed that there was statistically significant difference in the ability to rhyme between these two subjects groups. T-test was used for examination of the differences between the male stuttering children and their fluent peers, and also female stuttering children and their fluent peers for the phonological awareness variables. The results exhibited statistically significant differences in the variable Rhyme between the male stuttering children and their fluent peers. In addition, we examined the ability of phonemic analysis of children who stutter and children with fluent

Quantized Visual Awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W Alexander Escobar

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The proposed model holds that, at its most fundamental level, visual awareness is quantized. That is to say that visual awareness arises as individual bits of awareness through the action of neural circuits with hundreds to thousands of neurons in at least the human striate cortex. Circuits with specific topologies will reproducibly result in visual awareness that correspond to basic aspects of vision like color, motion and depth. These quanta of awareness (qualia are produced by the feedforward sweep that occurs through the geniculocortical pathway but are not integrated into a conscious experience until recurrent processing from centers like V4 or V5 select the appropriate qualia being produced in V1 to create a percept. The model proposed here has the potential to shift the focus of the search for visual awareness to the level of microcircuits and these likely exist across the kingdom Animalia. Thus establishing qualia as the fundamental nature of visual awareness will not only provide a deeper understanding of awareness, but also allow for a more quantitative understanding of the evolution of visual awareness throughout the animal kingdom.

Advanced WEEE recovery and recycling management system (AWARENESS); AWARENESS-projekti

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malmstroem, P; Wiik, C [Technology Industries of Finland, Helsinki (Finland); Kirkkomaeki, T; Tirkkonen, T [Antrea Solutions Oy, Espoo (Finland)

2004-07-01

The aim of the AWARENESS project is to support companies in arriving at a consensus on WEEE implementation details, to start company co-operation in different product categories and to take the optimal recycling processes in use. The Internet-based information system, which will be developed during the project, is designed to meet the information needs of the producers of electronics products and to fulfil the information and reporting obligation imposed by the WEEE directive. In the AWARENESS project, there are two parallel subprojects called RecISys and SELMA, and in addition a supplementary co-operation project managed by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT). Main focus in the SELMA subproject is to manage issues related to operational recycling and to carry out communication between companies and national authorities. The RecISys subproject will follow operational recycling processes and develop an Internet-based technical system to support producers as well as other parties and chosen processes. The co- operation project called RFID, pilots the utilisation of radiofrequency identification technique to the end-of-life products. (orig.)

Effective mechanisms for environmental awareness enhancement of the Thai public company

Science.gov (United States)

Tilokwan, P.; Limjirakan, S.

2018-02-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore effective mechanisms towards environmental awareness enhancement of the Thai public company. The environmental awareness has been strongly mentioned in the international agenda such as Agenda 21 to achieve sustainable development and be implemented at the global communities in all sectors. Thailand’s environmental awareness has been set up as the national policy and continuously promoted in the business sectors. The selected study area is one of Thai industrial public companies mainly utilizing natural resources for its business. Data collection was conducted by using questionnaires with a stratified sampling method comprising of 28 managerial and 134 operational levels. Descriptive statistics were be used for data analysis presented in terms of percentage. The study found that the effective mechanisms towards environmental awareness enhancement include employees’ participation in environmental friendly field trip, environmental knowledge provided by the company, supply chain involvement, law enforcement, and international environmental standard applied by the company. This study would recommend that public participation should be involved in order to make the mechanisms effectively.

The Central Neural Foundations of Awareness and Self-Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaff, D.; Martin, E. M.; Weingarten, W.; Vimal, V.

In the past, neuroscientists have done very well to concentrate onexplaining the mechanisms for very specific, simple behaviors. For example, our laboratory's work with molecular and neural mechanisms of a simple sex behavior proved for the first time that specific biochemical reactions in specific parts of the brain govern a specific behavior [D. W. Pfaff, Drive: Neurobiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Sexual Motivation (The MIT Press, Cambridge, 1999)]. Now, advances in our field coupled with new techniques permit us to attack the problems of explaining global changes of state in the central nervous system. For example, how does a simple sex behavior depend on sexual arousal, and in turn, how does that sexual arousal depend on other forms of CNS arousal? Of surpassing interest is the explanation of the primary causes of brain arousal [D. W. Pfaff, textit{Brain Arousal and Information Theory: Neural and Genetic Mechanisms} (Harvard University Press, Cambridg e, 2006)]. We have hypothesized that the earliest and most elementary event in waking up the brain is the activation of certain primitive nerve cells in the hindbrain reticular formation. Hypothesizing a `generalized arousal' force emanating from these cells puts forth an idea roughly analogous to the hypothesis of a `big bang' in astrophysics, or to our ideas about the magma of the earth in geophysics. Following the activation of this primitive arousal force we are able to be alert and aware. The neuroanatomical pathways serving brain arousal are fairly well known: they are Bilateral, Bidirectional, Universal among vertebrate animals including humans, and they are always involved in Response Potentiation, approach or avoidance responses (BBURP theory). More than 120 genes are involved in the regulation of brain arousal. In theoretical terms, the discussion so far has dealt with `bottoms up' approaches to awareness -- from mechanisms in the hindbrain working through several phylogenetically ancient

Situational Awareness Support to Enhance Teamwork in Collaborative Working Environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kulyk, Olga Anatoliyivna; van Dijk, Elisabeth M.A.G.; van der Vet, P.E.; Nijholt, Antinus; van der Veer, Gerrit C.; Whitworth, B.; de Moor, A.

This chapter addresses awareness support to enhance teamwork in co-located collaborative environments. In particular, we focus on the concept of situational awareness which is essential for successful team collaboration. Mutual situational awareness leads to informal social interactions, development

Conceptualizing prognostic awareness in advanced cancer: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Applebaum, Allison J; Kolva, Elissa A; Kulikowski, Julia R; Jacobs, Jordana D; DeRosa, Antonio; Lichtenthal, Wendy G; Olden, Megan E; Rosenfeld, Barry; Breitbart, William

2014-09-01

This systematic review synthesizes the complex literature on prognostic awareness in cancer. A total of 37 studies examining cancer patients' understanding of their prognosis were included. Prognostic awareness definitions and assessment methods were inconsistent across studies. A surprisingly high percentage of patients (up to 75%) were unaware of their poor prognosis, and in several studies, even their cancer diagnosis (up to 96%), particularly in studies conducted outside of North America. This review highlights surprisingly low rates of prognostic awareness in patients with advanced cancer as well as discrepancies in prognostic awareness assessment, suggesting the need for empirically validated measures of prognostic awareness. © The Author(s) 2013.

Investigating the Effect of Situational Awareness on Persistence of Doctoral Distance Learners

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Harleman, Thomas G.

2013-01-01

This quantitative study sought to identify the effect of heightened situational awareness (SA) on persistence of doctoral distance learners. Factors in the distance learners' micro-environment, vis-à-vis Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecology theory of human development, were the focus. Study participants included new doctoral candidates continuing…

A Study of Public Health Awareness among the Elderly in an Industrially Developing Country

OpenAIRE

Ruhana Zainuddin; Norshaieda Abdullah; Syaidatul Z.M. Din; Paul H.P. Yeow; H. S. Loo

2011-01-01

Problem statement: The elderly in Industrially Developing Countries (IDC) may encounter problems regarding health. This research is to determine the common diseases or ailments experienced by adults over the age of 40. Approach: A sample of 150 respondents was taken from three states in Malaysia, an IDC. Demographic profiles such as age, gender and race were obtained and questions regarding attentiveness and awareness of health were asked. Four hypotheses were tested. Multiple regression anal...

Developing an NGSS Pedagogy for Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Using the CLEAN Collection

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, C. L. B.; Taylor, J.; Oonk, D.; Sullivan, S. M.; Kirk, K.; Niepold, F., III

2017-12-01

The Next Generation Science Standards and A Framework for K-12 Science Education have introduced us to 3-dimensional science instruction. Together, these provide infinite opportunities to generate interesting problems inspiring instruction and motivating student learning. Finding good resources to support 3-dimensional learning is challenging. The Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) as a comprehensive source of high-quality, NGSS-aligned resources that can be quickly and easily searched. Furthermore, teachers new to NGSS are asked to do the following: synthesize high quality, scientifically vetted resources to engage students in relevant phenomena, problems and projects develop place-awareness for where students live and learn encourage data analysis, modeling, and argumentation skills energize students to participate in finding possible solutions to the problems we face. These challenges are intensified when teaching climate science and energy technology, some of the most rapidly changing science and engineering fields. Educators can turn to CLEAN to find scientifically and pedagogically vetted resources to integrate into their lessons. In this presentation, we will introduce the newly developed Harmonics Planning Template, Guidance Videos and Flowchart that guide the development of instructionally-sound, NGSS-style units using the CLEAN collection of resources. To illustrate the process, three example units will be presented: Phenology - a place-based investigation, Debating the Grid - a deliberation on optimal energy grid solutions, and History of Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans - a data-rich collaborative investigation.

The Role of Emergent Bilingualism in the Development of Morphological Awareness in Arabic and Hebrew.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Mila; Taha, Haitham; Assad, Hanan; Khamaisi, Ferdos; Eviatar, Zohar

2016-08-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of dual language development and cross-linguistic influence on morphological awareness in young bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2). We examined whether (a) the bilingual children (L1/L2 Arabic and L1/L2 Hebrew) precede their monolingual Hebrew- or Arabic-speaking peers in L1 and L2 morphological awareness, and (b) 1 Semitic language (Arabic) has cross-linguistic influence on another Semitic language (Hebrew) in morphological awareness. The study sample comprised 93 six-year-old children. The bilinguals had attended bilingual Hebrew-Arabic kindergartens for 1 academic year and were divided into 2 groups: home language Hebrew (L1) and home language Arabic (L1). These groups were compared to age-matched monolingual Hebrew speakers and monolingual Arabic speakers. We used nonwords similar in structure to familiar words in both target languages, representing 6 inflectional morphological categories. L1 Arabic and L1 Hebrew bilinguals performed significantly better than Arabic- and Hebrew-speaking monolinguals in the respective languages. Differences were not found between the bilingual groups. We found evidence of cross-linguistic transfer of morphological awareness from Arabic to Hebrew in 2 categories-bound possessives and dual number-probably because these categories are more salient in Palestinian Spoken Arabic than in Hebrew. We conclude that children with even an initial exposure to L2 reveal acceleration of sensitivity to word structure in both of their languages. We suggest that this is due to the fact that two Semitic languages, Arabic and Hebrew, share a common core of linguistic features, together with favorable contextual factors and instructional factors.

Awareness of occupational skin disease in the service sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Holness, D L; Kudla, I; Brown, J; Miller, S

2017-06-01

Occupational skin disease (OSD) is a common occupational disease. Although primary prevention strategies are known, OSDs remain prevalent in a variety of work environments including the service sector (restaurant/food services, retail/wholesale, tourism/hospitality and vehicle sales and service). To obtain information about awareness and prevention of OSD in the service sector. Focus groups and a survey were conducted with two groups. The first consisted of staff of the provincial health and safety association for the service sector and the second group comprised representatives from sector employers. Focus groups highlighted key issues to inform the survey that obtained information about perceptions of awareness and prevention of OSD and barriers to awareness and prevention. Both provincial health and safety association staff and sector employer representatives highlighted low awareness and a low level of knowledge of OSD in the sector. Barriers to awareness and prevention included a low reported incidence of OSD, low priority, lack of training materials, lack of time and cost of training, lack of management support and workplace culture. A starting point for improving prevention of OSD in the service sector is increased awareness. Identification of the barriers to awareness and prevention will help to shape an awareness campaign and prevention strategies. Building on existing experience in Europe will be important. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Knowledge management awareness in a research and development facility: Investigating employee perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Potgieter

2013-12-01

Objectives: This study aimed to understand Sasol R&D employees’ perceptions of knowledge management (KM. The study also assessed the attitude of Sasol R&D management towards KM. Method: The target population for this research included different levels of seniority and education in Sasol R&D. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 150 employees in R&D and 50 more who work closely with R&D in support functions. Results: It was found that the importance of KM is understood by Sasol R&D employees and management. It was established that Sasol R&D management regard KM as important, but that their commitment to KM initiatives is not necessarily evident for employees. A concern highlighted by the study was that employees were not aware of the duties of the identified KM champions within their facility. Conclusion: It was suggested that Sasol R&D employees should be made aware of the duties of KM champions. It was also established that Sasol R&D management needs to be more visible in their support of KM initiatives. Recommendations based on the findings of the study can assist Sasol R&D, and other facilities attempting to implement a KM strategy, to gain insight into the perceptions of employees and the role management needs to play in the facilitation of this process.

Developing public awareness for climate change: Support from international research programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barnes, F.J.; Clements, W.E.

1998-12-31

Developing regional and local public awareness and interest in global climate change has been mandated as an important step for increasing the ability for setting policy and managing the response to climate change. Research programs frequently have resources that could help reach regional or national goals for increasing the capacity for responding to climate change. To obtain these resources and target recipients appropriately, research investigators need clear statements of national and regional strategies or priorities as a guide. One such program, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, has a requirement to develop local or regional education enrichment programs at their observational sites in the central US, the tropical western Pacific (TWP), and on the north slope of alaska. ARM's scientific goals will result in a flow of technical data and as well as technical expertise that can assist with regional needs to increase the technical resources needed to address climate change issues. Details of the ARM education program in the Pacific will be presented.

Genre-Based Tasks in Foreign Language Writing: Developing Writers' Genre Awareness, Linguistic Knowledge, and Writing Competence

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuda, Sachiko

2011-01-01

This study examines how novice foreign language (FL) writers develop their genre awareness, linguistic knowledge, and writing competence in a genre-based writing course that incorporates email-writing tasks. To define genre, the study draws on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) that sees language as a resource for making meaning in a particular…

Implementing program-wide awareness about recovery in a large mental health and addictions program.

Science.gov (United States)

McVanel-Viney, Sarah; Younger, Jodi; Doyle, Winnie; Kirkpatrick, Helen

2006-01-01

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton conceptualized a multi-step plan for implementing a recovery oriented service delivery approach within their Mental Health and Addictions Program. This brief report discusses the first phase of this plan which included building awareness of recovery utilizing Anthony's (2000) system standards to develop a needs assessment for managers and senior team members. The survey had three purposes: to increase managers' awareness about recovery; to allow managers to express concerns that they had with this paradigm; and to afford managers an opportunity to explore the ways in which their service was and was not operating in a recovery oriented way. Initiatives designed to build awareness throughout the program are discussed.

English-French bilingual children’s phonological awareness and vocabulary skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PiYu Chiang

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study examined the relationship between English-speaking children’s vocabulary skills in English and in French and their phonological awareness skills in both languages. Forty-four kindergarten-aged children attending French immersion programs were administered a receptive vocabulary test, an expressive vocabulary test and a phonological awareness test in English and French. Results showed that French phonological awareness was largely explained by English phonological awareness, consistent with previous findings that phonological awareness skills transfer across languages. However, there was a small unique contribution from French expressive vocabulary size to French phonological awareness. The importance of vocabulary skills to the development of phonological awareness is discussed.

Evaluating Risk Awareness in Undergraduate Students Studying Mechanical Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Langdon, G. S.; Balchin, K.; Mufamadi, P.

2010-01-01

This paper examines the development of risk awareness among undergraduate students studying mechanical engineering at a South African university. A questionnaire developed at the University of Liverpool was modified and used on students from the first, second and third year cohorts to assess their awareness in the areas of professional…

Electroconvulsive therapy: Promoting awareness among primary care physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Sicher, Sarah; Gedzior, Joanna

2016-04-01

This article aims to promote awareness among primary care providers and support electroconvulsive therapy as a generally well-tolerated, effective therapeutic modality to treat specific psychiatric conditions in appropriately selected patients. There seem to be several potential barriers to treatment with electroconvulsive therapy including stigma, lack of providers who preform it, and lack of awareness among providers referring patients who may be appropriate candidates. The article provides a brief overview of electroconvulsive therapy principles and topics and includes a case report to illustrate clinical utility. The article proposes the concept that a potential way to overcome barriers to treatment with electroconvulsive therapy may be to promote education and awareness of it as a viable treatment modality among primary care providers. © The Author(s) 2016.

Understanding situation awareness and its importance in patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Gluyas, Heather; Harris, Sarah-Jane

2016-04-20

Situation awareness describes an individual's perception, comprehension and subsequent projection of what is going on in the environment around them. The concept of situation awareness sits within the group of non-technical skills that include teamwork, communication and managing hierarchical lines of communication. The importance of non-technical skills has been recognised in safety-critical industries such as aviation, the military, nuclear, and oil and gas. However, health care has been slow to embrace the role of non-technical skills such as situation awareness in improving outcomes and minimising the risk of error. This article explores the concept of situation awareness and the cognitive processes involved in maintaining it. In addition, factors that lead to a loss of situation awareness and strategies to improve situation awareness are discussed.

[A mental health awareness anti-stigma program including user-trainers has a significant impact on knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of job centre professionals in Paris].

Science.gov (United States)

Jouet, E; Moineville, M; Favriel, S; Leriche, P; Greacen, T

2014-04-01

Developing programs and actions to fight stigma and discrimination against people living with mental disorders is a priority both internationally and in France. Involving mental health service users in these anti-stigma programs has proved to be a key element for effective programs. The present study evaluates the impact of user-trainers in an anti-stigma campaign with job counselors on their knowledge, beliefs, and desire for social distance with regard to mental illness and the mentally ill. Eighty-nine professionals participated in eight mental health awareness days from December 2008 to June 2009. Each training day was built around two pedagogical units: firstly, a psychiatrist providing a theoretical overview of mental illness and care and secondly, user-trainers describing their point of view on mental illness and exchanging with participants. A questionnaire administered at the beginning and at the end of the mental health awareness day assessed the impact of the day on participants' knowledge, beliefs, and desire for social distance. Answers to open questions were evaluated using thematic qualitative analysis. The intervention had statistically significant positive effects on all three training objectives: knowledge, beliefs and desire for social distance. Analysis of qualitative data confirmed participants' need for information and training with regard to providing support to clients with mental health problems; participants frequently attributed their improved self-confidence at the end of the day with regard to providing job coaching for this population group to the presence of user-trainers. A mental health awareness day using mental health service users and psychiatrists as trainers had significant positive effects in terms of reducing stigma with regard to people with mental illness. Further research is needed to understand whether the impact of such awareness approaches can be maintained in everyday professional practice over time. Copyright © 2013

Applications of Context-Aware Computing in Hospital Work - Examples and Design Principles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bardram, Jacob Eyvind

2004-01-01

Context-awareness is a key concept in ubiquitous computing, which sometimes seems to be a technology looking for a purpose. In this paper we report on the application of context-aware computing for medical work in hospitals, which has appeared to be a strong case for applying context-aware comput...... of designing, developing, and evaluating context-aware clinical applications, the paper outlines some key design principles for a context-awareness framework, supporting the development and deployment of context-aware clinical computer applications.......Context-awareness is a key concept in ubiquitous computing, which sometimes seems to be a technology looking for a purpose. In this paper we report on the application of context-aware computing for medical work in hospitals, which has appeared to be a strong case for applying context......-aware computing. We present the design of a context-aware pill container and a context-aware hospital bed, both of which reacts and adapts according to what is happening in their context. The applications have been evaluated in a number of workshop with clinicians and patients. Based on this empirical work...

What Is the Key to Improving Renal Transplant Recipients' Awareness of Skin Cancer Risk?

Science.gov (United States)

Borghi, Alessandro; Corazza, Monica; Battaglia, Yuri; Maietti, Elisa; Minghetti, Sara; Virgili, Annarosa

2016-01-01

Previous studies have shown poor compliance rates regarding sun protection among organ transplant recipients. The main objective of the present study was to assess the awareness among renal transplant recipients (RTRs) of their risk of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) development and their sunscreen use. The influence of several potentially relevant variables was also assessed in order to identify possible weak points on which to concentrate efforts in this respect. A total of 132 RTRs (92 males and 40 females) were included. The following information was collected and elaborated: (a) demographics; (b) skin phototype; (c) educational level; (d) time elapsed since transplantation; (e) immunosuppressive treatments; (f) previous dermatological visits; (g) patients' awareness of their NMSC risk; (h) use of sunscreen; and (i) previous documented NMSCs or NMSCs found during the study visit. Overall, 65 patients (49.2%) expressed awareness of their susceptibility to skin cancers. A high educational level was the main factor associated with patients' awareness. Thirty-six RTRs (27.3%) reported using sunscreen regularly. High educational level and awareness of personal susceptibility to NMSC development were the most relevant factors associated with sun protection habits. The present study showed the low level of sunscreen use among RTRs and their scanty awareness of personal skin cancer risk. Since educational level has been found to be highly related to both awareness of cancer risk and adequate use of sunscreen among RTRs, it is necessary to improve the way education is delivered by dermatologists and nephrologists, especially to subjects with a low educational level. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Turkish Metalinguistic Awareness Scale: A Validity and Reliability Study

Science.gov (United States)

Varisoglu, Behice

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to develop a useful, valid and reliable measurement tool that will help teacher candidates determine their Turkish metalinguistic awareness. During the development of the scale, a pool of items was created by scanning the relevant literature and examining other awareness scales. The materials prepared were re-examined…

Arab Societal Awareness of Dental Veneers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfouzan, Afnan; Al-Sanie, Aisha A; Al-Dhafiri, Reem A

2018-03-01

The aim of this study is to assess the Arab society's knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward dental veneers. A cross-sectional study was performed by collecting data through an online questionnaire created using the Survey Monkey website and distributed among Middle Eastern societies through social media to ascertain participants' knowledge and awareness regarding dental veneers. The sample included Arab laypeople who were over 18 years old, to represent the awareness of the majority regarding dental veneers. The sample of this study included 1,332 subjects from different Middle Eastern nationalities, mainly Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Emiratis (15.6% of males and 84.4% of females). The results of this study showed that the total knowledge of dental veneers is 50.12%. The respondents with the highest level of knowledge acquired their information mainly from newspapers and magazines, followed by the Internet, then dentists, then social media, and, finally, friends and relatives. Cost was the only factor limiting 38.4% of subjects from receiving veneers, and 56% of the subjects would receive veneers if they were free of cost. In total, 72.6% of the respondents believed that veneers are currently overused. The knowledge and awareness of dental veneers were below a satisfactory level. Participants who relied on social media as a source of information had lower knowledge levels. This study emphasized the need for continual societal education regarding dental veneers.

Emotion awareness and cognitive behavioural therapy in young people with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts-Collins, Cara; Mahoney-Davies, Gerwyn; Russell, Ailsa; Booth, Anne; Loades, Maria

2017-07-01

Young people with autism spectrum disorder experience high levels of emotional problems, including anxiety and depression. Adapted cognitive behavioural therapy is recommended for such difficulties. However, no evidence suggests whether emotion awareness is important in treatment outcome for young people on the autism spectrum. This study aimed to investigate the potential differences in emotion awareness between (1) young people on the autism spectrum and typically developing youth and (2) young people on the autism spectrum with and without experience of cognitive behavioural therapy. Three groups (aged 11-20 years) participated: (1) typically developing young people ( n = 56); (2) young people on the autism spectrum with no experience of cognitive behavioural therapy ( n = 23); and (3) young people on the autism spectrum who had attended cognitive behavioural therapy ( n = 33). All participants completed the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire-30 item version. Young people on the autism spectrum differed significantly from typically developing young people on the emotional awareness measure. Young people on the autism spectrum who had attended cognitive behavioural therapy scored significantly lower on the Differentiating Emotions subscale, and significantly higher on the Attending to Others' Emotions subscale, compared to young people on the autism spectrum who had not attended cognitive behavioural therapy. This study highlights the importance of psycho-educational components of cognitive behavioural therapy when adapting for young people on the autism spectrum.

Towards improved public awareness for climate related disaster risk reduction in South Africa: A Participatory Development Communication perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tigere Chagutah

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Southern Africa has frequently been struck by damaging climate hazards which increasingly continue to threaten sustainable development efforts. Ominously, climate models predict that the incidence of major ‘wet’ events, such as floods and cyclones will increase in frequency against the background of a changing climate. Unfortunately, local mechanisms for communicating and raising public awareness of the consequent risks and appropriate risk reduction options remain weak. At the core of policy responses to the threat posed by climate related hazards, the South African government has adopted a disaster risk reduction approach to disaster management. This article details how, among many other measures to limit the adverse impacts of natural hazards, South Africa’s National Disaster Management Framework calls for the implementation of effective public awareness activities to increase the knowledge among communities of the risks they face and what risk-minimising actions they can take. Emphasis is laid on the importance of information provision and knowledge building among at-risk communities. Citing established theories and strategies, the author proposes a participatory development communication approach through Development Support Communication strategies for the provision of disaster risk reduction public awareness activities by government and other disaster risk reduction role-players in South Africa. By way of a review of completed studies and literature, the article provides guidance on the planning and execution of successful public communication campaigns and also discusses the constraints of communication campaigns as an intervention for comprehensive disaster risk reduction.

The Helpfulness of Spiritually Influenced Group Work in Developing Self-Awareness and Self-Esteem: A Preliminary Investigation

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Diana Coholic

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses an exploratory study that investigated the helpfulness of spiritually influenced group work with eight adult women who shared a history of substance abuse. The overall purpose of the group was to help participants develop their self-awareness and self-esteem. The group, which was contextualized in transpersonal theory, was organized around the following themes and experiential exercises: meditation, mindfulness practice, dream work, stream of consciousness writing, the shadow self, and other arts-based processes. Grounded-theory analysis of group sessions and individual interviews with the participants found that the participants perceived the group to be helpful in developing their self-awareness and self-esteem. While the participants identified different aspects of the group as spiritual, making-meaning was one practice that was consistently described as a spiritually sensitive process. The results of this study in this emergent field are promising and suggestions are provided for future research.

Assessing climate change awareness influence on Egyptian children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sherine El Sakka

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Climate change (CCH is one of the important issues raised globally lately. heat, humidity pollution could harm children, cause diseases and death,85 % of the world’s youth live in the de-veloping countries, and Egypt as one of the developing countries its children face a great risk spe-cially with the presence of weak climate change awareness impact. Our research will investigate Egypt climate change awareness (CCA problem and how it affects Egyptian children, we will try to explore children problems (CHP, due to limited climate change awareness and conclude by emphasizing the importance of having appropriate solution; in term of avoiding negative climate change impact (CCHI on children in the future.

Determinants of glaucoma awareness in urban punjab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farooq, S.; Jaffar, S.; Kausar, A.

2015-01-01

To assess the awareness about glaucoma and the factors affecting it in urban Punjab population. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in March-April 2011 in Rawalpindi District Punjab, Pakistan. Material and Methods: Glaucoma awareness study was conducted on urban population of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore and Taxila. Individuals belonging to medical profession (doctors, nurses and paramedics etc) were not included. Demographic details and educational status of all participants were documented. A brief structured close-ended study questionnaire was used to collect information about their awareness of risk factors, treatment aspects and complication of glaucoma. Results: There were 729 participants in the study. Majority were females (60.1%) and adults (76.1%). Literacy level of 40.2% was up to matriculate level. The study indicated that the awareness level about glaucoma was low especially about the recognition of high-risk groups and symptoms. Only one-third of respondents i.e. 32.6% had an idea about the symptoms of the disease and 27.4% participants had awareness of glaucoma as a blinding eye disease. Determinants of glaucoma awareness amongst study participants were gender, age, education level and occupation. Conclusion: Awareness of glaucoma was quite low among the urban population in Punjab. There is need of increased public health education to reduce glaucoma associated blindness and its burden on society. (author)

Dynamic Effects of Sponsoring : How Sponsorship Awareness Develops Over Time

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Walraven, Merel; Bijmolt, Tammo H. A.; Koning, Ruud H.

2014-01-01

This study takes a longitudinal perspective to investigate sponsorship awareness in a multiple-year, international context pertaining to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, a prestigious European soccer competition for club teams with worldwide exposure. A logit

On the Development of Relationship Awareness Theory: A Personal Note

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Elias H.

1976-01-01

Relationship Awareness Theory is based on the premise that one's behavior traits are consistent with what one finds gratifying in interpersonal relations and with concepts or beliefs one holds about how to interact with others to achieve those gratifications. (Author)

Open educational resources: staff attitudes and awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivien Rolfe

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Attitudes are changing in education globally to promote the open sharing of educational courses and resources. The aim of this study was to explore staff awareness and attitudes toward ‘open educational resources’ (OER as a benchmark for monitoring future progress. Faculty staff (n=6 were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews which facilitated the development of a questionnaire. Staff respondents (n=50 were not familiar with the term OER but had a clear notion of what it meant. They were familiar with open content repositories within the university but not externally. A culture of borrowing and sharing of resources exists between close colleagues, but not further a field, and whilst staff would obtain resources from the Internet they were reticent to place materials there. Drivers for mobilising resources included a strong belief in open education, the ability of OER to enhance individual and institutional reputations, and economic factors. Barriers to OER included confusion over copyright and lack of IT support. To conclude, there is a positive collegiate culture within the faculty, and overcoming the lack of awareness and dismantling the barriers to sharing will help advance the open educational practices, benefiting both faculty staff and the global community.

Adaptive Synthetic Forces: Situation Awareness

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hill, Randall

2001-01-01

...: perception, comprehension, and prediction. Building on these ideas, we developed techniques for improving the situation awareness in synthetic helicopter pilots for the ModSAF military simulation by giving them more human-like perception...

High-school software development project helps increasing students' awareness of geo-hydrological hazards and their risks

Science.gov (United States)

Marchesini, Ivan; Rossi, Mauro; Balducci, Vinicio; Salvati, Paola; Guzzetti, Fausto; Bianchini, Andrea; Grzeleswki, Emanuell; Canonico, Andrea; Coccia, Rita; Fiorucci, Gianni Mario; Gobbi, Francesca; Ciuchetti, Monica

2015-04-01

In Italy, inundation and landslides are widespread phenomena that impact the population and cause significant economic damage to private and public properties. The perception of the risk posed by these natural geo-hydrological hazards varies geographically and in time. The variation in the perception of the risks has negative consequences on risk management, and limits the adoption of effective risk reduction strategies. We maintain that targeted education can foster the understanding of geo-hydrological hazards, improving their perception and the awareness of the associated risk. Collaboration of a research center experienced in geo-hydrological hazards and risks (CNR IRPI, Perugia) and a high school (ITIS Alessandro Volta, Perugia) has resulted in the design and execution of a project aimed at improving the perception of geo-hydrological risks in high school students and teachers through software development. In the two-year project, students, high school teachers and research scientists have jointly developed software broadly related to landslide and flood hazards. User requirements and system specifications were decided to facilitate the distribution and use of the software among students and their peers. This allowed a wider distribution of the project results. We discuss two prototype software developed by the high school students, including an application of augmented reality for improved dissemination of information of landslides and floods with human consequences in Italy, and a crowd science application to allow students (and others, including their families and friends) to collect information on landslide and flood occurrence exploiting modern mobile devices. This information can prove important e.g., for the validation of landslide forecasting models.

Elder Abuse Awareness Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Kathleen; Morrow, Marilyn J.

1985-01-01

The Elder Abuse Awareness Project was undertaken: (1) to determine the incidence of abuse and neglect in seven Illinois counties; and (2) to develop, produce, and distribute educational materials on elder abuse for the service provider and for senior citizens. Results are presented and discussed. (MT)

LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT SAFE BLOOD IN PAKISTANI POPULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Usman

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Blood transfusion is a life saving procedure in various transfusion-dependent life threatening conditions and donation of safe blood is a prerequisite for achieving this goal. This study was designed to evaluate the awareness regarding “safe blood” in Pakistani population. This study was conducted at a large scale through a population survey. The test population was divided into two groups i.e. general population and students. The Performa was designed for a general and student population and included 20 questions related to awareness of safe blood. A total of 4900 individuals belonging to different ethnic groups were included in this population survey. Results of social survey were analyzed by using Usman and Moin awareness chart. Results of this study revealed profound unawareness about safe blood in Pakistani population. This study found lack of awareness about safe blood as a major factor that is playing a vital role in the propagation of blood borne diseases in Pakistan. To secure the recipients from blood borne complications through blood donation, it is necessary to create effective awareness about safe blood in Pakistani population.

Emotional Awareness and Couples' Relationship Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Croyle, Kristin L.; Waltz, Jennifer

2002-01-01

This study examined the role of emotional awareness in couples' relationships and the effects of a tendency to respond to difficult couples' situations with "soft" emotions (including sadness and fear) versus "hard" emotions (including anger and resentment). Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who completed a measure of relationship…

Computer support for social awareness in flexible work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bødker, Susanne; Christiansen, Ellen

2006-01-01

 How do we conceptualize social awareness, and what support is needed to develop and maintain social awareness in flexible work settings? The paper begins by arguing the relevance of designing for social awareness in flexible work. It points out how social awareness is suspended in the field...... of tension that exists between the ephemerality and continuity of social encounters, exploring ways to construct identity through relationships by means of social encounters - notably those that are accidental and unforced. We probe into this issue through design research: In particular, we present three......, to belonging, and to care. Analyzing these three prototypes in their microcosmic usage setting results in specific recommendations for the three types of applications with respect to social awareness. The experiences indicate that the metaphors a ‘shared mirror' and ‘breadcrumbs' are promising foundations...

Awareness of diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yen, Steven T; Tan, Andrew K G; Mustapha, Feisul I

2017-09-01

Policy interventions for cardiovascular diseases require individual awareness of ailments. Such awareness is also key to individuals making changes to their lifestyle and dietary habits. The present study investigated the association of sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle factors with the awareness and prevalence of three ailments: diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Data were obtained from the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1. Logistic regressions were estimated and odds ratios of exposure variables calculated. Diabetes awareness was associated with work hours, age, family history of illnesses, and ethnicity. Individuals with diminished hypertension awareness included those who were younger, without family history of illnesses, not obese, working more hours, and not adhering to a healthy diet. Low awareness of hypercholesterolemia was associated with younger age, lower education level, living in rural areas, female gender, no family history of illnesses, non-obesity, and minority ethnic background. Prevalence generally had the same pattern of association with the exposure variables. Various sociodemographic and health and lifestyle characteristics were associated with diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia awareness in Malaysia, albeit with varying outcomes. Therefore, programs focusing on lifestyle improvements should be targeted at high-risk subgroups, such as individuals working longer hours and young adults, who are less likely to be aware of their health risk factors. © 2016 Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Situation awareness in undergraduate nursing students managing simulated patient deterioration.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenna, Lisa; Missen, Karen; Cooper, Simon; Bogossian, Fiona; Bucknall, Tracey; Cant, Robyn

2014-06-01

Nursing work often occurs in complex and potentially hazardous settings. Awareness of patient and practice environments is an imperative for nurses in practice. To explore nursing students' situation awareness while engaging in simulated patient deterioration scenarios. The educational process of FIRST(2)ACT was the model for the nurse intervention. Situation awareness was measured quantitatively using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment tool. Four domains were measured: physiological perception (patient parameters), global perception (surroundings), comprehension (interpretation of information), and projection (forecasting outcomes). Clinical laboratories at each of three participating universities. Ninety-seven nursing students from three Australian universities. Between March and July 2012, students participated in three video-recorded simulation events, in which a trained actor played patient roles and groups of three students worked as teams. To measure situation awareness, following the simulation each team leader was taken to a separate room and asked to report on a question set regarding the patient's vital signs, bedside setting and medical diagnosis. Overall, situation awareness was low (41%). Of the four domains, physiological perceptions scored the lowest (26%) and projection the highest (59%). Final year nursing students may not have well developed situation awareness skills, especially when dealing with these types of scenarios. Education providers need to consider ways to assist students to fully develop this attribute. Findings suggest that this is an aspect of undergraduate nursing education that requires significant consideration by curriculum developers. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Roles of Metalinguistic Awareness and Academic Extensive Reading in the Development of EFL/ESL Academic Writing Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grace H. Wang

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that the development of academic writing proficiency may require both explicit metalinguistic awareness (MA and extensive reading (ER of academic texts. Specifically, it argues that: (a there may be a connection between explicit MA and the development of writing skills; (b there is a connection between ER and the development of writing skills, but academic ER may be required for development of academic writing skills; (c there may be a connection between explicit MA and the development of reading skills, which may be exploited for the development of academic ER skills, which in turn supports the development of academic writing skills.

Introduction to This Special Issue on Context-Aware Computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Thomas P.; Dourish, Paul

2001-01-01

Discusses pervasive, or ubiquitous, computing; explains the notion of context; and defines context-aware computing as the key to disperse and enmesh computation into our lives. Considers context awareness in human-computer interaction and describes the broad topic areas of the essays included in this special issue. (LRW)

Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension among Saudi Adult Population: A National Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdalla A. Saeed

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study aimed at estimating prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and predictors of hypertension among Saudi adult population. Multistage stratified sampling was used to select 4758 adult participants. Three blood pressure measurements using an automatic sphygmomanometer, sociodemographics, and antihypertensive modalities were obtained. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 25.5%. Only 44.7% of hypertensives were aware, 71.8% of them received pharmacotherapy, and only 37.0% were controlled. Awareness was significantly associated with gender, age, geographical location, occupation, and comorbidity. Applying drug treatment was significantly more among older patients, but control was significantly higher among younger patients and patients with higher level of physical activity. Significant predictors of hypertension included male gender, urbanization, low education, low physical activity, obesity, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. In conclusion prevalence is high, but awareness, treatment, and control levels are low indicating a need to develop a national program for prevention, early detection, and control of hypertension.

Development of self-awareness after severe traumatic brain injury through participation in occupation-based rehabilitation: mixed-methods analysis of a case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Doig, Emmah; Kuipers, Pim; Prescott, Sarah; Cornwell, Petrea; Fleming, Jennifer

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE. We examined participation in goal planning and development of self-awareness for people with impaired self-awareness after traumatic brain injury. METHOD. We performed a mixed-methods study of 8 participants recently discharged from inpatient rehabilitation. Self-awareness was measured using discrepancy between self and significant other ratings on the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Index (MPAI-4) at four time points. We calculated effect size to evaluate the change in MPAI-4 discrepancy over time. RESULTS. Seven participants identified their own goals. We found a large reduction in mean MPAI-4 discrepancy (M = 8.57, SD = 6.59, N = 7, d = 1.08) in the first 6 wk and a further small reduction (M = 5.33, SD = 9.09, N = 6, d = 0.45) in the second 6 wk of intervention. Case data indicated that 7 participants demonstrated some growth in self-awareness. CONCLUSION. Engagement in occupation-based, goal-directed rehabilitation appeared to foster awareness of injury-related changes to varying extents. Copyright © 2014 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Using Context Awareness for Self Management in Pervasive Service Middleware

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Weishan; Hansen, Klaus Marius

2011-01-01

Context-awareness is an important feature in Ambient Intelligence environments including in pervasive middleware. In addition, there is a growing trend and demand on self-management capabilities for a pervasive middleware in order to provide high-level dependability for services. In this chapter......, we propose to make use of context-awareness features to facilitate self-management. To achieve self-management, dynamic contexts for example device and service statuses, are critical to take self-management actions. Therefore, we consider dynamic contexts in context modeling, specifically as a set...... of OWL/SWRL ontologies, called the Self-Management for Pervasive Services (SeMaPS) ontologies. Self-management rules can be developed based on the SeMaPS ontologies to achieve self-management goals. Our approach is demonstrated within the LinkSmart pervasive middleware. Finally, our experiments...

Type 1 diabetes: Awareness, management and challenges: Current scenario in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K M Prasanna Kumar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM has a wide presence in children and has a high mortality rates. The disease, if left unmanaged, poses various challenges to the patient and healthcare providers, including development of diabetic complications and thus decreasing the life expectancy of the affected child. The challenges of T1DM include awareness of the disease that is very poor among the general public and also in parents of T1DM children along with the health care professionals. The challenge of lack of awareness of T1DM can be met by increasing public awareness programs, conducting workshops for diabetes educators regarding T1DM in children, newsletters, CMEs, online courses, and by structured teaching modules for diabetes educators. Diagnosis of T1DM was a challenge a few decades ago but the situation has improved today with diagnostic tests and facilities, made available even in villages. Investigation facilities and infrastructure, however, are very poor at the primary care level, especially in rural areas. Insulin availability, acceptability, and affordability are also major problems, compounded by the various types of insulin that are available in the market with a varied price range. But effective use of insulin remains a matter of utmost importance.

Type 1 diabetes: Awareness, management and challenges: Current scenario in India

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, K.M. Prasanna; Saboo, Banshi; Rao, P.V.; Sarda, Archana; Viswanathan, Vijay; Kalra, Sanjay; Sethi, Bipin; Shah, Nalini; Srikanta, S.S.; Jain, Sunil M; Raghupathy, P.; Shukla, Rishi; Jhingan, Ashok; Chowdhury, Subhankar; Jabbar, P.K.; Kanungo, Alok; Joshi, Rajesh; Kumar, Surendra; Tandon, Nikhil; Khadilkar, Vaman; Chadha, Manoj

2015-01-01

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has a wide presence in children and has a high mortality rates. The disease, if left unmanaged, poses various challenges to the patient and healthcare providers, including development of diabetic complications and thus decreasing the life expectancy of the affected child. The challenges of T1DM include awareness of the disease that is very poor among the general public and also in parents of T1DM children along with the health care professionals. The challenge of lack of awareness of T1DM can be met by increasing public awareness programs, conducting workshops for diabetes educators regarding T1DM in children, newsletters, CMEs, online courses, and by structured teaching modules for diabetes educators. Diagnosis of T1DM was a challenge a few decades ago but the situation has improved today with diagnostic tests and facilities, made available even in villages. Investigation facilities and infrastructure, however, are very poor at the primary care level, especially in rural areas. Insulin availability, acceptability, and affordability are also major problems, compounded by the various types of insulin that are available in the market with a varied price range. But effective use of insulin remains a matter of utmost importance. PMID:25941655

A.D.E.L.A.N.T.E. Alliance for Developing and Enhancing Latino Awareness and Needs in Teacher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, Alicia L.

ADELANTE (Spanish for Forward), Alliance for Developing and Enhancing Latino Awareness and Needs in Teacher Education, is a program designed to enhance the cultural sensitivity and teaching skills of experienced teachers. Developed cooperatively by Harrison-Morton Middle School, Kutztown University, and the community-based organization, Casa…

Awareness in Gestalt sex therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosher, D L

1979-01-01

Awareness is conceived to be selective, curative, a method, a prescription for ideal living, and a ground for human existence. In this paper the following gestalt awareness methods are described: continuum of awareness, awareness questions, biobehavioral feedback, directed awareness, concentration, present-centering, taking responsibilty, and shuttles in awareness. The use of these methods is illustrated in a gestalt therapy dialogue. The application of awareness as concept and method to sensate focus and to the treatment of the prematurely ejaculating male is discussed. Shuttles in awareness and the shared continua of awareness are introduced as promising new methods in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and as enhancing sexual pleasure and communion.

Study on Nuclear Facility Cyber Security Awareness and Training Programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jung-Woon; Song, Jae-Gu; Lee, Cheol-Kwon

2016-01-01

Cyber security awareness and training, which is a part of operational security controls, is defined to be implemented later in the CSP implementation schedule. However, cyber security awareness and training is a prerequisite for the appropriate implementation of a cyber security program. When considering the current situation in which it is just started to define cyber security activities and to assign personnel who has responsibilities for performing those activities, a cyber security awareness program is necessary to enhance cyber security culture for the facility personnel to participate positively in cyber security activities. Also before the implementation of stepwise CSP, suitable education and training should be provided to both cyber security teams (CST) and facility personnel who should participate in the implementation. Since such importance and urgency of cyber security awareness and training is underestimated at present, the types, trainees, contents, and development strategies of cyber security awareness and training programs are studied to help Korean nuclear facilities to perform cyber security activities more effectively. Cyber security awareness and training programs should be developed ahead of the implementation of CSP. In this study, through the analysis of requirements in the regulatory standard RS-015, the types and trainees of overall cyber security training programs in nuclear facilities are identified. Contents suitable for a cyber security awareness program and a technical training program are derived. It is suggested to develop stepwise the program contents in accordance with the development of policies, guides, and procedures as parts of the facility cyber security program. Since any training programs are not available for the specialized cyber security training in nuclear facilities, a long-term development plan is necessary. As alternatives for the time being, several cyber security training courses for industrial control systems by

Study on Nuclear Facility Cyber Security Awareness and Training Programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jung-Woon; Song, Jae-Gu; Lee, Cheol-Kwon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Cyber security awareness and training, which is a part of operational security controls, is defined to be implemented later in the CSP implementation schedule. However, cyber security awareness and training is a prerequisite for the appropriate implementation of a cyber security program. When considering the current situation in which it is just started to define cyber security activities and to assign personnel who has responsibilities for performing those activities, a cyber security awareness program is necessary to enhance cyber security culture for the facility personnel to participate positively in cyber security activities. Also before the implementation of stepwise CSP, suitable education and training should be provided to both cyber security teams (CST) and facility personnel who should participate in the implementation. Since such importance and urgency of cyber security awareness and training is underestimated at present, the types, trainees, contents, and development strategies of cyber security awareness and training programs are studied to help Korean nuclear facilities to perform cyber security activities more effectively. Cyber security awareness and training programs should be developed ahead of the implementation of CSP. In this study, through the analysis of requirements in the regulatory standard RS-015, the types and trainees of overall cyber security training programs in nuclear facilities are identified. Contents suitable for a cyber security awareness program and a technical training program are derived. It is suggested to develop stepwise the program contents in accordance with the development of policies, guides, and procedures as parts of the facility cyber security program. Since any training programs are not available for the specialized cyber security training in nuclear facilities, a long-term development plan is necessary. As alternatives for the time being, several cyber security training courses for industrial control systems by

Measuring brand awareness as a component of eating habits in Indian children: the development of the IBAI questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Vecchio, Maria Gabriella; Ghidina, Marco; Gulati, Achal; Berchialla, Paola; Paramesh, Elizabeth Cherian; Gregori, Dario

2014-09-01

To develop an instrument that allows one to estimate the Indian children's brand awareness of alimentary products. The IBAI (International Brand Awareness Instrument), an age specific tool composed of 12 sheets with images reporting brand logos of alimentary products, has been adjusted for the Indian context in order to investigate on infants' cognitive skills of recalling and recognizing. The IBAI was piloted in a sample of 100 children aged from 3 to 10 y and enrolled in New Delhi schools. Children aged 7-10 y showed an higher brand awareness as compared to those of 3-6 y. The IBAI instrument may be a component for further analysis of the influence of food marketing on child's diet, foods' choices and preferences within the Indian social and cultural macro-context. Findings suggest that children over 6 y are particularly gullible by brands and TV promoted advertising. Prevention through information should, therefore be offered to school aged children and their parents, involving teachers, nutritionists and experts in developmental psychology also.

The Role of Radical Awareness in Chinese-As-A-Second-Language Learners' Chinese Character Reading Development

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Yu Ka

2017-01-01

In this paper, the role of radical awareness in Chinese character reading development among young Chinese-as-a-second-language (CSL) learners is evaluated in terms of a structural property of the writing system: the distribution of elementary, one-radical (i.e. one-element) simple characters as against majority, multi-radical compound characters.…

[Awareness of dysphagia in Parkinson's disease].

Science.gov (United States)

Bayés-Rusiñol, Àngels; Forjaz, Maria J; Ayala, Alba; Crespo, M de la Cruz; Prats, Anna; Valles, Esther; Petit, Cristina; Casanovas, Mercè; Garolera-Freixa, Maite

2011-12-01

In order to be able to assess the level of awareness of swallowing disorders in Parkinson's disease (PD), a specific questionnaire was designed and validated: the Dysphapark questionnaire. A total of 470 persons with PD were asked whether they believe they have problems swallowing or not, and then they filled in a self-administered questionnaire that evaluates the effectiveness and safety of swallowing. The Dysphapark questionnaire was validated by means of Rasch analysis and classical psychometric methods. The safety and effectiveness dimensions of the Dysphapark fit the Rasch model well. The efficacy dimension showed significant differences for gender, length of the illness, awareness of dysphagia and length of meals. Significant differences were also found in the safety dimension for length and severity of illness, awareness of dysphagia, speech therapy and knowledge of thickening agents. Despite the fact that 90% of patients had problems concerning effectiveness and safety in swallowing, 79.45% were not aware that they suffered from dysphagia. The Dysphapark questionnaire is a suitable measure of dysphagia in PD, according to the Rasch analysis. A high proportion of patients with PD have dysphagia, although it has been observed that they have a low level of awareness of the condition, of the consequences it may have and of the possibility of using thickening agents. Given that some of the swallowing disorders in PD are asymptomatic and that the level of awareness of the disorder is low, we recommend including specific questionnaires as well as clinical and instrumental evaluation of dysphagia in clinical practice.

Situation awareness system for Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Andrew

1999-07-01

Situation awareness encompasses a knowledge of orders, plans and current knowledge of friendly force actions. Knowing where you are and being able to transmit that information in near real-time to other friendly forces provides the ability to exercise precise command and control over those forces. With respect to current command and control using voice methods, between 40 percent and 60 percent of Combat Net Radio traffic relates to location reporting of some sort. Commanders at Battle Group and below spend, on average, 40 percent of their total time performing position and navigation related functions. The need to rapidly transfer own force location information throughout a force and to process the received information quickly, accurately and reliably provides the rationale for the requirement for an automated situation awareness system. This paper describes the Situation Awareness System (SAS) being developed by Computing Devices Canada for the Canadian Department of National Defence as a component of the Position Determination and Navigation for Land Forces program. The SAS is being integrated with the Iris Tactical Command, Control, Communications System, which is also being developed by Computing Devices. The SAS software provides a core operating environment onto which command and control functionality can be easily added to produce general and specialist battlefield management systems.

Coordinated computer-supported collaborative learning: Awareness and awareness tools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, J.J.H.M.; Bodermer, D.

2013-01-01

Traditionally, research on awareness during online collaboration focused on topics such as the effects of spatial information about group members’ activities on the collaborative process. When the concept of awareness was introduced to computer-supported collaborative learning, this focus shifted to

Improving situation awareness with the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK)

Science.gov (United States)

Usbeck, Kyle; Gillen, Matthew; Loyall, Joseph; Gronosky, Andrew; Sterling, Joshua; Kohler, Ralph; Hanlon, Kelly; Scally, Andrew; Newkirk, Richard; Canestrare, David

2015-05-01

To make appropriate, timely decisions in the field, Situational Awareness (SA) needs to be conveyed in a decentralized manner to the users at the edge of the network as well as at operations centers. Sharing real-time SA efficiently between command centers and operational troops poses many challenges, including handling heterogeneous and dynamic networks, resource constraints, and varying needs for the collection, dissemination, and display of information, as well as recording that information. A mapping application that allows teams to share relevant geospatial information efficiently and to communicate effectively with one another and command centers has wide applicability to many vertical markets across the Department of Defense, as well as a wide variety of federal, state local, and non-profit agencies that need to share locations, text, photos, and video. This paper describes the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK), an advanced, distributed tool for commercial- off-the-shelf (COTS) mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. ATAK provides a variety of useful SA functions for soldiers, law enforcement, homeland defense, and civilian collaborative use; including mapping and navigation, range and bearing, text chat, force tracking, geospatial markup tools, image and file sharing, video playback, site surveys, and many others. This paper describes ATAK, the SA tools that ATAK has built-in, and the ways it is being used by a variety of military, homeland security, and law enforcement users.

CAreDroid: Adaptation Framework for Android Context-Aware Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmalaki, Salma; Wanner, Lucas; Srivastava, Mani

2015-09-01

Context-awareness is the ability of software systems to sense and adapt to their physical environment. Many contemporary mobile applications adapt to changing locations, connectivity states, available computational and energy resources, and proximity to other users and devices. Nevertheless, there is little systematic support for context-awareness in contemporary mobile operating systems. Because of this, application developers must build their own context-awareness adaptation engines, dealing directly with sensors and polluting application code with complex adaptation decisions. In this paper, we introduce CAreDroid, which is a framework that is designed to decouple the application logic from the complex adaptation decisions in Android context-aware applications. In this framework, developers are required- only-to focus on the application logic by providing a list of methods that are sensitive to certain contexts along with the permissible operating ranges under those contexts. At run time, CAreDroid monitors the context of the physical environment and intercepts calls to sensitive methods, activating only the blocks of code that best fit the current physical context. CAreDroid is implemented as part of the Android runtime system. By pushing context monitoring and adaptation into the runtime system, CAreDroid eases the development of context-aware applications and increases their efficiency. In particular, case study applications implemented using CAre-Droid are shown to have: (1) at least half lines of code fewer and (2) at least 10× more efficient in execution time compared to equivalent context-aware applications that use only standard Android APIs.

Addressing Racial Awareness and Color-Blindness in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Diggles, Kimberly

2014-01-01

Racial awareness is a critical foundation to racial sensitivity, and it is a necessity for future professionals who want to be prepared to succeed in an increasingly diverse society. Several factors have been shown to influence racial awareness in professionals including their own race, their personal experience with racism, and the amount/quality…

Contraception and Sexual and Reproductive Awareness Among Ghanaian Muslim Youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jibrail Bin Yusuf

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Ghana, a lower-middle income country that is still grappling with fertility and birth rates, initiated family planning for the youth decades ago. This mainly targeted deprived communities, and the Muslim youth were also exposed to contraception. However, contraception awareness among the Muslim youth has had difficulties and repercussions. Against the social and economic challenges facing the Ghanaian Muslim youth, this article evaluates their awareness about contraception focusing on the issues and their ramification with the aim of identifying prospects for development. The findings reveal that awareness is high but not in a positive sense as the general patronage among couples is low, while among the unmarried, the awareness has negatively affected their morality. Among the issues, there is a disconnection between service providers and the community while some Muslims think that contraception can reduce the Muslim population and is un-Islamic. It was argued that contraception is permitted for Muslims provided there is ethical justification and that in view of the social and economic challenges, including school dropouts and Muslim child migration due to the poverty of parents, the Muslim youth must plan their childbirth. Hence, it was recommended that government must tackle the problem of education in Muslim communities. The Ulama should also dialogue with the service providers to create trust between the health providers and the Muslims.

Social Licence to Operate through a gender lens : The challenges of including women’s interests in development assistance projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jijelava, David; Vanclay, Frank

2014-01-01

The paper analyses the concept of social licence to operate from a gender perspective. We examine the challenges associated with obtaining a gender-aware social licence for development assistance organizations working in conservative, traditional rural societies. We argue that during project

Wearable Electro-Textiles for Battlefield Awareness

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Winterhalter, C. A; Teverovsky, Justyna; Horowitz, Wendy; Sharma, Vikram; Lee, Kang

2004-01-01

This summary describes efforts to develop wearable electronic textiles and connectors to support body worn networking, communications, and battlefield awareness for future service members of the U.S. Army...

The cancer awareness assessment project: A small-scale survey across people with different levels of education in Mysore, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheshachalam, A; Chakravarthy, A R

2015-01-01

To assess the cancer awareness in respondents, their knowledge about the nature of cancer as a disease, its diagnosis and treatment, warning signs, environmental risk factors and conceptions of how risk factors work, as well as willingness to participate in screening programs if available. Cancer awareness is an increasingly important issue in light of increasing incidence and associated healthcare costs, as well as the presence of risk management strategies. In this study, 453 people, drawn from several educational institutes/workplaces, were surveyed with respect to cancer awareness. The test sample included pre university students, undergraduates, and postgraduate students/workers. We checked for variations in cancer awareness across multiple educational levels to determine whether there was variation in levels of cancer awareness across educational classes. We found that confidence in perception of cancer awareness, and awareness itself, was not very high, and only postgraduates had a nuanced appreciation of some of the complexities of cancer epidemiology, and even then only moderately. The conclusions of the study point towards the need for optimal policymaking in the development of cancer awareness in the population.

A Situation Awareness Assistant for Human Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Boy, Guy A.; Platt, Donald

2013-01-01

This paper presents the development and testing of a Virtual Camera (VC) system to improve astronaut and mission operations situation awareness while exploring other planetary bodies. In this embodiment, the VC is implemented using a tablet-based computer system to navigate through inter active database application. It is claimed that the advanced interaction media capability of the VC can improve situation awareness as the distribution of hu man space exploration roles change in deep space exploration. The VC is being developed and tested for usability and capability to improve situation awareness. Work completed thus far as well as what is needed to complete the project will be described. Planned testing will also be described.

Impacts of Professional Development in Integrated STEM Education on Teacher Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectancy, and Stem Career Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Knowles, J. Geoff

This research analyzed the effects of teacher professional development and lesson implementation in integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) on: 1.) Teacher self-efficacy and their confidence to teach specific STEM subjects; 2.) Teaching outcome expectancy beliefs concerning the impact of actions by teachers on student learning; and 3.) Teacher awareness of STEM careers. High school science and technology education teachers participating in the Teachers and Researchers Advancing Integrated Lessons in STEM (TRAILS) project experimental group attended a ten-day summer professional development institute designed to educate teachers in using an integrated STEM education model to implement integrated STEM lessons. The research design utilized a quasi-experimental nonequivalent comparison group design that incorporated an experimental group and an untreated comparison group with both pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest assessments on non-randomized participants. Teacher self-efficacy has been identified as a key factor in effective teaching and student learning, and teacher awareness of STEM careers impacts students as they consider career choices. The T-STEM Survey for teachers was given for the pretest and posttest assessments to measure attitudes and beliefs toward the specific constructs of this study. Significant effects of the TRAILS professional development were found in the teacher group (experimental or comparison) and teacher subject (technology or science) in pretest and posttest scores using cumulative link models for the constructs of teacher self-efficacy and beliefs to teach STEM subjects, teacher outcome expectancy beliefs, and teacher awareness of STEM careers. Effect sizes ranged from small to large varying by construct and assessment time. Highly significant p-values and effect sizes revealed impacts on science teachers were greater when teacher subject groups were analyzed separately.

Attention without awareness: Attentional modulation of perceptual grouping without awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Shih-Yu

2018-04-01

Perceptual grouping is the process through which the perceptual system combines local stimuli into a more global perceptual unit. Previous studies have shown attention to be a modulatory factor for perceptual grouping. However, these studies mainly used explicit measurements, and, thus, whether attention can modulate perceptual grouping without awareness is still relatively unexplored. To clarify the relationship between attention and perceptual grouping, the present study aims to explore how attention interacts with perceptual grouping without awareness. The task was to judge the relative lengths of two centrally presented horizontal bars while a railway-shaped pattern defined by color similarity was presented in the background. Although the observers were unaware of the railway-shaped pattern, their line-length judgment was biased by that pattern, which induced a Ponzo illusion, indicating grouping without awareness. More importantly, an attentional modulatory effect without awareness was manifested as evident by the observer's performance being more often biased when the railway-shaped pattern was formed by an attended color than when it was formed by an unattended one. Also, the attentional modulation effect was shown to be dynamic, being more pronounced with a short presentation time than a longer one. The results of the present study not only clarify the relationship between attention and perceptual grouping but also further contribute to our understanding of attention and awareness by corroborating the dissociation between attention and awareness.

Adolescent development

Science.gov (United States)

... to: Understand abstract ideas. These include grasping higher math concepts, and developing moral philosophies, including rights and ... of safe play and how to approach more advanced activities. Young people need to be very aware ...

Effectiveness of a multicentre nasopharyngeal carcinoma awareness programme in Indonesia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fles, Renske; Indrasari, Sagung R.; Herdini, Camelia; Martini, Santi; Isfandiari, Atoillah; Romdhoni, Achmad C.; Adham, Marlinda; Mayangsari, Ika D.; van Werkhoven, Erik; Wildeman, Maarten A.; Hariwiyanto, Bambang; Hermani, Bambang; Kentjono, Widodo A.; Haryana, Sofia M.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Tan, I. Bing

2016-01-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of a nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) awareness programme on the short-term and long-term improvement of knowledge and referral of patients with NPC by primary healthcare centres (PHCCs) staff in Indonesia. The NPC awareness programme consisted of 12 symposia including a

Predictors of beer advertising awareness among eighth graders.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Rebecca L; Schell, Terry; Ellickson, Phyllis L; McCaffrey, Daniel

2003-09-01

To identify correlates of beer advertising awareness among adolescents at an age when most initiate use of alcohol. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of an in-school survey about alcohol advertising. Structural equation modeling was used to test for independent predictors of a latent beer advertising awareness construct, separately among boys and girls. Twenty middle schools in South Dakota, USA participated during their spring semester. A total of 1530 eighth graders. A latent advertisement awareness variable was derived based on recognition of six masked beer advertisements, knowledge of beer brands and knowledge of beer slogans. Tested predictors included measures of exposure to alcohol advertising in various venues, social norms regarding drinking, drinking beliefs and behavior and gender. Adolescents with greater exposure to advertisements in magazines, at sporting and music events and on television were more advertisement aware than those with less exposure, as were teens who watch more TV, pay attention to beer advertisements and know adults who drink. Beer advertisement awareness was dramatically higher among boys, and was associated with drinking only among boys. Each of a variety of advertising venues appears to influence independently the extent to which beer advertising is incorporated into an adolescent's cognitive world. Boys are more likely to be aware of and remember beer marketing, and may be more likely to drink as a result of this awareness than girls.

Developing mental health services in Nigeria : the impact of a community-based mental health awareness programme.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, Julian; Agomoh, Ahamefula O

2008-07-01

This grass-roots level mental health awareness programme considerably increased use of community-based mental health services in a part of Nigeria where knowledge about treatability of mental illness was limited. The benefits of the programme were sustained for a significant period after the initial awareness programme. In order for attitude changes to be reinforced, similar awareness programmes must be repeated at regular intervals.

Modelling of Situation Awareness with Perception, Attention, and Prior and Retrospective Awareness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thilakarathne, D.J.

2015-01-01

Human awareness under different circumstances is complex and non-trivial to understand. Nevertheless, due to the importance of awareness for safety and efficiency in many domains (e.g.; the aviation domain), it is necessary to study the processes behind situation awareness, to eliminate possible

Academic ethical awareness among undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Ok-Hee; Hwang, Kyung-Hye

2017-01-01

Academic ethical awareness is an important aspect especially for nursing students who will provide ethical nursing care to patients in future or try to tread the path of learning toward professional acknowledgement in nursing scholarship. The purpose of this study was to explore academic ethical awareness and its related characteristics among undergraduate nursing students. This study commenced the survey with cross-sectional, descriptive questions and enrolled convenient samples of 581 undergraduate nursing students from three universities in South Korea. It was investigated with structured questionnaires including general characteristics and academic ethical awareness related. Ethical considerations: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at National University. Academic ethical awareness was the highest regarding behaviors violating the respect or confidentiality of patients and cheating on exams, while it was the lowest for inappropriate behaviors in class. From the result of general characteristics difference, male students showed higher score than female students in relative; first-year students showed higher score than other year students; the higher score was rated from students who were highly satisfied with their major than the other not satisfied with their major; and students with low academic stress showed higher ethical awareness score than persons with higher stress. Personal behaviors were rated with low ethical awareness in relative, but items related to public rules and actual effects on patients or others were rated with higher score. Nursing satisfaction and academic stress are main factors on ethical awareness. To improve overall ethical awareness level of nursing students, it is required to provide more education about the importance of personal behaviors in class and need to improve the understanding of how it will be connected with future situation and effect.

Body awareness: construct and self-report measures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolf E Mehling

Full Text Available Heightened body awareness can be adaptive and maladaptive. Improving body awareness has been suggested as an approach for treating patients with conditions such as chronic pain, obesity and post-traumatic stress disorder. We assessed the psychometric quality of selected self-report measures and examined their items for underlying definitions of the construct.PubMed, PsychINFO, HaPI, Embase, Digital Dissertations Database.Abstracts were screened; potentially relevant instruments were obtained and systematically reviewed. Instruments were excluded if they exclusively measured anxiety, covered emotions without related physical sensations, used observer ratings only, or were unobtainable. We restricted our study to the proprioceptive and interoceptive channels of body awareness. The psychometric properties of each scale were rated using a structured evaluation according to the method of McDowell. Following a working definition of the multi-dimensional construct, an inter-disciplinary team systematically examined the items of existing body awareness instruments, identified the dimensions queried and used an iterative qualitative process to refine the dimensions of the construct.From 1,825 abstracts, 39 instruments were screened. 12 were included for psychometric evaluation. Only two were rated as high standard for reliability, four for validity. Four domains of body awareness with 11 sub-domains emerged. Neither a single nor a compilation of several instruments covered all dimensions. Key domains that might potentially differentiate adaptive and maladaptive aspects of body awareness were missing in the reviewed instruments.Existing self-report instruments do not address important domains of the construct of body awareness, are unable to discern between adaptive and maladaptive aspects of body awareness, or exhibit other psychometric limitations. Restricting the construct to its proprio- and interoceptive channels, we explore the current understanding

Security in Context-aware Mobile Business Applications

OpenAIRE

Tatli, Emin Islam

2008-01-01

The support of location computation on mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones, PDAs) has enabled the development of context-aware and especially location-aware applications (e.g. Restaurant Finder, Friend Finder) which are becoming the new trend for future software applications. However, fears regarding security and privacy are the biggest barriers against their success. Especially, mobile users are afraid of the possible threats against their private identity and personal data. Within the M-Busi...

Understanding nutrition communication between health professionals and consumers: development of a model for nutrition awareness based on qualitative consumer research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dillen, van S.M.E.; Hiddink, G.J.; Koelen, M.A.; Graaf, de C.; Woerkum, van C.M.J.

2003-01-01

Background: Consumers have been exposed to nutrition information from a variety of sources, including the family doctor. They are often not aware of their own risk behavior regarding nutrition. Objective: This study sought to assess food associations, conversation topics, interest in food topics,

Defense Critical Infrastructure: Developing Training Standards and an Awareness of Existing Expertise Would Help DOD Assure the Availability of Critical Infrastructure

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

D'Agostino, Davi M; Pross, Mark A; Flacco, Gina M; Krustapentus, James P; Lenane, Kate S; Richardson, Terry L; Schwartz, Marc J; Townes, John S; Weissman, Cheryl A; Winograd, Alex M

2008-01-01

...) incorporated aspects of DCIP into its exercises in the Transportation Defense Sector, and (2) developed DCIP training standards department-wide and made installation personnel aware of existing DCIP expertise...

Continuous measures of situation awareness and workload

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Droeivoldsmo, Asgeir; Skraaning, Gyrd jr.; Sverrbo, Mona; Dalen, Joergen; Grimstad, Tone; Andresen, Gisle

1998-03-01

This report presents methods for continuous measures for Situation Awareness and Workload. The objective has been to identify, develop and test the new measures, and compare them to instruments that require interruptions of scenarios. The new measures are: (1) the Visual Indicator of Situation Awareness (VISA); where Situation Awareness is scored from predefined areas of visual interest critical for solving scenarios. Visual monitoring of areas was recorded by eye-movement tracking. (2) Workload scores reflected by Extended Dwell Time (EDT) and the operator Activity Level. EDT was calculated from eye-movement data files, and the activity level was estimated from simulator logs. Using experimental data from the 1996 CASH NRC Alarm study and the 1997 Human Error Analysis Project/ Human-Centred Automation study, the new measurement techniques have been tested and evaluated on a preliminary basis. The results showed promising relationships between the new continuous measures of situation awareness and workload, and established instruments based upon scenario interruptions. (author)

Battlefield awareness computers: the engine of battlefield digitization

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Jackson; Chamseddine, Ahmad

1997-06-01

To modernize the army for the 21st century, the U.S. Army Digitization Office (ADO) initiated in 1995 the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below (FBCB2) Applique program which became a centerpiece in the U.S. Army's master plan to win future information wars. The Applique team led by TRW fielded a 'tactical Internet' for Brigade and below command to demonstrate the advantages of 'shared situation awareness' and battlefield digitization in advanced war-fighting experiments (AWE) to be conducted in March 1997 at the Army's National Training Center in California. Computing Devices is designated the primary hardware developer for the militarized version of the battlefield awareness computers. The first generation of militarized battlefield awareness computer, designated as the V3 computer, was an integration of off-the-shelf components developed to meet the agressive delivery requirements of the Task Force XXI AWE. The design efficiency and cost effectiveness of the computer hardware were secondary in importance to delivery deadlines imposed by the March 1997 AWE. However, declining defense budgets will impose cost constraints on the Force XXI production hardware that can only be met by rigorous value engineering to further improve design optimization for battlefield awareness without compromising the level of reliability the military has come to expect in modern military hardened vetronics. To answer the Army's needs for a more cost effective computing solution, Computing Devices developed a second generation 'combat ready' battlefield awareness computer, designated the V3+, which is designed specifically to meet the upcoming demands of Force XXI (FBCB2) and beyond. The primary design objective is to achieve a technologically superior design, value engineered to strike an optimal balance between reliability, life cycle cost, and procurement cost. Recognizing that the diverse digitization demands of Force XXI cannot be adequately met by any one computer hardware

Relating Pitch Awareness to Phonemic Awareness in Children: Implications for Tone-Deafness and Dyslexia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Psyche eLoui

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Language and music are complex cognitive and neural functions that rely on awareness of one’s own sound productions. Information on the awareness of vocal pitch, and its relation to phonemic awareness which is crucial for learning to read, will be important for understanding the relationship between tone-deafness and developmental language disorders such as dyslexia. Here we show that phonemic awareness skills are positively correlated with pitch perception-production skills in children. Children between the ages of 7 and 9 were tested on pitch perception and production, phonemic awareness, and IQ. Results showed a significant positive correlation between pitch perception-production and phonemic awareness, suggesting that the relationship between musical and linguistic sound processing is intimately linked to awareness at the level of pitch and phonemes. Since tone-deafness is a pitch-related impairment and dyslexia is a deficit of phonemic awareness, we suggest that dyslexia and tone-deafness may have a shared and/or common neural basis.

Characterizing Awareness of Schizophrenia Among Facebook Users by Leveraging Facebook Advertisement Estimates.

Science.gov (United States)

Saha, Koustuv; Weber, Ingmar; Birnbaum, Michael L; De Choudhury, Munmun

2017-05-08

Schizophrenia is a rare but devastating condition, affecting about 1% of the world's population and resulting in about 2% of the US health care expenditure. Major impediments to appropriate and timely care include misconceptions, high levels of stigma, and lack of public awareness. Facebook offers novel opportunities to understand public awareness and information access related to schizophrenia, and thus can complement survey-based approaches to assessing awareness that are limited in scale, robustness, and temporal and demographic granularity. The aims of this study were to (1) construct an index that measured the awareness of different demographic groups around schizophrenia-related information on Facebook; (2) study how this index differed across demographic groups and how it correlated with complementary Web-based (Google Trends) and non-Web-based variables about population well-being (mental health indicators and infrastructure), and (3) examine the relationship of Facebook derived schizophrenia index with other types of online activity as well as offline health and mental health outcomes and indicators. Data from Facebook's advertising platform was programmatically collected to compute the proportion of users in a target demographic group with an interest related to schizophrenia. On consultation with a clinical expert, several topics were combined to obtain a single index measuring schizophrenia awareness. This index was then analyzed for differences across US states, gender, age, ethnic affinity, and education level. A statistical approach was developed to model a group's awareness index based on the group's characteristics. Overall, 1.03% of Facebook users in the United States have a schizophrenia-related interest. The schizophrenia awareness index (SAI) is higher for females than for males (1.06 vs 0.97, PFacebook's advertising platform can be used to construct a plausible index of population-scale schizophrenia awareness. However, only estimates of

Cultural Awareness Among Nursing Staff at an Academic Medical Center.

Science.gov (United States)

McElroy, Jennifer; Smith-Miller, Cheryl A; Madigan, Catherine K; Li, Yin

2016-03-01

The goal is to identify areas for targeted improvement in regard to cultural awareness and competence among nursing staff and in the work environment. Many facilities have initiated programs to facilitate cultural competence development among nursing staff; however, there has been little examination of the effect of these initiatives, assessment of experienced nurses' cultural awareness, or investigation of nurse leader's role in promoting cultural competence in the literature. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a cultural awareness survey was modified and electronically distributed to all registered nurses and assistive personnel at an academic medical center. The modified survey instrument showed good reliability and validity among the study population. Most nursing staff exhibited a moderate to high level of cultural awareness and held positive opinions about nursing leadership and the work environment with regard to cultural issues. In increasingly diverse work environments, assessing the cultural awareness of nursing staff enables nurse leaders to evaluate efforts in promoting cultural competence and to identify specific areas in which to target staff development efforts and leadership training.

Context-Aware Middleware for Pervasive Elderly Homecare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pung, Hung Keng; Gu, Tao; Xue, Wenwei

2009-01-01

The growing aging population faces a number of challenges, including rising medical cost, inadequate number of medical doctors and healthcare professionals, as well as higher incidence of misdiagnosis. There is an increasing demand for a better healthcare support for the elderly and one promising......-aware service management. It can be used to support the development and deployment of various homecare services for the elderly such as patient monitoring, location-based emergency response, anomalous daily activity detection, pervasive access to medical data and social networking. We have developed a prototype...... of the middleware and demonstrated the concept of providing a continuing-care to an elderly with the collaborative interactions spanning multiple physical spaces: person, home, office and clinic. The results of the prototype show that our middleware approach achieves good efficiency of context query processing...

Reasoning about the value of cultural awareness in international collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Bernáld

Full Text Available As international collaborations become a part of everyday life, cultural awareness becomes crucial for our ability to work with people from other countries. People see, evaluate, and interpret things differently depending on their cultural background and cultural awareness. This includes aspects such as appreciation of different communication patterns, the awareness of different value systems and, not least, to become aware of our own cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. This paper addresses the value of cultural awareness in general through describing how it was introduced in two computer science courses with a joint collaboration between students from the US and Sweden. The cultural seminars provided to the students are presented, as well as a discussion of the students\\' reflections and the teachers\\' experiences. The cultural awareness seminars provided students with a new understanding of cultural differences which greatly improved the international collaboration. Cultural awareness may be especially important for small countries like New Zealand and Sweden, since it could provide an essential edge in collaborations with representatives from more \\'powerful\\' countries.

The effect of storytelling on self-awareness

OpenAIRE

2015-01-01

M.Phil. (Personal and Professional Leadership) People are storytelling beings and storytelling has been associated with improved self-awareness. It has also been indicated as a way to uncover patterns of culture, behaviour, communication, the sharing of knowledge, and understanding in different ways. If storytelling has such value, why is there so relatively little research on the effect of storytelling on self-awareness that could, in turn, lead to the development of personal mastery on l...

Dental knowledge and awareness among grandparents.

Science.gov (United States)

Oberoi, Jyoti; Kathariya, Rahul; Panda, Anup; Garg, Iti; Raikar, Sonal

2016-02-08

To investigate grandparent's knowledge and awareness about the oral health of their grandchildren. Grandparents accompanying patients aged 4-8 years, who were living with their grandchildren and caring for them for a major part of the day, when both their parents were at work were included in the study. A 20-item questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics, dietary and oral hygiene practices was distributed to them. The sample comprised of 200 grandparents (59 males, 141 females). χ(2) analysis and Gamma test of symmetrical measures were applied to assess responses across respondent gender and level of education. Oral health related awareness was found to be low among grandparents. In most questions asked, grandparents with a higher level of education exhibited a better knowledge about children's oral health. Level of awareness was not related to their gender. Oral hygiene and dietary habits are established during childhood. There is a great need for dental education of grandparents as they serve as role models for young children.

34 CFR 303.320 - Public awareness program.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... public awareness program that focuses on the early identification of children who are eligible to receive... informing the public about— (a) The State's early intervention program; (b) The child find system, including... the general public about the provisions of this part include: (1) Use of television, radio, and...

Improving mental health awareness among rural Aboriginal men: perspectives from Gippsland.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaacs, Anton; Maybery, Darryl

2012-04-01

To identify views of Aboriginal people in rural areas about improving mental health awareness among Aboriginal men. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 Aboriginal people, including men, carers and health workers. Participants highlighted the need for mental health awareness programs in the community. They described the type of programs to be conducted as well as their method, content and frequency. This study demonstrates that mental health awareness programs designed specifically for rural Aboriginal men need to involve local Elders and other significant individuals from the community, be de-stigmatised by including mental health under Men's Health and by embedding the messages within a cultural framework.

Sources of AIDS awareness among women in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Pallikadavath, S; Sreedharan, C; Stones, R W

2006-01-01

Sources of AIDS awareness among rural and urban Indian women were analysed using data from the National Family and Health Survey (1998-2000). Two measures were developed to study the impact each source had on knowledge. 'Effectiveness' was defined as the proportion of women who had heard of AIDS from only one source, from among women who had heard of AIDS from that particular source and other sources. 'Independent effect' was the proportion who had heard of AIDS from only one source in relation to all women who had heard of AIDS. Television was the most effective medium, and also had the highest independent effect. Radio and print had very low effectiveness and independent effect. Although television and print audiences are growing in India, it is likely a sub-group of women will continue to lack media access. There is an urgent need to disseminate AIDS awareness to this 'media underclass'. Since the media will not reach this group, other sources including health workers, community level activities such as adult education programmes, and networks of friends and relatives need to be explored.

Including Emotional Intelligence in Pharmacy Curricula to Help Achieve CAPE Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Michael H; Fierke, Kerry K; Sucher, Brandon J; Janke, Kristin K

2015-05-25

The importance of emotional intelligence (EI) for effective teamwork and leadership within the workplace is increasingly apparent. As suggested by the 2013 CAPE Outcomes, we recommend that colleges and schools of pharmacy consider EI-related competencies to build self-awareness and professionalism among students. In this Statement, we provide two examples of the introduction of EI into pharmacy curricula. In addition, we provide a 4-phase process based on recommendations developed by EI experts for structuring and planning EI development. Finally, we make 9 recommendations' to inform the process of including EI in pharmacy curricula.

Gender Aware Therapy: Implications for Therapists and Male Clients.

Science.gov (United States)

Good, Glenn E.; And Others

Gender Aware Therapy (GAT) has developed in recent years to synthesize feminist theory and knowledge about gender into principles of therapy equally applicable to both men and women. This paper briefly examines the roots of Gender Aware Therapy and describes its principles: (1) conceptions of gender are seen as integral aspects of psychotherapy…

Universe Awareness For Young Children

Science.gov (United States)

Scorza, C.; Miley, G.; Ödman, C.; Madsen, C.

2006-08-01

Universe Awareness (UNAWE) is an international programme that will expose economically disadvantaged young children aged between 4 and 10 years to the inspirational aspects of modern astronomy. The programme is motivated by the premise that access to simple knowledge about the Universe is a basic birth right of everybody. These formative ages are crucial in the development of a human value system. This is also the age range in which children can learn to develop a 'feeling' for the vastness of the Universe. Exposing young children to such material is likely to broaden their minds and stimulate their world-view. The goals of Universe Awareness are in accordance with two of the United Nations Millennium goals, endorsed by all 191 UN member states, namely (i) the achievement of universal primary education and (ii) the promotion of gender equality in schools. We propose to commence Universe Awareness with a pilot project that will target disadvantaged regions in about 4 European countries (possibly Spain, France, Germany and The Netherlands) and several non-EU countries (possibly Chile, Colombia, India, Tunisia, South Africa and Venezuela). There will be two distinct elements in the development of the UNAWE program: (i) Creation and production of suitable UNAWE material and delivery techniques, (ii) Training of educators who will coordinate UNAWE in each of the target countries. In addition to the programme, an international network of astronomy outreach will be organised. We present the first results of a pilot project developed in Venezuela, where 670 children from different social environments, their teachers and members of an indigenous tribe called Ye´kuana from the Amazon region took part in a wonderful astronomical and cultural exchange that is now being promoted by the Venezuelan ministry of Education at the national level.

Measuring cultural awareness of nursing students: a first step toward cultural competency.

Science.gov (United States)

Krainovich-Miller, Barbara; Yost, Jennifer M; Norman, Robert G; Auerhahn, Carolyn; Dobal, May; Rosedale, Mary; Lowry, Melissa; Moffa, Christine

2008-07-01

This pilot study was designed to measure nursing students' level of cultural awareness. It replicated phase II of Rew, Becker, Cookston, Khosropour, & Martinez's (2003) methodological study that developed and tested a Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS). Using a cross-sectional design, the CAS was distributed to nursing students in three nursing programs' (bachelor's, master's, doctoral) beginning and end courses. Cronbach's alpha for the CAS Total instrument was 0.869, with subscale scores ranging from 0.687 to 0.902, comparable to the findings of Rew et al. Given the limitations of this study, results must be viewed with a degree of caution. Recommendations include further educational research in the form of psychometric testing of the CAS among nursing students, including refinement of both the CAS instrument and the demographic tool. The authors also recommend that studies be conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the CAS with nurses in the health care arena.

The Ethical Awareness of the Leadership of South African Business ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper explores the ethical awareness of the leadership of South African business schools. A questionnaire was distributed electronically to the top leadership of these business schools. The biographical characteristics of respondents were analysed to develop an ethical awareness score for each respondent.

5 CFR 930.301 - Information systems security awareness training program.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Information systems security awareness... (MISCELLANEOUS) Information Security Responsibilities for Employees who Manage or Use Federal Information Systems § 930.301 Information systems security awareness training program. Each Executive Agency must develop a...

Awareness of Knowledge or Awareness of Processing? Implications for Sleep-Related Memory Consolidation

OpenAIRE

Yordanova, Juliana; Kolev, Vasil; Verleger, Rolf

2009-01-01

The present study assessed the effects of awareness at encoding on off-line learning during sleep. A new framework is suggested according to which two aspects of awareness are distinguished: awareness of task information, and awareness of task processing. The number reduction task (NRT) was employed because it has two levels of organization, an overt one based on explicit knowledge of task instructions, and a covert one based on hidden abstract regularities of task structure (implicit knowled...

Objective evaluation of situation awareness for dynamic decision makers in teleoperations

Science.gov (United States)

Endsley, Mica R.

1991-01-01

Situation awareness, a current mental mode of the environment, is critical to the ability of operators to perform complex and dynamic tasks. This should be particularly true for teleoperators, who are separated from the situation they need to be aware of. The design of the man-machine interface must be guided by the goal of maintaining and enhancing situation awareness. The objective of this work has been to build a foundation upon which research in the area can proceed. A model of dynamic human decision making which is inclusive of situation awareness will be presented, along with a definition of situation awareness. A method for measuring situation awareness will also be presented as a tool for evaluating design concepts. The Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) is an objective measure of situation awareness originally developed for the fighter cockpit environment. The results of SAGAT validation efforts will be presented. Implications of this research for teleoperators and other operators of dynamic systems will be discussed.

Occular Awareness Optimizer

OpenAIRE

Vossen, Oscar Bjørn; Grundahl, Mathias Sterlet Schack; Johansen, Søren Ulrik

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to model a software program, using Unified Modelling Language, which can assist players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in becoming aware of their own development through an analysis tool. The idea behind this tool is based on the recognition of possibilities that lies in the use of eye-tracking technology in psychology. Required knowledge about the target users will be acquired through a variety of activities facilitated by the MUST method. Furthermore, this ...

ParticipACTION: Awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults - Examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faulkner Guy EJ

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM, this campaign should influence physical activity through intermediate mediators such as beliefs and intention. Also, when such media campaigns occur, knowledge gaps often develop within the population about the messages being conveyed. The purposes of this study were to (a determine the current awareness of ParticipACTION campaigns among Canadians; (b confirm if awareness of the ParticipACTION initiative varied as a function of levels of education and household income; and, (c to examine whether awareness of ParticipACTION was associated with physical activity related beliefs, intentions, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA as suggested by the HOEM. Specifically, we tested a model including awareness of ParticipACTION (unprompted, prompted, outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and physical activity status. Methods A population-based survey was conducted on 4,650 Canadians over a period of 6 months from August, 2007 to February, 2008 (response rate = 49%. The survey consisted of a set of additional questions on the 2007 Physical Activity Monitor (PAM. Our module on the PAM included questions related to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to test the knowledge gap hypotheses and to examine whether awareness was associated with physical activity related beliefs (i.e., outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and LTPA. All analyses included those respondents who were 20 years of age and older in 2007/2008 (N = 4424. Results Approximately 8% of Canadians were still aware of ParticipACTION unprompted and 82% were aware when prompted. Both education and income were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION were

ParticipACTION: awareness of the participACTION campaign among Canadian adults--examining the knowledge gap hypothesis and a hierarchy-of-effects model.

Science.gov (United States)

Spence, John C; Brawley, Lawrence R; Craig, Cora Lynn; Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Tremblay, Mark S; Bauman, Adrian; Faulkner, Guy Ej; Chad, Karen; Clark, Marianne I

2009-12-09

ParticipACTION was a pervasive communication campaign that promoted physical activity in the Canadian population for three decades. According to McGuire's hierarchy-of-effects model (HOEM), this campaign should influence physical activity through intermediate mediators such as beliefs and intention. Also, when such media campaigns occur, knowledge gaps often develop within the population about the messages being conveyed. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine the current awareness of ParticipACTION campaigns among Canadians; (b) confirm if awareness of the ParticipACTION initiative varied as a function of levels of education and household income; and, (c) to examine whether awareness of ParticipACTION was associated with physical activity related beliefs, intentions, and leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) as suggested by the HOEM. Specifically, we tested a model including awareness of ParticipACTION (unprompted, prompted), outcome expectations, self-efficacy, intention, and physical activity status. A population-based survey was conducted on 4,650 Canadians over a period of 6 months from August, 2007 to February, 2008 (response rate = 49%). The survey consisted of a set of additional questions on the 2007 Physical Activity Monitor (PAM). Our module on the PAM included questions related to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to test the knowledge gap hypotheses and to examine whether awareness was associated with physical activity related beliefs (i.e., outcome expectations, self-efficacy), intention, and LTPA. All analyses included those respondents who were 20 years of age and older in 2007/2008 (N = 4424). Approximately 8% of Canadians were still aware of ParticipACTION unprompted and 82% were aware when prompted. Both education and income were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION were greater if they were more educated and reported

Awareness, knowledge, and barriers to low vision services among eye care practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Jose, Judy; Thomas, Jyothi; Bhakat, Premjit; Krithica, S

2016-01-01

Eyesight plays an important role in our day today life. When the vision gets hampered, daily activities of an individual will be affected. The prevalence of visual impairment is increasing across the globe, with more burdens on the developing world. The uptake of low vision services remains to be low in developing countries like India. A newly constructed questionnaire using information from previously conducted telephonic interviews and article search was administered among 50 eye care practitioners from Kerala, India for the pilot study. Modifications were made in the questionnaire, based on the responses obtained from the pilot study. From their responses, awareness, knowledge, and barriers for the low vision services among eye care practitioners were assessed. (1) Pilot study - the Cronbach's alpha values obtained for knowledge, awareness and barrier questions were 0.814, 0.297, and 0.810, respectively, and content validity index was found to be 0.64. (2) Main study - 211 eye care practitioners from 12 states of India took part in the study that accounted for a response rate of 16.7%. The participants included were 95 (45%) men and 116 (55%) women with a mean age of 28.18 ± 7.04 years. The lack of awareness was found to be the major barrier in the provision and uptake of low vision services from the practitioner's perspective. The study results showed that there is a lack of awareness among eye care practitioners about low vision services, which acts as a major barrier in the effective delivery of these services.

Multisensor Fusion for Intrusion Detection and Situational Awareness

OpenAIRE

Hallstensen, Christoffer V

2017-01-01

Cybercrime damage costs the world several trillion dollars annually. And al-though technical solutions to protect organizations from hackers are being con-tinuously developed, criminals learn fast to circumvent them. The question is,therefore, how to create leverage to protect an organization by improving in-trusion detection and situational awareness? This thesis seeks to contribute tothe prior art in intrusion detection and situational awareness by using a multi-sensor data fusion...

Analysis of Characteristics of Power Consumption for Context-Aware Mobile Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meeyeon Lee

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a large portion of smartphone applications (Apps has targeted context-aware services. They aim to perceive users’ real-time context like his/her location, actions, or even emotion, and to provide various customized services based on the inferred context. However, context-awareness in mobile environments has some challenging issues due to limitations of devices themselves. Limited power is regarded as the most critical problem in context-awareness on smartphones. Many studies have tried to develop low-power methods, but most of them have focused on the power consumption of H/W modules of smartphones such as CPU and LCD. Only a few research papers have recently started to present some S/W-based approaches to improve the power consumption. That is, previous works did not consider energy consumed by context-awareness of Apps. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on the power consumption of context-aware Apps. We analyze the characteristics of context-aware Apps in a perspective of the power consumption, and then define two main factors which significantly influence the power consumption: a sort of context that context-aware Apps require for their services and a type of ways that a user uses them. The experimental result shows the reasonability and the possibility to develop low-power methods based on our analysis. That is, our analysis presented in this paper will be a foundation for energy-efficient context-aware services in mobile environments.

Longitudinal changes in awareness over 36 months in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vogel, Asmus; Waldorff, Frans Boch; Waldemar, Gunhild

2015-01-01

MMSE, Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q), and Cornell scale for Depression in Dementia also were applied. Results: At 12 months, 26% had lower awareness rating as compared to baseline and at 36 months lower awareness ratings were found in 39%. At both visits, 16% had higher awareness rating as compared......Background: Longitudinal changes in awareness in dementia have been studied with short follow-up time and mostly in small patient groups (including patients with moderate dementia). We investigated awareness in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD) over 36 months and studied if a decline...

Development of pattern aware unit (PAU) for the LCLS beam based fast feedback system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K.H.; Allison, S.; Fairley, D.; Himel, T.M.; Krejcik, P.; Rogind, D.; Williams, E.

2012-01-01

LCLS is now successfully operating at its design beam repetition rate of 120 Hz, but in order to ensure stable beam operation at this high rate we have developed a new timing pattern aware EPICS controller for beam line actuators. Actuators that are capable of responding at 120 Hz are controlled by the new Pattern Aware Unit (PAU) as part of the beam-based feedback system. The beam at the LCLS is synchronized to the 60 Hz AC power line phase and is subject to electrical noise which differs according to which of the six possible AC phases is chosen from the 3-phase site power line. Beam operation at 120 Hz interleaves two of these 60 Hz phases and the feedback must be able to apply independent corrections to the beam pulse according to which of the 60 Hz timing patterns the pulse is synchronized to. The PAU works together with the LCLS Event Timing system which broadcasts a timing pattern that uniquely identifies each pulse when it is measured and allows the feedback correction to be applied to subsequent pulses belonging to the same timing pattern, or time slot, as it is referred to at SLAC. At 120 Hz operation this effectively provides us with two independent, but interleaved feedback loops. Other beam programs at the SLAC facility such as LCLS-II and FACET will be pulsed on other time slots and the PAUs in those systems will respond to their appropriate timing patterns. This paper describes the details of the PAU development: real-time requirements and achievement, scalability, and consistency. The operational results will also be described. (authors)

Developing the mental health awareness of prison staff in England and Wales.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Elizabeth; Freshwater, Dawn

2009-10-01

In 2010, the prison population in England and Wales could reach a high of 91,500, according to a recent population projection. HM Prison Service (U.K.) reports that in 2004 to 2005, there were 33,144 prison officers employed to care for the prisoners in the prison system. This article focuses on the mental health of this prisoner population and the training needs of staff caring for them. It reports the experience of a national project, funded by the Department of Health, in which the project team developed and piloted mental health awareness training for prison officers on the residential units and for staff who work with prisoners and lack a mental health background. Key findings from the posttraining evaluation are highlighted. Participant feedback demonstrates the value placed on this type of training by those working in the prison setting.

Pre-Mission Communication And Awareness Stratgies For Positive Group Functioning And Development: Analysis Of A Crew At The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) In Utah, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Allner, Matthew; Bishop, Sheryl; Gushin, Vadim; McKay, Chris; Rygalov, Vadim; Allner, Matthew

Introduction: Psychosocial group functioning has become an increased international focus of many space faring nations due to the recent shift in focus of colonizing the Moon and then preparing to travel to Mars and beyond. Purpose: This study investigates the effects of pre-mission communication and awareness strategies for positive group functioning in extreme environments as well as suggestive countermeasures to maintain positive group dynamic development in isolated and confined extreme (ICE) environments. The study is supported by both preand intra-mission management efforts, which included crewmember assessments at various mission phases (pre-, intra-, and end-mission). Methods: A six person heterogeneous American crew conducted a Mars simulation mission at the Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA in 2006 as part of a new NASA training program called Spaceward Bound. Participants were administered assessments of personality, personal and group identity/functioning, subjective stress, coping, and subjective motivation. All participants were also provided information (pre-mission) regarding past research and tendencies of group functioning, stressors, cognitive functioning, and mission mistakes from a mission phase analysis approach, to see if this would be a factor in positive group dynamic development. Results: Data collected and obtained by both assessment and journaling methods were both consistent and indicative of positive personalities desirable of expedition crews. Assessment data further indicated positive group cohesion and group interactions, along with supportive and strong leadership, all which led to positive personal and group experiences for crewmembers. Crewmembers all displayed low levels of competition while still reporting high motivation and satisfaction for the group dynamic development and the mission objectives that were completed. Journals kept by the crew psychologist indicated that crewmembers all felt that the pre

Context Aware Systems, Methods and Trends in Smart Home Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Robles, Rosslin John; Kim, Tai-Hoon

Context aware applications respond and adapt to changes in the computing environment. It is the concept of leveraging information about the end user to improve the quality of the interaction. New technologies in context-enriched services will use location, presence, social attributes, and other environmental information to anticipate an end user's immediate needs, offering more-sophisticated, situation-aware and usable functions. Smart homes connect all the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you. Context-awareness can be applied to Smart Home technology. In this paper, we discuss the context-aware tools for development of Smart Home Systems.

Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign – The Compass Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harris Meredith G

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Early detection and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults can lead to better health outcomes. Mental health literacy is a key to early recognition and help seeking. Whilst a number of population health initiatives have attempted to improve mental health literacy, none to date have specifically targeted young people nor have they applied the rigorous standards of population health models now accepted as best practice in other health areas. This paper describes the outcomes from the application of a health promotion model to the development, implementation and evaluation of a community awareness campaign designed to improve mental health literacy and early help seeking amongst young people. Method The Compass Strategy was implemented in the western metropolitan Melbourne and Barwon regions of Victoria, Australia. The Precede-Proceed Model guided the population assessment, campaign strategy development and evaluation. The campaign included the use of multimedia, a website, and an information telephone service. Multiple levels of evaluation were conducted. This included a cross-sectional telephone survey of mental health literacy undertaken before and after 14 months of the campaign using a quasi-experimental design. Randomly selected independent samples of 600 young people aged 12–25 years from the experimental region and another 600 from a comparison region were interviewed at each time point. A series of binary logistic regression analyses were used to measure the association between a range of campaign outcome variables and the predictor variables of region and time. Results The program was judged to have an impact on the following variables, as indicated by significant region-by-time interaction effects (p Conclusion We believe this is the first study to apply the rigorous standards of a health promotion model including the use of a control region to a mental health population intervention. The

Context-Aware user interfaces in automation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Mikkel Holm

2007-01-01

Automation is deployed in a great range of different domains such as the chemical industry, the production of consumer goods, the production of energy (both in terms of power plants and in the petrochemical industry), transportation and several others. Through several decades the complexity...... of automation systems and the level of automation have been rising. This has caused problems regarding the operator's ability to comprehend the overall situation and state of the automation system, in particular in abnormal situations. The amount of data available to the operator results in information overload....... Since context-aware applications have been developed in other research areas it seems natural to analyze the findings of this research and examine how this can be applied to the domain of automation systems. By evaluating existing architectures for the development of context-aware applications we find...

Awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs among school-going adolescents in Europe: a systematic review of published literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spallek Lena

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs are a major health problem affecting mostly young people, not only in developing, but also in developed countries. We conducted this systematic review to determine awareness and knowledge of school-going male and female adolescents in Europe of STDs and if possible, how they perceive their own risk of contracting an STD. Results of this review can help point out areas where STD risk communication for adolescents needs to be improved. Methods Using various combinations of the terms "STD", "HIV", "HPV", "Chlamydia", "Syphilis", "Gonorrhoea", "herpes", "hepatitis B", "knowledge", "awareness", and "adolescents", we searched for literature published in the PubMed database from 01.01.1990 up to 31.12.2010. Studies were selected if they reported on the awareness and/or knowledge of one or more STD among school-attending adolescents in a European country and were published in English or German. Reference lists of selected publications were screened for further publications of interest. Information from included studies was systematically extracted and evaluated. Results A total of 15 studies were included in the review. All were cross-sectional surveys conducted among school-attending adolescents aged 13 to 20 years. Generally, awareness and knowledge varied among the adolescents depending on gender. Six STDs were focussed on in the studies included in the review, with awareness and knowledge being assessed in depth mainly for HIV/AIDS and HPV, and to some extent for chlamydia. For syphilis, gonorrhoea and herpes only awareness was assessed. Awareness was generally high for HIV/AIDS (above 90% and low for HPV (range 5.4%-66%. Despite knowing that use of condoms helps protect against contracting an STD, some adolescents still regard condoms primarily as an interim method of contraception before using the pill. Conclusion In general, the studies reported low levels of awareness and knowledge of

Aviation Career Awareness Program [and Related Materials].

Science.gov (United States)

Petrie, Edwin T.

The learning packet focuses on general aviation and is to be used in career awareness programs at the elementary level. It includes a document which presents a group of units on general aviation and its related careers. The units include the following: (1) aircraft manufacturing, (2) instruments and controls, (3) how airplanes fly, (4) flight…

Determining the brand awareness of product placement in video games

OpenAIRE

Král, Marek

2015-01-01

This bachelor thesis focusses on the determination of the brand awareness of product placement in video games. The theoretical part includes information about marketing, product placement and video games. The practical part consists of evaluation of the market research about product placements in video games. Conclusion suggests the most important factors influencing the level brand awareness.

Monitoring and evaluation of sport-based HIV/AIDS awareness programmes: Strengthening outcome indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Maleka, Elma Nelisiwe

2017-12-01

NGOs can adapt the proposed generic outcomes and indicators based on the settings of their programmes. A collaborative approach by all stakeholders is required, from international organisations, funders, governments, NGOs and communities to strengthening monitoring and evaluation of sport-based HIV/AIDS awareness programmes including other development programmes. This will assist the NGOs that use sport for development to be able to reflect accurately the information about their HIV/AIDS activities and also be able to contribute to on-going monitoring activities at a national and global level as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Experiences from Real-World Deployment of Context-Aware Technologies in a Hospital Environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bardram, Jakob Eyvind; Hansen, Thomas Riisgaard; Mogensen, Martin

2006-01-01

and discuss our experiences from an ongoing deployment of a suite of context-aware technologies and applications in a hospital environment, including a context-awareness infrastructure, a location tracking system, and two context-aware applications running on interactive wall displays and mobile phones. Based......Context-aware computing is a central concept in ubiquitous computing and many suggestions for context-aware technologies and applications have been proposed. There is, however, little evidence on how these concepts and technologies play out in a real-world setting. In this paper we describe...... on an analysis of the use of these systems, we observe that many of the ideas behind context-aware computing are valid, and that the context-aware applications are useful for clinicians in their work. By reflecting on the nature of the designed context-aware technologies, we present a model which states...

Awareness of patients about existing oral precancerous lesions/conditions in Nashik city of Maharashtra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bhushan Sukdeo Ahire

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Many oral squamous cell carcinomas develop from premalignant lesions/conditions of oral cavity. Hence, the awareness of such lesions/conditions is important. Aim: To assess the awareness about existing oral precancerous lesions/conditions among patients arriving for dental treatment at a dental hospital, in Nashik city of Maharashtra. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was used to collect information from 80 patients with existing oral precancerous lesions/conditions attending the dental hospital, in Nashik city of Maharashtra. The questionnaire included questions to ascertain information on sociodemographic parameters, awareness, and sources of information about of oral precancerous lesions/conditions, habit of tobacco, areca nut chewing, smoking, alcohol, and combined habits. Results: We found that 40% (n = 32 respondents knew about the existence of lesion in their mouth of which only 50% (out of 40% had thought that it was precancerous lesion/condition. Among all subjects, only 47.5% (n = 38 were aware of oral precancerous lesions/conditions. Television was the major source of information about oral precancerous lesions/conditions almost all the subjects (97.5% wanted more information about oral precancerous lesions/conditions but through television (42.5% and lectures (27.5%. Conclusion: Awareness of patients (coming to hospital about oral precancerous lesions/conditions was found to be low. The people must be made aware of symptoms, signs, and preventive strategies of oral precancerous lesions/conditions through their preferred media – television and lectures.

2010 driver attitudes and awareness survey.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

A basic of questions were developed that could be used in periodic surveys that track drivers attitudes and awareness concerning impaired driving, seat belt use, and speeding issues. The objective of the survey was to learn the knowledge, views, and ...

ROMANIAN BRANDS AWARENESS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE. THE CASE OF COMMON FOOD PRODUCTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Catalina Timiras

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Awareness is a prerequisite in the development of successful brands; in this paper are highlighted, for certain categories of common food products, brands enjoying the highest spontaneous awareness among young people. On the basis of this work are some of the results of a direct research conducted on a sample of 100 students, aged between 18 and 30 years. Common foods are intended for current consumption, serving to meet the dietary needs of consumers. Thus, we studied certain categories of food products with characteristics which make them fall within the common products category: milk and dairy products, meat and cooked meat (except fish, fish and eggs, canned meat (including pate, canned vegetables, bakery, milling products, pasta, breakfast cereals, sugar, eggs, nuts and seeds, oil, margarine. The conducted research has an exploratory character.

Predicting growth in English and French vocabulary: The facilitating effects of morphological and cognate awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Angelo, Nadia; Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Chen, Xi

2017-07-01

The present study investigated the contribution of morphological and cognate awareness to the development of English and French vocabulary knowledge among young minority and majority language children who were enrolled in a French immersion program. Participating children (n = 75) were assessed in English and French on measures of morphological awareness, cognate awareness, and vocabulary knowledge from Grades 1 to 3. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to investigate linear trends in English and French vocabulary growth for minority and majority language children and to identify metalinguistic contributions to Grade 1 and Grade 3 English and French vocabulary performance and rate of growth. Results demonstrated a similar pattern of prediction for both groups of children. English and French morphological awareness and French-English cognate awareness significantly predicted concurrent and longitudinal vocabulary development after controlling for nonverbal reasoning, phonological awareness, and word identification. The contributions of morphological awareness to English vocabulary and cognate awareness to French vocabulary strengthened between Grades 1 and 2. These findings highlight the emerging importance of morphological and cognate awareness in children's vocabulary development and suggest that these metalinguistic factors can serve to broaden the vocabulary repertoire of children who enter school with limited language proficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Americans' awareness, knowledge, and behaviors regarding fats: 2006-2007.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckel, Robert H; Kris-Etherton, Penny; Lichtenstein, Alice H; Wylie-Rosett, Judith; Groom, Allison; Stitzel, Kimberly F; Yin-Piazza, Shirley

2009-02-01

In recent years, epidemiologic and clinical studies, public and regulatory policy activity, and media coverage have focused on issues related to trans fats. To help increase awareness and understanding of trans fats and other fats, the American Heart Association (AHA) launched the "Face the Fats" national consumer education campaign in April 2007. The AHA commissioned a quantitative tracking survey between 2006 and 2007 to measure changes in consumer awareness, knowledge, and behaviors related fats and oils and their perceived impact on heart disease. The survey was conducted by Cogent Research. Data were collected during March 2006 and May 2007. At both time points, the survey included a representative sample of the American population age 18 to 65 years (n=1,000). The sampling plan for the survey was designed based on the 2000 and 2003 US Census. The margin of error was +/-3.10 percentage points. Awareness of trans fats increased during the 1-year study period. In 2007, 92% of respondents were aware of trans fats, an increase from 84% in 2006 (Pincreased for trans fats (73% in 2007 vs 63% in 2006; Pfood sources of different fats remained low. On an unaided basis, 21% could name three food sources of trans fats in 2007, up from 17% in 2006 (Pfood sources of saturated fat remained unchanged at 30% in 2007. Significantly more respondents in 2007 reported behavioral changes related to trans fat information, such as buying food products because they show "zero trans fat" on labels or packages (37% in 2007 vs. 32% in 2006; Pincreased and attained awareness levels similar to saturated fats. The increased awareness is associated with improved self-reported behaviors in grocery shopping. Nonetheless, overall knowledge, especially regarding food sources of saturated and trans fats, remains relatively low, underscoring the need for heightened consumer education activities. The positive change in consumer awareness about trans fats is likely attributable to the wide range of

Promoting Space Education and Awareness in Pakistan- Initiatives, Achievements, Challenges and Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Jagirani, Aisha

Pakistan. These include establishment of space science departments in universities, developing space-specific educational institutes, cooperation and collaboration between universities and SUPARCO, outreach to schools, and holding of short courses, seminars and symposia. To create awareness among the general public, efforts are being made to air programs on the electronic media. This paper covers achievements of Pakistan in promoting space education and awareness in the country and the related issues and impediments to pursue these programs.

RAISING YOUNG LEARNERS‟ AWARENESS OF GRAMMAR THROUGH CREATIVE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Murni Wahyanti

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Current developments in foreign language teaching have shown the need to reconsider the role of grammar. It is argued that grammar understanding can promote more precise use of the foreign language. This belief has led to an increased interest in grammar teaching, including grammar teaching for young learners. In teaching English to young learners, activities that can promote grammar awareness are needed. The activities should be presented in context to make sure that the meaning is clear. The activities should also be creatively designed in order to challenge students‘ motivation and involvement. Grammar activities presented creatively in meaningful contexts are useful for noticing the language patterns. This paper focuses on the changing status of grammar, the importance of grammar in the young learner classroom, and how to raise grammar awareness through creative language activities. It also reports the result of a small-scale study on implementing grammarawareness activities for teaching English to Elementary School students.

Applying Cognitive Fusion to Space Situational Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, S.; Shaw, M.; Chan, M.

With recent increases in capability and frequency of rocket launches from countries across the world, maintaining a state-of-the-art Space Situational Awareness model is all the more necessary. We propose a fusion of real-time, natural language processing capability provided by IBM cognitive services with ground-based sensor data of positions and trajectories of satellites in all earth orbits. We believe such insight provided by cognitive services could help determine context to missile launches, help predict when a satellite of interest could be in danger, either by accident or by intent, and could alert interested parties to the perceived threat. We seek to implement an improved Space Situational Awareness model by developing a dynamic factor graph model informed by the fusion of ground-based ”structured” sensor data with ”unstructured” data from the public domain, such as news articles, blogs, and social media, in real time. To this end, we employ IBM’s Cognitive services, specifically, Watson Discovery. Watson Discovery allows real-time natural language processing of text including entity extraction, keyword search, taxonomy classification, concept tagging, relation extraction, sentiment analysis, and emotion analysis. We present various scenarios that demonstrate the utility of this new Space Situational Awareness model, each of which combine past structured information with related open source data. We demonstrate that should the model come to estimate a satellite is ”of interest”, it will indicate it as so, based on the most pertinent data, such as a reading from a sensor or by information available online. We present and discuss the most recent iterations of the model for satellites currently available on Space-Track.org.

Development of Morphological Awareness and Vocabulary Knowledge in Spanish-Speaking Language Minority Learners: A Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Model

Science.gov (United States)

Kieffer, Michael J.; Lesaux, Nonie K.

2012-01-01

Despite acknowledgement of the limited English vocabularies demonstrated by many language minority (LM) learners, few studies have identified skills that relate to variation in vocabulary growth in this population. This study investigated the concurrent development of morphological awareness (i.e., students' understanding of complex words as…

Measuring the educational impact of Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK): The development and implementation of a new scale

Science.gov (United States)

Jennifer Miller; Lindsey Brown; Eddie Hill; Amy Shellman; Ron Ramsing; Edwin. Gómez

2012-01-01

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics (LNT) is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches skills and values for recreating responsibly in the out-of-doors. LNT developed Promoting Environmental Awareness in Kids (PEAK), based on seven ethical principles. The PEAK program provides a pack that contains several interactive activities specifically designed to...

System dynamics modelling of situation awareness

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Oosthuizen, R

2015-11-01

Full Text Available . The feedback loops and delays in the Command and Control system also contribute to the complex dynamic behavior. This paper will build on existing situation awareness models to develop a System Dynamics model to support a qualitative investigation through...

“ABC”—The Awareness-Body-Chart: A new tool assessing body awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Avian, Alexander; Macheiner, Tanja; Salchinger, Beate; Dalkner, Nina; Fellendorf, Frederike T.; Birner, Armin; Bengesser, Susanne A.; Platzer, Martina; Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter; Probst, Michel; Reininghaus, Eva Z.

2017-01-01

Background Despite the importance of body awareness for health and well-being there is still a lack of valid assessment tools to scan proper body awareness. To respond to the limitations of questionnaires (reading/interpretation problems) the Awareness-Body-Chart (ABC) was designed to assess body awareness by colouring 51 regions according to their awareness. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the ABC. Methods In a questionnaire-study, 106 students in Graz (79 females, 27 males, age median 21 (IQR 20–23) years) filled in the ABC, furthermore a German body awareness questionnaire „KEKS”, and the Beck Depression Inventory II. Factor structure, internal consistency, and retest reliability of the ABC were investigated. Correlations of the ABC with the KEKS and the Beck Depression Inventory II and comparisons of subgroups were conducted. Results Through factor analyses, 14 factors with clear assignments to body parts could be categorized: cranium, face, cervical/lumbar region, chest/abdomen, back, shoulder, upper arm, lower arm/elbow, hand, genital area, thigh/hip, knee, lower leg, and foot. The 14 body parts and the total score showed acceptable to high Cronbach’s alphas (α = .64 - .97). The test-retest reliability showed values between ρ = .71 and ρ = .96. The correlation of the ABC and KEKS (r = .66, p awareness-patterns of various subgroups. PMID:29036217

A Study of Public Awareness of Speech-Language Pathology in Amman

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoud, Hana; Aljazi, Aya; Alkhamra, Rana

2014-01-01

Background: Statistical levels of awareness and knowledge of speech-language pathology and of communication disorders are currently unknown among the public in the Middle East, including Jordan. Aims: This study reports the results of an investigation of public awareness and knowledge of speech-language pathology in Amman-Jordan. It also…

Current awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Compagno, C; Brambilla, L; Capitanio, D; Boschi, F; Ranzi, B M; Porro, D

2001-05-01

In order to keep subscribers up-to-date with the latest developments in their field, this current awareness service is provided by John Wiley & Sons and contains newly-published material on yeasts. Each bibliography is divided into 10 sections. 1 Books, Reviews & Symposia; 2 General; 3 Biochemistry; 4 Biotechnology; 5 Cell Biology; 6 Gene Expression; 7 Genetics; 8 Physiology; 9 Medical Mycology; 10 Recombinant DNA Technology. Within each section, articles are listed in alphabetical order with respect to author. If, in the preceding period, no publications are located relevant to any one of these headings, that section will be omitted. (4 weeks journals - search completed 7th Mar. 2001)

Cyber Security Training and Awareness Through Game Play

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cone, Benjamin D; Thompson, Michael F; Irvine, Cynthia E; Nguyen, Thuy D

2006-01-01

Although many of the concepts included in staff cyber-security awareness training are universal, such training often must be tailored to address the policies and requirements of a particular organization...

Transcultural adaptation of the Breast Cancer Awareness Measure.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Khasawneh, E M; Leocadio, M; Seshan, V; Siddiqui, S T; Khan, A N; Al-Manaseer, M M

2016-09-01

To overcome the lack of a validated and robust Arabic instrument to measure breast cancer awareness. Currently, there is no validated Arabic instrument for measuring breast cancer awareness levels. We adapted, translated and validated the Breast Cancer Awareness Measure developed by Cancer Research UK. The instrument was translated into Arabic and back-translated for validation. Validation and reliability tests were conducted using purposively sampled 972 Arab women older than 20 years, living in Oman. The adapted content was validated by a panel of medical, linguistic and cultural experts, followed by cognitive interviews (n = 10), behavioural coding (n = 30) and criterion validation (n = 646). The instrument was tested for acceptability and its subscales for internal consistency. Inter-rater reliability was estimated between two similar groups (n = 144 and n = 142) to test homogeneity. The adapted and translated instrument had a high acceptability (98.7% completed). The validation process shaped the adaptation, and resulted in strong criterion validity (R = 0.58, P Cancer Awareness Measure is a robust Arabic instrument for the measurement of breast cancer awareness and early detection practices among Arab women. The purposively selected sample may not be representative of the population. Improvement of awareness and early detection of breast cancer can contribute towards reducing mortality from the disease. The adapted instrument has policy implications, since measurement of awareness levels is essential towards breast health promotion policies in Arab countries. © 2016 International Council of Nurses.

Patient Awareness and Expectations of Pharmacist Services During Hospital Stay.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Philip K; Martin, Steven J; Betka, Eric M

2017-10-01

There are insufficient data in the United States regarding patient awareness and expectations of hospital pharmacist availability and services. The objective of this research is to assess patient awareness and expectations of hospital pharmacist services and to determine whether a marketing campaign for pharmacist services increases patient awareness and expectations. Eligible inpatients were surveyed before and after implementation of a hospital-wide pharmacist services marketing campaign (12 items; Likert scale of 1 [strongly disagree] to 4 [strongly agree]; maximum total score of 48) regarding awareness of pharmacist services. The primary outcome was the change in median total survey scores from baseline. Other outcomes included the frequency of patient requests for pharmacists. Similar numbers of patients completed the survey before and after the campaign (intervention, n = 140, vs control, n = 147). Awareness of pharmacist availability and services was increased (41 [interquartile ranges, IQRs: 36-46] vs 37 [IQR 31-43]; P marketing campaign implementation. Awareness among inpatients of pharmacist services is low. Marketing pharmacist availability and services to patients in the hospital improves awareness and expectations for pharmacist-provided care and increases the frequency of patient-initiated interaction between pharmacists and patients. This could improve patient outcomes as pharmacists become more integrally involved in direct patient care.

Awareness in cardiac anesthesia.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Serfontein, Leon

2010-02-01

Cardiac surgery represents a sub-group of patients at significantly increased risk of intraoperative awareness. Relatively few recent publications have targeted the topic of awareness in this group. The aim of this review is to identify areas of awareness research that may equally be extrapolated to cardiac anesthesia in the attempt to increase understanding of the nature and significance of this scenario and how to reduce it.

Developing and Field Testing a Community Based Youth Initiative to Increase Tuberculosis Awareness in Remote Arctic Inuit Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Gonzalo G; Van Dyk, Deborah D; Colquhoun, Heather; Moreau, Katherine A; Mulpuru, Sunita; Graham, Ian D

2016-01-01

Inuit in Canada have the highest reported tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate in Canada, even higher than other Canadian Indigenous groups. The aim of this study was to increase TB awareness among Inuit youth and their communities by equipping those who can best reach this population with a community based, youth focused, education initiative built on interventions adapted from a previous TB awareness study. The Taima TB Youth Education Initiative was a field test case study of a knowledge translation (KT) strategy aimed at community members who provide health education in these communities. In the first stage of this study, interventions from a larger TB awareness campaign were adapted to focus on youth living in remote Inuit communities. During the second stage of the study, investigators field tested the initiative in two isolated Inuit communities. It was then applied by local implementation teams in two other communities. Evaluation criteria included feasibility, acceptability, knowledge uptake and health behavior change. Implementation of the adapted KT interventions resulted in participation of a total of 41 youth (19 females, 22 males) with an average age of 16 years (range 12-21 years) in four different communities in Nunavut. Community celebration events were attended by 271 community members where TB messaging were presented and discussed. All of the health care workers and community members surveyed reported that the adapted interventions were acceptable and a useful way of learning to some extent. Knowledge uptake measures indicated an average TB knowledge score of 64 out of 100. Local partners in all four communities indicated that they would use the Taima TB Youth Education Initiative again to raise awareness about TB among youth in their communities. The TB awareness interventions adapted for the Taima TB Youth Education Initiative were acceptable to the Inuit communities involved in the study. They resulted in uptake of knowledge among participants

Development of an evidence-based dentistry course for dental students and its effect on their awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MR Khami

2017-12-01

Conclusions: The developed EBD course seemed to be effective to improve the participants’ awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge regarding evidence-based concepts. The results call for more emphasis on EBD in dental curriculum through designing courses on the subject.

Language Hierarchisations and Dehierarchisations: Nordic Parents’ Views towards Language Awareness Activities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daryai-Hansen, Petra; Layne, Heidi; Lefever, Samúel

2018-01-01

which focus on parents’ perspective on plurilingualism and language awareness. In the project, a set of teaching activities focusing on language awareness and diversity were developed in schools in the participating countries in order to contribute to language dehierarchisations. The theoretical framing...

Awareness of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in U.S. Young Adults Aged 18–39 Years

Science.gov (United States)

Bucholz, Emily M.; Gooding, Holly C.; de Ferranti, Sarah D.

2018-01-01

Introduction Young adults with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes are at increased risk of developing heart disease later in life. Despite emphasis on early screening, little is known about awareness of these risk factors in young adulthood. Methods Data from the nationally representative cross-sectional survey National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2014 were analyzed in 2017 to estimate the prevalence of self-reported awareness of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes in U.S. young adults aged 18–39 years (n=11,083). Prevalence estimates were weighted to population estimates using survey procedures, and predictors of awareness were identified using weighted logistic regression. Results Among U.S. young adults, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes was 8.8% (SE=0.4%), 7.3% (SE=0.3%), and 2.6% (SE=0.2%), respectively. The prevalence of borderline high cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose were substantially higher (21.6% [SE= 0.6%], 26.9% [SE=0.7%], and 18.9% [SE=0.6%], respectively). Awareness was low for hypercholesterolemia (56.9% [SE=2.4%]) and moderate for hypertension and diabetes (62.7% [SE=2.4%] and 70.0% [SE=2.7%]); young adults with borderline levels of these risk factors were aware of their risk. Correlates of risk factor awareness included older age, insurance status, family income above the poverty line, U.S. origin, having a usual source of health care, and the presence of comorbid conditions. Conclusions Despite the high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in U.S. young adults, awareness remains less than ideal. Interventions that target access may increase awareness and facilitate achieving treatment goals in young adults. PMID:29433955

Factors associated with public awareness of the Crown Health Program in the Al-Jouf Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Memish, Ziad A; Saeedi, Mohammad Y; Al Madani, Ahmed J; Junod, Bernard; Jamo, Abdelgadier; Abid, Omer; Alanazi, Faisal M; Alrewally, Fayez G; Mandil, Ahmed M A

2015-01-01

A community-based intervention, the Crown Health Project (CHP), was developed by the Ministry of Health. It was implemented on a small-scale in Al-Jouf Region in Northern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess its feasibility and effectiveness so that it can be scaled up. This study primarily aimed at investigating factors associated with the awareness of CHP in order to improve subsequent campaigns for the program in Al-Jouf and other regions. A secondary aim was to assess possible changes of public awareness during intensification of the awareness campaign between October 2011 and May 2012. A pre- and post-questionnaire cross-sectional approach was undertaken, and the intervention was an awareness campaign. Variables collected included demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education, occupation, urban/rural residence) and CHP awareness (its existence, sources of knowledge about CHP, its goals and objectives, its target diseases, location of activities, participation in such activities). Logistic regression was used to analyze the awareness of the program according to participant characteristics, with a time of the survey as a variable. Awareness of the program was found to be 11 times higher among postsurvey respondents than presurvey respondents. Respondents of the second survey were better at correctly identifying "health education" as the main goal of the CHP (odds ratio [OR], 4.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1-5.5), "noncommunicable diseases" as the main diseases targeted (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 3.6-6.4) and "attention to health" as the purpose (OR, 6.0; 95% CI, 4.0-8.9). The different activities of the CHP were successful in dramatically increasing awareness of the CHP program in Al-Jouf.

Raising Public Awareness of Clinical Trials: Development of Messages for a National Health Communication Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Massett, Holly A; Dilts, David M; Bailey, Robert; Berktold, Jennifer; Ledsky, Rebecca; Atkinson, Nancy L; Mishkin, Grace; Denicoff, Andrea; Padberg, Rose Mary; Allen, Marin P; Silver, Karen; Carrington, Kelli; Johnson, Lenora E

2017-05-01

Clinical trials are essential for developing new and effective treatments and improving patient quality of life; however, many trials cannot answer their primary research questions because they fall short of their recruitment goals. This article reports the results of formative research conducted in two populations, the public and primary care physicians, to identify messages that may raise awareness and increase interest in clinical trials and be used in a national communication campaign. Results suggested that participants were primarily motivated to participate in clinical trials out of a self-interest to help themselves first. Messages illustrated that current treatments were tested via clinical trials, helped normalize trials as routine practices, and reduced concerns over trying something new first. Participants wanted messages that portray trials as state-of-the-art choices that offer some hope, show people like themselves, and are described in a clear, concise manner with actionable steps for them to take. The study revealed some differences in message salience, with healthy audiences exhibiting lower levels of interest. Our results suggest that targeted messages are needed, and that communication with primary health-care providers is an important and necessary component in raising patient awareness of the importance of clinical trials.

Real World Awareness in Distributed Organizations: A View on Informal Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eldar Sultanow

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Geographically distributed development has consistently had to deal with the challenge of intense awareness extensively more than locally concentrated development. Awareness marks the state of being informed incorporated with an understanding of project-related activities, states or relationships of each individual employee within a given group as a whole. In multifarious offices, where social interaction is necessary in order to distribute and locate information together with experts, awareness becomes a concurrent process which amplifies the exigency of easy routes for staff to be able to access this information, deferred or decentralized, in a formalized and problem-oriented way. Although the subject of Awareness has immensely increased in importance, there is extensive disagreement about how this transparency can be conceptually and technically implemented [1]. This paper introduces a model in order to visualize and navigate this information in three tiers using semantic networks, GIS and Web3D.

Factors that influence public awareness of domestic waste characteristics and management in rural areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Zhiyong; Duan, Qingqing; Fei, Yongqiang; Zeng, Dan; Shi, Guozhong; Li, Haimei; Hu, Meilun

2018-05-01

Public awareness of domestic waste characteristics and management (PADWCM) is a prerequisite for a domestic waste management (DWM) plan. In this study, we considered China as a typical example of developing countries to investigate the public perception of environmental pollution (PEP), its PADWCM, and its socioeconomic factors, using questionnaires and statistical methods. The results indicated that the public PEP was mainly due to obvious environmental contamination in local villages, and the PADWCM is still inadequate in rural areas. However, 83.9% of the respondents agreed that DWM is highly necessary. The PADWCM, including the hazard, recyclability, and characteristic pollution caused by domestic waste, was learned mainly from people's direct PEP, experiences, and repurchasing by recyclers. Education period had highly significant positive correlations and regressions with PEP and PADWCM, respectively. Additionally, education directly affected public awareness in different income and age groups. Demonstration projects had a significant positive effect on the awareness of characteristic pollution caused by domestic waste, which was readily perceived. Propaganda had a significant positive influence on the awareness of treatment necessity. Age and gender had no obvious effects on public PEP and PADWCM. Some aspects of PADWCM requiring a deep understanding became stronger as income increased; however, the PADWCM located close to poor people became weaker. Some aspects of PEP could significantly influence the awareness of characteristic pollution caused by domestic waste and awareness of treatment necessity. Therefore, improving environmental education, performing demonstration projects and effective environmental propaganda, increasing people's income, and attracting young people to participate in DWM will be important for enhancing environmental awareness and DWM in rural areas. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:395-406. © 2018 SETAC. © 2018 SETAC.

Increasing awareness of gynaecological cancer symptoms: a GP perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Ruth E C; Morris, Melanie; Sekhon, Mandeep; Buszewicz, Marta; Walter, Fiona M; Waller, Jo; Simon, Alice E

2014-06-01

In the UK there has been an effort, through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), to increase early stage diagnoses and ultimately cancer survival. Encouraging early symptom presentation through awareness-raising activities in primary care is one method to achieve this goal. Understanding GPs' views about this type of activity, however, is crucial prior to implementation. To describe GPs' attitudes to raising public awareness of gynaecological cancers, and their views about the potential impact on primary care services. An online survey with a convenience sample recruited from 1860 UK general practices. An invitation was emailed to GPs via practice managers and included a weblink to a draft education leaflet and an online survey about the impact of sending a leaflet giving information about symptoms associated with gynaecological cancers to all women on GPs' lists. Participants could offer additional free text comments which were coded using content analysis. A total of 621 GPs participated. Most (77%, 477) felt that raising awareness of cancers was important. Only half (50%, 308), however, indicated that they would distribute such a leaflet from their practice. Barriers to implementation included concerns about financial costs; emotional impact on patients; increased demand for appointments and diagnostic services, such as ultrasound. GPs were generally positive about an intervention to improve patients' awareness of gynaecological cancers, but had concerns about increasing rates of presentation. There is a need for research quantifying the benefits of earlier diagnosis against resource costs such as increased consultations, investigations, and referrals. © British Journal of General Practice 2014.

Characterizing Awareness of Schizophrenia Among Facebook Users by Leveraging Facebook Advertisement Estimates

OpenAIRE

Saha, Koustuv; Weber, Ingmar; Birnbaum, Michael L; De Choudhury, Munmun

2017-01-01

Background Schizophrenia is a rare but devastating condition, affecting about 1% of the world?s population and resulting in about 2% of the US health care expenditure. Major impediments to appropriate and timely care include misconceptions, high levels of stigma, and lack of public awareness. Facebook offers novel opportunities to understand public awareness and information access related to schizophrenia, and thus can complement survey-based approaches to assessing awareness that are limited...

[Prevention of dyslexia – short-term and intermediate effects of promoting phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence with at-risk preschool children].

Science.gov (United States)

Höse, Anna; Wyschkon, Anne; Moraske, Svenja; Eggeling, Marie; Quandte, Sabine; Kohn, Juliane; Poltz, Nadine; von Aster, Michael; Esser, Günter

2016-09-01

This study assesses the short-term and intermediate effects of preschool training stimulating phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence for children at risk of developing dyslexia. Moreover, we examined whether training reduced the frequency of subsequent dyslexic problems. 25 children at risk of developing dyslexia were trained with Hören, Lauschen, Lernen 1 und 2 (Küspert & Schneider, 2008; Plume & Schneider, 2004) by their kindergarten teachers and were compared with 60 untrained at-risk children. The training revealed a significant short-term effect: The phonological awareness of trained at-risk children increased significantly over that of untrained at-risk children. However, there were no differences in phonological awareness, spelling, and reading ability between the first-graders in the training and control group. Furthermore, reading problems were reduced in the training group. In the future, phonological awareness as well as additional predictors should be included when identifying children vulnerable to developing dyslexia. Moreover, in order to prevent dyslexia, additional prerequisite deficits need to be identified, alleviated, and their effects evaluated.

Critical Language Awareness in Pedagogic Context

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Shamim

2011-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the significance of developing students' critical language awareness through explicit teaching methodology of some procedures of critical discourse analysis. The researcher integrated critical activities into her teaching and students' learning process. The study was planned prudently to discover the…

Cognitive-emotional interplay:implications for children’s development of self-aware emotion regulation as the last developmental phase of emotional intelligence

OpenAIRE

Kralj, S. (Sara)

2016-01-01

Abstract Cognitive and emotional developmental trajectories account for individual differences in children. Individual variations of emotional intelligence may be a result of various factors. For the purpose of this work children’s development of emotional intelligence is examined through individual developmental aspect related to development of cognition and emotion. The ability to be aware of own emotions and emotions of ...

Relationship between phonological awareness and spelling proficiency in first-grade students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasibe Soltaninejad

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Phonological awareness (consisting of phoneme, syllable and intra-syllable awareness is an important part of receptive and expressive language; it facilitates reading and writing skills through phonological re-coding. Multiple studies in several languages have studied the relationship between phonological awareness and dictation. This research is based on a study of the relationship between phonological skill and spelling score in first-grade Persian students.Methods: Four hundred first-grade students participated in the study, including 209 girls and 191 boys. A phonological awareness test was individually administered for each student and then a spelling exam was administered in groups. The correlation between the two tests was studied using a simple regression model. The comparison of mean scores of girls and boys was evaluated employing an independent t-test.Results: A correlation coefficient of 0.82 was obtained between phonological awareness and spelling proficiency (p<0.001. Phonological skill sub-tests also showed a significant correlation with spelling proficiency (highest for phoneme awareness r=0.34 and lowest for rhyme awareness r=0.12. The mean scores of girls and boys differed significantly (p<0.05.Conclusion: There is a strong positive association between phonological awareness and spelling proficiency. Therefore, if phonological skill is improved, spelling score can be enhanced.

Users Behavior in Location-Aware Services: Digital Natives versus Digital Immigrants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Furini

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Location-aware services may expose users to privacy risks as they usually attach user’s location to the generated contents. Different studies have focused on privacy in location-aware services, but the results are often conflicting. Our hypothesis is that users are not fully aware of the features of the location-aware scenario and this lack of knowledge affects the results. Hence, in this paper we present a different approach: the analysis is conducted on two different groups of users (digital natives and digital immigrants and is divided into two steps: (i understanding users’ knowledge of a location-aware scenario and (ii investigating users’ opinion toward location-aware services after showing them an example of an effective location-aware service able to extract personal and sensitive information from contents publicly available in social media platforms. The analysis reveals that there is relation between users’ knowledge and users’ concerns toward privacy in location-aware services and also reveals that digital natives are more interested in the location-aware scenario than digital immigrants. The analysis also discloses that users’ concerns toward these services may be ameliorated if these services ask for users’ authorization and provide benefits to users. Other interesting findings allow us to draw guidelines that might be helpful in developing effective location-aware services.

Evaluation of Topology-Aware Broadcast Algorithms for Dragonfly Networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorier, Matthieu; Mubarak, Misbah; Ross, Rob; Li, Jianping Kelvin; Carothers, Christopher D.; Ma, Kwan-Liu

2016-09-12

Two-tiered direct network topologies such as Dragonflies have been proposed for future post-petascale and exascale machines, since they provide a high-radix, low-diameter, fast interconnection network. Such topologies call for redesigning MPI collective communication algorithms in order to attain the best performance. Yet as increasingly more applications share a machine, it is not clear how these topology-aware algorithms will react to interference with concurrent jobs accessing the same network. In this paper, we study three topology-aware broadcast algorithms, including one designed by ourselves. We evaluate their performance through event-driven simulation for small- and large-sized broadcasts (in terms of both data size and number of processes). We study the effect of different routing mechanisms on the topology-aware collective algorithms, as well as their sensitivity to network contention with other jobs. Our results show that while topology-aware algorithms dramatically reduce link utilization, their advantage in terms of latency is more limited.

Awareness of BIM adoption in Brunei

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Md Motiar

2017-09-01

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is getting increased attention day-by-day due to its many benefits, including clash detection, collaboration between contract parties, visualization future structure, optimized schedule and project control, waste control, design documentation, and harmonized facilities management. As such, many countries have already adopted BIM, and many other countries are exploring the potential of adopting it. However, it is still relatively new and unknown to some other countries like Brunei. This study was therefore undertaken to generate and/or gauge the awareness of Brunei construction industry participants, targeting adoption of BIM, through a structured questionnaire survey. Responses from 90 industry participants reveal that Brunei Construction industry is not well aware of BIM, lack the required technical knowledge and application in construction, and cost involvement. They are unsure about the potential benefits and barriers to implementing BIM. However, respondents are hopeful that BIM can bring the required changes in construction, willing to adopt BIM, expects cliental support with initial investment for its adoption, and believe that BIM is the future of construction project information management. On the whole, private sector was seen to be more aware on BIM than public sector. The study outcomes are expected to provide the policy makers a first-hand information on the industry awareness on BIM, which in turn help them for further exploration / examination and to design any action plan and guidelines for BIM adoption.

Evaluating Mobile Proactive Context-Aware Retrieval

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Menegon, Davide; Mizzaro, Stefano; Nazzi, Elena

We present the evaluation of a novel application for Web content perusal by means of context-aware mobile devices that proactively query an external search engine. To this aim, we develop a TREC-like benchmark and we use it to evaluate different strategies for automatic query construction...

Contraceptive awareness among men in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Mohammad Amirul; Padmadas, Sabu S; Smith, Peter W F

2006-04-01

A considerable gap exists between contraceptive awareness and use. Traditional approaches to measuring awareness are inadequate to properly understand the linkages between awareness and use. The objective of this study was to examine the degree of men's modern contraceptive awareness in Bangladesh and the associated determinants and further testing of a hypothesis that current contraceptive use confers a high degree of method awareness. This study used the couple data set from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (1999-2000). A two-level, multinomial logistic regression was used with the degree of contraceptive awareness as the dependent variable. The degree of awareness was measured by the reported number of modern contraceptive methods known among men aged 15-59 years. Men's responses on method awareness were classified according to those reported spontaneously and probed. Nearly 100% of the study participants reported having heard of at least one method and about half reported awareness of at least eight different methods of contraception. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that older and educated men were more likely to have reported a high degree of awareness. The findings confirmed our hypothesis that current contraceptive use is likely to confer a high degree of modern method awareness among men (pknowledge of contraceptive methods to improve the uptake of especially male-based modern methods.

The relation between musical abilities and the phonological awareness in pre-school children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Božič

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The pre-school period plays a very important role in the language development. One of the significant indicators of this development is the phonological awareness. Some of the previous studies reported the presence of the relation between the phonological awareness and musical abilities. Our main goal was to examine this relation with the Test of the phonological awareness and the Test of musical abilities on 67 Slovene preschool children, aged from 5 to 6. We also wanted to investigate the differences between boys (N = 36 and girls (N = 31 and the differences between two age groups (aged from 5 to 5.5 years, N = 32, and from 5.5 to 6 years, N = 35. The results confirmed the connection between musical abilities and the phonological awareness. They also indicated that the recognition of the first and the last phoneme is related to melodic awareness and that phoneme merging is mainly related to rhythm awareness. No significant differences were found between male and female children or between the groups of the children of different ages.

CURRENT SITUATION OF CIVIL AWARENESS OF UNDERGRADUATE AND PROMOTION STRATEGY RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Hong-Mei

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We conducted on a questionnaire survey for the current college students’ civic awareness from four aspects of equality consciousness, national consciousness, freedom consciousness and public consciousness. Survey data was analyzed with the SAS® statistical software, the results shown that some of our country’s College Students with a strong national consciousness, and their patriotic feeling is deep at present. They identity the consciousness of equality, but their awareness of fighting for rights is not strong. They have a sense of freedom, but some students are not clear about the relationship between freedom and law. Their enthusiasm to participate in public affairs is not high. Their awareness of social morality is not comprehensive. The reason is that the influence of traditional culture and the political development can’t keep up with the development of economy and the systematic citizenship education is lacked. Finally, we put forward a method of improve the civic awareness of Contemporary College Students in this paper.

Energy awareness luncheon and energy seminar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-23

A separate abstract was prepared for each of the following: the luncheon address, energy-growth-freedom by Kenneth A. Randall; the keynote commentary, by F.S. Patton, program chairman; and four current-awareness papers on the future of oil and gas, coal, nuclear energy, and solar energy. In addition, in a section, Speaking of Energy, very brief statements by eight professional engineers on the energy challenge are included. Also, the NSPE position paper on energy policy is included.

Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama awareness system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dadlani Mahtani, P.; Markopoulos, P.; Sinitsyn, A.G.; Aarts, E.H.L.

2011-01-01

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. The iterative design of the Aurama awareness system showed andour empirical research, including field trials ranging from four tosix months, confirm the

Development of the Curriculum and Instructional Model for Learning the Tactical Awareness by the Each Role in the Baseball Game in the Elementary School

OpenAIRE

中井, 隆司; 宗野, 伸哉; 川島, 弘美

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop the curriculum and instructional model for learning the tactical awareness by the each role in the baseball game in the elemetary school. This baseball game' s practice composed three task games, the drill game and the teaching process for learning "tactical awareness". For analyzing the learning process and the products, four students were selected by the throwing ability. In this teaching unit, the learning process and the products were measured in t...

An Influence of Strategic Awareness on Management Control: Evidence from Polish Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Dyczkowska

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The paper investigates whether employees’ strategic awareness influences the shape of management control systems (MCSs in Polish micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (mSMEs. Methodology: The study is based on data obtained from 223 companies between November 2010 and January 2012. The quantitative analysis used a set of variables which depicted MCSs: ‘goalsetting process’, ‘control framework’ and ‘organisation of control’. Strategic awareness was considered an independent variable. Findings: The results showed positive correlations between strategic awareness and considered variables. Regression models developed by the authors proved statistically valid. The study evidences, that increasing employees’ strategic awareness stimulates their participation in goal-setting, contributes to the development of more comprehensive MCSs, or may even imply formalisation of management control. Research limitations: The study does not include an analysis of the extent to which employees find MCSs useful in their work. This will be considered in future research. Another possible extension of the project is to identify factors which enable the capturing of the dynamic character of MCSs and their changes over time. Practical implications: The knowledge of MCSs does not explain whether or not the strategic orientation of a company stimulates a need for MCS. Such knowledge may be important to managers who have to face Polish employees’ general aversion to control. Originality: The study contributes to the limited body of knowledge in a scope of relations between employees’ strategic awareness and control mechanisms in Polish mSMEs.

Supporting awareness in creative group work by exposing design rationale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Umer Farooq

2011-01-01

Full Text Available When creativity is taken as a long-term, complex, and collaborative activity, support for awareness is required for group members to monitor the development of ideas, track how these ideas became narrowed, and understand how alternatives are being implemented and integrated by colleagues. In this paper, we investigate the effects of exposing design rationale to convey awareness, specifically activity awareness, in group creativity. Through evaluating a prototype, we investigate status updates that convey design rationale, and to what consequences, in small groups in fully distributed collaboration. We found that status updates are used for a variety of purposes and that participants’ comments on their collaborators’ status updates provided feedback. Overall, results suggest that participants’ awareness about their collaborators’ future plans increased over time. Majority of participants found the status updates useful, particularly those with higher metacognitive knowledge. Based on our results, two design strategies for activity awareness are proposed.

Monitoring of awareness level in dispensary patients with arterial hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Smiianov, Vladyslav; Witczak, Izabela; Smiianova, Olga; Rudenko, Lesia

2017-01-01

Results of monitoring of awareness level in dispensary patients with arterial hypertension (AH) are given in the article. The objective of the study was to investigate awareness level of dispensary patients with hypertension in Sumy as for the course of their disease, implementation of preventive measures, diagnosis and treatment, and to use the obtained information in the process of management of healthcare quality. The results of close-ended questionnaires were used in the capacity of materials. A total of 2019 patients were surveyed. Despite the high level of patients' awareness of AH course and possible complications, the survey showed insufficient level of their own responsibility for their health. The main reasons for poor adherence to doctor's recommendations are forgetfulness, lack of time, reluctance. Measures were developed to increase awareness level in patients with AH by means of strengthening awareness-raising activities and communications, as well as creation and implementation of effective targeted health-and-social programs.

Awareness Mechanisms in Groupware Systems

OpenAIRE

Byrne, Peter

2004-01-01

The main focus of this dissertation is to study the awareness mechanisms in groupware computing. The object of this study is to create a platform for testing awareness mechanisms in a general and empirical fashion. The platform will allow different awareness schemes to be enabled and disabled as required. The awareness mechanisms that will be supported in this project are the use of colour as a carrier of embodiment information, the use of radars and telepointers to present location awaren...

Brain basis of phonological awareness for spoken language in children and its disruption in dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovelman, Ioulia; Norton, Elizabeth S; Christodoulou, Joanna A; Gaab, Nadine; Lieberman, Daniel A; Triantafyllou, Christina; Wolf, Maryanne; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Gabrieli, John D E

2012-04-01

Phonological awareness, knowledge that speech is composed of syllables and phonemes, is critical for learning to read. Phonological awareness precedes and predicts successful transition from language to literacy, and weakness in phonological awareness is a leading cause of dyslexia, but the brain basis of phonological awareness for spoken language in children is unknown. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural correlates of phonological awareness using an auditory word-rhyming task in children who were typical readers or who had dyslexia (ages 7-13) and a younger group of kindergarteners (ages 5-6). Typically developing children, but not children with dyslexia, recruited left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when making explicit phonological judgments. Kindergarteners, who were matched to the older children with dyslexia on standardized tests of phonological awareness, also recruited left DLPFC. Left DLPFC may play a critical role in the development of phonological awareness for spoken language critical for reading and in the etiology of dyslexia.

A conceptual framework for cyber security awareness and education in SA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noluxolo Kortjan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet is becoming increasingly interwoven in the daily lives of many individuals, organisations and nations. It has, to a large extent, had a positive effect on the way people communicate. It has also introduced new avenues for business; and it has offered nations an opportunity to govern online. Nevertheless, although cyberspace offers an endless list of services and opportunities, it is also accompanied by many risks, of which many Internet users are not aware. As such, various countries have developed and implemented cyber-security awareness and education measures to counter the perceived ignorance of the Internet users. However, there is currently a definite lack in South Africa (SA in this regard; as there are currently, little government-led and sponsored cyber-security awareness and education initiatives. The primary research objective of this paper, therefore, is to propose a cyber-security awareness and education framework for SA that would assist in creating a cyber-secure culture in SA among all of the users of the Internet. This framework will be developed on the basis of key factors extrapolated from a comparative analysis of relevant developed countries.

Effects of Metalinguistic Awareness on Reading Comprehension and the Mediator Role of Reading Fluency from Grades 2 to 4

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liping; Wu, Xinchun

2015-01-01

Purpose This study examined the contribution of metalinguistic awareness including morphological awareness, phonological awareness and orthographical awareness to reading comprehension, and the role of reading fluency as a mediator of the effects of metalinguistic awareness on reading comprehension from grades 2 to 4. Methods Four hundred and fifteen elementary students in China mainland were administered a test battery that included measures of morphological awareness, phonological awareness, orthographical awareness, reading fluency, reading comprehension and IQ. Hierarchical regression and structural equation models (SEM) were used to analyze the data. Results Morphological awareness uniquely explained 9%, 10% and 13% variance of reading comprehension respectively from grade 2 to grade 4, however, phonological awareness and orthographical awareness did not contribute to reading comprehension; Reading fluency partially mediated the effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension in grades 2-4. Conclusions These findings indicated that reading fluency and morphological awareness should be facilitated in the Chinese instruction. Morphological awareness played an important role in Chinese reading and affected reading comprehension in grades 2 to 4; Reading fluency was a significant link between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in grades 2-4. PMID:25799530

Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama awareness system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dadlani Mahtani, Pavan; Markopoulos, P.; Sinitsyn, A.G.; Aarts, E.H.L.

2011-01-01

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. The iterative design of the Aurama awareness system showed and our empirical research, including field trials ranging from four to six months, confirm the

Error-related anterior cingulate cortex activity and the prediction of conscious error awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine eOrr

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Research examining the neural mechanisms associated with error awareness has consistently identified dorsal anterior cingulate activity (ACC as necessary but not predictive of conscious error detection. Two recent studies (Steinhauser and Yeung, 2010; Wessel et al. 2011 have found a contrary pattern of greater dorsal ACC activity (in the form of the error-related negativity during detected errors, but suggested that the greater activity may instead reflect task influences (e.g., response conflict, error probability and or individual variability (e.g., statistical power. We re-analyzed fMRI BOLD data from 56 healthy participants who had previously been administered the Error Awareness Task, a motor Go/No-go response inhibition task in which subjects make errors of commission of which they are aware (Aware errors, or unaware (Unaware errors. Consistent with previous data, the activity in a number of cortical regions was predictive of error awareness, including bilateral inferior parietal and insula cortices, however in contrast to previous studies, including our own smaller sample studies using the same task, error-related dorsal ACC activity was significantly greater during aware errors when compared to unaware errors. While the significantly faster RT for aware errors (compared to unaware was consistent with the hypothesis of higher response conflict increasing ACC activity, we could find no relationship between dorsal ACC activity and the error RT difference. The data suggests that individual variability in error awareness is associated with error-related dorsal ACC activity, and therefore this region may be important to conscious error detection, but it remains unclear what task and individual factors influence error awareness.

Engineering Student's Ethical Awareness and Behavior: A New Motivational Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Bairaktarova, Diana; Woodcock, Anna

2017-08-01

Professional communities are experiencing scandals involving unethical and illegal practices daily. Yet it should not take a national major structure failure to highlight the importance of ethical awareness and behavior, or the need for the development and practice of ethical behavior in engineering students. Development of ethical behavior skills in future engineers is a key competency for engineering schools as ethical behavior is a part of the professional identity and practice of engineers. While engineering educators have somewhat established instructional methods to teach engineering ethics, they still rely heavily on teaching ethical awareness, and pay little attention to how well ethical awareness predicts ethical behavior. However the ability to exercise ethical judgement does not mean that students are ethically educated or likely to behave in an ethical manner. This paper argues measuring ethical judgment is insufficient for evaluating the teaching of engineering ethics, because ethical awareness has not been demonstrated to translate into ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to propose a model that correlates with both, ethical awareness and ethical behavior. This model integrates the theory of planned behavior, person and thing orientation, and spheres of control. Applying this model will allow educators to build confidence and trust in their students' ability to build a professional identity and be prepared for the engineering profession and practice.

Factors associated with public awareness of the Crown Health Program in the Al-Jouf Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziad A Memish

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: A community-based intervention, the Crown Health Project (CHP, was developed by the Ministry of Health. It was implemented on a small-scale in Al-Jouf Region in Northern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess its feasibility and effectiveness so that it can be scaled up. This study primarily aimed at investigating factors associated with the awareness of CHP in order to improve subsequent campaigns for the program in Al-Jouf and other regions. A secondary aim was to assess possible changes of public awareness during intensification of the awareness campaign between October 2011 and May 2012. Methods: A pre- and post-questionnaire cross-sectional approach was undertaken, and the intervention was an awareness campaign. Variables collected included demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education, occupation, urban/rural residence and CHP awareness (its existence, sources of knowledge about CHP, its goals and objectives, its target diseases, location of activities, participation in such activities. Logistic regression was used to analyze the awareness of the program according to participant characteristics, with a time of the survey as a variable. Results: Awareness of the program was found to be 11 times higher among postsurvey respondents than presurvey respondents. Respondents of the second survey were better at correctly identifying "health education" as the main goal of the CHP (odds ratio [OR], 4.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.1-5.5, "noncommunicable diseases" as the main diseases targeted (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 3.6-6.4 and "attention to health" as the purpose (OR, 6.0; 95% CI, 4.0-8.9. Conclusion: The different activities of the CHP were successful in dramatically increasing awareness of the CHP program in Al-Jouf.

Tragedy prompts depression awareness, suicide prevention campaigns.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, T

1998-01-01

The tragic suicide of Robert C. Goltz prompted associates at the integrated marketing and communications company he founded in Green Bay, Wis., to develop two multimedia campaigns, one focusing on depression awareness and the other on suicide prevention.

Knowledge-based public health situation awareness

Science.gov (United States)

Mirhaji, Parsa; Zhang, Jiajie; Srinivasan, Arunkumar; Richesson, Rachel L.; Smith, Jack W.

2004-09-01

There have been numerous efforts to create comprehensive databases from multiple sources to monitor the dynamics of public health and most specifically to detect the potential threats of bioterrorism before widespread dissemination. But there are not many evidences for the assertion that these systems are timely and dependable, or can reliably identify man made from natural incident. One must evaluate the value of so called 'syndromic surveillance systems' along with the costs involved in design, development, implementation and maintenance of such systems and the costs involved in investigation of the inevitable false alarms1. In this article we will introduce a new perspective to the problem domain with a shift in paradigm from 'surveillance' toward 'awareness'. As we conceptualize a rather different approach to tackle the problem, we will introduce a different methodology in application of information science, computer science, cognitive science and human-computer interaction concepts in design and development of so called 'public health situation awareness systems'. We will share some of our design and implementation concepts for the prototype system that is under development in the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Informatics Research, in the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The system is based on a knowledgebase containing ontologies with different layers of abstraction, from multiple domains, that provide the context for information integration, knowledge discovery, interactive data mining, information visualization, information sharing and communications. The modular design of the knowledgebase and its knowledge representation formalism enables incremental evolution of the system from a partial system to a comprehensive knowledgebase of 'public health situation awareness' as it acquires new knowledge through interactions with domain experts or automatic discovery of new knowledge.

Bilingualism and Morphological Awareness: A Study with Children from General Education and Spanish-English Dual Language Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Li-Jen; Ramirez, Gloria; de Marin, Sharon; Kim, Tae-Jin; Unal-Gezer, Melike

2017-01-01

Existing research on the impact of bilingualism on metalinguistic development has concentrated on the development of phonological awareness. The present study extended the scope of existing research by focusing on morphological awareness, an aspect of metalinguistic awareness that becomes increasingly important beyond the initial phase of literacy…

Awareness of deficits in traumatic brain injury: a multidimensional approach to assessing metacognitive knowledge and online-awareness.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

O'Keeffe, Fiadhnait

2007-01-01

Recent models of impaired awareness in brain injury draw a distinction between metacognitive knowledge of difficulties and online awareness of errors (emergent and anticipatory). We examined performance of 31 Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) participants and 31 healthy controls using a three-strand approach to assessing awareness. Metacognitive knowledge was assessed with an awareness interview and discrepancy scores on three questionnaires--Patient Competency Rating Scale, Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale and the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire. Online Emergent Awareness was assessed using an online error-monitoring task while participants performed tasks of sustained attention. Online anticipatory awareness was examined using prediction performance on two cognitive tasks. Results indicated that the TBI Low Self-Awareness (SA) group and High SA group did not differ in terms of severity, chronicity or standard neuropsychological tasks but those with Low SA were more likely to exhibit disinhibition, interpersonal problems and more difficulties in total competency. Sustained attention abilities were associated with both types of online awareness (emergent and anticipatory). There was a strong relationship between online emergent and online anticipatory awareness. Metacognitive knowledge did not correlate with the other two measures. This study highlights the necessity in adopting a multidimensional approach to assessing the multifaceted phenomenon of awareness of deficits.

Monitoring and evaluation of sport-based HIV/AIDS awareness programmes: Strengthening outcome indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elma Nelisiwe Maleka

2017-01-01

. The selected NGOs can adapt the proposed generic outcomes and indicators based on the settings of their programmes. A collaborative approach by all stakeholders is required, from international organisations, funders, governments, NGOs and communities to strengthening monitoring and evaluation of sport-based HIV/AIDS awareness programmes including other development programmes. This will assist the NGOs that use sport for development to be able to reflect accurately the information about their HIV/AIDS activities and also be able to contribute to on-going monitoring activities at a national and global level as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals.

AWARE-P: a collaborative, system-based IAM planning software

OpenAIRE

Coelho, S. T.; Vitorino, D.

2011-01-01

The AWARE-P project aims to promote the application of integrated and risk-based approaches to the rehabilitation of urban water supply and wastewater drainage systems. Central to the project is the development of a software platform based on a set of computational components, which assist in the analyses and decision support involved in the planning process for sustainable infrastructural asset management. The AWARE-P software system brings together onto a common platform the inf...

Understanding Employee Awareness of Health Care Quality Information: How Can Employers Benefit?

Science.gov (United States)

Abraham, Jean; Feldman, Roger; Carlin, Caroline

2004-01-01

Objective To analyze the factors associated with employee awareness of employer-disseminated quality information on providers. Data Sources Primary data were collected in 2002 on a stratified, random sample of 1,365 employees in 16 firms that are members of the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) located in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region. An employer survey was also conducted to assess how employers communicated the quality information to employees. Study Design In 2001, BHCAG sponsored two programs for reporting provider quality. We specify employee awareness of the quality information to depend on factors that influence the benefits and costs of search. Factors influencing the benefits include age, sex, provider satisfaction, health status, job tenure, and Twin Cities tenure. Factors influencing search costs include employee income, education, and employer communication strategies. We estimate the model using bivariate probit analysis. Data Collection Employee data were collected by phone survey. Principal Findings Overall, the level of quality information awareness is low. However, employer communication strategies such as distributing booklets to all employees or making them available on request have a large effect on the probability of quality information awareness. Employee education and utilization of providers' services are also positively related to awareness. Conclusions This study is one of the first to investigate employee awareness of provider quality information. Given the direct implications for medical outcomes, one might anticipate higher rates of awareness regarding provider quality, relative to plan quality. However, we do not find empirical evidence to support this assertion. PMID:15533188

From denial to awareness: a conceptual model for obtaining equity in healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Höglund, Anna T; Carlsson, Marianne; Holmström, Inger K; Lännerström, Linda; Kaminsky, Elenor

2018-01-22

Although Swedish legislation prescribes equity in healthcare, studies have reported inequalities, both in face-to-face encounters and in telephone nursing. Research has suggested that telephone nursing has the capability to increase equity in healthcare, as it is open to all and not limited by long distances. However, this requires an increased awareness of equity in healthcare among telephone nurses. The aim of this study was to explore and describe perceptions of equity in healthcare among Swedish telephone nurses who had participated in an educational intervention on equity in health, including which of the power constructs gender, ethnicity and age they commented upon most frequently. Further, the aim was to develop a conceptual model for obtaining equity in healthcare, based on the results of the empirical investigation. A qualitative method was used. Free text comments from questionnaires filled out by 133 telephone nurses before and after an educational intervention on equity in health, as well as individual interviews with five participants, were analyzed qualitatively. The number of comments related to inequity based on gender, ethnicity or age in the free text comments was counted descriptively. Gender was the factor commented upon the least and ethnicity the most. Four concepts were found through the qualitative analysis: Denial, Defense, Openness, and Awareness. Some informants denied inequity in healthcare in general, and in telephone nursing in particular. Others acknowledged it, but argued that they had workplace routines that protected against it. There were also examples of an openness to the fact that inequity existed and a willingness to learn and prevent it, as well as an already high awareness of inequity in healthcare. A conceptual model was developed in which the four concepts were divided into two qualitatively different blocks, with Denial and Defense on one side of a continuum and Openness and Awareness on the other. In order to reach

Environmental Restoration Progam Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grumski, J. T.; Swindle, D. W.; Bates, L. D.; DeLozier, M. F.P.; Frye, C. E.; Mitchell, M. E.

1991-09-30

In response to DOE Order 5400.1 this plan outlines the requirements for a Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program for the Environmental Restoration (ER) Program at Martin Marietta Energy System, Inc. Statements of the national, Department of Energy, Energy Systems, and Energy Systems ER Program policies on waste minimization are included and reflect the attitudes of these organizations and their commitment to the waste minimization effort. Organizational responsibilities for the waste minimization effort are clearly defined and discussed, and the program objectives and goals are set forth. Waste assessment is addressed as being a key element in developing the waste generation baseline. There are discussions on the scope of ER-specific waste minimization techniques and approaches to employee awareness and training. There is also a discussion on the process for continual evaluation of the Waste Minimization Program. Appendixes present an implementation schedule for the Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Program, the program budget, an organization chart, and the ER waste minimization policy.

Environmental Restoration Progam Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

In response to DOE Order 5400.1 this plan outlines the requirements for a Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program for the Environmental Restoration (ER) Program at Martin Marietta Energy System, Inc. Statements of the national, Department of Energy, Energy Systems, and Energy Systems ER Program policies on waste minimization are included and reflect the attitudes of these organizations and their commitment to the waste minimization effort. Organizational responsibilities for the waste minimization effort are clearly defined and discussed, and the program objectives and goals are set forth. Waste assessment is addressed as being a key element in developing the waste generation baseline. There are discussions on the scope of ER-specific waste minimization techniques and approaches to employee awareness and training. There is also a discussion on the process for continual evaluation of the Waste Minimization Program. Appendixes present an implementation schedule for the Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Program, the program budget, an organization chart, and the ER waste minimization policy

The Relationships among Verbal Short-Term Memory, Phonological Awareness, and New Word Learning: Evidence from Typical Development and Down Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrold, Christopher; Thorn, Annabel S. C.; Stephens, Emma

2009-01-01

This study examined the correlates of new word learning in a sample of 64 typically developing children between 5 and 8 years of age and a group of 22 teenagers and young adults with Down syndrome. Verbal short-term memory and phonological awareness skills were assessed to determine whether learning new words involved accurately representing…

Foundations for self-awareness: An exploration through autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hobson, Peter R; Chidambi, Gayathri; Lee, Anthony; Meyer, Jessica

2006-01-01

Developmental psychopathology holds promise for elucidating the structure of self-awareness. Here we studied social emotions in matched groups of children and adolescents with and without autism. Our aims were to determine whether there are potentially dissociable aspects of self-awareness, and to reconsider how the qualities of young children's engagement with other persons influences the development of their sense of self. Parent interviews yielded evidence that children with autism are limited in social-relational and emotional domains of self-awareness; for example, few were reported to show guilt, embarrassment, or shame. Yet according to parent report, most were affected by the moods of others, showed some degree of pity and concern, and manifested jealousy. When presented with videotaped scenes, participants with autism were similar to those without autism in identifying pride, guilt, and shame, and they were able to describe their own experiences of pride and, more rarely, guilt. In situations designed to elicit emotions, participants with autism were rated as showing pride, but they manifested lesser degrees and atypical qualities of guilt and coyness. Relatively few showed personal forms of self-consciousness when asked to pose for a photograph. We argue that in order for children to achieve depth in self-awareness, and to relate to themselves as occupying a distinctive stance within a framework of mutual self-other relatedness, they need to identify with the attitudes of other people. We interpret the present studies in terms of dissociations among three forms of social emotion: "person-centered" qualities of relational self-awareness that require identification and are specifically limited among children with autism, more diffuse modes of relational self-consciousness, and a third group of social emotions, epitomized by jealousy, situated in a separate developmental line. We propose a rebalancing of emotion theory that gives greater prominence to

Optimal Energy Management for a Smart Grid using Resource-Aware Utility Maximization

Science.gov (United States)

Abegaz, Brook W.; Mahajan, Satish M.; Negeri, Ebisa O.

2016-06-01

Heterogeneous energy prosumers are aggregated to form a smart grid based energy community managed by a central controller which could maximize their collective energy resource utilization. Using the central controller and distributed energy management systems, various mechanisms that harness the power profile of the energy community are developed for optimal, multi-objective energy management. The proposed mechanisms include resource-aware, multi-variable energy utility maximization objectives, namely: (1) maximizing the net green energy utilization, (2) maximizing the prosumers' level of comfortable, high quality power usage, and (3) maximizing the economic dispatch of energy storage units that minimize the net energy cost of the energy community. Moreover, an optimal energy management solution that combines the three objectives has been implemented by developing novel techniques of optimally flexible (un)certainty projection and appliance based pricing decomposition in an IBM ILOG CPLEX studio. A real-world, per-minute data from an energy community consisting of forty prosumers in Amsterdam, Netherlands is used. Results show that each of the proposed mechanisms yields significant increases in the aggregate energy resource utilization and welfare of prosumers as compared to traditional peak-power reduction methods. Furthermore, the multi-objective, resource-aware utility maximization approach leads to an optimal energy equilibrium and provides a sustainable energy management solution as verified by the Lagrangian method. The proposed resource-aware mechanisms could directly benefit emerging energy communities in the world to attain their energy resource utilization targets.

Programming models for energy-aware systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Haitao

Energy efficiency is an important goal of modern computing, with direct impact on system operational cost, reliability, usability and environmental sustainability. This dissertation describes the design and implementation of two innovative programming languages for constructing energy-aware systems. First, it introduces ET, a strongly typed programming language to promote and facilitate energy-aware programming, with a novel type system design called Energy Types. Energy Types is built upon a key insight into today's energy-efficient systems and applications: despite the popular perception that energy and power can only be described in joules and watts, real-world energy management is often based on discrete phases and modes, which in turn can be reasoned about by type systems very effectively. A phase characterizes a distinct pattern of program workload, and a mode represents an energy state the program is expected to execute in. Energy Types is designed to reason about energy phases and energy modes, bringing programmers into the optimization of energy management. Second, the dissertation develops Eco, an energy-aware programming language centering around sustainability. A sustainable program built from Eco is able to adaptively adjusts its own behaviors to stay on a given energy budget, avoiding both deficit that would lead to battery drain or CPU overheating, and surplus that could have been used to improve the quality of the program output. Sustainability is viewed as a form of supply and demand matching, and a sustainable program consistently maintains the equilibrium between supply and demand. ET is implemented as a prototyped compiler for smartphone programming on Android, and Eco is implemented as a minimal extension to Java. Programming practices and benchmarking experiments in these two new languages showed that ET can lead to significant energy savings for Android Apps and Eco can efficiently promote battery awareness and temperature awareness in real

Facets of emotional awareness and associations with emotion regulation and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Boden, Matthew Tyler; Thompson, Renee J

2015-06-01

Emotion theories posit that effective emotion regulation depends upon the nuanced information provided by emotional awareness; attending to and understanding one's own emotions. Additionally, the strong associations between facets of emotional awareness and various forms of psychopathology may be partially attributable to associations with emotion regulation. These logically compelling hypotheses are largely uninvestigated, including which facets compose emotional awareness and how they relate to emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology. We used exploratory structural equation modeling of individual difference measures among a large adult sample (n = 919) recruited online. Results distinguished 4 facets of emotional awareness (type clarity, source clarity, involuntary attention to emotion, and voluntary attention to emotion) that were differentially associated with expressive suppression, acceptance of emotions, and cognitive reappraisal. Facets were associated with depression both directly and indirectly via associations with emotion regulation strategies. We discuss implications for theory and research on emotional awareness, emotion regulation, and psychopathology. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Situation awareness of active distribution network: roadmap, technologies, and bottlenecks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lin, Jin; Wan, Can; Song, Yonghua

2016-01-01

With the rapid development of local generation and demand response, the active distribution network (ADN), which aggregates and manages miscellaneous distributed resources, has moved from theory to practice. Secure and optimal operations now require an advanced situation awareness (SA) system so...... in the project of developing an SA system as the basic component of a practical active distribution management system (ADMS) deployed in Beijing, China, is presented. This paper reviews the ADN’s development roadmap by illustrating the changes that are made in elements, topology, structure, and control scheme....... Taking into consideration these hardware changes, a systematic framework is proposed for the main components and the functional hierarchy of an SA system for the ADN. The SA system’s implementation bottlenecks are also presented, including, but not limited to issues in big data platform, distribution...

Teen drivers' awareness of vehicle instrumentation in naturalistic research.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehsani, J P; Haynie, D; Ouimet, M C; Zhu, C; Guillaume, C; Klauer, S G; Dingus, T; Simons-Morton, B G

2017-12-01

Naturalistic driving methods require the installation of instruments and cameras in vehicles to record driving behavior. A critical, yet unexamined issue in naturalistic driving research is the extent to which the vehicle instruments and cameras used for naturalistic methods change human behavior. We sought to describe the degree to which teenage participants' self-reported awareness of vehicle instrumentation changes over time, and whether that awareness was associated with driving behaviors. Forty-two newly-licensed teenage drivers participated in an 18-month naturalistic driving study. Data on driving behaviors including crash/near-crashes and elevated gravitational force (g-force) events rates were collected over the study period. At the end of the study, participants were asked to rate the extent to which they were aware of instruments in the vehicle at four time points. They were also asked to describe their own and their passengers' perceptions of the instrumentation in the vehicle during an in-depth interview. The number of critical event button presses was used as a secondary measure of camera awareness. The association between self-reported awareness of the instrumentation and objectively measured driving behaviors was tested using correlations and linear mixed models. Most participants' reported that their awareness of vehicle instrumentation declined across the duration of the 18-month study. Their awareness increased in response to their passengers' concerns about the cameras or if they were involved in a crash. The number of the critical event button presses was initially high and declined rapidly. There was no correlation between driver's awareness of instrumentation and their crash and near-crash rate or elevated g-force events rate. Awareness was not associated with crash and near-crash rates or elevated g-force event rates, consistent with having no effect on this measure of driving performance. Naturalistic driving studies are likely to yield

Investigating interoception and body awareness in adults with and without autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiene, Lisa; Brownlow, Charlotte

2015-12-01

This study aimed to investigate the current gap in the literature with regard to how adults with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) interpret elements of the interoceptive sense, which includes thirst, hunger, temperature, satiety, and the prediction of onset of illness. Adults with a diagnosed ASD (n = 74; 36 males, 38 females) were compared to a control group (n = 228; 53 males, 174 females, 1 unspecified) in their self-reported perceptions of body awareness utilizing the Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) and thirst awareness using the Thirst Awareness Scale (TAS). Those in the ASD group reported a clinically significant lower body and thirst awareness compared to the control group, and this was a large effect (BAQ; d = -1.26, P mental health, social interactions and self-awareness of adults with ASD. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

How to Measure Consumer Awareness of Mass-Media Campaigns for Public Health Purposes.

Science.gov (United States)

Peetz-Schou, Mette

1997-01-01

The measurement of "consumer awareness" in health promotion campaigns is discussed. Seven effectiveness evaluations are reviewed. Problem areas, including interpretation of differently phrased awareness questions and response bias, are discussed. Recommendations for overcoming common problems are made, and an open discussion based on…

A Video Game for Cyber Security Training and Awareness

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Cone, Benjamin D; Irvine, Cynthia E; Thompson, Michael F; Nguyen, Thuy D

2006-01-01

Although many of the concepts included in cyber security awareness training are universal, such training often must be tailored to address the policies and requirements of a particular organization...

Balancing awareness: Vestibular signals modulate visual consciousness in the absence of awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Salomon, Roy; Kaliuzhna, Mariia; Herbelin, Bruno; Blanke, Olaf

2015-11-01

The processing of visual and vestibular information is crucial for perceiving self-motion. Visual cues, such as optic flow, have been shown to induce and alter vestibular percepts, yet the role of vestibular information in shaping visual awareness remains unclear. Here we investigated if vestibular signals influence the access to awareness of invisible visual signals. Using natural vestibular stimulation (passive yaw rotations) on a vestibular self-motion platform, and optic flow masked through continuous flash suppression (CFS) we tested if congruent visual-vestibular information would break interocular suppression more rapidly than incongruent information. We found that when the unseen optic flow was congruent with the vestibular signals perceptual suppression as quantified with the CFS paradigm was broken more rapidly than when it was incongruent. We argue that vestibular signals impact the formation of visual awareness through enhanced access to awareness for congruent multisensory stimulation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The purpose of this plan is to document the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program. The plan specifies those activities and methods that are or will be employed to reduce the quantity and toxicity of wastes generated at the site. It is intended to satisfy Department of Energy (DOE) and other legal requirements that are discussed in Section C, below. The Pollution Prevention Awareness Program is included with the Waste Minimization Program as suggested by DOE Order 5400.1. The intent of this plan is to respond to and comply with the Department's policy and guidelines concerning the need for pollution prevention. The Plan is composed of a LLNL Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan and, as attachments, Directorate-, Program- and Department-specific waste minimization plans. This format reflects the fact that waste minimization is considered a line management responsibility and is to be addressed by each of the Directorates, Programs and Departments. Several Directorates have been reorganized, necessitating changes in the Directorate plans that were published in 1991

Wood Stove Pollution in the Developed World: A Case to Raise Awareness Among Pediatricians.

Science.gov (United States)

Rokoff, Lisa B; Koutrakis, Petros; Garshick, Eric; Karagas, Margaret R; Oken, Emily; Gold, Diane R; Fleisch, Abby F

2017-06-01

Use of wood for residential heating is regaining popularity in developed countries. Currently, over 11 million US homes are heated with a wood stove. Although wood stoves reduce heating costs, wood smoke may adversely impact child health through the emission of gaseous and particulate air pollutants. Our purpose is to raise awareness of this environmental health issue among pediatricians. To summarize the state of the science, we performed a narrative review of articles published in PubMed and Web of Science. We identified 36 studies in developed countries that reported associations of household wood stove use and/or community wood smoke exposure with pediatric health outcomes. Studies primarily investigated respiratory outcomes, with no evaluation of cardiometabolic or neurocognitive health. Studies found community wood smoke exposure to be consistently associated with adverse pediatric respiratory health. Household wood stove use was less consistently associated with respiratory outcomes. However, studies of household wood stoves always relied on participant self-report of wood stove use, while studies of community wood smoke generally assessed air pollution exposure directly and more precisely in larger study populations. In most studies, important potential confounders, such as markers of socioeconomic status, were unaccounted for and may have biased results. We conclude that studies with improved exposure assessment, that measure and account for confounding, and that consider non-respiratory outcomes are needed. While awaiting additional data, pediatricians can refer patients to precautionary measures recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mitigate exposure. These include replacing old appliances with EPA-certified stoves, properly maintaining the stove, and using only dry, well-seasoned wood. In addition, several studies have shown mechanical air filters to effectively reduce wood stove pollution exposure in affected homes and

INL Control System Situational Awareness Technology Final Report 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gordon Rueff; Bryce Wheeler; Todd Vollmer; Tim McJunkin

2013-01-01

The Situational Awareness project is a comprehensive undertaking of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in an effort to produce technologies capable of defending the country’s energy sector infrastructure from cyber attack. INL has addressed this challenge through research and development of an interoperable suite of tools that safeguard critical energy sector infrastructure. The technologies in this project include the Sophia Tool, Mesh Mapper (MM) Tool, Intelligent Cyber Sensor (ICS) Tool, and Data Fusion Tool (DFT). Each is designed to function effectively on its own, or they can be integrated in a variety of customized configurations based on the end user’s risk profile and security needs.

Reproductive health awareness of school-going, unmarried, rural adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Neeru; Mathur, A K; Singh, M P; Saxena, N C

2004-09-01

In 1996, India included Adolescent Health in Reproductive and Child Heatlh Programme. This Task-Force Study was planned to test the awareness level of adolescents regarding various reproductive health issues and to identify lacunae in knowledge, particularly in legal minimum age of marriage, number of children, male preference, contraceptive practices, about STIs /AIDS etc. It was a multicentre study, done in rural co-education/higher secondary schools of 22 districts located in 14 states through Human Reproductive Research Centre (HRRC's) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). A sample of 8453 school going adolescents (aged 10-19 years) was surveyed by means of open ended, self-administered questionnaires maintaining confidentiality. Mean age of adolescents was 14.3 +/- 3.4 years. Awareness of legal minimum age of marriage was present in more than half of adolescents. Attitude towards marriage beyond 21 years in boys and 18 years in girls was favorable. Mean number of children desired was 2.2 +/- 1.4. However, number of children desired by boys (2.2+/-1.6) was significantly more (p< 0.000) than those desired by girls (2.0+/-1.1). More boys (23.7%) than girls (9.4%) wanted three or more children with male preference. Only 19.8% of adolescents were aware of at least one method of contraception. Only two-fifth (39.5%) were aware of AIDS and less than one-fifth (18%) were aware of STDs and most of them thought it is same as AIDS. Awareness of at least one method of immunization was present in three-fifth (60.1%) of students. It was least for DPT (13.5%) and most (55%) were aware of polio only. Awareness of all Reproductive Health matters was more in boys than girls and more in late teens (15-19) than earlier teens (10-14). The study showed tremendous lacunae in awareness of all Reproductive Health (RH) matters. There is a need for evolving information, education, and communication strategies to focus on raising awareness on RH and gender related issues. A

Situation awareness and trust in computer-based procedures in nuclear power plant operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Throneburg, E. B.; Jones, J. M. [AREVA NP Inc., 7207 IBM Drive, Charlotte, NC 28262 (United States)

2006-07-01

Situation awareness and trust are two issues that need to be addressed in the design of computer-based procedures for nuclear power plants. Situation awareness, in relation to computer-based procedures, concerns the operators' knowledge of the plant's state while following the procedures. Trust concerns the amount of faith that the operators put into the automated procedures, which can affect situation awareness. This paper first discusses the advantages and disadvantages of computer-based procedures. It then discusses the known aspects of situation awareness and trust as applied to computer-based procedures in nuclear power plants. An outline of a proposed experiment is then presented that includes methods of measuring situation awareness and trust so that these aspects can be analyzed for further study. (authors)

Situation awareness and trust in computer-based procedures in nuclear power plant operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Throneburg, E. B.; Jones, J. M.

2006-01-01

Situation awareness and trust are two issues that need to be addressed in the design of computer-based procedures for nuclear power plants. Situation awareness, in relation to computer-based procedures, concerns the operators' knowledge of the plant's state while following the procedures. Trust concerns the amount of faith that the operators put into the automated procedures, which can affect situation awareness. This paper first discusses the advantages and disadvantages of computer-based procedures. It then discusses the known aspects of situation awareness and trust as applied to computer-based procedures in nuclear power plants. An outline of a proposed experiment is then presented that includes methods of measuring situation awareness and trust so that these aspects can be analyzed for further study. (authors)

Strategies for improving disability awareness and social inclusion of children and young people with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsay, S; McPherson, A C

2012-11-01

Children and youth with disabilities are at a higher risk of being socially excluded or bullied while at school compared with their typically developing peers. This study explored disabled children's suggestions for improving social inclusion. Fifteen children with cerebral palsy were interviewed or took part in a group discussion about social inclusion and bullying. All interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The children and youth described several strategies to help improve social inclusion at school including: (1) disclosure of condition and creating awareness of disability; (2) awareness of bullying; (3) developing a peer support network and building self-confidence; and (4) suggestions on what teachers can do. It is recommended that children's suggestions be considered within the classroom context to enhance the social inclusion and participation of children with disabilities. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a scale to measure impaired self-awareness of hyper- and hypokinetic movements in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Maier, Franziska; Ellereit, Anna L; Eggers, Carsten; Lewis, Catharine J; Pelzer, Esther A; Kalbe, Elke; Ernstmann, Nicole; Prigatano, George P; Fink, Gereon R; Timmermann, Lars

2015-03-01

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can show impaired self-awareness of motor deficits (ISAm). We developed a new scale that measures ISAm severity of hyper- and hypokinetic movements in PD during medication on state and defined its psychometric criteria. Included were 104 right-handed, non-depressed, non-demented patients. Concerning ISAm, 38 motor symptoms were assessed using seven tasks, which were performed and self-rated concerning presence of deficit (yes/no) by all patients. The whole procedure was videotaped. Motor symptoms were then evaluated by two independent experts, blinded for patient's ratings, concerning presence, awareness of deficit, and severity. Exploratory principal component analysis (promax rotation) was applied to reduce items. Principal axis factoring was conducted to extract factors. Reliability was examined regarding internal consistency, split-half reliability, and interrater reliability. Validity was verified by applying two additional measures of ISAm. Of the initial 38 symptoms, 15 remained, assessed in five motor tasks and merged to a total severity score. Factor analysis resulted in a four factor solution (dyskinesia, resting tremor right hand, resting tremor left hand, bradykinesia). For all subscales and the total score, measures of reliability (values 0.64-0.89) and validity (effect sizes>0.3) were satisfactory. Descriptive results showed that 66% of patients had signs of ISAm (median 2, range 0-15), with ISAm being most distinct for dyskinesia. We provide the first validation of a test for ISAm in PD. Using this instrument, future studies can further analyze the pathophysiology of ISAm, the psychosocial sequelae, therapeutic strategies and compliance with therapy.

How phonological awareness mediates the relation between working memory and word reading efficiency in children with dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Knoop-van Campen, Carolien A N; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-05-01

This study examined the relation between working memory, phonological awareness, and word reading efficiency in fourth-grade children with dyslexia. To test whether the relation between phonological awareness and word reading efficiency differed for children with dyslexia versus typically developing children, we assessed phonological awareness and word reading efficiency in 50 children with dyslexia (aged 9;10, 35 boys) and 613 typically developing children (aged 9;5, 279 boys). Phonological awareness was found to be associated with word reading efficiency, similar for children with dyslexia and typically developing children. To find out whether the relation between working memory and word reading efficiency in the group with dyslexia could be explained by phonological awareness, the children with dyslexia were also tested on working memory. Results of a mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of working memory on word reading efficiency via phonological awareness. Working memory predicted reading efficiency, via its relation with phonological awareness in children with dyslexia. This indicates that working memory is necessary for word reading efficiency via its impact on phonological awareness and that phonological awareness continues to be important for word reading efficiency in older children with dyslexia. © 2018 The Authors Dyslexia Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrated Monitoring AWAReness Environment (IM-AWARE), Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — American GNC Corporation (AGNC) and Louisiana Tech University (LaTECH) are proposing a significant breakthrough technology, the Integrated Monitoring AWAReness...

Awareness, knowledge and attitudes related to HPV infection and vaccine among non-obstetrician-gynecologist healthcare providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Naki, M Murat; Celik, Hasniye; Api, Oluş; Toprak, Sadık; Ozerden, Erdem; Unal, Orhan

2010-01-01

This study was designed to evaluate the awareness, knowledge and attitudes of healthcare providers related to HPV infection and vaccine. A total of 311 healthcare providers working in specialties other than obstetrics and gynecology at the Dr. Lutfi Kırdar Kartal Education and Research Hospital as physicians (n=142) or non-physician healthcare providers (n=169) were included in the present study. A questionnaire developed by researchers based on literature and including items concerning socio-demographic features, awareness of HPV infection and vaccine, attitudes related to HPV vaccine and regular gynecological controls and knowledge about HPV infection was applied to participants via a face to face interview method. Each correct answer was scored as one to decide the level of knowledge and awareness. The frequency of parenthood was lower and the ratio of males was higher in the physician group compared to the non-physician group. Awareness of virus mediated cancer (p=0.01), human papilloma virus (p=0.0001), cervical cancer, HPV vaccine, and types of HPV vaccine was significantly higher in the physician group. While consent levels for vaccine administration for themselves were similar for physician and non-physician subjects, the frequency of subjects favoring vaccine administration for their offspring was significantly higher among physicians (plevel of knowledge in the physicians was significantly higher when compared to the non-physician staff (p<0.001). Physicians were more competent regarding the relation of HPV infection to cervical cancer and more aware of the presence and types of HPV vaccines which may lead to a higher degree of willingness for vaccination when compared with non-physician healthcare providers.

Awareness of breast cancer in women of an urban resettlement colony.

Science.gov (United States)

Somdatta, P; Baridalyne, N

2008-01-01

Breast cancer accounts for 19-34% of all cancer cases among women in India. There is a high mortality due to late stage diagnosis as patients usually present at an advanced stage because of lack of awareness and non-existent breast cancer screening programs. Aim : To determine the awareness about breast cancer among women in an urban resettlement colony in Delhi. A community based, cross-sectional study carried out in a resettlement colony in South Delhi. Semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect information regarding breast cancer. Modified Kuppuswamy scale was used for assessing the socio-economic status. A total of 333 women were included. The mean age was 36 years+/-15.1 and 46% were illiterate. Only 185 (56%) women were aware of breast cancer; among them, 51% knew about at least one of the signs /symptoms, 53% were aware that breast cancer can be detected early, and only 35% mentioned about risk factors. Thus, awareness about breast cancer is low amongst women in this community. There is a need for awareness generation programs to educate women about breast cancer, propagation of correct messages and promote early detection of breast cancer.

Building shared situational awareness in surgery through distributed dialog

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gillespie BM

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Brigid M Gillespie,1 Karleen Gwinner,2 Nicole Fairweather,3 Wendy Chaboyer41NHMRC Research Centre for Clinical Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalised Patients (NCREN and Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice Innovation (RCCCPI, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, 2Griffith Centre for Cultural Research, Griffith University, Queensland, 3Department of Anaesthesiology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queensland, Australia, 4Excellence in Nursing Interventions for Hospitalized Patients (NCREN Research Centre for Clinical and Community Practice INHMRC Centre of Research Innovation (RCCCPI, Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University Queensland, AustraliaBackground: Failure to convey time-critical information to team members during surgery diminishes members' perception of the dynamic information relevant to their task, and compromises shared situational awareness. This research reports the dialog around clinical decisions made by team members in the time-pressured and high-risk context of surgery, and the impact of these communications on shared situational awareness.Methods: Fieldwork methods were used to capture the dynamic integration of individual and situational elements in surgery that provided the backdrop for clinical decisions. Nineteen semistructured interviews were performed with 24 participants from anesthesia, surgery, and nursing in the operating rooms of a large metropolitan hospital in Queensland, Australia. Thematic analysis was used.Results: The domain "coordinating decisions in surgery" was generated from textual data. Within this domain, three themes illustrated the dialog of clinical decisions, ie, synchronizing and strategizing actions, sharing local knowledge, and planning contingency decisions based on priority.Conclusion: Strategies used to convey decisions that enhanced shared situational awareness included the use of "self-talk", closed-loop communications, and

Creating research and development awareness among dental care professionals by use of strategic communication: a 12-year intervention study.

Science.gov (United States)

Morténius, Helena; Twetman, Svante

2017-12-29

Despite the availability of contemporary research advances, only a limited fraction is implemented into dental practice. One possible way to facilitate this process is to stimulate the research and development (R&D) awareness and interest with aid of strategic communication. The aim of the study was to analyse the role of a strategic communication in R&D awareness and interest among dental care professionals (DCP) over a 12-year period. A second aim was to compare the findings with those from primary care professionals (PCP). The project had a prospective design and the intervention was conducted through established oral, written and digital channels. The outcome was captured by two validated questionnaires submitted after 7 and 12 years, respectively. An additional Questionnaire file shows the details [see Additional file 1]. The material consisted of 599 health care professionals (205 DCP; 394 PCP) that responded to the first questionnaire and 526 individuals (195 DCP; 331 PCP) who responded to the second. All were employed by the primary care organization of Region Halland located in southwest of Sweden. The majority were women (≥ 85%) and the mean age at the first questionnaire was 49 years (SD 8.5). Longitudinal analyses were applied to those individuals that responded to both surveys after 7 and 12 years (n = 248). Comparisons between DCP's and PCP's were processed with Chi-square and Fischer's exact tests. Strategic communication contributed to increase the R&D awareness and interest among the dental personnel. The created interest was reported stronger among the DCP when compared with PCP at both surveys (p Strategic communication can be employed as a scientific tool that may contribute to the creation of a long-term R&D awareness and interest among dental care professionals.

Beyond Words: Leader Self-Awareness and Interpersonal Skills

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Montgomery III, William H

2007-01-01

Being self aware and using interpersonal skills will be significant to leader success given the 2006 release of the Army's new mandate to create, develop, and nurture a different kind of Army leader...

Cross-lagged relationships between morphological awareness and reading comprehension among Chinese children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yahua Cheng

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the developmental relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension using a two-year and four-wave cross-lagged design with a sample of 149 Chinese children (80 male and 69 female. We measured children’s morphological awareness, word reading, and reading comprehension from T1 to T4, in addition to phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and general cognitive ability at T1 as control measures. Four plausible cross-lagged models were assessed and compared to examine the direction of the developmental relationships between morphological awareness and reading comprehension over time. Results found support for a reciprocal-causation model, that is, morphological awareness stably predicted subsequent reading comprehension, and the reverse relation was also found. Longitudinal mediation analyses revealed that word reading partially mediated the relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in Chinese children. These findings extend our understanding of the relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. The practical implications for these two developing skills in Chinese children are discussed.

Modelling the Influence of Awareness Programs by Media on the Drinking Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai-Feng Huo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We develop a nonlinear mathematical model with the effect of awareness programs on the binge drinking. Due to the fact that awareness programs are capable of inducing behavioral changes in nondrinkers, we introduce a separate class by avoiding contacts with the heavy drinkers. Furthermore we assume that cumulative density of awareness programs increases at a rate proportional to the number of heavy drinkers. We establish some sufficient conditions for the stability of the alcohol free and the alcohol present equilibria and give some numerical simulations to explain our main result. Our results show that awareness programs is an effective measure in reducing alcohol problems.

Developing Friendships and an Awareness of Emotions Using Video Games: Perceptions of Four Young Adults with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Gallup, Jennifer; Serianni, Barbara

2017-01-01

This article explores emotional expression and awareness in the context of a virtual environment specific to young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how emotional awareness and expression can support postsecondary outcomes. A qualitative study was conducted with five young adults with ASD who actively played a massively multiplayer…

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND AWARENESS IN CONSUMERS’ BUYING DECISION AND PERCEIVED RISK ASSESSMENT

OpenAIRE

Ovidiu I. MOISESCU

2009-01-01

Brand awareness, as one of the fundamental dimensions of brand equity, is often considered to be a prerequisite of consumers’ buying decision, as it represents the main factor for including a brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness can also influence consumers’ perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with the brand and its characteristics. On the other hand, brand awareness can be depicted into at least two facets – unaided (brand re...

Ohio dentists' awareness and incorporation of the dental home concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammersmith, Kimberly J; Siegal, Mark D; Casamassimo, Paul S; Amini, Homa

2013-06-01

The authors measured the awareness of the dental home concept among pediatric dentists (PDs) and general practice dentists (GPs) in Ohio and determined whether they included dental home characteristics for children 5 years and younger into their practices. The authors sent a pretested 20-question survey to all Ohio PDs and to a random sample of approximately 20 percent of GPs in Ohio. The authors designed the survey to elicit information about dental home awareness and the extent to which dental home characteristics were incorporated into dental practices. More than 90 percent of both GPs and PDs incorporated or intended to incorporate into their dental practices the specific dental home characteristics mentioned in 20 of 41 items related to dental home characteristics. Of the respondents who did not already incorporate dental home characteristics into their practices, however, most did not intend to do so. Less than 50 percent of respondents in both groups responded positively to some items in the culturally effective group, and GPs were less likely than were PDs to provide a range of behavior management services and to provide treatment for patients with complex medical and dental treatment needs. PDs were more likely than were GPs to accept Ohio Medicaid (64 versus 33 percent). PDs were more likely than were GPs (78 versus 18 percent) to be familiar with the term "dental home." More recent dental school graduates were more familiar with the term. Most Ohio PDs' and GPs' practices included characteristics found in the definition of dental home, despite a general lack of concept awareness on the part of GPs. Research is needed to provide an evidence base for the dental home. Practical Implications. Once an evidence base is developed for the important aspects of the dental home and the definition is revised, efforts should be made to incorporate these aspects more broadly into dental practice.

[Awareness of hazards to health caused by pollution of the environment].

Science.gov (United States)

Racz, A

1993-01-01

This work deals with the results of an ecological/psychological study into the development of Zagreb inhabitants awareness of the potential health risks posed by the ten most significant forms of environmental pollution and into how each examinee influences the development of ecological consciousness. This research was conducted with representative population sample of two significantly differently ecologically critical Zagreb communities: the shanty town community of Kozari Bokand the highly urbanized community of Slobostina. The survey was conducted on site using the Liekert scale in 1990. The results have shown that air and water pollution are considered potentially most dangerous, as opposed to the total lack of awareness concerning noise pollution. The factors significant in the formation of ecological awareness are: occupation and the perception of immediate danger as opposed to age, sex and personal background. However, the subject's educational level and familiarity with the relevant facts are crucial elements affecting the awakening and development of ecological consciousness.

Developing a Tool for Increasing the Awareness about Gendered and Intersectional Processes in the Clinical Assessment of Patients--A Study of Pain Rehabilitation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Hammarström

Full Text Available There is a need for tools addressing gender inequality in the everyday clinical work in health care. The aim of our paper was to develop a tool for increasing the awareness of gendered and intersectional processes in clinical assessment of patients, based on a study of pain rehabilitation.In the overarching project named "Equal care in rehabilitation" we used multiple methods (both quantitative and qualitative in five sub studies. With a novel approach we used Grounded Theory in order to synthesize the results from our sub studies, in order to develop the gender equality tool. The gender equality tool described and developed in this article is thus based on results from sub studies about the processes of assessment and selection of patients in pain rehabilitation. Inspired by some questions in earlier tools, we posed open ended questions and inductively searched for findings and concepts relating to gendered and social selection processes in pain rehabilitation, in each of our sub studies. Through this process, the actual gender equality tool was developed as 15 questions about the process of assessing and selecting patients to pain rehabilitation. As a more comprehensive way of understanding the tool, we performed a final step of the GT analyses. Here we synthesized the results of the tool into a comprehensive model with two dimensions in relation to several possible discrimination axes.The process of assessing and selecting patients was visualized as a funnel, a top down process governed by gendered attitudes, rules and structures. We found that the clinicians judged inner and outer characteristics and status of patients in a gendered and intersectional way in the process of clinical decision-making which thus can be regarded as (potentially biased with regard to gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity and age.The clinical implications of our tool are that the tool can be included in the systematic routine of clinical assessment of patients

FLAVOUR: Friendly Location-aware conference Assistant with priVacy Observant architectURe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kavitha Muthukrishnan, K.; Meratnia, Nirvana; Lijding, M.E.M.

Context-aware applications are emerging on the daily basis and location information proves to be one of the key components to develop context-aware applications upon. This stems from the fact that location information enables and facilitates reasoning about what users are doing (user’s behavioural

Awareness Status of Chronic Disabling Neurological Diseases among Elderly Veterans.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Ji-Ping; Zhu, Lin-Qi; Zhang, Jun; Zhang, Shi-Min; Lan, Xiao-Yang; Cui, Bo; Deng, Yu-Cheng; Li, Ying-Hao; Ye, Guang-Hua; Wang, Lu-Ning

2015-05-20

The awareness, treatment and prevention of chronic diseases are generally poor among the elderly population of China, whereas the prevention and control of chronic diseases in elderly veteran communities have been ongoing for more than 30 years. Therefore, investigating the awareness status of chronic disabling neurological diseases (CDND) and common chronic diseases (CCD) among elderly veterans may provide references for related programs among the elderly in the general population. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among veterans ≥60 years old in veteran communities in Beijing. The awareness of preventive strategies against dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), sleep disorders, cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and CCD such as hypertension, and the approaches used to access this information, including media, word of mouth (verbal communication among the elderly) and health care professionals, were investigated via face-to-face interviews. The awareness rates for CCD and CVD were approximately 100%, but that for AD was the lowest at word-of-mouth peer education.

Identifying Determinants of Young Children's Brand Awareness: Television, Parents, and Peers

Science.gov (United States)

Valkenburg, P.M.; Buijzen, M.

2005-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the development of young children's brand awareness, and the relative influence of environmental factors (e.g., television, parents, peers) on brand awareness. We presented 196 two- to eight-year-olds with 12 brand logos. After exposure to these logos, we asked children to mention the brand name (brand…

Avoiding the conflict: Metacognitive awareness drives the selection of low-demand contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Desender, Kobe; Buc Calderon, Cristian; Van Opstal, Filip; Van den Bussche, Eva

2017-07-01

Previous research attempted to explain how humans strategically adapt behavior in order to achieve successful task performance. Recently, it has been suggested that 1 potential strategy is to avoid tasks that are too demanding. Here, we report 3 experiments that investigate the empirically neglected role of metacognitive awareness in this process. In these experiments, participants could freely choose between performing a task in either a high-demand or a low-demand context. Using subliminal priming, we ensured that participants were not aware of the visual stimuli creating these different demand contexts. Our results showed that participants who noticed a difference in task difficulty (i.e., metacognitive aware participants) developed a clear preference for the low-demand context. In contrast, participants who experienced no difference in task difficulty (i.e., metacognitive unaware participants) based their choices on variables unrelated to cognitive demand (e.g., the color or location associated with a context), and did not develop a preference for the low-demand context. Crucially, this pattern was found despite identical task performance in both metacognitive awareness groups. A multiple regression approach confirmed that metacognitive awareness was the main factor driving the preference for low-demand contexts. These results argue for an important role of metacognitive awareness in the strategic avoidance of demanding tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

‘Imi Hale – The Native Hawaiian Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training Network: Second-Year Status Report

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Kathryn L.; Tsark, JoAnn; Ann Santos, Lorrie; Abrigo, Lehua

2010-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe ‘Imi Hale, a program developed and managed by Native Hawaiians to increase cancer awareness and research capacity among Native Hawaiians. This US subgroup of indigenous people of the Hawaiian islands has disproportionately high rates of cancer mortality and low rates of participation in health and research careers. Methods As a community-based research project, ‘Imi Hale spent its first year gathering data from Native Hawaiians about their cancer awareness and research priorities. These findings guide ‘Imi Hale’s community and scientific advisors, a community-based Institutional Review Board, Na Liko Noelo (budding researchers), and staff in developing and carrying out projects that address these priority areas. Emphasis is placed on transferring skills and resources to Native Hawaiians through training, technical assistance, and mentorship. A biennial survey assesses the extent to which community-based participatory research principles are being followed. Principal Findings By the end of the second year, statewide and island-specific awareness plans were produced, and 9 funded awareness projects are supporting the development and dissemination of Hawaiian health education materials. Research accomplishments include the enrollment of 42 Native Hawaiian Na Liko Noelo (budding researchers), 22 of which are involved in 14 funded research projects. The biennial evaluation survey found that 92% of our advisors felt that ‘Imi Hale was promoting scientifically rigorous research that was culturally appropriate and respectful of Native Hawaiian beliefs, and 96% felt that ‘Imi Hale was following its own principles of community-based participatory research. Conclusion ‘Imi Hale’s community-based approach to promoting cancer awareness will result in a sustainable infrastructure for reducing the cancer burden on Native Hawaiians. PMID:15352771

Maritime Situational Awareness: The MARISS Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Margarit, G.; Tabasco, A.; Gomez, C.

2010-04-01

This paper presents the operational solution developed by GMV to provide support to maritime situational awareness via Earth Observation (EO) technologies. The concept falls on integrating the information retrieved from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and transponder-based polls (AIS and similar) in an advanced GeoPortal web. The service has been designed in the framework of the MARISS project, a project conceived to help improving ship monitoring with the support of a large user segment. In this context, the interaction with official agencies has provided good feedback about system performance and its usefulness in supporting monitoring and surveillance tasks. Some representative samples are analyzed along the paper in order to validate key kernel utilities, such as ship and coastline detection, and ship classification. They justify the promotion of extended R&D activities to increase monitoring performance and to include advanced added- value tools, such as decision making and route tracking.

A Work-Demand Analysis Compatible with Preemption-Aware Scheduling for Power-Aware Real-Time Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Da-Ren Chen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the importance of slack time utilization for power-aware scheduling algorithms,we propose a work-demand analysis method called parareclamation algorithm (PRA to increase slack time utilization of the existing real-time DVS algorithms. PRA is an online scheduling for power-aware real-time tasks under rate-monotonic (RM policy. It can be implemented and fully compatible with preemption-aware or transition-aware scheduling algorithms without increasing their computational complexities. The key technique of the heuristics method doubles the analytical interval and turns the deferrable workload out the potential slack time. Theoretical proofs show that PRA guarantees the task deadlines in a feasible RM schedule and takes linear time and space complexities. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method combining the preemption-aware methods seamlessly reduces the energy consumption by 14% on average over their original algorithms.

Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, and Self-Transcendence (S-ART: A Framework for Understanding the Neurobiological Mechanisms of Mindfulness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R. Vago

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Mindfulness - as a state, trait, process, type of meditation, and intervention has proven to be beneficial across a diverse group of psychological disorders as well as for general stress reduction. Yet, there remains a lack of clarity in the operationalization of this construct, and underlying mechanisms. Here, we provide an integrative theoretical framework and systems-based neurobiological model that explains the mechanisms by which mindfulness reduces biases related to self-processing and creates a sustainable healthy mind. Mindfulness is described through systematic mental training that develops meta-awareness (self-awareness, an ability to effectively modulate one’s behavior (self-regulation, and the development of a positive relationship between self and other that transcends self-focused needs and increases prosocial characteristics (self-transcendence. This framework of self-awareness, regulation, and transcendence (S-ART illustrates a method for becoming aware of the conditions that cause (and remove distortions or biases. The development of S-ART through meditation is proposed to modulate self-specifying and narrative self-networks through an integrative fronto-parietal control network. Relevant perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral neuropsychological processes are highlighted, including intention and motivation, attention regulation, emotion regulation, extinction and reconsolidation, prosociality, non-attachment and decentering. The S-ART framework and neurobiological model is based on our growing understanding of the mechanisms for neurocognition, empirical literature, and through dismantling the specific meditation practices thought to cultivate mindfulness. The proposed framework will inform future research in the contemplative sciences and target specific areas for development in the treatment of psychological disorders.

Awareness of risk factors for cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lagerlund, Magdalena; Hvidberg, Line; Hajdarevic, Senada

2015-01-01

Background: Sweden and Denmark are neighbouring countries with similarities in culture, healthcare, and economics, yet notable differences in cancer statistics. A crucial component of primary prevention is high awareness of risk factors in the general public. We aimed to determine and compare...... awareness of risk factors for cancer between a Danish and a Swedish population sample, and to examine whether there are differences in awareness across age groups. Methods: Data derive from Module 2 of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership. Telephone interviews were conducted with 3000 adults...... in Denmark and 3070 in Sweden using the Awareness and Beliefs about Cancer measure. Data reported here relate to awareness of 13 prompted risk factors for cancer. Prevalence ratios with 95 % confidence intervals were calculated to examine associations between country, age, and awareness of risk factors...

Using an Online Collaborative Project between American and Chinese Students to Develop ESL Teaching Skills, Cross-Cultural Awareness and Language Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Angelova, Maria; Zhao, Ying

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools to facilitate second language acquisition and develop English as a second language (ESL) teaching skills and cultural awareness. The paper describes a collaborative online project between students from China and the USA, who communicated using the…

Alcohol Consumption and Awareness of Associated Neuro ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper investigated alcohol consumption and awareness of associated neuropsychological implications in foetal and early childhood development in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The design was descriptive survey and the sample was 300 expectant women who were drawn through ...

Cassava processors' awareness of occupational and environmental ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A larger percentage (74.5%) of the respondents indicated that the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) is their source of information. The result also showed that processor's awareness of occupational hazards associated with the different stages of cassava processing vary because their involvement in these stages

Awareness and Perceptions of Published Osteoporosis Clinical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Awareness and Perceptions of Published Osteoporosis Clinical Guidelines-a Survey of Primary Care Practitioners in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area. ... Further attention needs to be focused on developing implementation and dissemination strategies of evidence-based guidelines in South Africa. South African Journal of ...

Energy-Aware Broadcasting and Multicasting in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks: A Cross-Layering Approach

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wieselthier, Jeffrey E; Nguyen, Gam D; Ephremides, Anthony

2004-01-01

...) problems, especially when energy-aware operation is required. To address the specific problem of energy-aware tree construction in wireless ad hoc networks, we have developed the Broadcast Incremental Power (BIP...

Data-Centric Situational Awareness and Management in Intelligent Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Xiaoxiao

The rapid development of technology and society has made the current power system a much more complicated system than ever. The request for big data based situation awareness and management becomes urgent today. In this dissertation, to respond to the grand challenge, two data-centric power system situation awareness and management approaches are proposed to address the security problems in the transmission/distribution grids and social benefits augmentation problem at the distribution-customer lever, respectively. To address the security problem in the transmission/distribution grids utilizing big data, the first approach provides a fault analysis solution based on characterization and analytics of the synchrophasor measurements. Specically, the optimal synchrophasor measurement devices selection algorithm (OSMDSA) and matching pursuit decomposition (MPD) based spatial-temporal synchrophasor data characterization method was developed to reduce data volume while preserving comprehensive information for the big data analyses. And the weighted Granger causality (WGC) method was investigated to conduct fault impact causal analysis during system disturbance for fault localization. Numerical results and comparison with other methods demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of this analytic approach. As more social effects are becoming important considerations in power system management, the goal of situation awareness should be expanded to also include achievements in social benefits. The second approach investigates the concept and application of social energy upon the University of Denver campus grid to provide management improvement solutions for optimizing social cost. Social element--human working productivity cost, and economic element--electricity consumption cost, are both considered in the evaluation of overall social cost. Moreover, power system simulation, numerical experiments for smart building modeling, distribution level real-time pricing and social

Millennials brand awareness

OpenAIRE

Capelo, Inês Ribeiro dos Santos

2014-01-01

The present work aims at identifying Portuguese Millennials’ characteristics and uses them to create guidelines brands should use when it comes to successfully engaging with this generation in Portugal. A literature review about Millennials and Brand Awareness has been conducted so a research model could be created. The new 3 Cs of Millennials Brand Awareness model identify Content & Creativity, Customer Engagement and Cause-Related Marketing as central pillars brands should considerer when t...

Cognate Awareness in French Immersion Students: Contributions to Grade 2 Reading Comprehension

Science.gov (United States)

Hipfner-Boucher, Kathleen; Pasquarella, Adrian; Chen, Xi; Deacon, S. Hélène

2016-01-01

Cognate awareness is the ability to recognize the cognate relationship between words in two etymologically related languages. The current study examined the development of cognate awareness and its contribution to French (second language) reading comprehension among Canadian French immersion children. Eighty-one students were tested at the end of…

Development of a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srivastava, Viraj [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Makhmalbaf, Atefe [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Parker, Graham B. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2013-03-01

The research reported is part of a collaborative with Honeywell, Inc. to bring novel home energy management concepts and technologies to reduce energy consumption, reduce peak electricity demand, integrate renewable energy and storage technology, and change homeowner behavior to manage and consume less energy. The objective of the collaborative is to create a Context-Aware Smart Home Energy Manager (CASHEM) that dynamically schedules major home appliances according to conditions and homeowner convenience of service (CoS) preferences, monitors and analyzes energy consumption of appliances, recommends further energy saving actions, and engages/motivates the homeowner to adopt those recommendations.

Explaining Phonology and Reading in Adult Learners: Introducing Prosodic Awareness and Executive Functions to Reading Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Jessica S.; Wade-Woolley, Lesly

2018-01-01

Background: This study was designed to extend our understanding of phonology and reading to include suprasegmental awareness using measures of prosodic awareness, which are complex tasks that tap into the rhythmic aspects of phonology. By requiring participants to access, reflect on and manipulate word stress, the prosodic awareness measures used…

Service-oriented Context-aware Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

László Kovács

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Location- and context-aware services are emerging technologies in mobile and desktop environments, however, most of them are difficult to use and do not seem to be beneficial enough. Our research focuses on designing and creating a service-oriented framework that helps location- and context-aware, client-service type application development and use. Location information is combined with other contexts such as the users' history, preferences and disabilities. The framework also handles the spatial model of the environment (e.g. map of a room or a building as a context. The framework is built on a semantic backend where the ontologies are represented using the OWL description language. The use of ontologies enables the framework to run inference tasks and to easily adapt to new context types. The framework contains a compatibility layer for positioning devices, which hides the technical differences of positioning technologies and enables the combination of location data of various sources.

A report on developing a checklist to assess company plans focused on improving safety awareness, safe behaviour and safety culture: final report

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steijger, N.; Starren, H.; Keus, M.; Gort, J.; Vervoort, M.

2003-01-01

This report describes the process of developing a checklist to asses company plans focused on improving safety awareness, safe behaviour and safety culture. These plans are part of a programme initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment aiming at improving the safety performance of

Phonological Awareness for American Sign Language

Science.gov (United States)

Corina, David P.; Hafer, Sarah; Welch, Kearnan

2014-01-01

This paper examines the concept of phonological awareness (PA) as it relates to the processing of American Sign Language (ASL). We present data from a recently developed test of PA for ASL and examine whether sign language experience impacts the use of metalinguistic routines necessary for completion of our task. Our data show that deaf signers…

Multilevel Cognitive Machine-Learning-Based Concept for Artificial Awareness: Application to Humanoid Robot Awareness Using Visual Saliency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kurosh Madani

2012-01-01

Full Text Available As part of “intelligence,” the “awareness” is the state or ability to perceive, feel, or be mindful of events, objects, or sensory patterns: in other words, to be conscious of the surrounding environment and its interactions. Inspired by early-ages human skills developments and especially by early-ages awareness maturation, the present paper accosts the robots intelligence from a different slant directing the attention to combining both “cognitive” and “perceptual” abilities. Within such a slant, the machine (robot shrewdness is constructed on the basis of a multilevel cognitive concept attempting to handle complex artificial behaviors. The intended complex behavior is the autonomous discovering of objects by robot exploring an unknown environment: in other words, proffering the robot autonomy and awareness in and about unknown backdrop.

Awareness and Knowledge of Glaucoma in Central India: A Hospital-Based Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Maharana, Prafulla K; Rai, Vaishali G; Pattebahadur, Rajesh; Singhi, Shipra; Chauhan, Ashish K

2017-01-01

To assess the awareness and knowledge of glaucoma among people attending the ophthalmology outpatient department at a tertiary care hospital in central India. A prospective observational study. A questionnaire-based study was conducted, involving persons aged 18 and above attending the ophthalmology outpatient department from October 2014 to September 2015. Data on awareness and knowledge of glaucoma was collected through a face-to-face interview. Fourteen hundred people participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 43 ± 15 years (range, 18-85). The study participants included 53% men and 47% women. Only 27% (n = 380/1400) of the participants were aware of glaucoma. Age, sex, and presence or type of refractive error had no impact on glaucoma awareness. Awareness level was greater in individuals with higher education levels and those belonging to an upper socioeconomic class (SEC). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed significantly higher levels of glaucoma awareness among participants belonging to the upper 2 SECs (P = 0.05) and those educated above the high school level (P = 0.001). The most common source of awareness was close acquaintance with relatives, famly members, and friends of glaucoma patients. Awareness of glaucoma in India is low. Lack of education and lower socioeconomic status are the major risk factors for late preentation of glaucoma. Continuous presence of a low level of awareness and the same factors accounting for it warrants the need for an aggressive and refined approach to increase awareness of glaucoma to prevent glaucoma-related blindness. Copyright 2017 Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

Hearing, listening, action: Enhancing nursing practice through aural awareness education.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Anita; Vanderheide, Rebecca; McKenna, Lisa

2014-01-01

Abstract Noise overload within the clinical environment has been found to interfere with the healing process for patients, as well as nurses' ability to assess patients effectively. Awareness and responsibility for noise production begins during initial nursing training and consequently a program to enhance aural awareness skills was designed for graduate entry nursing students in an Australian university. The program utilized an innovative combination of music education activities to develop the students' ability to distinguishing individual sounds (hearing), appreciate patients' experience of sounds (listening) and improve their auscultation skills and reduce the negative effects of noise on patients (action). Using a mixed methods approach, students reported heightened auscultation skills and greater recognition of both patients' and clinicians' aural overload. Results of this pilot suggest that music education activities can assist nursing students to develop their aural awareness and to action changes within the clinical environment to improve the patient's experience of noise.

Inspiring Climate Education Excellence(ICEE): Developing Elearning professional development modules - secondary science teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Kellagher, E.; Buhr, S. M.; Lynds, S. E.; McCaffrey, M. S.; Cires Education Outreach

2011-12-01

Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) is a NASA-funded project to develop content knowledge and knowledge of effective teaching strategies in climate education among secondary science teachers. ICEE resources are aligned with the Essential Principles of Climate Science. Building upon a needs assessment and face to face workshop, ICEE resources include iTunesU videos, an ICEE 101 resource site with videos and peer-reviewed learning activities, and a moderated online forum. Self-directed modules and an online course are being developed around concepts and topics in which teachers express the most interest and need for instruction. ICEE resources include attention to effective teaching strategies, such as awareness of student misconceptions, strategies for forestalling controversy and advice from master teachers on implementation and curriculum development. The resources are being developed in partnership with GLOBE, and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and are informed by the work of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) project. ICEE will help to meet the professional development needs of teachers, including those participating in the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign.

Breast cancer and breast health awareness as an evolving health promotion concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plesnicar, A.; Kralj, B.; Kovac, V.

2004-01-01

Background. Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant disease in the majority of developed countries. In the last few years the introduction of mammography screening programmes has resulted in an improved survival of breast cancer patients. However, the incidence of the disease in these countries is still on the increase. Present focus on secondary breast cancer prevention activities, consisting of early detection and treatment, cannot ensure a decrease of breast cancer incidence. Improved breast health awareness could therefore represent a part of specific health promotion activities aimed at decreasing the incidence of breast cancer. Conclusions. In developed countries breast cancer is a significant health care issue. Secondary breast cancer prevention activities should therefore be complemented by specific health promotion activities in order to reduce its incidence in the future. Primary breast cancer prevention would include health promotion activities aimed at enhancement of the individual as well as collective breast health awareness. Properly enlightened members of the influential population groups could attain appropriate changes in the fields of legislation, taxation, customs and commercial regulations that would enable women to control their own breast health. (author)

Awareness and use of non-conventional tobacco products among U.S. students, 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Baoguang; King, Brian A; Corey, Catherine G; Arrazola, René A; Johnson, Sarah E

2014-08-01

Increasing diversity of the tobacco product landscape, including electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), hookah, snus, and dissolvable tobacco products (dissolvables), raises concerns about the public health impact of these non-conventional tobacco products among youth. This study assessed awareness, ever use, and current use of non-conventional tobacco products among U.S. students in 2012, overall and by demographic and tobacco use characteristics. Data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. middle and high school students, were analyzed in 2013. Prevalence of awareness, ever use, and current use of e-cigarettes, hookah, snus, and dissolvables were calculated overall and by sex, school level, race/ethnicity, and conventional tobacco product use, including cigarettes, cigars, or smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip). Overall, 50.3% of students were aware of e-cigarettes; prevalence of ever and current use of e-cigarettes was 6.8% and 2.1%, respectively. Awareness of hookah was 41.2% among all students, and that of ever and current use were 8.9% and 3.6%, respectively. Overall awareness; ever; and current use of snus (32%, 5.3%, 1.7%, respectively) and dissolvables (19.3%, 2.0%, 0.7%, respectively) were generally lower than those of e-cigarettes or hookah. Conventional tobacco product users were more likely to be aware of and to use non-conventional tobacco products. Many U.S. students are aware of and use non-conventional tobacco products. Evidence-based interventions should be implemented to prevent and reduce all tobacco use among youth. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Public awareness of human papillomavirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuschieri, K S; Horne, A W; Szarewski, A; Cubie, H A

2006-01-01

The main objective of this study was to review the evidence relating to the level of awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the general population and the implications for the potential introduction of HPV vaccination and HPV testing as part of screening. PubMed search performed on terms: 'HPV education', 'HPV awareness' 'Genital Warts Awareness' Results: Public awareness of HPV is generally very low, particularly with respect to its relation to abnormal smears and cervical cancer although knowledge levels vary to some extent according to sociodemographic characteristics. There is also much confusion around which types cause warts and the types that can cause cancer. The sexually transmissible nature of the infection is of major concern and confusion to women. Due to the lack of current awareness of HPV, significant education initiatives will be necessary should HPV vaccination and/or HPV testing be introduced. Organized edification of health-care workers and the media, who constitute the two most preferred sources of information, will be crucial.

VIRTUAL REALITY FOR MANAGEMENT OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DURING GLOBAL MASS GATHERINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Karsakov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a training technology for staff of mass events for development of action skills in large gatherings of people, including crowd dynamic management and actions in extreme situations caused by the panic. The technology is based on the multi-agent model of crowd dynamic with dynamically re-computable navigation fields. We implemented the software system that provides a collaborative and distributed process of training activities in the virtual reality environment. The following characteristics of the developed software system available from experimental studies were analyzed: computational intensity of simulations, scalability of rendering system and reactivity of the final system when rendering computationally intensive scenes. The proposed models and infrastructure for training through collaborative immersion in the virtual reality can improve situational awareness of events staff prior to the event. The developed technology is a unique tool for improving the quality and safety of disposable and unique events involving the broad masses of people, including unfunded by retrospective experience mass gatherings. Developed technology was tested within the Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, India.

Awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards genetic testing for cancer risk among ethnic minority groups: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hann, Katie E J; Freeman, Madeleine; Fraser, Lindsay; Waller, Jo; Sanderson, Saskia C; Rahman, Belinda; Side, Lucy; Gessler, Sue; Lanceley, Anne

2017-05-25

Genetic testing for risk of hereditary cancer can help patients to make important decisions about prevention or early detection. US and UK studies show that people from ethnic minority groups are less likely to receive genetic testing. It is important to understand various groups' awareness of genetic testing and its acceptability to avoid further disparities in health care. This review aims to identify and detail awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards genetic counselling/testing for cancer risk prediction in ethnic minority groups. A search was carried out in PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase and MEDLINE. Search terms referred to ethnicity, genetic testing/counselling, cancer, awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions. Quantitative and qualitative studies, written in English, and published between 2000 and 2015, were included. Forty-one studies were selected for review: 39 from the US, and two from Australia. Results revealed low awareness and knowledge of genetic counselling/testing for cancer susceptibility amongst ethnic minority groups including African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics. Attitudes towards genetic testing were generally positive; perceived benefits included positive implications for personal health and being able to inform family. However, negative attitudes were also evident, particularly the anticipated emotional impact of test results, and concerns about confidentiality, stigma, and discrimination. Chinese Australian groups were less studied, but of interest was a finding from qualitative research indicating that different views of who close family members are could impact on reported family history of cancer, which could in turn impact a risk assessment. Interventions are needed to increase awareness and knowledge of genetic testing for cancer risk and to reduce the perceived stigma and taboo surrounding the topic of cancer in ethnic minority groups. More detailed research is needed in countries other than the US and

Energy-aware memory management for embedded multimedia systems a computer-aided design approach

CERN Document Server

Balasa, Florin

2011-01-01

Energy-Aware Memory Management for Embedded Multimedia Systems: A Computer-Aided Design Approach presents recent computer-aided design (CAD) ideas that address memory management tasks, particularly the optimization of energy consumption in the memory subsystem. It explains how to efficiently implement CAD solutions, including theoretical methods and novel algorithms. The book covers various energy-aware design techniques, including data-dependence analysis techniques, memory size estimation methods, extensions of mapping approaches, and memory banking approaches. It shows how these techniques

Towards ontology-driven situation-aware disaster management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreira, João; Ferreira Pires, Luis; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Dockhorn Costa, P.

2015-01-01

Over the last years, numerous ICT applications with mechanisms to detect situations have been developed to support disaster management (DM), which is a field of a great societal and economic importance. Those applications are termed situation-aware (SA) because they try, in near real-time, to

Communicating on risk and safety in terms of awareness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammar, L.; Andersson, Kjell

1999-01-01

'Safety awareness' is proposed as a possibly constructive concept for the purpose of promoting initiatives in nuclear safety work and gaining improved understanding when communicating on nuclear safety. Safety is thus conceived as resulting essentially from and actually constituting awareness of critical factors in regard of safety. The concept aims specifically at promoting the view of 'safety' as 'awareness of required conditions for being in control of risk'. It aims as well at making clearer sense in calling for constant improvement of safety, according to practice in a safety culture. This proposed view would be expected to lead to applying the usual types of safety criteria but offers the merit of attracting due attention to 'awareness goals' in process oriented safety management which are fundamental to maintaining and improving safety. Applications are discussed in regard of communicating on nuclear safety between decision-makers and the general public, developing and maintaining safety culture, integrating specialist expert contributions in over-all safety assessment, setting safety goals and using safety indicators

Advances in intelligent process-aware information systems concepts, methods, and technologies

CERN Document Server

Oberhauser, Roy; Reichert, Manfred

2017-01-01

This book provides a state-of-the-art perspective on intelligent process-aware information systems and presents chapters on specific facets and approaches applicable to such systems. Further, it highlights novel advances and developments in various aspects of intelligent process-aware information systems and business process management systems. Intelligence capabilities are increasingly being integrated into or created in many of today’s software products and services. Process-aware information systems provide critical computing infrastructure to support the various processes involved in the creation and delivery of business products and services. Yet the integration of intelligence capabilities into process-aware information systems is a non-trivial yet necessary evolution of these complex systems. The book’s individual chapters address adaptive process management, case management processes, autonomically-capable processes, process-oriented information logistics, process recommendations, reasoning over ...

The Role of Awareness for Complex Planning Task Performance: A Microgaming Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lukosch, Heide; Groen, Daan; Kurapati, Shalini; Klemke, Roland; Verbraeck, Alexander

2016-01-01

This study introduces the concept of microgames to support situated learning in order to foster situational awareness (SA) of planners in seaport container terminals. In today's complex working environments, it is often difficult to develop the required level of understanding of a given situation, described as situational awareness. A container…

"The Heart Truth:" Using the Power of Branding and Social Marketing to Increase Awareness of Heart Disease in Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Terry; Taubenheim, Ann; Wayman, Jennifer; Temple, Sarah; Ruoff, Beth

2008-03-01

In September 2002, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute launched The Heart Truth, the first federally-sponsored national campaign aimed at increasing awareness among women about their risk of heart disease. A traditional social marketing approach, including an extensive formative research phase, was used to plan, implement, and evaluate the campaign. With the creation of the Red Dress as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, the campaign integrated a branding strategy into its social marketing framework. The aim was to develop and promote a women's heart disease brand that would create a strong emotional connection with women. The Red Dress brand has had a powerful appeal to a wide diversity of women and has given momentum to the campaign's three-part implementation strategy of partnership development, media relations, and community action. In addition to generating its own substantial programming, The Heart Truth became a catalyst for a host of other national and local educational initiatives, both large and small. By the campaign's fifth anniversary, surveys showed that women were increasingly aware of heart disease as their leading cause of death and that the rise in awareness was associated with increased action to reduce heart disease risk.

A Reliable Measure of Information Security Awareness and the Identification of Bias in Responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agata McCormac

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q is designed to measure Information Security Awareness. More specifically, the tool measures an individual’s knowledge, attitude, and self-reported behaviour relating to information security in the workplace. This paper reports on the reliability of the HAIS-Q, including test-retest reliability and internal consistency. The paper also assesses the reliability of three preliminary over-claiming items, designed specifically to complement the HAIS-Q, and identify those individuals who provide socially desirable responses. A total of 197 working Australians completed two iterations of the HAIS-Q and the over-claiming items, approximately 4 weeks apart. Results of the analysis showed that the HAIS-Q was externally reliable and internally consistent. Therefore, the HAIS-Q can be used to reliably measure information security awareness. Reliability testing on the preliminary over-claiming items was not as robust and further development is required and recommended. The implications of these findings mean that organisations can confidently use the HAIS-Q to not only measure the current state of employee information security awareness within their organisation, but they can also measure the effectiveness and impacts of training interventions, information security awareness programs and campaigns. The influence of cultural changes and the effect of security incidents can also be assessed.

[Somatic complaints, emotional awareness and maladjustment in schoolchildren].

Science.gov (United States)

Ordóñez, A; Maganto, C; González, R

2015-05-01

Somatic complaints are common in childhood. Research has shown their relationship with emotional awareness and maladjustment. The study had three objectives: 1) to analyze the prevalence of somatic complaints; 2) To explore the relationships between the variables evaluated: somatic complaints, differentiating emotions, verbal sharing of emotions, not hiding emotions, body awareness, attending to others' emotions, analysis of emotions, and personal, social, family, and school maladjustments; and 3) To identify predictors of somatic complaints. The study included a total of 1,134 randomly selected schoolchildren of both sexes between 10-12 years old (M=10.99; SD=0.88). The Somatic Complaint List, Emotional Awareness Questionnaire, and Self-reported Multifactor Test of Childhood Adaptation were used to gather information. The results showed that the prevalence of somatic complaints was 90.2%, with fatigue, headache and stomachache being the most frequently. Dizziness and headache were more common in girls, and the frequency of complaints decreases with age. Somatic complaints are negatively related to emotional awareness, and positively related to maladjustment. The variables that contribute the most to the prediction of somatic complaints are personal maladjustment (25.1%) and differentiating emotions (2.5%). The study shows that personal maladjustment is the best predictor of somatic complaints; the more emotional awareness and better adapted the child, the fewer somatic complaints they lodge. Childhood is a stage with significant physical discomfort. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Chinese college students’ understanding of Internet ethical issues: A survey of awareness

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yuelin; LI; Ying; LI; Ang; LI

2014-01-01

Purpose: This study examines Chinese college students’ awareness of ethical issues surrounding the use of information resources and the Internet and their attitude to these issues. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to students of 9 universities at different levels in Tianjin, China; 171 were returned. Descriptive statistics were performed to analyze the data. Findings: The results indicate that Chinese college students usually ignored the negative influence of fake or pornographic or other indecent information, invasion of privacy and theft of confidential information, and violation of intellectual property rights. Although they could distinguish to some extent between ethical and unethical behavior, they were not concerned about others’ unethical behavior on the Web. The study also indicates that gender, age, academic major and expertise in using computers were related to the students’ awareness of ethical issues relating to the use of the Internet and their attitude to these issues.Research limitations: The sample is limited to the universities in Tianjin. A larger sample, which includes colleges and universities in the western or other developing areas in China, is needed to further validate our findings.Practical implications: The study helps educators and academic librarians better understand Chinese college students’ awareness of and attitude to ethical issues surrounding the use of the Internet. It thus could assist them in the improvement of information ethics education for college students.Originality/value: This study was one of the first empirical studies to investigate the factors influencing Chinese college students’ awareness of and attitude to Internet ethical issues.

Intertwining Implicit and Explicit Awareness of Wellbeing to Support Peace of Mind and Connectedness

Science.gov (United States)

Dadlani, Pavan; Markopoulos, Panos; Aarts, Emile

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. Our empirical research, including a field trial of six months, confirms the potential of awareness systems to support both generations suggesting that future research should examine, firstly, how to convey long-term trends regarding the wellbeing of the elderly and, secondly, how to intertwine the communication of awareness information with expressive forms of communication. We discuss implications of our studies for the design of ambient intelligent systems supporting awareness between elderly and their adult children.

Preventing and managing awareness during general anesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Berger

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Background: General anesthesia is a reversible state of a temporary loss of consciousness, analgesia, muscle paralysis, blunted autonomic responses and amnesia. To achieve this, an adequate depth of anesthesia should be maintained throughout the surgery. Awareness is a serious complication of general anesthesia, which occurs when the depth of anesthesia is not appropriate due to various causes.In this paper the underlying neurobiology of intraoperative awareness is presented, as well as risk factors for awareness and methods for assessing the depth of anesthesia. Possible psychological consequences of awareness and their management are also discussed. At the end, the recommendations for preventing intraoperative awareness are given.Conclusions: Awareness during general anesthesia may have adverse psychological sequelae in individual patients, therefore guidelines for preventing and managing of intraoperative awareness need to be adopted. In case of a possible awareness, the recommendations for offering a psychological support should also be followed.

Contraceptive methods awareness and use among women of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Contraceptive methods awareness and use among women of reproductive age in an urban ... aged 15-49 years in a Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos, Nigeria. ... Data analysis was done using Epi InfoTM statistical software.

[Awareness and attitude toward suicide in community mental health professionals and hospital workers].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soung Nam; Lee, Kang Sook; Lee, Seon Young; Yu, Jae Hee; Hong, A Rum

2009-05-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate community mental health professionals and hospital workers attitude and awareness towards suicide. This study investigated 264 community mental health professionals and 228 hospital workers. SOQs (Suicidal Opinion Questionnaires) were used from July 2007 to September 2007. After a factor analysis for the attitude towards suicide, the items on ethics, mental illness, religion, risk, and motivation were included in the subsequent analysis. There were significant differences in the attitude towards suicide according to religion, age, educational background, the marriage status, the economic position, and different professional licenses. Hospital workers' view was different from the community workers'. The hospital workers judged that suicide was due to mental illness, and suicide was high for the people in a special environment and who lacked motivation, which caused them to fall in a dangerous situation. For the lower educational group, they thought that suicide was attributable to mental illness. The awareness for suicide was significantly higher in the group with a postgraduate education, unmarried people, mental health professionals and the persons who had concern and experience with suicide. The factors that had an influence on the awareness of suicide were the items of mental illness, religion, risk and motivational factors. This study suggested that the factors to increase the awareness and attitude for suicide were the experience of increased education and case management of suicide. Therefore, education dealing with suicide and reinforcement of crisis management programs should be developed.

Raising Cultural Awareness in the English Language Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Jerrold

2013-01-01

This article discusses how teachers can incorporate cultural knowledge into English language classes, exploring elements of culture, intercultural phenomena, and high-context and low-context cultures. Activities offered by the author to raise cultural awareness include web quests, role plays, cultural observations, and culture journals.

An Energy-Aware Trajectory Optimization Layer for sUAS

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, William A.

The focus of this work is the implementation of an energy-aware trajectory optimization algorithm that enables small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) to operate in unknown, dynamic severe weather environments. The software is designed as a component of an Energy-Aware Dynamic Data Driven Application System (EA-DDDAS) for sUAS. This work addresses the challenges of integrating and executing an online trajectory optimization algorithm during mission operations in the field. Using simplified aircraft kinematics, the energy-aware algorithm enables extraction of kinetic energy from measured winds to optimize thrust use and endurance during flight. The optimization layer, based upon a nonlinear program formulation, extracts energy by exploiting strong wind velocity gradients in the wind field, a process known as dynamic soaring. The trajectory optimization layer extends the energy-aware path planner developed by Wenceslao Shaw-Cortez te{Shaw-cortez2013} to include additional mission configurations, simulations with a 6-DOF model, and validation of the system with flight testing in June 2015 in Lubbock, Texas. The trajectory optimization layer interfaces with several components within the EA-DDDAS to provide an sUAS with optimal flight trajectories in real-time during severe weather. As a result, execution timing, data transfer, and scalability are considered in the design of the software. Severe weather also poses a measure of unpredictability to the system with respect to communication between systems and available data resources during mission operations. A heuristic mission tree with different cost functions and constraints is implemented to provide a level of adaptability to the optimization layer. Simulations and flight experiments are performed to assess the efficacy of the trajectory optimization layer. The results are used to assess the feasibility of flying dynamic soaring trajectories with existing controllers as well as to verify the interconnections between

Awareness of lifestyle risk factors for cancer and heart disease among adults in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanderson, Saskia C; Waller, Jo; Jarvis, Martin J; Humphries, Steve E; Wardle, Jane

2009-02-01

To examine and compare awareness of lifestyle risk factors for cancer and heart disease in a single UK representative sample. Two open-ended questions about cancer and heart disease risk factors were included in a population-based survey of 1747 adults. Responses were coded for four lifestyles with established links to both diseases: smoking, eating an unhealthy diet, drinking excessive alcohol and physical inactivity. Awareness of lifestyle risk factors was low for both diseases, although higher for heart disease than cancer. The average number identified by respondents was 2.1 (heart disease) and 1.4 (cancer). The strongest predictor was education (both pUnhealthy lifestyles make a significant contribution to ill health and mortality. Increased public awareness of the links between lifestyles and commonly feared diseases might help people understand the potential health consequences of their actions and encourage them to make much-needed lifestyle changes. Efforts are needed to improve public health messages about how lifestyle risk factors impact on the chances of developing these important diseases.

Developing Save Your Food Kit (Sayofu Kit) to Support Inquiry, Improve Student Learning Outcomes at SMP Plus Hidayatul Mubtadiin and Public Awareness on Food Additives

Science.gov (United States)

Astutik, J.

2017-02-01

Food additives are materials that can not be separated from the lives of students and the community. Based on the preliminary questionnaire, it indicates the lack of kit supporting material additives in some schools and communities. The research objectives of this development are (1) to develop Kit experiment (SAYOFU KIT) and supplementary books to improve student learning outcomes in the classroom and public awareness on food additives (2) to describe the feasibility and potential effectiveness of SAYOFU KIT developed (3) to analyze the practice of SAYOFU KIT and benefits for students and the community. This development study uses 4-D models Thiagarajan, et al (1974). Through some stages, they are: defining, designing, developing and disseminating which involes the students and community. The developed SAYOFU KIT includes additives sample kit, borax test kit, curcumin test kit, formaldehyde test kit, modification heater to the identification of dyes and dye test paper. The study is conducted at SMP Plus Hidayatul Mubtadiin, and TKIT Al Uswah. The products are validated by experts and education practitioners. Qualitative data processing uses descriptive method, whereas quantitative data by using the N-gain. The average yield of expert validation of SAYOFU KIT with supplementary books 76.50% teacher’s book and 76.30% student’s book are eligible. The average yield of 96.81% validation of educational practitioners criteria, piloting a small group of 83.15%, and 82.89% field trials are very decent. The average yield on the student questionnaire responses SAYOFU kit and supplementary book is 87.6% with the criteria very well worth it. N-Gain 0:56 cognitive achievement with the criteria enough. The results of the public poll showed 95% feel the benefits SAYOFU kits for testing food. Based from description indicates that SAYOFU Kit developed feasible, practical, useful to support inquiry learning and improve student learning outcomes as well as public awareness of

Awareness of Cancer Susceptibility Genetic Testing

Science.gov (United States)

Mai, Phuong L.; Vadaparampil, Susan Thomas; Breen, Nancy; McNeel, Timothy S.; Wideroff, Louise; Graubard, Barry I.

2014-01-01

Background Genetic testing for several cancer susceptibility syndromes is clinically available; however, existing data suggest limited population awareness of such tests. Purpose To examine awareness regarding cancer genetic testing in the U.S. population aged ≥25 years in the 2000, 2005, and 2010 National Health Interview Surveys. Methods The weighted percentages of respondents aware of cancer genetic tests, and percent changes from 2000–2005 and 2005–2010, overall and by demographic, family history, and healthcare factors were calculated. Interactions were used to evaluate the patterns of change in awareness between 2005 and 2010 among subgroups within each factor. To evaluate associations with awareness in 2005 and 2010, percentages were adjusted for covariates using multiple logistic regression. The analysis was performed in 2012. Results Awareness decreased from 44.4% to 41.5% (pAwareness increased between 2005 and 2010 in most subgroups, particularly among individuals in the South (p-interaction=0.03) or with a usual place of care (p-interaction=0.01). In 2005 and 2010, awareness was positively associated with personal or family cancer history and high perceived cancer risk, and inversely associated with racial/ethnic minorities, age 25–39 or ≥60 years, male gender, lower education and income levels, public or no health insurance, and no provider contact in 12 months. Conclusions Despite improvement from 2005 to 2010, ≤50% of the U.S. adult population was aware of cancer genetic testing in 2010. Notably, disparities persist for racial/ethnic minorities and individuals with limited health care access or income. PMID:24745633

Recommendation-Aware Smartphone Sensing System

OpenAIRE

Chen, Mu-Yen; Wu, Ming-Ni; Chen, Chia-Chen; Chen, Young-Long; Lin, Hsien-En

2014-01-01

The context-aware concept is to reduce the gap between users and information systems so that the information systems actively get to understand users’ context and demand and in return provide users with better experience. This study integrates the concept of context-aware with association algorithms to establish the context-aware recommendation systems (CARS). The CARS contains three modules and provides the product recommendations for users with their smartphone. First, the simple RSSI Indoo...

Physician awareness of drug cost: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Allan, G Michael; Lexchin, Joel; Wiebe, Natasha

2007-09-01

Pharmaceutical costs are the fastest-growing health-care expense in most developed countries. Higher drug costs have been shown to negatively impact patient outcomes. Studies suggest that doctors have a poor understanding of pharmaceutical costs, but the data are variable and there is no consistent pattern in awareness. We designed this systematic review to investigate doctors' knowledge of the relative and absolute costs of medications and to determine the factors that influence awareness. Our search strategy included The Cochrane Library, EconoLit, EMBASE, and MEDLINE as well as reference lists and contact with authors who had published two or more articles on the topic or who had published within 10 y of the commencement of our review. Studies were included if: either doctors, trainees (interns or residents), or medical students were surveyed; there were more than ten survey respondents; cost of pharmaceuticals was estimated; results were expressed quantitatively; there was a clear description of how authors defined "accurate estimates"; and there was a description of how the true cost was determined. Two authors reviewed each article for eligibility and extracted data independently. Cost accuracy outcomes were summarized, but data were not combined in meta-analysis because of extensive heterogeneity. Qualitative data related to physicians and drug costs were also extracted. The final analysis included 24 articles. Cost accuracy was low; 31% of estimates were within 20% or 25% of the true cost, and fewer than 50% were accurate by any definition of cost accuracy. Methodological weaknesses were common, and studies of low methodological quality showed better cost awareness. The most important factor influencing the pattern and accuracy of estimation was the true cost of therapy. High-cost drugs were estimated more accurately than inexpensive ones (74% versus 31%, Chi-square p price of expensive drugs and overestimate the price of inexpensive ones, demonstrate a

Cross-Validation of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire for Children in Three Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Lahaye, Magali; Mikolajczak, Moira; Rieffe, Carolien; Villanueva, Lidon; Van Broeck, Nady; Bodart, Eddy; Luminet, Olivier

2011-01-01

The main aim of the present study was to examine the cross-cultural equivalence of a newly developed questionnaire, the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ30) that assesses emotional awareness of children through self-report. Participants were recruited in three countries: the Netherlands (N = 665), Spain (N = 464), and Belgium (N = 707),…

Exploring Intercultural Awareness in the Primary Modern Language Classroom: The Potential of the New Model of European Language Portfolio Developed by the Irish Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative (MLPSI)

Science.gov (United States)

Rantz, Frederique; Horan, Pascaline

2005-01-01

This paper reflects a key concern for teacher trainers: how can primary language teachers promote the development of intercultural awareness among their pupils? It addresses the concept of intercultural awareness as it applies to young learners and refers more specifically to the context of the Irish primary classroom and its curriculum. It argues…

Ophthalmologists' awareness of informed consent and their compliance to its requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehteshami, Asghar; Isfahani, Sakineh Saghaeiannejad; Saeedbakhsh, Saeed; Isfahani, Mahtab Kasaei

2013-01-01

Healthcare providers' awareness of laws governing medical documents and patients' health-related information is essential in securing the patients' rights. Given the existing legal problems in documentation of medical record of Consent and Acquittal, we decided to perform an investigation examining the levels of ophthalmologists' awareness of legal requirements for medical record of consent and acquittal and how they complied with such requirements at Feiz Teaching Hospital, Isfahan in the year 2011. This research is an applied, descriptive-analytic one. The research population for awareness measurement includes attending ophthalmologists at Feiz Hospital. Filled-in consent record forms recorded in medical document were used to examine the levels of compliance with legal requirements governing medical record of consent and acquittal. Sampling among the attending ophthalmologists was performed using consensus which included 14 ophthalmologists. The files were samples using the statistical formula, resulting in a sample of 303 files. Data collection tools included a questionnaire and a check list. The questionnaire's reliability was estimated through Cronbach's alpha calculation (0.8); and the check list was completed through a survey among professors of Health Information Technology Management department. In a first step, investigators handed a questionnaire containing 12 items to the ophthalmologists in order to assess their levels of awareness from legal Aspects of medical Informed consent and acquittal, and received the completed questionnaire after answering their possible queries on the issue. In the next step the researchers went to the hospital and evaluated the levels of compliance with legal aspects of medical informed consent and acquittal within the files using a check list and by direct observation. Analytic statistics and SPSS software were used to analyze the data; and Pearson test was applied to evaluate the assumed relationship. The findings were

The place of environmental education and awareness in biodiversity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines the place of environmental education and awareness in biodiversity conservation in Nigeria. Depletion of biodiversity in Nigeria is a major environmental problem and a serious threat to livelihood and the quality of life. It is very important that future development programmes aggressively develop ...

Epidemic Spreading with Heterogeneous Awareness on Human Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanling Lu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The spontaneous awareness behavioral responses of individuals have a significant impact on epidemic spreading. In this paper, a modified Susceptible-Alert-Infected-Susceptible (SAIS epidemic model with heterogeneous awareness is presented to study epidemic spreading in human networks and the impact of heterogeneous awareness on epidemic dynamics. In this model, when susceptible individuals receive awareness information about the presence of epidemic from their infected neighbor nodes, they will become alert individuals with heterogeneous awareness rate. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that heterogeneous awareness can enhance the epidemic threshold with certain conditions and reduce the scale of virus outbreaks compared with no awareness. What is more, for the same awareness parameter, it also shows that heterogeneous awareness can slow effectively the spreading size and does not delay the arrival time of epidemic spreading peak compared with homogeneous awareness.

A Meta-analysis on the Association Between Emotional Awareness and Borderline Personality Pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Derks, Youri P M J; Westerhof, Gerben J; Bohlmeijer, Ernst T

2017-06-01

Theories on borderline personality pathology (BPP) suggest that characteristic emotional dysregulation is due to low levels of emotional awareness or alexithymia. This study is the first meta-analysis to systematically review and analyze the evidence. A systematic search of the literature was performed using PsycInfo, Web of Science/MEDLINE, and Scopus. The term "borderline personality disorder" was searched for in conjunction with "emotional awareness," "emotional self-awareness," "emotion recognition," "alexithymia," "emotional processing," "emotional granularity," "emotional intelligence," or "emotion regulation." All references in the included studies were reviewed for additional relevant articles. Thirty-nine studies were then evaluated in a random effects meta-analysis to assess the association between BPP and emotional awareness. An overall moderate positive association between BPP and emotional awareness was significant (r = 0.359; 95% CI [0.283, 0.431]; Z = 8.678; p emotional awareness and those using alexithymia instruments. The strongest associations with regard to aspects of alexithymia were found for difficulties in identifying and describing emotions rather than externally oriented thinking. The results corroborate a moderate relationship between low emotional awareness and BPP. However, the mono-method self-report used in almost all studies is found problematic and precludes drawing definite conclusions. Since leading psychotherapeutic treatments strongly focus on increasing emotional awareness, future research should address this issue and further examine to what extent low levels of emotional awareness, particularly alexithymia, can be treated.

Process-aware information system development for the healthcare domain : consistency, reliability and effectiveness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mans, R.S.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Russell, N.C.; Bakker, P.J.M.; Moleman, A.J.; Rinderle-Ma, S.; Sadiq, S.; Leymann, F.

2010-01-01

Optimal support for complex healthcare processes cannot be provided by a single out-of-the-box Process-Aware Information System and necessitates the construction of customized applications based on these systems. In order to allow for the seamless integration of the new technology into the existing

Brand Awareness towards Sustaining Earth's Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Seema

2015-04-01

School Children are the torchbearers of information, development and awareness in the country. They are the custodians of the future, thus it is important to educate them on this sensitive issue for a secured future for them. They are not rigid in their thoughts and are open to ideas and willing to listen, which gives us an opportunity to sensitize them about the growing issues that will shape their future So my projects with students every year revolves around an impactful contribution in reaching out and building awareness about preserving the environment and incorporating the practices of reuse, reduce and recycle in our daily lives. Under this project I conduct various workshops on recycling waste, debates on the environmental challenges with regular focus on inculcating cleaner habits amongst children ensuring an attitude change which will help create a socially responsible society. The community is enlightened on the importance of being responsible towards own household waste and conservation of the planet by conducting workshops across various residential societies in Pune. The idea is to encourage the young students and teachers to practice the 4Rs - Refuse, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle - in our daily lives. Through workshops, film screening, simulation exercises, competitions and students exchange programs the children are sensitized about waste management and importance of recycling to make them aware of the need to 'Protect What's Good' - which is the environment. And my project provides students a strong platform to voice their concerns about the need to practice sustainable lifestyles. The workshops are ruled by hands-on activities which give students a clear understanding. The activities include- film screening, competitions and debates, smart mobs in malls and public areas, cycle rallies, street plays, paper bag selling, cleanliness drives, collection drives for recyclables and most recently I have started with a new project which is known as social

Westinghouse Hanford Company waste minimization and pollution prevention awareness program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, P.A.; Nichols, D.H.; Lindsey, D.W.

1991-08-01

The purpose of this plan is to establish the Westinghouse Hanford Company's Waste Minimization Program. The plan specifies activities and methods that will be employed to reduce the quantity and toxicity of waste generated at Westinghouse Hanford Company (Westinghouse Hanford). It is designed to satisfy the US Department of Energy (DOE) and other legal requirements that are discussed in Subsection C of the section. The Pollution Prevention Awareness Program is included with the Waste Minimization Program as permitted by DOE Order 5400.1 (DOE 1988a). This plan is based on the Hanford Site Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Awareness Program Plan, which directs DOE Field Office, Richland contractors to develop and maintain a waste minimization program. This waste minimization program is an organized, comprehensive, and continual effort to systematically reduce waste generation. The Westinghouse Hanford Waste Minimization Program is designed to prevent or minimize pollutant releases to all environmental media from all aspects of Westinghouse Hanford operations and offers increased protection of public health and the environment. 14 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Contractor’s Awareness on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH Management Systems in Construction Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohd Kamar I.F.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems is part of the overall management system that facilitates the management of the OS&H risks associated with the business of the organization. This includes the organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the organization’s OS&H policy. The purpose of this research is to determine the level of awareness of contractors on OSH management systems. A total of 34 numbers of class A contractors in Kelantan registered with Pusat Khidmat Kontraktor (PKK were randomly selected. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire. The findings indicate that most of the Class A Contractor in Kelantan aware that the occupational safety and health management system are important and should be practiced to achieve zero accident and death on site

The concretization of the term sustainable spatial development for the assessment of child and juvenile awareness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadeja Zupančič

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The following article is targeted at the comprehensive co-shaping of the conditions required for the active education on the effective and concrete contributions to sustainable development, with the emphasis based on the built environment or architecture. It defines the role of education on the built environment or architecture within the concept of sustainable development, determines the grounds for adjusting the methods of delivering architectural contents and defines the educational contents along with their presentations with regards to the developmental abilities of the public, which is targeted. It presents the deliberation on objectifying the term sustainable spatial development, for the assessment of child and juvenile awareness of “sustainable architecture” topics as well as determining childcare workers and teachers adequate qualifications to provide the knowledge in the field of the built environment, in relation to sustainable environment. Concretisation signifies the selection and visualisation of actual topical occurrences in physical space for a specific targeted public (the article provides representative models. It also contributes to the development of “cultural” dimension of spatial development sustainability. The efforts made to strive towards the lifelong learning of architecture and its influence on our everyday lives and our future.

The Relationship between Morphological Awareness and Morphological Decomposition among English Language Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Kraut, Rachel

2015-01-01

Morphological awareness facilitates many reading processes. For this reason, L1 and L2 learners of English are often directly taught to use their knowledge of English morphology as a useful reading strategy for determining parts of speech and meaning of novel words. Over time, use of morphological awareness skills while reading develops into an…

Preconception health: awareness, planning, and communication among a sample of US men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Elizabeth W; Levis, Denise M; Prue, Christine E

2012-01-01

It is important to educate both men and women about preconception health (PCH), but limited research exists in this area. This paper examines men's and women's awareness of exposure to PCH information and of specific PCH behaviors, PCH planning, and PCH discussions with their partners. Data from Porter Novelli's 2007 Healthstyles survey were used. Women and men of reproductive age were included in the analysis (n = 2,736) to understand their awareness, planning, and conversations around PCH. Only 27.9% of women and men reported consistently using an effective birth control method. The majority of men (52%) and women (43%) were unaware of any exposure to PCH messages; few received information from their health care provider. Women were more aware than men of specific pre-pregnancy health behaviors. Women in the sample reported having more PCH conversations with their partners than did men. PCH education should focus on both women and men. Communication about PCH is lacking, both between couples and among men and women and their health care providers. PCH education might benefit from brand development so that consumers know what to ask for and providers know what to deliver.

Awareness regarding female breast cancer in Kashmiri males - A study

OpenAIRE

Salati , SA; Rather, A

2010-01-01

Breast cancer is a major killer disease in females globally and in developing regions, where the early cancer detection facilities are unavailable, prognosis is even worse. Awareness about this disease can lead to early detection and thereby decrease the morbidity and mortality. A self designed questionnaire was used to study the level of awareness regarding breast cancer among males. The questionnaire had 15 questions and on the basis on score attained, the subjects were classified as havi...

Context-aware modeling of neuronal morphologies

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Benjamin eTorben-Nielsen

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Neuronal morphologies are pivotal for brain functioning: physical overlap between dendrites and axons constrain the circuit topology, and the precise shape and composition of dendrites determine the integration of inputs to produce an output signal. At the same time, morphologies are highly diverse and variant. The variance, presumably, originates from neurons developing in a densely packed brain substrate where they interact (e.g., repulsion or attraction with other actors in this substrate. However, when studying neurons their context is never part of the analysis and they are treated as if they existed in isolation.Here we argue that to fully understand neuronal morphology and its variance it is important to consider neurons in relation to each other and to other actors in the surrounding brain substrate, i.e., their context. We propose a context-aware computational framework, NeuroMaC, in which large numbers of neurons can be grown simultaneously according to growth rules expressed in terms of interactions between the developing neuron and the surrounding brain substrate.As a proof of principle, we demonstrate that by using NeuroMaC we can generate accurate virtual morphologies of distinct classes both in isolation and as part of neuronal forests. Accuracy is validated against population statistics of experimentally reconstructed morphologies. We show that context-aware generation of neurons can explain characteristics of variation. Indeed, plausible variation is an inherent property of the morphologies generated by context-aware rules. We speculate about the applicability of this framework to investigate morphologies and circuits, to classify healthy and pathological morphologies, and to generate large quantities of morphologies for large-scale modeling.

Incarcerated women's HPV awareness, beliefs, and experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Pankey, Tyson; Ramaswamy, Megha

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore incarcerated women's awareness, beliefs, and experiences with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and vaccination. Researchers conducted focus groups with 45 incarcerated women in an urban Midwestern US jail to assess how women talked about their Papanicolaou (Pap) test screening and abnormal Pap test follow-up experiences. Some focus group questions specifically assessed individual awareness, beliefs, and experiences with HPV infection and vaccination. Based on these data, the authors described participants' awareness of HPV, as well as used open coding to ultimately extract themes related to beliefs and experiences with HPV infection and vaccine. While all 45 participants reported experiencing an abnormal Pap test event within the last five years, only two-thirds of participants (n=30) reported having heard of the HPV infection. Several themes emerged from the analysis of the data: the women's beliefs about cause and severity of HPV; frustration with age requirements of the vaccine; varied experiences with vaccinations for themselves and their children; the impact of media exposure on knowledge; and desire for more HPV infection and vaccine information. Incarcerated women's awareness and limited experiences with HPV infection and vaccination may be a barrier to adequate screening and cervical cancer prevention. This study has implications for the development of cervical health education for this high-risk group of women, who are four to five times as likely to have cervical cancer as non-incarcerated women.

India Prime Minister urges more awareness to control HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-04

With an estimated 3-4 million people infected with HIV, of whom half are aged 18-40 years, India should consider its HIV/AIDS epidemic as a national problem and address it accordingly. The disease also needs to be treated as a societal issue which affects the productivity of both economic and social sectors. The control of HIV and AIDS figures prominently in a new health policy currently being developed. At a seminar on AIDS, Prime Minister of India Atal Behari Vajpayee asked industry to supplement the government's efforts to spread awareness about AIDS. He stressed that business and industry need to seriously acknowledge the reality of HIV/AIDS and act to increase awareness about AIDS by spreading the message about prevention. Awareness is the key to prevention. Millions of HIV-positive people in India are afraid to seek medical care because of undue guilt and stigmatization. Also, young people should be taught about healthy sexual behavior and its implications. Vajpayee urged the minister of health to explore the possibilities of urgently developing an indigenous vaccine for AIDS in the most cost-effective manner.

Financial wellness awareness: A step closer to achieve Millennium Development Goals for Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehman, Rehana; Katpar, Shahjahan; Khan, Rakhshaan; Hussain, Mehwish

2015-01-01

To explore financial wellness (FW) awareness amongst public and private sector medical college students of Karachi. A cross sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted on medical students from 3 public and 5 private sector medical colleges of Karachi from February 2011 to December 2011. All ethnic groups having age range of 18-23 years were included. A questionnaire tailored from wellness wheel evaluated the responses of FW on a four point Likert's scale ranging from 0-3(never, sometimes, mostly, and always). Factor analysis explored common FW factors among both public and private sector medical college (MC) students. Private MC Students were better in terms of making short and long terms financial goals compared to students in public sector. The students of public MC were more focused to make and restricting to given budgets (p=0.05). The FW element of keeping savings in bank account was responded more by private MC candidates (P thrift as well (P bank accounts. They were however deficient in the knowledge of making and restricting themselves to budgets.

A Quantitative Team Situation Awareness Measurement Method Considering Technical and Nontechnical Skills of Teams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ho Bin Yim

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Human capabilities, such as technical/nontechnical skills, have begun to be recognized as crucial factors for nuclear safety. One of the most common ways to improve human capabilities in general is training. The nuclear industry has constantly developed and used training as a tool to increase plant efficiency and safety. An integrated training framework was suggested for one of those efforts, especially during simulation training sessions of nuclear power plant operation teams. The developed training evaluation methods are based on measuring the levels of situation awareness of teams in terms of the level of shared confidence and consensus as well as the accuracy of team situation awareness. Verification of the developed methods was conducted by analyzing the training data of real nuclear power plant operation teams. The teams that achieved higher level of shared confidence showed better performance in solving problem situations when coupled with high consensus index values. The accuracy of nuclear power plant operation teams' situation awareness was approximately the same or showed a similar trend as that of senior reactor operators' situation awareness calculated by a situation awareness accuracy index (SAAI. Teams that had higher SAAI values performed better and faster than those that had lower SAAI values.

Women's Awareness and Knowledge of Abortion Laws: A Systematic Review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anisa R Assifi

Full Text Available Incorrect knowledge of laws may affect how women enter the health system or seek services, and it likely contributes to the disconnect between official laws and practical applications of the laws that influence women's access to safe, legal abortion services.To provide a synthesis of evidence of women's awareness and knowledge of the legal status of abortion in their country, and the accuracy of women's knowledge on specific legal grounds and restrictions outlined in a country's abortion law.A systematic search was carried for articles published between 1980-2015. Quantitative, mixed-method data collection, and objectives related to women's awareness or knowledge of the abortion law was included. Full texts were assessed, and data extraction done by a single reviewer. Final inclusion for analysis was assessed by two reviewers. The results were synthesised into tables, using narrative synthesis.Of the original 3,126 articles, and 16 hand searched citations, 24 studies were included for analysis. Women's correct general awareness and knowledge of the legal status was less than 50% in nine studies. In six studies, knowledge of legalization/liberalisation ranged between 32.3%-68.2%. Correct knowledge of abortion on the grounds of rape ranged from 12.8%-98%, while in the case of incest, ranged from 9.8%-64.5%. Abortion on the grounds of fetal impairment and gestational limits, varied widely from 7%-94% and 0%-89.5% respectively.This systematic review synthesizes literature on women's awareness and knowledge of the abortion law in their own context. The findings show that correct general awareness and knowledge of the abortion law and legal grounds and restrictions amongst women was limited, even in countries where the laws were liberal. Thus, interventions to disseminate accurate information on the legal context are necessary.

Women's Awareness and Knowledge of Abortion Laws: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Assifi, Anisa R; Berger, Blair; Tunçalp, Özge; Khosla, Rajat; Ganatra, Bela

2016-01-01

Incorrect knowledge of laws may affect how women enter the health system or seek services, and it likely contributes to the disconnect between official laws and practical applications of the laws that influence women's access to safe, legal abortion services. To provide a synthesis of evidence of women's awareness and knowledge of the legal status of abortion in their country, and the accuracy of women's knowledge on specific legal grounds and restrictions outlined in a country's abortion law. A systematic search was carried for articles published between 1980-2015. Quantitative, mixed-method data collection, and objectives related to women's awareness or knowledge of the abortion law was included. Full texts were assessed, and data extraction done by a single reviewer. Final inclusion for analysis was assessed by two reviewers. The results were synthesised into tables, using narrative synthesis. Of the original 3,126 articles, and 16 hand searched citations, 24 studies were included for analysis. Women's correct general awareness and knowledge of the legal status was less than 50% in nine studies. In six studies, knowledge of legalization/liberalisation ranged between 32.3%-68.2%. Correct knowledge of abortion on the grounds of rape ranged from 12.8%-98%, while in the case of incest, ranged from 9.8%-64.5%. Abortion on the grounds of fetal impairment and gestational limits, varied widely from 7%-94% and 0%-89.5% respectively. This systematic review synthesizes literature on women's awareness and knowledge of the abortion law in their own context. The findings show that correct general awareness and knowledge of the abortion law and legal grounds and restrictions amongst women was limited, even in countries where the laws were liberal. Thus, interventions to disseminate accurate information on the legal context are necessary.

Does conflict control occur without awareness? Evidence from an ERP study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Baoxi; Xiang, Ling; Li, Juan

2013-01-15

The relationship between conflict control and awareness has attracted extensive interest. Although researchers have investigated the relationship between response conflict and awareness, it still remains unclear whether stimulus conflict can occur outside of awareness. In addition, previous studies on the role of awareness in conflict control have ignored the fact that conflict control includes both conflict detection and resolution. A modified version of the flanker task was used to manipulate stimulus and response conflicts under both masked and unmasked conditions. The masked condition elicited a sequence of distinct event-related potential components that were also observed in the unmasked condition. N2 amplitudes presented the following pattern: incongruent-eligible>incongruent-ineligible>congruent, they did not show any difference under the masked and unmasked conditions, suggesting that detection of stimulus-related conflict revealed by the comparison between incongruent-ineligible and congruent trials, and response-related conflict revealed by the comparison between incongruent-eligible and incongruent-ineligible trials can occur in the absence of awareness, and unconscious conflict detection might involve the same neural network employed for conscious conflict detection. Late positive component (LPC) amplitudes also presented as incongruent-eligible>incongruent-ineligible>congruent at CPz and Pz, irrespective of conscious awareness. However, LPC amplitudes under the masked condition were markedly reduced compared to unmasked trials. These LPC findings suggest that stimulus- and response-related conflict resolution can occur in the absence of awareness; furthermore, unconscious conflict resolution might involve a weaker cognitive control network compared to conscious conflict resolution. These findings have important implications for the theories concerning the relationship between cognitive control and awareness. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights

Metrics for smart security awareness

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Labuschagne, William A

2017-06-01

Full Text Available informing the response teams for reparations. These capabilities are possible by collecting data from the environment and ensuring intelligence is developed to react automatically without human intervention. The concept of smart cities has also been.... The data would be transported to a centralized situational awareness capability for analyses and create the appropriate response in the form of remedial action. The use of threat intelligence feeds could automatically sense the existence of a new threat...

Fostering awareness of the pedagogical implications of World Englishes and ELF in teacher education in Italy

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Paola Vettorel

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Teacher education represents an essential step to raise awareness of the sociolinguistic changes brought about by the current pluralization of English and by its lingua franca role. Within the pre-service teacher education programs run at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Verona, Italy, part of the English language course focused on issues related to World Englishes (WE and English as a lingua franca (ELF, aiming at fostering awareness of and active reflection upon their pedagogical implications. After taking into consideration recent developments in WE- and ELF-aware teacher education, we will report on findings from a research study involving trainee teachers attending the aforementioned courses for English in academic years 2012-13 to 2014-15. The main aim of the study has been to investigate whether, how and to what extent trainee teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and reasoning about a WE and ELF-informed perspective in teaching practices may undergo a change after attending these courses. Drawing upon different sets of data (questionnaires, reflections in e-learning discussion forums, interviews and final reports, the trainees’ increased awareness of and readiness to include a WE- and ELF-informed didactic approach after attending the course will be discussed, together with implications for foreign language teacher education.

Testing Situation Awareness Network for the Electrical Power Infrastructure

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Rafał Leszczyna

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The contemporary electrical power infrastructure is exposed to new types of threats. The cause of such threats is related to the large number of new vulnerabilities and architectural weaknesses introduced by the extensive use of Information and communication Technologies (ICT in such complex critical systems. The power grid interconnection with the Internet exposes the grid to new types of attacks, such as Advanced Persistent Threats (APT or Distributed-Denial-ofService (DDoS attacks. When addressing this situation the usual cyber security technologies are prerequisite, but not sufficient. To counter evolved and highly sophisticated threats such as the APT or DDoS, state-of-the-art technologies including Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM systems, extended Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS and Trusted Platform Modules (TPM are required. Developing and deploying extensive ICT infrastructure that supports wide situational awareness and allows precise command and control is also necessary. In this paper the results of testing the Situational Awareness Network (SAN designed for the energy sector are presented. The purpose of the tests was to validate the selection of SAN components and check their operational capability in a complex test environment. During the tests’ execution appropriate interaction between the components was verified.

Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness.

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Vago, David R; Silbersweig, David A

2012-01-01

Mindfulness-as a state, trait, process, type of meditation, and intervention has proven to be beneficial across a diverse group of psychological disorders as well as for general stress reduction. Yet, there remains a lack of clarity in the operationalization of this construct, and underlying mechanisms. Here, we provide an integrative theoretical framework and systems-based neurobiological model that explains the mechanisms by which mindfulness reduces biases related to self-processing and creates a sustainable healthy mind. Mindfulness is described through systematic mental training that develops meta-awareness (self-awareness), an ability to effectively modulate one's behavior (self-regulation), and a positive relationship between self and other that transcends self-focused needs and increases prosocial characteristics (self-transcendence). This framework of self-awareness, -regulation, and -transcendence (S-ART) illustrates a method for becoming aware of the conditions that cause (and remove) distortions or biases. The development of S-ART through meditation is proposed to modulate self-specifying and narrative self-networks through an integrative fronto-parietal control network. Relevant perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral neuropsychological processes are highlighted as supporting mechanisms for S-ART, including intention and motivation, attention regulation, emotion regulation, extinction and reconsolidation, prosociality, non-attachment, and decentering. The S-ART framework and neurobiological model is based on our growing understanding of the mechanisms for neurocognition, empirical literature, and through dismantling the specific meditation practices thought to cultivate mindfulness. The proposed framework will inform future research in the contemplative sciences and target specific areas for development in the treatment of psychological disorders.

The Influence of advertising media on brand awareness

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Ivana S. Domazet