Authentic Environment Research Articles

Innovative bioremediation of dexamethasone in aquatic ecosystems using Rhodococcus sp. D32: Pathway discovery and reduction of ecotoxicity

In response to the widespread environmental concern of endocrine disruptors, our research investigated the aerobic biodegradation of dexamethasone (DEX), a widely used synthetic glucocorticoid with endocrine-disrupting properties, by strain Rhodococcus sp. D32. This innovative strain showcases remarkable DEX-degrading capabilities, with the half-life for degrading 500 μg/L DEX in MH broth being just 7.56 h. Utilizing high-resolution mass spectrometry, we identified six transformation products (TPs) and revealed a unique steroid nucleus-opening pathway marked by A-ring lactonization and subsequent lactone hydrolysis. This newly discovered pathway deviates from the classical steroid 9,10-seco pathways and previous transformations that preserved the intact steroid nucleus, thus expanding our knowledge of microbial steroid transformations. Additionally, the degradation process progressively converts the parent DEX into less ecotoxic products, significantly reducing the overall ecotoxicity of the system. This reduction remains evident when considering the combined toxicity of DEX and its TPs, indicating a promising approach for lessening environmental harm. Strain D32 also proved effective in various authentic aquatic environments, including fishpond water, urban sewage, river water, and reservoir water, where its introduction markedly expedited the dissipation of DEX. Our findings underscore the potential of strain D32 as a powerful tool for the bioremediation of DEX, presenting an efficient and eco-friendly strategy to alleviate the effects of this endocrine disruptor in aquatic ecosystems.

Device Identity Recognition Based on an Adaptive Environment for Intrinsic Security Fingerprints

A device’s intrinsic security fingerprint, representing its physical characteristics, serves as a unique identifier for user devices and is highly regarded in the realms of device security and identity recognition. However, fluctuations in the environmental noise can introduce variations in the physical features of the device. To address this issue, this paper proposes an innovative method to enable the device’s intrinsic security fingerprint to adapt to environmental changes, aiming to improve the accuracy of the device’s intrinsic security fingerprint recognition in real-world physical environments. This paper initiates continuous data collection of device features in authentic noisy environments, recording the temporal changes in the device’s physical characteristics. The problem of unstable physical features is framed as a restricted statistical learning problem with a localized information structure. This paper employs an aggregated hypergraph neural network architecture to process the temporally changing physical features. This allows the system to acquire aggregated local state information from the interactive influences of adjacent sequential signals, forming an adaptive environment-enhanced device intrinsic security fingerprint recognition model. The proposed method enhances the accuracy and reliability of device intrinsic security fingerprint recognition in outdoor environments, thereby strengthening the overall security of terminal devices. Experimental results indicate that the method achieves a recognition accuracy of 98% in continuously changing environmental conditions, representing a crucial step in reinforcing the security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices when confronted with real-world challenges.

Penerapan Strategi Pembelajaran Kontekstual pada Pembuatan Komik Mengaitkan Mata Pelajaran Matematika dengan Materi Kejuruan Tata Busana di SMK Negeri 3 Kudus

Constructivism is knowledge created by humans and gradually developed in a limited environment, is the theoretical basis of contextual thinking (philosophy). A learning strategy known as contextual-based learning centers on giving students access to relevant and authentic environments. The main goal of this teaching is to help students better understand and apply information by having them make connections between the course material and their everyday experiences. This research tries to use contextual learning methodology in making comics that connect mathematics classes with fashion vocational resources at SMK Negeri 3 Kudus. There is much promise in contextual learning to support students in understanding and using mathematical ideas in their professional environments. The research method used is a qualitative method by conducting observations and interviews. Data was collected through observation, interviews, and analysis of student work. The research results show that the application of contextual learning strategies in making comics is effective in increasing students' understanding and interest in mathematics subjects and facilitating the application of mathematical concepts in the vocational context of fashion design.

Unleashing the Potential: Investigating the Empowering Effects of Field Trips on Autonomous English Learners’ Learning

Field trips have long been recognized as a significant component of educational endeavours. While students at the primary and secondary levels commonly engage in such activities, the integration of field trips into tertiary education remains infrequent. University studend who attend the English classes are seldom afforded the opportunity to directly observe authentic professional environments or explore potential workplaces related to their future careers, experiences that can be facilitated through field trips. Additionally, given the increasing emphasis on the internship program held by Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, a gap arises as students are limited in their exposure to real-world work environments. The objective of this research endeavour was to investigate university students' perceptions of field trip activities and assess how these experiences contribute to the development of students' autonomous learning skills. Qualitative data for this study were collected through two questionnaires, a preparation and a reflection Google sheet. The participants consisted of 27 students enrolled in the International Relations Study Program at UPN Veteran Jakarta. The findings of the study revealed that field trips offer numerous benefits to English for Professional Purposes students, including enhancing their understanding of academic concepts, providing a deeper real-world context for learning, and fostering social interaction. The questionnaire results demonstrated a predominantly positive perception among the students. Furthermore, a majority of the participants reported engaging in autonomous learning activities during the field trip, facilitated by the opportunity to interact with industry professionals and seek their guidance through questioning.

Exploring the effects of robot-assisted multimodal composition on students’ audience awareness for English writing

Previous studies have focused on the effects of employing robot-assisted multimodal composition to facilitate learners’ development of audience awareness; however, how the process promotes such awareness is under-explored. In this study, therefore, how a robot-assisted multimodal composition approach might facilitate EFL students’ audience awareness for English writing was investigated. A total of 53 advanced EFL learners at a university of science and technology in Taiwan were engaged in creating multimodal presentations using social robots with the capacity to provide authentic meaning-making environments for students to flexibly design and produce video presentations drawing on various semiotic modes for different purposes and audiences. The data included participants’ pre- and post-intervention English essays, recorded interviews, concept maps, planning worksheets, final video presentations, and reflective surveys. The pre- and post-intervention English essays were analyzed employing a paired-sampled t test, and a multimodal analysis was applied to the other data. The findings revealed that the students’ audience awareness in their English writing improved as they progressed through the robot-assisted processes of identifying their target audiences’ needs and expectations, establishing logical connections with them, designing interactive features with multimodal materials to stimulate audience responses, and constructing effective communication flows so as to create a presentation to be published on YouTube. These processes contributed to the students’ increased sensitivity towards their audiences. Pedagogical and further research implications are discussed.

Interpretace archeologických obsahů na příkladu edukačního projektu Epidemie– Pandemie–Archeologie v Západočeském muzeu v Plzni

Archaeology is perceived as an interdisciplinary field, and collaboration with other scientific disciplines is natural. The cooperation between archaeology and pedagogy and didactics is becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of revising educational programs and emphasizing inquiry-based learning and object-based education. The new direction of education focuses on informal learning and collaboration with memory institutions such as museums, which serve as alternative educational venues. The programs of the Museum of Western Bohemia in Pilsen can also be considered an important part of education and the dissemination of information about archaeology and history to the public. The educational program “Epidemics-Pandemics-Archaeology” at the Museum of Western Bohemia in Pilsen developed, between 2021–2022, is an interdisciplinary project that connects archaeology, paleopathology, and pedagogy. The project responds to the current topic of pandemics and is linked to archaeological research conducted in Pilsen, particularly in the museum’s branch buildings. The goal of the program is to present epidemics in a broader historical framework from prehistory to the present, using archaeological finds as examples, and to present their historical and cultural context in an understandable manner while enabling active participation and interaction for the participants. In the dissemination of information from archaeology to the public, museum pedagogy plays a crucial role, working in an authentic environment, providing the presence of original artifacts, and offering didactic tools for effective education. The target audience of the program includes primary and secondary school students and students in multi-year grammar schools.

E-MLB: Multilevel Benchmark for Event-Based Camera Denoising

Event cameras, such as dynamic vision sensors (DVS), are biologically inspired vision sensors that have advanced over conventional cameras in high dynamic range, low latency and low power consumption, showing great application potential in many fields. Event cameras are more sensitive to junction leakage current and photocurrent as they output differential signals, losing the smoothing function of the integral imaging process in the RGB camera. The logarithmic conversion further amplifies noise, especially in low-contrast conditions. Recently, researchers proposed a series of datasets and evaluation metrics but limitations remain: 1) the existing datasets are small in scale and insufficient in noise diversity, which cannot reflect the authentic working environments of event cameras; and 2) the existing denoising evaluation metrics are mostly referenced evaluation metrics, relying on APS information or manual annotation. To address the above issues, we construct a large-scale event denoising dataset (multilevel benchmark for event denoising, E-MLB) for the first time, which consists of 100 scenes, each with four noise levels, that is 12 times larger than the largest existing denoising dataset. We also propose the first nonreference event denoising metric, the event structural ratio (ESR), which measures the structural intensity of given events. ESR is inspired by the contrast metric, but is independent of the number of events and projection direction. Based on the proposed benchmark and ESR, we evaluate the most representative denoising algorithms, including classic and SOTA, and provide denoising baselines under various scenes and noise levels. The corresponding results and codes are available at <uri xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://github.com/KugaMaxx/cuke-emlb</uri>

Open Remote Web Lab for Learning Robotics and ROS With Physical and Simulated Robots in an Authentic Developer Environment

Open Remote Web Lab for Learning Robotics and ROS With Physical and Simulated Robots in an Authentic Developer Environment

Continuous Value Assignment: A Doubly Robust Data Augmentation for Off-Policy Learning.

Deep reinforcement learning (RL) has witnessed remarkable success in a wide range of control tasks. To overcome RL's notorious sample inefficiency, prior studies have explored data augmentation techniques leveraging collected transition data. However, these methods face challenges in synthesizing transitions adhering to the authentic environment dynamics, especially when the transition is high-dimensional and includes many redundant/irrelevant features to the task. In this article, we introduce continuous value assignment (CVA), an innovative optimization-level data augmentation approach that directly synthesizes novel training data in the state-action value space, effectively bypassing the need for explicit transition modeling. The key intuition of our method is that the transition plays an intermediate role in calculating the state-action value during optimization, and therefore directly augmenting the state-action value is more causally related to the optimization process. Specifically, our CVA combines parameterized value prediction and nonparametric value interpolation from neighboring states, resulting in doubly robust target values w.r.t. novel states and actions. Extensive experiments demonstrate CVA's substantial improvements in sample efficiency across complex continuous control tasks, surpassing several advanced baselines.

The effect of evaluation and feedback in 360-degree video-based VR environments on language learning outcomes

Recently, 360-degree video technology (360VT) received considerable attention in the field of computer-assisted language learning as it creates authentic and immersive virtual reality environments to assist the language learning process. However, not many studies focused on applications of 360VT to assist the evaluation of learner’ performance and providing them with relevant feedback. Therefore, the present study was set to shed light on this aspect. We carried out an experiment to explore the effects of evaluation and feedback in two different video learning environments, i.e. a traditional video technology-based (TVT) and 360VT-based, on learning outcomes. In the context of the present study, evaluation referred to evaluating the content of videos created by students, and feedback referred to providing students with relevant feedback for further improvement of their videos. English as a foreign language (EFL) course was administered for 52 university students. The participants were equally divided into TVT and 360VT groups. They attended EFL classes, and after classes, they created videos using either a traditional video camera (TVT group) or a 360-degree video camera (360VT group) on four learning topics. The evaluators watched videos, evaluated them, and then provided feedback to students. Students then revised their works based on received feedback. The results showed an insignificant difference between the two groups in their pre-test scores when measuring prior knowledge. However, when measuring knowledge after the study, 360VT group students outperformed their counterparts in the post-test. According to the results, students in the 360VT group received significantly more feedback, and it was more detailed compared to that of their counterparts. In addition, the evaluators scored affordances of 360VT higher than those of TVT. The results showed many advantages of 360VT such as it was useful and easy to use during the evaluation process, 360VT created immersive environments so that the evaluators had a realistic experience and a high level of vividness when watching and evaluating videos. The results suggest that evaluation and feedback in 360VT environments had better effects on learning outcomes, and the evaluators positively perceived their experiences in 360VT settings. Therefore, it is suggested that educators and researchers consider implementing 360VT in situations when language learners are tasked with creating their own content, which can subsequently be evaluated with relevant feedback provided.

Constraints and Challenges in Implementing Text-Based Teaching in Particular Contexts

This research focuses on exploring the constraints and challenges faced by teachers and students when implementing text-based teaching in specific contexts. Text-based teaching has been proven to have a significant impact on the principles of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching and learning, improving students' ability to understand the meaning and fostering communication competence in authentic environments. However, despite its benefits, various obstacles and challenges hinder the successful implementation of this approach. These constraints include a lack of vocabulary and grammar acquisition, inadequate English language skills in context, low motivation, limited learning autonomy, and lack of cooperation among students. In addition, teachers also face challenges such as selecting appropriate authentic texts, modifying and adapting them to meet instructional objectives, designing appropriate tasks, and overcoming potential student boredom with routine activities. To overcome these barriers, teachers need to engage in comprehensive professional development to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for effective implementation of text-based teaching. In addition, policymakers are encouraged to provide advanced training opportunities in this area, allowing teachers to improve their teaching practices.

Exploration of the Innovative Path of English Speaking Teaching Mode under the Background of Artificial Intelligence

With the continuous development and popularization of artificial intelligence technology, its application in the field of education is becoming more and more extensive, of which English oral teaching is one of them. The traditional oral English teaching mode faces a series of challenges, such as the lack of an authentic language environment, the difficulty of personalized teaching, the lack of interactivity, and so on. In this regard, this paper will focus on the current problems of traditional oral English teaching and explore in depth the effective strategies for the innovation of oral English teaching mode in the context of artificial intelligence.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ГРОМАДСЬКИХ КОМПЛЕКСІВ В ІСТОРИЧНОМУ СЕРЕДОВИЩІ ЯК ОСОБЛИВА ФОРМА СИНТЕЗУ ПРЕДМЕТНО-ПРОСТОРОВИХ, АРХІТЕКТУРНИХ ТА МІСТОБУДІВНИХ ЕЛЕМЕНТІВ

The exhaustion of industrial society, which was declared back in 1996 by the decisions of the Habitat II conference held under the auspices of the UN in Istanbul, led to the search for new approaches to improving the urban environment of the largest cities in the conditions of the global stage of the urbanization process. In the conditions of the rapid development of the largest cities within the modern stage of the urbanization process, the trend of forming architectural multifunctional complexes, which, turning into urban-type structures, are incorporated into the urban fabric, forming new ones, developing existing historically emerged urban sub-centers, and even supplementing the authentic environment of the historical core, is clearly manifested. In such a situation, a multifunctional complex is considered as an architectural object, in the process of creation of which the spatial environment surrounding a person is harmonized, a new image of the city, a new silhouette is formed. Particular importance is given to the integrity and expressiveness of the composition, design, as well as the possibility of using it to create a sustainable and harmonious living environment. All this leads to the search for new forms of architectural and urban planning activities, including the use of the design of the urban environment (urban design), which today is considered as an independent type of project-artistic activity, finally formed in the second half of the 20th century. All this leads to the search for new forms of architectural and urban planning activities, including the use of the design of the urban environment (urban design), which today is considered as an independent type of project-artistic activity, finally formed in the second half of the 20th century. In such conditions, a synthetic approach to the formation of the design of a separate object based on subject-spatial, architectural and urban planning system-forming elements is considered, on the example of project proposals for the creation of a new public exhibition complex in the historical environment of the city of Odesa.

Challenges of Distance Learning in the Context of Music Studies: the Case of Lithuania

The paper presents some of the data from an empirical study conducted at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants of the study - first and second cycle students of different specialisations (N=135) from the Music faculty of LAMT - revealed their experiences during the global distance learning that replaced contact studies. The chosen object of the study - the challenges of distance learning in terms of students' experience - allowed to explore and summarise the advantages and disadvantages of distance music studies, as well as to assess the students' emotional well-being during COVID – 19 pandemic. The questionnaire survey showed that the absolute majority of the participants experienced a clear predominance of anxiety and stressful situations during distance learning, and that their motivation to learn dropped significantly during the pandemic. The respondents' answers to open-ended questions, analysed by qualitative content analysis, revealed that studying only at a distance distorts the fundamental idea of music studies - to create and learn from a natural and authentic environment. However, according to the participants, distance learning can also have positive aspects if it is used only in group and non-musicianship/non-musical activities, or if it is combined with contact learning.

THE APPEARANCE OF HOTELS AS A FACTOR FOR ATTRACTING TOURISTS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BEROVO

In the eastern part of North Macedonia, in the Maleshev valley, with an area of 595 km, the small town of Berovo stands proudly. Apparently, it is no different from other small places in the country, but with the first meeting with the hosts, the impression of Berovo and Maleševija is already formed, and by getting to know the natural factors, the rich cultural and historical heritage, the secret that attracts thousands of visitors a year right here in this little town in the East. Berovo is a real potential for the development of rural tourism with an authentic style.Today we live in a new and modern society where every person from the huge urban areas dreams of spending a certain short period of time in a rural and not sufficiently developed territorial space. The accumulated stress and the overloaded city environment give people the opportunity to make a comparison between gray everyday life and staying in an authentic rural environment, the need for fresh and ecologically clean food, pleasant contacts with the local population, getting closer to natural beauties, the village garden, yard, and with desire and to rural labor.

Media discourse linguo-methodological potential for the communicative competence development in foreign language classes

The current article examines the media discourse linguo-methodological potential for the communicative competence development in foreign language classes (including Russian as a foreign language). Special attention is paid to the analysis of typical exercises; the article identifies lack of efficient exercises aimed at developing students’ communicative competence using modern media discourse. We analyze the possibilities that diverse media texts offer in teaching foreign languages and give recommendations on the selection of illustrative materials, suggesting a set of exercises aimed at forming and improving students’ speaking skills. We used a descriptive method as a leading method in this study, partially relying on a conceptual type of language material analysis. It was found that the utilization of news and song texts in the process of foreign language teaching increased students’ motivation to learn a new language, activated all types of learners’ speech activities, and gave them an opportunity to explore standard communicative situations enriching their vocabulary. The use of IT technologies in foreign language classes contributes to effective lesson planning and allows creating authentic language environment for learners, which, in its turn, increases the efficiency of students’ communicative skills development in standard speech situations. The undertaken study resulted in the following findings: the linguo-didactic potential of media discourse in teaching foreign languages, to be more precise in the process of developing students’ communicative competence, is very high; the use of ICT in the educational process highlights the need to develop new methods for working with media texts.

AP-NURSE: A Modular Tool to Ease the Life of Patients Suffering from Cognitive Diseases

This paper presents the development and testing of the AP-NURSE monitoring tool aimed to ease the everyday life of patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases as well as those who take care of such patients. It summarises the activities carried out as part of the international Interreg CE niCE-life project. The team of STU designed, developed, constructed, and tested the AP-NURSE intelligent tool. The paper starts with demographic information on Slovakia. It highlights the fact that population aging is a significant issue, which requires measures to mitigate its consequences at local and European levels. The next part describes the final design of AP-NURSE Home and Care devices and their versions, including details on their hardware and software. A significant part of the paper deals with the testing of AP-NURSE in both laboratory and authentic environments. The laboratory testing was carried out directly at STU. The final testing in an authentic environment was conducted in two social and healthcare centres in Bratislava and in Warsaw. After the activities described in this paper, AP-NURSE reached TRL-6. The AP-NURSE Home platform developed based on the ESP microcontrollers demonstrated the best functionality and has the potential to be used in real practice.

Digital transformation for teaching management accounting: training with a simulation in an authentic professional environment

ABSTRACT This study investigates the use of digital transformation for teaching management accounting through the implementation of training with a simulation in an authentic professional environment. Technology makes it possible to bring professional reality into the classroom, thereby enhancing the work-integrated experience of students. The authors present the training developed for third year undergraduates in Management Accounting course and the analysis of how students perceive the learning outcomes of this experiential activity. The study used quantitative and qualitative analysis from a survey of 254 respondents. The findings suggest that learning through tasks simulated in a real workplace positively influences students’ perceptions of their readiness for professional activity in terms of their technical, intellectual, organisational, personal, and interpersonal skills.

Will a technology-featured authentic shopping environment motivate participants’ purchasing behavior in tourism live-streamed shopping?

Will a technology-featured authentic shopping environment motivate participants’ purchasing behavior in tourism live-streamed shopping?

Design and Evaluation of Using Head-Mounted Virtual Reality for Learning Clinical Procedures: Mixed Methods Study.

The capacity of health care professionals to perform clinical procedures safely and competently is crucial as it will directly impact patients' outcomes. Given the ability of head-mounted virtual reality to simulate the authentic clinical environment, this platform should be suitable for nurses to refine their clinical skills for knowledge and skills acquisition. However, research on head-mounted virtual reality in learning clinical procedures is limited. The objectives of this study were (1) to describe the design of a head-mounted virtual reality system and evaluate it for education on clinical procedures for nursing students and (2) to explore the experience of nursing students using head-mounted virtual reality for learning clinical procedures and the usability of the system. This usability study used a mixed method approach. The stages included developing 3D models of the necessary instruments and materials used in intravenous therapy and subcutaneous injection procedures performed by nurses, followed by developing the procedures using the Unreal Engine (Epic Games). Questionnaires on the perception of continuance intention and the System Usability Scale were used along with open-ended questions. Twenty-nine nursing students took part in this questionnaire study after experiencing the immersive virtual reality (IVR) intervention. Participants reported largely favorable game perception and learning experience. Mean perception scores ranged from 3.21 to 4.38 of a maximum score of 5, while the mean system usability score was 53.53 of 100. The majority found that the IVR experience was engaging, and they were immersed in the game. The challenges encountered included unfamiliarity with the new learning format; technological constraints, such as using hand controllers; and physical discomfort. The conception of IVR for learning clinical procedures through deliberate practice to enhance nurses' knowledge and skills is promising. However, refinement of the prototypes is required to improve user experience and learning. Future research can explore other ways to use IVR for better education and health care purposes.