Domain Concepts Research Articles

The Relationship Between Self-Regulation Difficulties and Adaptive Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

ABSTRACT Research on the self-regulation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has revealed that their inability to regulate is associated with challenges and delayed development. This study aims to assess self-regulation difficulties (SRD) and adaptive functions (AF) among children with ASD. SRD and AF were evaluated using a quantitative research design. The research sample comprised 92 children with ASD, aged 6–12, with an average age of 8.719 and a standard deviation of 2.025. The self-regulation difficulties Scale and the Adaptive Function Scale were utilised for assessment. The results showed statistically significant negative correlations between all domains of SRD (physiological difficulties, emotional difficulties, facing transitions challenges/difficulties) and AF (conceptual domain, practical domain, social domain). The analysis revealed statistically significant negative correlations across all domains, with coefficients ranging from r = -0.291 to r = -0.466 (p < 0.01) indicating strong relationships, except for emotional difficulties which showed weaker but still significant correlations (r = -0.243 to r = -0.267, p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed between males and females regarding AF and SRD in children with ASD. Additionally, AF in children with ASD were predicted by the total degree and domains of SRD (physiological difficulties, facing transitions challenges/difficulties), except for emotional difficulties. The findings were interpreted and contextualised within the framework of extant literature in the field.

A Cognitive -Semantic Study of Love Metaphor in Mawlawi Poems

This study is entitled "A Cognitive Semantic Study of Love Metaphor in Mawlawi Poems". It is an attempt to construe the semantic aspects of Mawlawi's poetic texts in light of the cognitive semantic approach. The study, through a linguistic and cognitive analysis, clarifies the way meaning is constructed in the selected poems. It adopts the theoretical framework proposed by the cognitive semantic theory of metaphor. That is, according to the cognitive theory of metaphor, it explores the metaphorization of LOVE in the selected poems. In cognitive approach to metaphor, an abstract concept named the target domain is understood in terms of another called the source domain (usually concrete). The source domain is a conceptual domain used metaphorically so as to understand the abstract target concept, i.e., the target domain is a conceptual domain interpreted through the source domain. The current study investigates the ways in which LOVE as an abstract target concept is construed in terms of other source conceptual domains. That is, the primary aim of the study is to scrutinize how LOVE is metaphorized in the poems, what are the source domains the poet relies upon so as to interpret the target domain of LOVE. In other words, what are the more concrete conceptual source domains that are metaphorically used in order to comprehend the abstract target concept of LOVE? Accordingly, the recent study is mainly concerned with conceptualization (the way LOVE is conceptualized) which is the cognitive processes of meaning-making. This means that, it illuminates meaning construction process in Mawlawi literature. The study first provides a brief introduction to Cognitive Linguistics and then the nature of meaning in cognitive semantic approach is highlighted. Following this, the cognitive approach to metaphor is presented. The last section is devoted to elucidating the metaphorical structuring of LOVE in Mawlawi's poems based on the contemporary theory of metaphor.

Small-Signal Stability Analysis and Voltage Control Parameter Design for DC Microgrids

Small-signal instability issues will occur in the DC microgrid when the high-frequency oscillation peaks of the voltage closed-loop transfer function are not effectively suppressed. To ensure the small-signal stability of DC microgrids, the concept of a small-signal stability domain for voltage control parameters is proposed. Based on the voltage closed-loop transfer function, a small-signal-stability-domain-solving algorithm is proposed. With this stability domain, the impact of voltage-proportional coefficient and voltage-integral coefficient on oscillation frequency (or damping factor) is quantitatively analyzed. In addition, the influence of current control parameters on the small-signal stability boundary is also analyzed. With the introduction of this stability domain, a design method for voltage control parameters has been proposed. The voltage control parameters, which are quantitatively designed by this method, are able to maintain the small-signal stability of the system. Finally, based on the RT-BOX hardware-in-the-loop experimental platform, a switching model for a typical DC microgrid is established. Additionally, the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and designed control parameters is verified by multiple sets of experimental results.

Robotic arm, 3D vision and geometric matching for an efficient implementation of inverse Patch Transfer Function method

The inverse patch transfer function method was developed to reconstruct the acoustic fields (velocity, pressure, intensity) at the surface of a vibrating source with a complex geometry using the concept of a virtual acoustic domain. This method can be used to manage sources with complex shapes in a non-anechoic acoustic environment, even in the presence of masking objects. However, this method is quite demanding experimentally as it requires a large number of measurement positions with good spatial positioning accuracy. This article presents a dedicated experimental platform developed to simplify and automate the entire measurement process. First, a 3D camera placed on a robotic arm constructs a point cloud characterising the source and its environment. Using a geometric matching algorithm, the CAD of the object under test is detected in the cloud of points, enabling the different coordinate systems (CAD, robot and physical part) to be matched. Secondly, the measurement points required to apply iPTF can be defined directly in the CAD and reproduced in near-real time on the test rig, regardless of the type of antenna used, providing an efficient means of applying iPTF and opening the way to many advanced applications.

Clinical characterization of children and adolescents with ADHD and sleep disturbances.

Sleep disturbances (SD) are commonly reported concerns among parents and caregivers of children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). While it is widely acknowledged that SD can worsen various aspects of children and adolescents' well-being (e.g., academic performance and emotional/behavioral state), a comprehensive clinical characterization of ADHD and SD is currently lacking. To address this gap, 136 children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD (aged 6 to 14 years) were retrospectively selected by reviewing electronic health records of hundreds of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders referred to the children's hospital. Participants were divided into two groups based on the presence of SD, assessed via a parent-report questionnaire (94 ADHD without SD and 42 ADHD with SD). Standardized measures of adaptive behavior, academic performance, ADHD-related and emotional/behavioral symptoms were collected. Results documented that the group of ADHD with SD obtained worse scores in specific aspects of adaptive behavior (conceptual and practical domains), academic performance (text comprehension, writing), ADHD symptoms (inattention) and emotional/behavioral difficulties (especially, mood/emotional regulation and stress) compared to those with ADHD without SD. In addition, our results established a relationship between sleep problems and diverse clinical aspects of children and adolescents with ADHD, while controlling for age, cognitive level, gender, ADHD symptoms severity, and Body Mass Index. From a clinical perspective, our study suggests that the presence of SD in patients with ADHD may serve as an indicator for strengths and weaknesses in this population, even demonstrating an independent relationship with specific clinical dimensions. Implications to improve clinical diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are discussed.

Category boundaries modulate memory in a place-cell-like manner.

Concepts describe how instances of the same kind are related, enabling the categorization and interpretation of new information.1,2 How concepts are represented is a longstanding question. Category boundaries have been considered defining features of concept representations, which can guide categorical inference,3 with fMRI evidence showing category-boundary signals in the hippocampus.4,5 The underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. The hippocampal-entorhinal system, known for its spatially tuned neurons that form cognitive maps of space,6,7 may support conceptual knowledge formation, with place cells encoding locations in conceptual space.4,8,9,10,11 Physical boundaries anchor spatial representations and boundary shifts affect place and grid fields,12,13,14,15,16 as well as human spatial memory,17,18,19 along manipulated dimensions. These place cell responses are likely driven by boundary vector cells, which respond to boundaries at specific allocentric distances and directions,20,21,22,23 the neural correlates of which have been identified in the subiculum and entorhinal cortex20,24,25. We hypothesize similar patterns of memory adaptations in response to shifting category boundaries. Our findings show that after category boundary shifts, participants' memory for category exemplars distorts along the changed dimension, mirroring place field deformations. We demonstrate that the boundary vector cell model of place cell firing best accounts for these distortions compared with alternative geometric explanations. Our study highlights a role of category boundaries in human cognition and establishes a new complementary link between hippocampal coding properties with respect to boundaries and human concept representation, bridging spatial and conceptual domains.

Quality of life in childhood immune thrombocytopenia: Revision of the Kids' ITP Tools (KIT).

The Kids ITP Tools (KIT) is a health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire that evaluates quality of life in children with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). There are three formats: Child Self-Report, Parent Proxy-Report and Parent Impact-Report. This study aimed to develop a domain structure by grouping-related questions from the questionnaire into domains that independently reflect various aspects of HRQoL. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 involved an online survey distributed to experts to identify conceptual domains for the KIT. Phase 2 utilized a statistical approach to analyse responses from patients with ITP and their families. A revised KIT 2.0 was ultimately developed to aid in treatment decision-making and monitoring of ITP.

Negotiating ‘a Realm of Public Power and Responsibility’: Labour’s Social Imaginary of Governance at Federation

Labour’s social imaginary in the Federation period 1901–02 was constituted by a symbolic order summoned to represent participation and performance under the terms of the liberal state. Labour’s social imaginary functioned through structures and forms of display that were inherited from existing patterns and imaginings of governance, and which the movement adapted in its own forms and interests. It was expressed in parades and banquets, in the display of union banners; evident in public meetings and deputations, in the formal domains of conference and congress. Labour’s social imaginary was observed in the surveillance of the mainstream daily press and expressed in an increasingly sophisticated labour press. This process was at once an accommodation with the terms of the liberal state and political culture, and a challenge posed to it. The labour movement’s participation in liberal governance in the post-Federation period was a complex process of accommodation and assertion.

PreparedLLM: effective pre-pretraining framework for domain-specific large language models

ABSTRACT The direct application of large language models (LLMs) to specific domain tasks frequently encounters challenges due to the scarcity of domain data, variations in domain semantics, and the complexity of domain knowledge. Further pretraining of advanced foundational models on extensive domain-specific corpora can infuse these models with domain-specific knowledge and enhancing their ability of solving domain-specific tasks. However, the development of most domain-specific models focuses primarily on collecting large-scale domain data, often overlooking the crucial optimization of the pre-pretraining stage, which significantly impacts both model performance and training efficiency. This paper introduces PRE -PretrAining FRamEwork for Domain-specific Large Language Models (PreparedLLM), a framework designed to enhance the pre-pretraining stage for domain specialization of LLMs. PreparedLLM employs advanced techniques in data recipe, data cleaning, vocabulary expansion, and embedding initialization. These techniques are implemented to optimize both the composition and quality of the training data, and to enhance understanding of domain terminologies and concepts, as well as improve token embedding initialization. Utilizing the geoscience domain as a case study, this paper applies PreparedLLM for the domain specialization of the Llama, a widely recognized general-purpose LLM. Experimental results demonstrate that PreparedLLM enhances model convergence speed, training speed, inference speed, the text volume of the context window, and overall performance in domain specialization. The utilization of PreparedLLM in developing domain-specific LLMs has significantly increased performance while reducing both time and resource investment. The case study provides valuable insights into the development of domain-specific LLMs.

Friends because of foes: synchronous movement within predator-prey domains.

For prey, movement synchrony represents a potent antipredator strategy. Prey, however, must balance the costs and benefits of using conspecifics to mediate risk. Thus, the emergent patterns of risk-driven sociality depend on variation in space and in the predators and prey themselves. We applied the concept of predator-prey habitat domain, the space in which animals acquire food resources, to test the conditions under which individuals synchronize their movements relative to predator and prey habitat domains. We tested the response of movement synchrony of prey to predator-prey domains in two populations of ungulates that vary in their gregariousness and predator community: (i) elk, which are preyed on by wolves; and (ii) caribou, which are preyed on by coyotes and black bears. Prey in both communities responded to cursorial predators by increasing synchrony during seasons of greater predation pressure. Elk moved more synchronously in the wolf habitat domain during winter and caribou moved more synchronously in the coyote habitat domains during spring. In the winter, caribou increased movement synchrony when coyote and caribou domains overlapped. By integrating habitat domains with movement ecology, we provide a compelling argument for social behaviours and collective movement as an antipredator response. This article is part of the theme issue 'The spatial-social interface: A theoretical and empirical integration'.

Time-Dependent Reachable Domain and Its Application to Impulsive Orbital Pursuit–Evasion Analysis

Orbital pursuit–evasion (OPE) has garnered significant attention due to its potential applications in space rendezvous and proximity operations. Conventional methods using differential games do not fully address the impulsive OPE problem, which involves a discontinuous differential system. This paper presents the concept of a time-dependent reachable domain (TDRD) for analyzing the impulsive OPE problem. The range and time constraints for determining the TDRD are first given. These constraints can be solved to identify two different TDRDs: the RD at a given time and the RD over a duration. The numerical results obtained from the proposed method exhibit good agreement with those from Monte Carlo simulations, validating the practicality of using TDRDs for OPE analysis. Four different qualitatively OPE outcomes are defined based on the geometrical relationship between the spacecraft’s TDRDs. A series of application cases are comprehensively examined to prove that TDRDs directly predict the sufficient conditions leading to a specific OPE outcome. These findings demonstrate that the TDRD concept is a potent and efficacious instrument for studying the impulsive OPE problem.

An exploration of live–work housing conditions of low-income older people in Bangkok, Thailand

ABSTRACT This article explores live–work housing conditions for low-income older residents in an informal settlement in Bangkok called Klong Toey (KT) via interviews with 12 participants. The aim is to understand the housing and livelihood situation of older low-income inhabitants of KT, to assess the suitability of their physical environment and areas that could be improved to enable it to serve as live–work housing and to facilitate aging in place, and to inform future work. Participants were asked about the housing conditions in KT and their impact on residents; types of housing for older people in KT; design guidelines for live–work housing; and any lessons from other low-income housing projects. The study used content analysis to examine the interview transcripts. Four organizing themes were used to analyze the responses: housing conditions and relation to live–work; situation and requirements of older people’s housing; live–work housing design guidelines; and solutions to older people’s live–work housing. Finally, four global conceptual domains of live–work housing were constructed from mapping the basic themes. The global conceptual domains include “space,” “livelihood,” “support,” and “services” that are essential to the provision of live–work housing in KT.

Viewing hospitality from an interdisciplinary lens: a systematic review of 30-year research on hospitality in health care

Purpose This study aims to examine the conceptual and empirical operations of hospitality at its intersections with health care, which includes medical and senior care. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a systematic review of literature on hospitality in health care published in hospitality, tourism and leisure journals spanning from 1990 to 2023. A total of 50 studies meeting the inclusion criteria are reviewed, providing insights into how hospitality is conceptualized, its practical implementation and the proposed outcomes in health-care settings. Findings Hospitality in health care is conceptualized by hospitality scholars in three main ways: as service functions, as a service exchange and as an organizational culture. There is a significant overlap between the notion of hospitality and the concept of person-centered care in gerontology and health-care literature. Also, hospitality contributes positively to patient/resident experiences, organizational performance and societal impacts. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by its focus solely on the theoretical and practical aspects of hospitality in health care within hospitality, tourism and leisure journals, excluding relevant literature from gerontological and health-care journals. Originality/value Interdisciplinary research requires scholars from different disciplines to develop a common language and understanding of key concepts. This study presents the conceptual and practical domains of hospitality and its relevancy to health-care research and offers future directions to strengthen the interdisciplinary research between hospitality, health care and gerontology.

The future of human and animal digital health platforms

Electronic Health (eHealth) has emerged as a pivotal driver of change in modern healthcare, reshaping the way medical information is collected, processed, and utilized. e-health includes digital solutions aimed at improving healthcare delivery, management, and accessibility. The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is specifically focused on establishing connections between medical devices and sensors to gather and transmit health-related data. Its primary objective is to enhance healthcare by facilitating real-time monitoring, employing data analytics, and integrating intelligent medical devices. The IoMT and, more broadly, eHealth are yielding positive outcomes, prompting their expanding application into the animal domain. Recent technological advancements facilitate the integration of health platforms, fostering a connection between human and animal health for improved well-being. This article introduces a conceptual framework that synthesizes the main activities in the medial data acquisition-processing pipeline. The framework has been derived from an analysis of the state of the art in the field of the IoMT in human healthcare. Furthermore, the article explores the application of eHealth concepts in the animal domain. Addressing both human and animal health, the paper summarizes the outstanding issues that need to be addressed for the full integration of these technologies into daily life.

Assessing Lean Six Sigma and quality performance improvement in Italian public healthcare organizations: a validated scale

PurposeThis study aims to fully assess the readiness for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and Quality Performance Improvement (QPI) in an Italian Public Healthcare ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from previously established survey development and adaptation protocols, a replication study was carried out; Lean, Six Sigma and QPI were extracted and validated through confirmatory factor analysis in an Italian Public Healthcare setting, with a sample of health professionals from the Campania region.FindingsThis study reports the adaptation of an existing scale for measuring LSS and QPI in an Italian public healthcare organisation. This analysis extracts six conceptual domains and constitutes an original adaptation of an existing scale to assess the readiness to adopt Lean, Six Sigma and Quality Performance in Italian Public Health Organizations. The constructs show strong levels of internal consistency, as demonstrated by each item factor loading and each subscale reliability.Practical implicationsManagers, policymakers and academics can employ the proposed tool to assess the public healthcare ecosystem’s capability to implement LSS initiatives and strategies to improve quality performance.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to assess cross-regional organisational readiness for LSS and QPI in an Italian Public Healthcare environment at this scope and level.

Variations in definitions used for describing restrictive care practices (seclusion and restraint) in adult mental health inpatient units: a systematic review and content analysis.

The main purpose of this review was to (1) identify thematic elements within definitions used by recently published literature to describe the constructs of physical/mechanical restraint, seclusion and chemical restraint in adult mental health inpatient units. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of six databases (Scopus, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL-Plus). In this review, we conducted content analysis to synthesize evidence to understand and compare the commonalities and discrepancies in conceptual elements that were incorporated within the definitions of different forms of restrictive care practices. A total of 95 studies that provided definitions for different forms of restrictive care practices [physical/mechanical restraint (n = 72), seclusion (n = 65) and chemical restraint (n = 19)] were included in this review. Significant variations existed in the conceptual domains presented within the applied definitions of physical/mechanical restraint, seclusion, and chemical restraint. Conceptual themes identified in this review were methods of restrictive care practice, reasons and desired outcomes, the extent of patient restriction during restrictive care practice episodes, timing (duration, frequency, and time of the day), the level of patient autonomy, and the personnel implementing these practices. Inconsistencies in the terminologies and conceptual boundaries used to describe the constructs of different forms of restrictive care practices underscore the need to move forward in endorsing consensus definitions that reflect the diverse perspectives, ensuring clarity and consistency in practice and research. This will assist in validly measuring and comparing the actual trends of restrictive care practice use across different healthcare institutions and jurisdictions.

Conceptualizing sustainable consumption priming: A scoping review

AbstractWhile many psychological interventions encourage sustainable consumption by altering attitudes, these modified attitudes often do not result in sustainable choices leading to the need to test alternative interventions to facilitate sustainable consumption, such as priming. Priming uses stimuli that trigger nonconscious processing that influences decisions. Despite its popularity, studies that employ priming strategies in sustainable consumption research are widely dispersed across several conceptual domains. This article unpacks and summarizes different approaches to priming sustainable behavior by delineating theoretical and methodological perspectives in various contexts across diverse consumer characteristics. The method employed is a scoping review of 74 articles published over 23 years (2000–2022). The resulting review (1) provides an overview of priming in sustainable consumption, (2) highlights knowledge gaps, (3) identifies knowledge clusters, and (4) proposes a research agenda for future investigations. Primarily, this paper provides an integrated map that deconstructs how researchers have explored priming interventions to promote sustainable consumption and to enable the best, or at least, better practice.

Critique of the standard model of moral injury

This article seeks to describe in general terms what has become the standard way of conceptualizing moral injury in the clinical psychological and psychiatric literature, which is the key source for applications of the concept in other domains. What we call “the standard model” draws on certain assumptions about beliefs, mental states, and emotions as well as an implicit theory of causation about how various forms of harm arise from certain experiences or “events” that violate persons’ moral beliefs and systems. Our analysis makes these assumptions more explicit and subjects them to critical scrutiny. In so doing, we survey the current literature and identify basic features of how moral injuries are defined, how they are thought to occur, and the forms of treatment or repair that appear to be indicated. We caution that it matters how moral experience is characterized and argue that an alternative understanding of what is the moral in moral injury is important for overcoming critical challenges to the standard model. Moreover, recently evolving approaches to moral repair could be more consistent with an alternative model. Our concluding suggestion is that a more robust account of the nature of moral experience and its relations to self-identity and social experience more generally could advance understanding of the etiology of moral injury and promote rehabilitation.

Individual-Level Experiences of Structural Inequity and Their Association with Subjective and Objective Sleep Outcomes in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

PurposeResearch has documented that adolescent sleep is impacted by various stressors, including interpersonal experiences and structural disadvantage. This study extends existing knowledge by empirically examining interconnected individual experiences of structural inequity and assessing its association with subjective and objective sleep outcomes. MethodsWe utilized data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to identify seven conceptual domains of structural inequity: perceived discrimination, low school inclusivity, neighborhood safety, unmet medical needs, legal problems, material hardship, and housing insecurity. We operationalized experiences of structural inequity as latent classes, a cumulative exposure, and each domain separately. Sleep disturbances were measured using the Sleep Disturbance Scale, and sleep duration was assessed using Fitbits. Mixed effects linear regression estimated the association between our measures of structural inequity, longitudinal sleep disturbances, and cross-sectional sleep duration. ResultsLatent class analysis revealed common exposure profiles (low risk, interpersonal, and systemic) of experiences of structural inequity across our sample. In longitudinal models, structural inequity was associated with higher Sleep Disturbance Scale scores, whether measured as latent classes, a cumulative exposure, or individual domains. Individuals with interpersonal exposures, those with at least one exposure, and those with legal problems, material hardship, and housing insecurity had lower mean sleep duration. DiscussionResults are consistent with literature that frames structural inequity as a lifelong determinant of sleep disturbance and duration. Adolescence represents a crucial time for interventions aimed at improving sleep and redressing inequities throughout the life course; our work can inform the development of policies and interventions toward this end.

Impact of evidence-based pedagogical approach on clinical reasoning among undergraduate physical therapy students

Abstract Background: Various educational methods have been used by professional physical therapy teachers for their students. Since physical therapy includes both theory and practical, students may need to critically think about each patient’s intervention based on the stage of their illness. It is necessary to teach and assess students’ clinical reasoning abilities, so as to deal with the patients. The aim of the study was to find the impact of evidence-based pedagogical approach on clinical reasoning among undergraduate physical therapy students. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in our institution and it was a pre- and post-test experimental study design. Forty students in their 3rd year of undergraduate physical therapy (BPT) degree program were randomly assigned to experimental group (evidence-based pedagogical approach, n = 20) and to control group (traditional pedagogical approach, n = 20). They were assessed with Self-Assessment of Clinical Reflection and Reasoning (SACRR), clinical reasoning assessment tool (CRAT) (3 domains), and multiple-choice test, at the baseline and after 4 weeks of training. Data were analyzed using an independent t-test. Results: Experimental group showed a significant difference in SACRR (t = 3.4446, P &lt; 0.05), CRAT (Content knowledge and Conceptual reasoning domains showed significant differences with t = 3.2110; 2.7973, P&lt;0.05, but Procedural knowledge domain was not significant with t = 0.7791, P&lt;0.05), and multiple-choice test (t = 5.8538, P &lt; 0.05) scores than the control group. Conclusions: The use of evidence-based pedagogical approach may be more effective than the traditional pedagogical approach for improving clinical reasoning among undergraduate physical therapy students.