Difficulties In People Research Articles

A method for conversational signal-to-noise ratio estimation in real-world sound scenarios

The analysis of conversational signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) measured in real-world scenarios can provide vital insight into people's communicative strategies and difficulties and guide development of hearing devices. However, measuring SNRs accurately and realistically is challenging in typical recording conditions, where only a mixture of sound sources is captured. This study introduces a novel method for realistic in situ SNR estimation, where the speech signal of a person in natural conversation is captured by a cheek-mounted microphone, adjusted for free-field conditions, and convolved with a measured impulse response to estimate the clean speech component at the receiver. A microphone near the receiver computes the noise-only component by applying a voice activity detector. Obtained SNR values are analyzed using in situ recordings of a real-world workspace meeting. It is shown that the temporal resolution is increased, and fluctuations in the speech level are more accurately tracked compared to a typical spectral-subtraction-derived method. The application of the proposed SNR estimation method may be valuable for compensation procedures in hearing instruments that take conversational dynamics into account.

Intimate Relationships of People With Disabilities

Abstract Despite the difficulties people with disabilities may have garnering intimate relationships, intimate relationships may be particularly beneficial for people with disabilities as they result in greater self-acceptance, less internalized stigma, and more camaraderie. The aim of this study was to explore the intimate relationships of adults with disabilities (n = 1,443) in its many forms (from intimate friendships to romantic relationships). We particularly explored what factors increased the odds of adults with disabilities having intimate relationships, what supports resulted in increased likeliness to have intimate relationships, and what factors resulted in the presence of favorable intimate relationship outcomes. Our analysis revealed service organizations are key to enhancing the social and intimate relationships of adults with disabilities.

Políticas educacionais antirracistas na América Latina: estudos comparados

Resumo Neste texto, tem-se por objetivo apresentar um quadro dos estudos comparados existentes sobre políticas educacionais antirracistas na América Latina, com foco na população negra. Realizou-se a pesquisa em bases de dados online, encontrando seis trabalhos sobre o tema, tendo como foco principalmente Brasil e Colômbia. Ainda que os estudos destaquem que os negros na América Latina enfrentam dificuldades semelhantes no campo educacional, é alarmante a falta de estudos comparados sobre essa população na região, o que pode estar relacionado à falta de dados estatísticos baseados em critérios raciais.

A Study of Friend Recommendations for Gaming Communities

Players of online gaming communities such as Steam, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network may have trouble finding people to play with as evidenced by the popularity of looking for group (LFG) services. This paper studies friend recommendation systems as a possible solution to alleviate this problem because a high quality friend list can provide a higher chance for the player to find people to play with. An online survey of video game players was conducted to study the need for friend recommendations in gaming communities and how players build their friend lists. The results showed that a sizable portion of players experienced some sort of difficulty finding people to play with and players add friends through a diverse set of possible sources. As the first step to build a friend recommendation system for gaming communities, we tested ten common link prediction similarity indices on a dataset collected from the Xbox Live network containing over 42 million unique users. The results showed that a friend recommendation system-based solely on network topology features did not perform well. Future research should incorporate other information such as player profiles to improve the friend recommendation performance.

Finding Your A-Team

I remember when I was roughly five years old-every Saturday, my father and I watched a television show about a cool group of four soldiers who helped people in trouble, building guns and armament by recycling what they had around. John "Hannibal" Smith, the leader of the group, was a very intelligent guy who always designed the strategic plan to attack the bad guys. Templeton Peck (aka "Face") was a very skillful man who was always ready to infiltrate in the enemy's field to get useful information the team could use for an attack. B.A. ("Bad Attitude") Baracus was played by Mr. T as a very strong and scary man, the one in charge of using the most powerful guns, capturing the bad guys, and fighting, if necessary. "Howling Mad" Murdock was the only one who knew how to fly a plane or helicopter, so he was a very essential part of the team when flying was the only way to get out of the fight zone.

Valence-related impairments in the retrieval of specific autobiographical memories amongst patients with schizophrenia.

People with schizophrenia have difficulty recalling specific autobiographical events from their past. However, the nature of this difficulty (e.g., whether these problems are only for memories that are negative or positive) and the mechanisms associated with it remain poorly understood. The present investigation asked patients with schizophrenia (n=91) and healthy controls (n=109) to recall memories related to several positive and negative cue words. Participants also completed self-report measures of rumination and depressive symptoms and a measure of verbal fluency to assess executive functioning. Participants' memories were coded for specificity (whether or not they referred to a specific event lasting <24hr) and valence (positive vs. negative). Patients recalled fewer specific memories than controls and they showed particular difficulty recalling specific negative memories cued by negative words. For healthy controls, impoverished verbal fluency was associated with recall of fewer specific memories and particularly recall of fewer positive specific memories. These variables were unrelated to specificity amongst patients. Rumination was not associated with specificity in either group. These findings are discussed with reference to other mechanisms that might contribute towards reduced specificity in schizophrenia, such as the tendency to avoid negative affect, and the implications of this for interventions for schizophrenia and memory specificity problems. The experience of schizophrenia is associated with problems recalling specific events from one's past. In particular, patients have difficulty recalling specific negative memories from their past. These memory problems are independent of executive functioning difficulties, ruminative tendencies, and also depression symptoms. Interventions for memory problems in schizophrenia must target the difficulty people have in recalling specific negative events.

Socio-economic disparity in the occurrence of disability among older adults in six low and middle income countries

PurposeNearly 200m people in the world experience considerable functioning difficulties. Also, more than three-fourth of the population aged 50 years and over is suffering from some kind of disability in India, China, Ghana, Russia, Mexico and South Africa. Despite the compelling nature of this issue, evidence on socioeconomic disparity in the occurrence of disability is lacking throughout the world and particularly in the aforementioned countries. The purpose of this paper is twofold – first, to examine the socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of disability in the selected countries; and second, to investigate the cross-country differentials in the prevalence of disability by socioeconomic characteristics.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa during 2007–2010. Disability scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model based on eight health and functioning domains. Bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices and multivariate regressions have been used in the analysis presented in this paper.FindingsThe authors find that the prevalence of disability varied considerably across sociodemographic groups. Moreover, this variation is not uniform across all countries. Also, age, Sex, work status, years of schooling and economic status emerged out as significant predictors of disability among the studied countries.Originality/valueThis is perhaps the first study which examines the socioeconomic inequality in disability conceptualized in a comprehensive manner among older adults spread across low to upper middle income countries. The alarming level of prevalence of disability among sociodemographic disadvantage groups calls for immediate attention in terms of detailed study of risk factors, effective policy and timely intervention.

In-equalities, Regulation, Ethics &amp; Records - reflections from a case in Online Trade

In an ethnographic study in online trade at the financial market, different forms of inequalities in client-broker/business relations have been found. It takes expression in for example design of technology, control of and access to information, competence and misuse of trust. Trust is at the center of concern, since that is crucial both to success and a risk for being taken advantage of. This relates to power between actors, responsibilities and accountability. This is where records role as evidence of human acts and conducts have a central role, both in relation to regulation and business ethics. As established structures for ensuring rights and obligations throughout societies are challenged by digitalization and globalization, this has to be recreated in the online context. The article conclude that both regulation and ethics are crucial in forming common values, behaviours and understanding of trust. If not, trust is easily violated which set people in trouble. In order to ensure trust, accountability is an important factor to consider, as well as informal means for ensuring fair behaviours that promotes the building and maintenance of trust among actors. As the technological development challenge processes and means for trust and accountability, new tools ought to be developed. As well as people-related aspects at both personal, business and societal level have to be considered.

Sexual Expression and It's Determinants, in People Diagnosed with Psychotic Disorders.

This qualitative study aims to explore the difficulties people with a psychotic disorder have in sexual expression, and associated determinants. Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using the Grounded Theory method. Almost all participants experienced unfulfilled needs in sexual expression. These unfulfilled needs were associated with a range of factors, including antipsychotic medication, psychotic symptoms, sexual abuse, social skills and stigma, all of which may converge on a pathway involving (sexual) self-esteem. Further research is required to better understand the role of self-esteem in relation to sexual needs and expression in people with psychotic disorders.

Putting old heads on young shoulders: helping social work students uncover the neoliberal hegemony

This paper explores the suggestion that younger students and social workers are more accepting of neoliberal social work practices than their older counterparts, understanding social problems more readily as failings of individual behaviour rather than as produced by societal forces such as inequality, poverty, and punitive social policy. The suggestion is made that the acceptance of a hegemonic view of people in poverty and other difficulties, which is simple and reductionist, and therefore, easy to grasp, can only be challenged by sophisticated critical thinking. Assignment results from two modules within one social work programme which significantly correlate marks attained and student age are considered in the light of the suggestion that younger students are struggling with critical thinking, and therefore, with deconstructing the neoliberal hegemony.

Prevalensi Dengue Pada Mahasiswa Universitas Surabaya

In Indonesia, dengue fever is still common. This has caused many troubled people in Indonesia including Surabaya, East Java. Clinical signs of dengue start from mild illness to life-threatening shock syndrome. So it takes a development of a treatment to combat dengue fever. The purpose of this study is to see the prevalence of dengue fever in students. The prevalence of dengue fever at the University of Surabaya accounted for 17%, as we approached 81 people among them 14 were infected with dengue hemorrhagic fever. There were 42 (65%) people suffering from headaches, 19 (29%) joints, 26 (40%) muscle pain and 16 (25%) had abdominal pain, and from 64 among the 18-23 age group. The data obtained is helpful in determining the therapeutic approach to infections that appear. Furthermore, demographic factors such as age, gender, socioeconomic status with dengue virus transmission are also being considered.

Financial Exclusion and the Role of Islamic Finance in Australia: A Case Study in Queensland

This paper explores the nature and extent of financial exclusion of Muslim community in Australia. Adopting a survey questionnaire method primary data has been used, and Queensland is the selected state for this exploratory case study. While nearly 3 billion people in the world face difficulties in accessing formal financial services and products, in Australian alone, approximately 3.1 million of the adult population are identified as being financially excluded. There is still a lack of information about financial exclusion according to ethnicity or religious group in Australia. The Muslims communities are financial excluded mainly due to their faith and religious beliefs, because Islam prohibits Riba (interest) which is widely practiced in conventional banking and finance operations. The level of awareness about the Islamic finance products and services in Australia is still limited. Also the lack of Islamic financial products and services is a contributory factor of financial exclusion. The introduction and wide spread offer of Shariah-compliant financial products and services by Islamic and conventional financial institutions can increase nationwide financial inclusion.

Procesos comunitarios y redes colaborativas para la inserción social: la experiencia del Polígono del Valle en Jaén (España)

El objeto de este artículo es reflexionar sobre uno de los ejes fundamentales que deben desarrollar las estrategias de inclusión: la mejora de la participación e integración comunitaria de las personas en desventaja. Para ello, en un primer apartado revisamos aspectos generales sobre la participación social en los proyectos de inclusión, aportando algunos datos reveladores de la endeble dedicación efectiva de los distintos actores sociales a este eje. En la segunda parte del trabajo presentamos una experiencia de inserción mediante un proyecto de garantía alimentaria impulsada por un grupo informal que se auto-constituye como “Comunidad de Barrio”, integrando en una red a ONGs locales, administraciones públicas, movimientos ciudadanos, tejido social formal e informal, y a personas con problemas derivados de la crisis económica. La trayectoria de implicación ciudadana y de politización del barrio donde se lleva a cabo, junto con la intervención profesional en el trabajo de acompañamiento, ha hecho que un proyecto que podría haber sido un simple comedor social, sea una estrategia eficaz de inclusión que se aleja sustantivamente de muchas de las prácticas neo-asistencialistas o mercantilizadoras que vienen desarrollándose en los últimos años.

Place and the spatial politics of intergenerational remembrance of the Iron Gates displacements in Romania, 1966–1972

Post‐socialist memories recalling the communist past in Central and Eastern Europe have risen to importance in recent decades, but there is still a scarcity of literature dealing with the post‐socialist “post‐memory.” By adapting a social‐spatial narrative methodology to memory studies and by promoting the current theories on the spatial politics of (intergenerational) memory in general and more specifically on the post‐socialist memory formation, this paper aims to highlight the nature of memory, how intergenerational shaping of memory happens and the implications of these memories for understanding post‐socialist memory creation through an understanding of how people's personal connections (attachment) to place serve as the basis of intergenerational memory transmission. To set the scene, between 1966 and 1972, in alignment with the Stalinist principles of Soviet electrification, Romania and Yugoslavia completed the construction of one of the largest hydroelectric plants in Europe – the Iron Gates – on the Danube. Although the flooding of the settlements that were in the way of this project involved the destruction of property representing local cultural heritage, the dominant place‐based memories are those related to trauma and personal attachment to (materially gone) places. The shaping of memories for the post‐socialist generation is the foundation of people's difficulty in adapting to a market economy and the capitalist state. However, while the home becomes a locus for memory transmission between generations, post‐memories are “summarised” through certain key traumatic events. The implications of the creation of these memories are significant for understanding post‐socialist memory formation because post‐socialist remembrance of communism is bottom‐up, rooted in local events and grounded in place. Finally, in the context of claiming retroactive justice in contemporary Romanian politics, tensions between those manifesting counter‐memories (i.e., memories that challenge state‐led actions) and those with memories that reveal people's pride for the engineering achievements bring out the complex nature of these memories.

Care beyond the hospital ward: understanding the socio-medical trajectory of herpes simplex virus encephalitis

BackgroundHerpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis is a life-threatening infection of the brain, which has significant physical, cognitive and social consequences for survivors. Despite increasing recognition of the long-term effects of encephalitis, research and policy remains largely focused on its acute management, meaning there is little understanding of the difficulties people face after discharge from acute care. This paper aims to chart the problems and challenges which people encounter when they return home after treatment for HSV encephalitis.MethodsThe paper reports on data from 30 narrative interviews with 45 people affected by HSV encephalitis and their significant others. The study was conducted as part of the ENCEPH-UK programme grant on Understanding and Improving the Outcome of Encephalitis.ResultsThe findings show the diverse challenges which are experienced by people after treatment for HSV encephalitis. We first chart how peoples’ everyday lives are fragmented following their discharge from hospital. Second, we document the social consequences which result from the longer-term effects of encephalitis. Finally, we show how the above struggles are exacerbated by the lack of support systems for the post-acute effects of encephalitis, and describe how people are consequently forced to devise their own care routines and strategies for managing their problems.ConclusionThe paper argues that in order to improve long-term outcomes in encephalitis, it is vital that we develop pathways of support for the condition beyond the acute hospital setting. We conclude by making recommendations to enhance communication and care for the post-acute consequences of encephalitis, to ensure those affected are fully supported through the chronic effects of this devastating disease.

Some Parents Are More Equal than Others: Discrimination against People with Disabilities under Adoption Law

Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) explicitly includes ‘the adoption of children’ as a right to which people with disabilities are equally entitled. Despite the CRPD having been in force for over nine years, research is yet to consider whether CRPD signatory states have brought their respective adoption regimes in line with their obligations under art 23 of the CRPD. Using the laws of the Australian state of Victoria by way of case study, this article aims to shed light on the difficulties people with disabilities still face when attempting to adopt children. In terms of methodology, this article conducts an interpretive critique of Victoria’s adoption law against art 23 of the CRPD, which it interprets mainly through the lens of the social model of disability. Ultimately, this article finds that Victoria’s adoption framework closely resembles the adoption regimes of many other CRPD signatories, yet it clearly fails to uphold Australia’s obligations under the CRPD. This is both as a result of the words of the legislation as well as their implementation in practice. This article proposes a suite of changes, both legislative and cultural, to bring Victoria’s adoption framework in line with art 23, which it hopes will serve as a catalyst for change in other CRPD signatory states.

Allocentric and contra-aligned spatial representations of a town environment in blind people

Evidence concerning the representation of space by blind individuals is still unclear, as sometimes blind people behave like sighted people do, while other times they present difficulties. A better understanding of blind people's difficulties, especially with reference to the strategies used to form the representation of the environment, may help to enhance knowledge of the consequences of the absence of vision. The present study examined the representation of the locations of landmarks of a real town by using pointing tasks that entailed either allocentric points of reference with mental rotations of different degrees, or contra-aligned representations.Results showed that, in general, people met difficulties when they had to point from a different perspective to aligned landmarks or from the original perspective to contra-aligned landmarks, but this difficulty was particularly evident for the blind. The examination of the strategies adopted to perform the tasks showed that only a small group of blind participants used a survey strategy and that this group had a better performance with respect to people who adopted route or verbal strategies. Implications for the comprehension of the consequences on spatial cognition of the absence of visual experience are discussed, focusing in particular on conceivable interventions.

The transition to adulthood from care as a struggle for recognition

AbstractThis article explores young people's experiences in the transition to adulthood from child welfare services and how Honneth's theory of recognition can be useful as an analytical tool to help us understand these experiences. The underpinning empirical research consisted of interviews and focus groups with 43 adolescents who had been in contact with Norwegian child welfare services. Three themes emerged as particularly important: having good relationships to caring adults, being listened to and able to influence their own lives, and receiving support and encouragement. The research shows how young people's difficulties in leaving care can be understood as experiences of misrecognition and points to some ways in which these can be overcome.

ربا القرض في المعاملات المعاصرة في ميزان الإقتصاد الإسلامي

Borrowing is a transaction that has been taking place from the earliest human civilisation. Islam encourages its followers to lend others who need it and promises big reward. Islam prohibits any exploitation of people in difficulty by asking for more than what has been borrowed, in any form, either in the form of additional money or in services. In current modern era, someone cannot escape from Bank as an institution that provides a product of lending money to their customers. However, the compensation of the loan is the Bank requires additional payment in some percentage on top of the capital that being borrowed as per defined in the loan agreement when customer pay off the loan, either paying with cash or instalment. The Bank will apply a charge to the borrower when the repayment of the instalments or the pay off is overdue. There are also additional charges such as administration fee that is charged to the customers. DOI: 10.15408/ajis.v17i2.6235

¿Dios castigador, Dios juez o Dios amado? Imágenes de Dios en medios católicos y pentecostales peruanos

Este articulo se propone analizar algunas aristas de la concepcion de Dios de la piedad popular peruana. Tomando en cuenta las encuestas nacionales e internacionales, hemos organizado focus group principalmente con jovenes formandose para los sacramentos o involucrados en grupos de oracion. Intentamos mostrar como concepciones de Dios aparentemente contradictorias se articulan para conformar un Ser coherente que acompana al fiel en su cotidiano. No se trata de una fe racional y razonada sino de una fe existencial del hic et nunc (Marzal, Romero, Ameigeras, Martin, Parker, de la Torre). En el imaginario culturalmente enraizado en las tradiciones, dominan percepciones divinas como de un juez temible, todo poderoso, ordenador del cosmos y eventualmente castigador del malvado; por otro lado, se expresa el carino a un Dios protector y proveedor. Ambas perspectivas se armonizan y se complementan en un Dios garante del orden justo del mundo. En contexto evangelico, la concepcion de Dios no varia mucho, se exacerba la importancia del poder divino. Esta estudio ayuda a entender la dificultad en la comprension y aceptacion del Dios de Misericordia: ?como este Dios que no guarda cuentas puede garantizar el orden y la justicia?