Robust Sense Research Articles

AI-Supported Online Language Learning: Learners’ Self-Esteem, Cognitive-Emotion Regulation, Academic Enjoyment, and Language Success

The consideration of students’ emotional and psychological health is crucial to facilitate effective teaching and grading practices. This study set out to shed light on the interplay between self-esteem (S-E), cognitive-emotion regulation (CER), academic enjoyment (AE), and language success (LS) in artificial intelligence (AI)-supported online language learning. To this end, the foreign language learning self-esteem scale, the Cognitive Emotion Control Questionnaire, the foreign language enjoyment scale, and a researcher-made test were distributed to 389 English as a foreign language learners in China. Screening the data with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, the effects of S-E, CER, AE, and LS were identified and quantified. These results highlighted the important function that online courses assisted by AI perform in enhancing students’ CER and AE. This implied that students who have cultivated a robust sense of self-efficacy are adept at effectively regulating their cognitive and affective processes in AI-supported language learning. Possible improvements in language education are discussed, as are the study’s broader implications.

Does Science Erode Meaning?

Humans need to experience meaning in their lives yet often find it difficult to do so. We argue that, for nonreligious individuals in many Western cultures, the materialist and reductionist ideology that surrounds scientific practice and data may be an impediment to attaining a robust sense of meaning in life. Furthermore, scientific materialism and reductionism may be especially problematic for existential mattering—the form of meaning entailing a belief that one’s life matters in the context of the universe as a whole. We review new research supporting this account, along with implications for those immersed in the materialist worldview. We conclude by suggesting possible means of finding meaning, including a sense of existential mattering, without abandoning science, and highlight research directions to further examine these possibilities.

Easing the Difficulty of Choosing a Nursing Home: Usability and Acceptability of Immersive Virtual Reality as a Spatial Presentation Tool for Older Adults

A suitable presentation of nursing home environments can assist older adults in efficiently understanding retirement living spaces and thereby making the right nursing home choice. This study focuses on exploring the potential of immersive virtual reality (IVR) applied to the display of nursing home environments. We compare IVR with photographs and 360° panoramas to detect the differences in presence, spatial perception, and technology acceptance among older adults. Findings suggest that IVR provides a more robust sense of presence and more accurate spatial estimation and detail memorization compared to the other two formats, and that there is a positive response at the level of perceived usefulness and willingness to use. In this study, the usability and acceptability of IVR as a spatial presentation tool for nursing homes was effectively demonstrated.

Physical Activities and Psychological Needs of Physical Education Students

The study examined the levels of physical activity and psychological needs of students enrolled in physical education at Tangshan Normal University. The respondent profile indicated that the sample consisted mainly of female, first-year students aged 17-18, with the majority having a healthy BMI. In terms of physical activity, the pupils exhibited proficient fundamental movement abilities and independence in structuring their fitness regimens. Nevertheless, certain areas that may be enhanced were identified, including the decision to opt for stairs. The analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in the levels of physicalactivity among the students based on their sex, age, BMI, or year level. Regarding psychological needs, the students expressed a robust sense of autonomy, experiencing a sense of freedom to independently make important life choices. Nevertheless, their perceptions of opportunities for self-determination in daily life were somewhat diminished. Regarding competence, pupils experienced acknowledgment from others for their abilities.

Impact of Curriculum Design and Cultural Events on China Students' Cultural Competence

This study investigates the impact of curriculum design, cultural events, and student participation on the development of cultural competence among students in China, focusing on the integration of local cultural elements within educational settings. It posits that incorporating local culture into the curriculum enhances students' understanding, appreciation, and engagement with their cultural environment. The research also examines the role of cultural events and activities in fostering students' experiential learning and active involvement in culture, suggesting that these elements are crucial for cultivating a robust sense of cultural competence. The findings aim to offer insights into how educational strategies can effectively promote cultural awareness and competence, thereby supporting students' personal and professional growth in a globalized context.

Differences in Perceived Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Military Dental Postgraduate Residents.

In military training settings, stress can improve focus and motivation fostering effective learning. However, high perceived stress can be debilitating resulting in poor learning and clinical errors. Multiple studies have focused on medical residency stress; but there has been minimal focus on dental residents and even less on the impact of the unique stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of this study were to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress of residents in a military dental residency training program and explore the association among perceived stress and anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and social support. Dental residents (N = 20) at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School participated in this study. Residents were assessed via self-report measures quarterly from March 2020 through June 2021. The assessment included measures of anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), perceived stress (PSS), fatigue (FSI), and social support (DUKE-SSQ). Before the pandemic shutdown, 60% of participants reported high perceived stress. These residents reported an initial decrease in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fatigue compared to residents reporting low pre-pandemic perceived stress but returned to baseline levels post-shutdown. Additionally, the high stress participants reported lower social support. Based on pre-pandemic perceived stress, participants responded differently to the impact of the pandemic shutdown. The low baseline stress participants may have a more robust sense of grit and resilience. These findings suggest that postgraduate dental training programs should integrate coping skills training opportunities, especially for residents reporting high perceived stress before residency.

The 3-D time-dependent Navier–Stokes equations on multi-connected domains with inhomogeneous boundary conditions and spectral hyperviscosity

We consider the time-dependent 3-D Navier–Stokes equations (NSE) on a multi-connected bounded domain Ω⊂R3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Omega \\subset \\mathbb {R^{\ extrm{3}}}$$\\end{document} with inhomogeneous boundary data β∈H1/2(Γ)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\beta \\in H^{1/2}(\\Gamma )$$\\end{document} on ∂Ω=Γ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\partial \\Omega =\\Gamma $$\\end{document}, where Γ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Gamma $$\\end{document} is a union of Lipschitz continuous surfaces Γ0,Γ1,⋯,Γl\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Gamma _{0},\\Gamma _{1},\\dots ,\\Gamma _{l}$$\\end{document}. This assumption includes the particular case when the Γi\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Gamma _{i}$$\\end{document} are disjoint, the stationary version of which is classically known as Leray’s problem. Existence results for Leray’s problem have either assumed flux conditions beyond the general flux condition necessitated by compatibility constraints, or required size restrictions on the data. Here we incorporate a spectral hyperviscosity term in the time-dependent case and obtain existence and foundational results, assuming only the general flux condition and without imposing size restrictions on the boundary data β\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\beta $$\\end{document}. For any such β∈H1/2(Γ)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\beta \\in H^{1/2}(\\Gamma )$$\\end{document} we establish global existence and uniqueness of mild solutions. Then on any interval [0, T] on which these solutions and the corresponding NSE solution share a common H1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$H^{1}$$\\end{document}-bound (as is present on local intervals of existence of strong solutions, in certain special cases, or as is commonly assumed in achieving strong convergence results in numerical studies) we show for slightly more regular β\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\beta $$\\end{document} that the spectrally-hyperviscous solutions converge strongly and uniformly in H1(Ω)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$H^{1}(\\Omega )$$\\end{document} to the NSE solution as the spectral hyperviscosity term vanishes in the limit of key parameters. To achieve this robust sense of approximation of the NSE system, an involved setup and specially-adapted semigroup techniques assume essential roles, and the exposition is new for the case β=0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\beta =0$$\\end{document} as well. Our final results adapt the NSE reformulation in Liu et al. (J Comput Phys 229(9):3428–3453, 2010) to recast our approximating system in a form potentially more adaptable to computation.

Classification & Types of Brand Engagement Activities with respect to K-12 International Schools in India

Within the ever-evolving domain of education, K-12 international schools in India are progressively acknowledging the crucial significance of implementing strong brand engagement strategies to effectively navigate the competitive environment. This research study explores the changing importance of brand engagement initiatives in establishing relationships with a wide array of stakeholders, encompassing students, parents, educators, personnel, and the wider community. The research highlights the complex and diverse aspects of brand engagement, classifying various activities into several categories, both in the digital realm and in physical spaces, which collectively contribute to cultivating a robust sense of community, recruiting potential families, and demonstrating the school's dedication to achieving high standards.
 Education professionals play a crucial role as primary stakeholders in this context, equipped with the expertise to classify and customize marketing tactics according to efficient approaches for diverse target audiences. There are significant implications for a series of engagement activities, too: prospect interaction; alumni reunions; co-operative partnerships and student projects. Each activity has its own important role in building healthy connections, strengthening community solidarity and creating conditions that give schools a competitive edge in the ever-changing educational market.
 The objective here is to offer educationalists a comprehensive reference work that examines and explains successful methods of engaging with the brand in India's highly competitive K-12 international school market. The lessons learned can also help design targeted marketing plans, navigate cultural differences and refine educational opportunities. This is important information for those people responsible in the educational setting who put together brand engagement strategies.

Role of Teachers' Engagement in Student's satisfaction with Medical College: A Comparison of Private and Public Sector Colleges

Student satisfaction is a complex result influenced by the standard of instruction, available resources, the campus community, support services, and the overall atmosphere of the institution. Since teacher engagement has a significant impact on students' learning experiences, educational institutions should give priority to strategies that increase teacher engagement. Objective: This study investigates the ever-changing elements that impact student satisfaction at our higher education institution by conducting in-depth interviews with a varied range of students. Methods: The sample size kept in the study was 30 (15 from public and 15 from private sector). The researchers utilised thematic analysis to extract significant findings from the participants' replies to inquiries regarding teaching excellence, available resources, community involvement, support services, and institutional regulations. Results: The results involve the presence of a robust sense of belonging and comprehensive support services, coupled with the various problems encountered by students, offered multifaceted insights into the whole educational journey. It has been examined that teachers have an important and major role in satisfaction of students in both private and public sector. The findings provide useful insights for institutional decision-makers seeking to improve student satisfaction and the overall learning environment. Conclusions: Students’ satisfaction was affected by many complex factors. Customized feedback, a variety of teaching styles, and easier access to specialized resources were suggested, but engaging teaching methods, helpful faculty, and well-equipped resources were praised.

Care, politics, and the political: the case of the COVID-19 global pandemic

ABSTRACT Mobilizing a distinction between “politics,” understood as the socio-symbolic reality as it is already acknowledged, and “the political,” which instead has to do with the establishment of a particular social order that delineates what counts as politics in the first place, this article considers the COVID-19 global pandemic to assert that care is not only about politics or doing politics differently. Rather, following the work of Estelle Ferrarese, Tiina Vaittinen, Hanna-Kaisa Hoppania, and Kristin Cloyes, the article highlights three aspects of care that are political in the most robust sense: (1) the ways in which care is always implicated in a social order, (2) the ongoing challenge posed to any order by the vulnerability of our material being, and (3) the agonizing and iterative process of disagreeing over different versions of care. This article then considers these three points in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic to argue that this global health crisis has clearly revealed these aspects of care and to conclude that care is, therefore, undeniably political.

My supervisor distresses me! Examining three-way interaction in the hospitality setting

PurposeThis paper examines the moderated-moderation model of reciprocity belief and fear of negative evaluation between supervisors' abusive reactions and subordinates' distress.Design/methodology/approachThe authors obtained 412 valid responses from Egyptian hotel employees and analyzed them using PROCESS model 3.FindingsThe three-way interaction findings proved that when employees have high reciprocity beliefs and low fear of negative evaluations, the abusive supervision-psychological distress relationship is dampened.Practical implicationsOrganizations have the opportunity to implement human resource development (HRD) strategies focused on cultivating reduced apprehension toward negative evaluation and fostering a robust sense of positive reciprocity. To achieve this, HRD and HRM initiatives can encompass elements such as bolstering organizational and coworker support, promoting cultural assimilation and redefining work practices.Originality/valueThis paper adopts a comprehensive approach that recognizes the intricate interrelationships within the workplace by identifying subtle dynamics of abusive supervision and its impacts. It also explores the complex nature of such relationships rather than taking a purely causal perspective.

The Necessity of Empirical Laws of Nature through the Lens of Kant’s Dialectic

AbstractThis article analyses a sceptical challenge resulting from metaphysical approaches to the problem of the necessity of empirical laws of nature in Kant’s critical philosophy (what I shall call ‘essentialist’ readings). I argue that this challenge may jeopardize the purpose of empirical enquiry (and therefore the plausibility of essentialist readings), but that Kant has internal resources to address it in the Dialectic of the Critique of Pure Reason. I show that reading this problem through the lens of the Dialectic allows us to reconcile the metaphysical question of necessitation of laws with a robust sense of empirical cognition.

Ontological indistinguishability as a central tenet of quantum theory.

Quantum indistinguishability directly relates to the philosophical debate on the notions of identity and individuality. They are crucial for our understanding of multipartite quantum systems. Furthermore, the correct interpretation of this feature of quantum theory has implications that transcend fundamental science and philosophy, given that quantum indistinguishability is a resource in quantum information theory. Most of the conceptual analysis of quantum indistinguishability is restricted to studying the permutational invariance of quantum states, the concomitant quantum statistics and their entanglement. Here, we analyse the role of indistinguishability and non-individuality in other areas of quantum theory. We start by analysing how a very peculiar use of indistinguishability underlies Feynman's rules for summing amplitudes in interference phenomena. Next, we study how quantum indistinguishability is underestimated in several topics of debate in the quantum physics literature, such as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument, Bell's inequalities and the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem. Finally, we argue that an ontology of truly indistinguishable entities can serve as a basis for a quantum ontology that can give interesting answers to the interpretational problems of quantum mechanics. We claim that, in addition to superposition, contextuality and entanglement, indistinguishability (understood in a robust ontological sense) is one of the central features of quantum physics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Identity, individuality and indistinguishability in physics and mathematics'.

Employee performance as mediated by organisational commitment between transactional leadership and role ambiguity

This study examines and analyzes the effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance as mediated by organizational commitment. This study uses a quantitative approach. The population in this study was full employs at the Pabrik gula Ngadirejo factory. Technique sampling using proportionate random sampling. Questionnaires were distributed to Ngadiredjo Sugar Factory Kediri employees, with 125 respondents. The data analysis technique uses SEM analysis and analysis tools with the help of Partial Least Square (PLS). This study showed that transactional leadership and role ambiguity do not significantly affect employee performance. However, transactional leadership and role ambiguity significantly affect organizational commitment. Organizational commitment also has a significant effect on employee performance. Organizational commitment can mediate the effect of transactional leadership and role ambiguity on employee performance. The results of this study suggest that the sugar factory company continues to increase organizational commitment and make employees feel comfortable because the more robust sense of commitment to the organization will improve employee performance.

The Model of Employee Work Productivity

The objective of this research is to examine the impact of organizational culture, employee compensation, and work competence on the commitment of employees at the managerial level in various manufacturing companies within the production division in the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. This analysis encompasses both partial and simultaneous effects on employee work productivity. In this study, descriptive and verification methods were employed to examine the managerial level employees in the production division of manufacturing companies located in Jakarta Province. The population consisted of 1,183 employees, while a sample size of 300 respondents was selected. To assess the validity and reliability of the data, a subset of 30 respondents was used. The data collected was qualitative in nature but measured quantitatively through the use of analytical techniques with SPSS and SEM. The findings of this study suggest that in order to cultivate a robust sense of organizational commitment among top management, it is crucial to prioritize the development of work competence. Specifically, focusing on enhancing behavior competence is essential. Additionally, to enhance work productivity, it is imperative to acknowledge the significance of organizational culture. Specifically, placing emphasis on the dimension of outcome orientation is vital.

The Fact of the Matter About the Post-Truth Condition: Response to Sassower

This article responds to Raphael Sassower’s critique of my recent A Player’s Guide to the Post-Truth Condition. It addresses his concerns that I do not align myself sufficiently with Foucault and Critical Theory more generally. The article points out that notwithstanding my indebtedness to these sources, one cannot properly understand the post-truth condition without taking seriously the robust sense of freedom that today’s two dominant ideologies—Neoliberalism and Neo-Populism—presuppose in their various political-economic-social struggles. The article relates this point to several of the key concepts underwriting my conception of post-truth, including Modal Power and the Symmetry Principle. The article ends with an account of the current “reparationist” discourse (i.e., repairing the intergenerational damage of transatlantic slavery) that makes it exemplary of the post-truth condition.

Voltage and active power local PI control of distributed energy resources based on the effective transfer function method

This paper presents the design of local PI regulators to control voltage and active power of the Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in grid-connected Active Distribution Networks (ADNs). The design is developed based on the proposed Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) model of ADN. Firstly, the Relative Gain Array (RGA) matrix is used to address the problem of input–output pairing and to show that the voltage control loops are coupled whereas the active power control loops are decoupled. Subsequently the method of the Effective Open-Loop Transfer Function (EOTF) is used to decompose the multi-loop voltage control system into a set of equivalent Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) loops. Then, each PI regulator is independently designed to fulfill some control objectives dictated by the designer. The proposed design procedure is simple and straightforward. The fixed-parameters PI regulators facilitate the integration of DERs into traditional distribution networks which are usually operated without or with limited communication infrastructure. The simulation results presented for various scenarios of two different ADN confirm that performance objectives and regulation at the desired set-points are achieved in a robust sense.

The Free Will Defense and the Problem of Heavenly Freedom

According to the logical problem of evil, the co-existence of evil and the theistic God who is considered to be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent is impossible. The fact that our world contains evils invalidates the existence of the theistic God. A libertarian theistic response to this problem, the free will defense, holds that if God actually has or could have a sufficient reason to actualize a world containing evils, the problem fails. This good reason, according to the defense, might be significant freedom, the freedom to choose between moral good and evil. Yujin Nagasawa, Graham Oppy, and Nick Trakakis, however, approach this debate from a different angle and argue that the traditional theistic view of heaven is a problem for this theistic response when we ask whether there is freedom in heaven. They contend that if the inhabitants of heaven do not have significant freedom, free will cannot be a great good that gives God a good reason to create a world containing evils. Thus, the free will defense fails. In this paper, I claim that this is mistaken. I argue that even though the inhabitants of heaven are not free in the most robust sense (i.e. they are no longer capable of sinning), this does not show that significant freedom is not a great good that justifies God’s creating a world containing evils.

Theological Genealogies of Modernity: An Introduction

Theological Genealogies of Modernity: An Introduction

Autostereoscopic 3D Augmented Reality Navigation for Laparoscopic Surgery: A Preliminary Assessment.

Since Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D visualization have proven to be of great significance to the safety and effectiveness of surgical outcomes, will autostereoscopic 3D AR without glasses bring new opportunities for surgical navigation of laparoscopic surgery? We used the CPD-based deformation registration algorithm and the proposed virtual view generation algorithm, realizing a deformable autostereoscopic 3D AR navigation framework for laparoscopic surgery. The depth perception and user experience of the 3D AR navigation were evaluated compared with the 2D AR display using an in-vitro porcine heart and offline clinical partial nephrectomy laparoscopic images. The autostereoscopic 3D AR allowed participants to have a more consistent spatial perception as well as a shorter measuring time than 2D AR with significant difference of p < 0.05. It can also improve relative depth perception for smaller distance separation of objects < = 3.28 mm. However, the autostereoscopic 3D AR perceived a worse experience compared to 2D AR in the user experience. Autostereoscopic 3D AR shows a more efficient and robust sense of spatial scale than 2D AR with better potential to shorten the operating time and improve surgical outcomes than 2D AR, but image blur and distortion are issues that must be solved to improve the perception effect. High precise registration and high fluency visualization requirements could make autostereoscopic 3D AR navigation for soft tissue more challenging. Our work lays a theoretical foundation for the further development of laparoscopic surgical navigation.