Similar Topics Research Articles

Социальная адаптация иностранных студентов, обучающихся в региональных вузах (на примере Пензенской области)

Internationalization is a key aspect of education export and one of the most promising lines of higher education development. For successfully becoming a member of the host community, a foreign student as an object of research is forced to assimilate and accept new cultural patterns. However, even when entering a new socio-cultural environment under the most favorable conditions, adaptation difficulties and problems usually arise. The purpose of the article is to identify the factors and conditions for the successful adaptation of foreign students in regional universities using the example of the Penza Region’s universities. The research is based on scientific concepts of students’ social adaptation in a university, as well as concepts of an educational environment creation and functioning. The study considers the reasons for choosing Russia as a country of study based on the author’s questionnaire of Penza universities’ foreign students, secondary analysis of sociological research data on similar topics, and analysis of statistical data. The authors discover that foreign students in Russia face difficulties at various levels: linguistic, conceptual, moral, informational, climatic, communicative, pertaining to everyday life, etc. Favorable conditions contribute to increasing the university’s prestige and the education internationalization levels, become an important factor for choosing an educational institution and quickly including foreign students in the educational process.

Navigating the Marketing Landscape: Strategies for Promoting Private Higher Education Institutions in South Africa

Private institutions in South Africa's higher education sector need effective marketing strategies to attract and retain students amidst competition. This article provides marketing strategies for Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in South Africa to navigate a competitive landscape. The objective of the research is to determine the effective media and marketing activities for PHEIs to target a larger market share. The study involved 23 semi-structured interviews with students enrolled at three PHEIs in South Africa. The researcher conducted a thematic analysis to identify patterns from transcribed interviews. Codes were created for each theme, and similar topics were clustered. Microsoft Word and Excel were used for data interpretation and visualisation. ATLAS.ti 22, a CAQDAS software, was employed for further analysis and interpretation. The study suggests that PHEIs in South Africa should prioritise their online presence, websites, and participation in high schools and career fairs to target a larger market share. Marketers should create and adapt their marketing strategies to include various communication channels and methods. Positive word-of-mouth interactions also play a significant role in the marketing efforts of PHEIs, so marketers should focus on developing strategies that generate such interactions.

Teacher Strategies In Handling Children With Disorders Communication (Case Study at SLB Pulau Punjung Dharmasraya)

There aren't many studies that address ABK's speech delay, but research reports on similar topics can be found easily. Therefore, the author concentrates on explaining the teacher's way of dealing with children's speech delays. This study aims to find out how teachers and parents deal with children with speech delay disorders. This research was conducted using qualitative case study method. The results showed that some of the children's characteristics were unable to understand and respond to peers, parents, or adults around them; they were less likely to talk (quiet), unable to form simple sentences when asked something; they often used vague, rigid, or stammered language because they lacked vocabulary; and they usually used confused language when speaking. To encourage delays in children's speech, strategy treatment is carried out: 1) training children to speak correctly, slowly, and repeatedly; and 2) always pay attention to grammar when speaking.

Leveraging Semantic Information for Enhanced Community Search in Heterogeneous Graphs

Community search (CS) is a vital research area in network science that focuses on discovering personalized communities for query vertices from graphs. However, existing CS methods mainly concentrate on homogeneous or simple attributed graphs, often disregarding complex semantic information and rich contents carried by entities in heterogeneous graphs (HGs). In this paper, we propose a novel problem, namely the “Semantic Network Oriented Community Search with Meta-Structures in Heterogeneous Graphs (SNCS),” which aims to find dense communities that contain the query vertex, with vertices of the same type sharing similar topics. In response to this new problem, we present a novel approach, also named SNCS, representing the first solution employing meta-structures and topic constraints to tackle community search, leveraging both topological and latent features. To overcome the high-time complexity challenge posed by searching through meta-structures, we introduce a unique graph reconstruction technique. Our proposed method’s superiority is validated through extensive evaluations on real-world datasets. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in the quality of the obtained communities, with increases of 3.5–4.4% in clustering coefficient and 5–11% in density while requiring only 4–46% of the running time when compared with the state-of-the-art methods.

Topic modeling for conversations for mental health helplines with utterance embedding

Conversations with topics that are locally contextual often produces incoherent topic modeling results using standard methods. Splitting a conversation into its individual utterances makes it possible to avoid this problem. However, with increased data sparsity, different methods need to be considered. Baseline bag-of-word topic modeling methods for regular and short-text, as well as topic modeling methods using transformer-based sentence embeddings were implemented. These models were evaluated on topic coherence and word embedding similarity. Each method was trained using single utterances, segments of the conversation, and on the full conversation. The results showed that utterance-level and segment-level data combined with sentence embedding methods performs better compared to other non-sentence embedding methods or conversation-level data. Among the sentence embedding methods, clustering using HDBScan showed the best performance. We suspect that ignoring noisy utterances is the reason for better topic coherence and a relatively large improvement in topic word similarity.

Adaptation of a standardized lifestyle intervention to maximize health outcomes in adolescent metabolic and bariatric surgery patients.

Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is safe and efficacious in treating adolescents with severe obesity. Behavioral/lifestyle programs can support successful preparation for surgery and post-MBS weight loss, but no standardized lifestyle intervention exists for adolescents. Here we describe the process of developing and adapting the Diabetes Prevention Program Group Lifestyle Balance (DPP/GLB) curriculum to support adolescents pre- and post-MBS. We collected both qualitative and quantitative data from a diverse group of adolescents (N = 19, mean age 15.2years, range 13-17, 76% female, 42% non-Hispanic Black, 41% Hispanic, 17% other). Additionally, we included data from 13 parents, all of whom were mothers. These participants were recruited from an adolescent MBS program at Children's Health System of Texas. In an online survey, we asked participants to rank their preferences and interests in DPP/GLB content topics. We complemented these results with in-depth interviews from a subset of 10 participants. This qualitative data triangulation informed the development of the TeenLYFT lifestyle intervention program, designed to support adolescents who were completing MBS and described here. This program was adapted from adolescent and parent DPP/GLB content preferences, incorporating the social cognitive model (SCM) and the socioecological model (SEM) constructs to better cater to the needs of adolescent MBS patients. Adolescents' top 3 ranked areas of content were: (1) steps to adopt better eating habits and healthier foods; (2) healthy ways to cope with stress; and (3) steps to stay motivated and manage self-defeating thoughts. Nearly all adolescent participants preferred online delivery of content (versus in-person). Mothers chose similar topics with the addition of information on eating healthy outside the home. Key themes from the adolescent qualitative interviews included familial support, body image and self-confidence, and comorbidities as key motivating factors in moving forward with MBS. The feedback provided by both adolescents and parents informed the development of TeenLYFT, an online support intervention for adolescent MBS candidates. The adapted program may reinforce healthy behaviors and by involving parents, help create a supportive environment, increasing the likelihood of sustained behavior change. Understanding adolescent/parent needs to support weight management may also help healthcare providers improve long-term health outcomes for this patient population.

Сегментация перекрывающихся изображений деревьев на цифровых снимках лесных массивов

The use of decision support systems based on computer vision and artificial intelligence significantly improves the working conditions for the operators of technological machines in the timber sector, whose work implies high intensity and psycho-emotional overload. By means of computer vision and artificial intelligence the operator can quickly and easily obtain the data on the state of the cutting area and adopt the optimal solution for holding the working operation. This facilitates his work and reduces the time spent searching and analyzing the data on the cutting area. Meanwhile, one of the key elements of such a system is a subsystem for automatic segmentation of objects in the photograph. We have explored the possibility of segmenting overlapping objects in the photographs of forest areas using a convolutional neural network based on the Mask R-CNN architecture. Unlike in most works on similar topics, the objects of this study are color photographs taken by an RGB camera rather than a lidar. This creates the prospect for reducing the cost of hardware and software systems used to support decision-making by the operators of logging machines. The images of the stems and crowns of coniferous and deciduous trees overlapping each other are the segmented objects under consideration. Using the GIMP graphic editor, we have manually marked the color photographs depicting a total of 134 trees of 4 different species: spruce, aspen, birch and pine. Utilizing the developed database, we have carried out an experiment to further train the Mask R-CNN convolutional neural network for segmentation of overlapping parts of the trees in the digital photographs of forest areas. The neural network has been pre-trained using the Microsoft COCO dataset containing more than 200,000 images of 80 different classes of objects such as people, cars, animals and various items. While training the neural network, the images supplied to its input were subjected to a series of various linear and nonlinear geometric transformations, which made it possible to increase the volume of training data by 11 times. As a result, the accuracy of segmentation of the images of the stems and crowns of coniferous and deciduous trees overlapping each other has reached 79 %, which allows the use of neural networks based on a similar architecture in decision support systems for logging machine operators.

Konsep Model Kepemimpinan Direktif dan Instruksional

This study aims to explain directive and instructional leadership. Literature study is used as a method in research. Data is taken, collected, and analyzed from books and scientific journals with similar topics, then used as writing and conclusions. Study results show that using directive and instructional leadership In a leadership model that is directive and instructional, a leader will provide direct guidance to his team members to achieve the goals achieved. This model is often used in situations where the task to be completed is very clear and requires quick decision-making. As well as exactly.

Determinants of unmet need for family planning among currently married reproductive age women at Dewa Chefa District of Oromia special zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2021; a case-control study

BackgroundUnmet need for family planning is a proportion of women among reproductive age group who want to stop or delay childbearing but are not using any method of contraception. One in ten married women face unmet need for family planning world-wide whereas, one in five women in Africa. Thus, by understanding factors associated with unmet need specific to the study area; the study contributes to planning and intervention of programs, gives additional finding for controversies in earlier studies, and also helps as a baseline for other researchers conducting studies on similar topics.MethodsA community-based unmatched case-control study was conducted from March 29-April 25, 2021 G.C on 462 currently married reproductive age women (154 cases and 308 controls) in Dewa Chefa District. Currently married reproductive-age women who were fecund, and wanted to limit or delay childbearing but were not using any contraceptive methods were taken as cases and currently married reproductive-age women who were using family planning or did not want to use were taken as controls. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Collected data were entered into Epi-data 3.1 and exported to SPSS 23 for analysis. Binary Logistic regression was conducted and variables with p-value < 0.05 were taken as statistically significant.ResultsA total of 462 women participated in this study, with 100% response rate. The mean age of the respondents was 27.92 years (with SD of ± 6.3) Age of woman 35–49 [AOR = 6.6 (1.1–39)], having poor knowledge on family planning [AOR = 1.9 (1.1–3.1)], using family planning decided by husband [AOR = 3.8 (2.1–6.9)], using family planning decided together [AOR = 2.3 (1.07–5.1)] and have no support and disapproval of husband for family planning use [AOR = 2.1 (1.08-4)] were factors significantly associated with unmet need.Conclusion and recommendationsAge of the woman, main decider of family planning use, knowledge about family planning and support and approval of spouse for family planning use were found to have significant association with unmet need for family planning. Thus, family planning providers, District health office, and other concerned bodies should strengthen female empowerment and male involvement in the program with strong couple counseling to reduce unmet need.

Meta-Analysis of the Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Profitability to Assess the Company's Financial Performance

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the company's social responsibility to the surrounding environment. The condition of the company can be seen through the company's financial performance in generating profits every year. If profits continue to rise every year, the company's management has succeeded in carrying it out. However, if profits continue to decline or are unstable, the company management needs to evaluate and make strategies so that the profits generated by the company can increase. The main purpose of CSR activities is to obtain an increase in profit, because profit is very instrumental in maintaining the survival of the company in accordance with the principle of going concern. To achieve this, the company can improve its performance by managing its business activities effectively, efficiently, and economically. This article uses the meta-analysis method, namely by comparing several articles that have similar topics. The results show that more research shows that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has a positive effect on the profitability generated by a company so that the financial performance of the company is getting better.

Increasing the Therapeutic Dosage by Combining Cognitive Behavior Group Therapy With a Monitored Self-Help Group.

Objective: A problem in psychotherapy is the limited availability of psychotherapists. This can not only delay the start of therapy but also curtail the number of sessions and the therapeutic dosage. An option to extend the therapeutic dose without an increase in therapist time may be to combine group psychotherapy with a self-help group. The goal of the present study is to investigate how patients judge this treatment mode and to what degree the contents of a regular group treatment are pursued in a parallel self-help group.Method: Seventy-two psychosomatic inpatients participated in cognitive behavior group therapy and parallel self-help group, which was monitored by the therapist during the regular group therapy sessions. Patients in both groups filled in a questionnaire that asked for the content of the group session, how patients had experienced the interaction, and what they had taken from the group.Results: Patients reported that in the self-help group, they discussed similar topics as in the regular group therapy, like how to deal with anxiety or sadness, how to interact with other people, and how to cope with their mental disorder and problems at work, in the family, or with friends. Patients indicated that there was more relaxed chatting in the self-help group, whereas learning new behavior was reported more frequently for the regular group therapy.Conclusions: In the regular group therapy and the guided self-help group, similar topics were discussed, which suggests that a combination of both can extend the therapeutic process and increase the therapeutic dosage without costs for the therapist or the institution.

Modern approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of biliary complications after liver transplantation (literature review)

Relevance. The choice of biliary anastomosis is the main factor determining the risk of developing biliary complications after orthotopic liver transplantation. The two most common forms of biliary tract reconstruction are choledocholedochostomy (duct-to-duct anastomosis) and choledochoeunostomy (connection of the bile duct to the jejunum). The choice of biliary tract reconstruction is determined by a variety of factors, including the underlying pathology of the liver, the size of the bile ducts of the donor and recipient, previous transplantation or previous biliary tract surgery, as well as the preferences of the surgeon performing the operation. Despite the correctly chosen method of reconstruction, complications such as strictures, lithiasis, biloma, and bile leakage occur infrequently.Objective: to present a review of the literature on methods of diagnosis and treatment of biliary complications after liver transplantation.Materials and methods. The analysis of literary sources in English and Russian from 2010 to 2023 on this topic in the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar was carried out. The review highlights clinical studies, as well as literature reviews on similar topics with an emphasis on the treatment and diagnosis of biliary complications.Conclusion. The problem of biliary complications of liver transplantation remains relevant and unresolved to the end. Noninvasive imaging techniques for complications arising after biliary tract surgery have prospects for development. The tactics of percutaneous, endoscopic and open interventions on the biliary graft tree require further improvement.

Anti-Radicalism Education and Strategy and Role of Islamic Religious Education in Facing Radicalism

Radicalism refers to attitudes, views, or actions that reflect a desire to change the social, political, or cultural order drastically or fundamentally. In general, radicalism involves rejection of existing norms or the status quo in society, and is often followed by attempts to replace them with a new system that is considered more ideal. This article aims to explain education that upholds anti-radicalism as well as strategies and the role of Islamic religious education in dealing with radicalism. The method used in this research is a literature review by collecting, evaluating and synthesizing literature on similar topics so that it can provide a strong foundation for this research. This research found that anti-radicalism education is really needed in order to build a society that is tolerant, moderate and has a nationalistic attitude. Strategies that can be used in anti-radicalism education include (1) democracy education, (2) religious education, (3) social skills training, (4) critical skills training, and (5) leadership training. The important role of Islamic religious education in facing the threat of radicalism includes (1) encouraging awareness to reject radicalism, (2) encouraging social involvement, (3) strengthening the values of tolerance, (3) strengthening a calm understanding of moderate Islamic teachings, and (5) ) strengthen the values of nationalism.

Qualitative Evaluation of Treatment Partners for People With HIV in Botswana: Current Healthcare Provider Practices and Recommendations for Improvement.

Botswana has an adult HIV prevalence of 20.8% and annual incidence of 0.2%. We aimed to evaluate current practices and advance recommendations for treatment partners (informal adherence supporters) for people with HIV in Botswana. In January-February 2020, we conducted seven focus groups with 36 healthcare providers at seven HIV clinics in Gaborone, Botswana. Providers perceived treatment partners to be critical for quality patient care. They shared that in the new era of universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation immediately after diagnosis ("test-and-treat"), providers no longer require patients to select treatment partners at ART initiation. Providers suggested a renewed emphasis on treatment partners. They believed that standard guidance for providers around treatment partner selection would ensure that providers cover similar topics across patients and endorsed implementation of workshops to educate treatment partners on how to support patients. However, streamlined ART initiation policies require innovative strategies, including eHealth interventions, to engage treatment partners.

Early modern comparative contract law

Contract law was one of the main subjects discussed in the early modern legal genre of differentiae iuris civilis et canonici (‘differences between civil and canon law’). Similar topics were covered in both late medieval and early modern differentiae – hence this genre offers a good opportunity for comparative historical research dedicated to selected topics of contract law (such as those discussed here: the actionability of bare agreements, stipulation for the benefit of a third party, overreaching in contract formation and the lease of a house to a scholar). An examination of the sources proves that the authors of early modern differentiae applied the comparative method in their works. This involved the presentation of sources and rationales from the two bodies of law, the interpretation of sources and arguments in favour of the solutions offered, references to the then-current legal literature and practice and most importantly the preferred method of reconciliation for conflicting laws.

ANALYZING THE AVIATION SECURITY KNOWLEDGE TEST ITEMS TO EVALUATE CADET PROFICIENCY ACROSS DIVERSES LEVEL OF VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS

Assessments are vital tools in education, shaping dynamic learning experiences and contributing significantly to overall learner development. In AVSEC training, mandatory tests for license acquisition are a prerequisite for both job applicants and active duty officers contingent upon achieving satisfactory scores. Potential test takers vary in level of formal vocational education with a minimum educational requirement of a high school for job applicants. This study scrutinizes the quality of the AVSEC test, evaluating elements like difficulty index (DIF), discrimination index (DI), and distractor efficiency (DE). Serving as a comprehensive evaluative tool, it provides valuable feedback on proficiency and areas for improvement. &#x0D; In AVSEC item analysis, findings indicate that retaining a low category of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) may be justifiable based on item purpose. The influence of test-taker backgrounds and nuances in classical formal education is reflected in the low Discrimination Index (DI), emphasizing the need for considerations beyond intrinsic item characteristics. Challenges emerge in questions about regulations due to their overly straightforward construction, rendering the substitution of suboptimal distractors impractical. To address potential drawbacks, the training school may contemplate replacing items with similar topics, maintaining the test's purpose while enhancing item quality. This study underscores the delicate balance required in crafting effective assessments within the distinctive context of AVSEC.

On relationships between similarity of topics and opinion formation

On relationships between similarity of topics and opinion formation

Effectiveness of Team-based Learning Methodology in Improving Learning Outcomes Among 2nd-year Undergraduate Medical Students in Pathology

Abstract Introduction: Team-based learning (TBL) is a student-centric teaching–learning (TL) method and fosters active learning. TBL has an advantage over other small group TL methods for balancing teaching time and resources. Aim: The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of TBL methodology in improving learning outcomes among 2nd-year undergraduate medical students in pathology. Settings and Design: This was a quantitative interventional study involving 100 2nd-year MBBS students in pathology at AIMS, BG Nagara. Methodology: Two groups of 50 students were exposed to three TBL and case-based learning (CBL) sessions on similar topics. For the TBL session, individual readiness assurance test scores and team readiness assurance test scores were obtained. Statistical Analysis Used: For both the TBL and CBL sessions, retention test scores were obtained after 2 weeks and the effectiveness of two methods of learning was determined by comparing the retention test scores by independent Student’s t-test. Feedback on students’ perception of TBL was obtained using a five-point Likert scale. Results: The mean test score of the TBL session was significantly higher than that of CBL sessions (19.80 vs. 15.86, P &lt; 0.0001). Similarly, it was also observed that the retention scores were higher among average performers after the TBL session (19.71 vs. 12.50, P &lt; 0.0002). Conclusion: TBL is more effective than CBL in fostering learning and it selectively benefits average performers more than higher performers, evidenced in this study by better retention of knowledge.

Analytical modeling of 2D groundwater flow in a semi-infinite heterogeneous domain with variable lateral sources

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;In nature, aquifers are usually composed of distinct kinds of media, i.e., heterogeneous domains rather than homogeneous domains. Groundwater level and flow changes in such domains are more complicated than those in homogeneous domains; thus, building a mathematical model for addressing groundwater flow in heterogeneous aquifers is the present research goal. In conventional research on similar topics, many one-dimensional (1D) analytical models have been presented, but it is challenging to simulate real-world scenarios. This study develops a two-dimensional (2D) analytical model for modeling groundwater flow in a conceptual sloping heterogeneous domain imposed by variable recharge. This model can consider distinct slope angles, medium heterogeneity, and any type of lateral recharge for a semi-infinite domain. The results indicate that groundwater level and flow discharge are greatly affected by the abovementioned factors. The recharge intensity significantly affects the peak of the groundwater level. For example, when the recharge rate increases by 30%, the peak water level increases by 50% as the groundwater flows from the sandy loam zone to the loam zone. The loops delineating the relationship between discharge and groundwater level for different bottom slopes cannot become close for heterogeneous aquifers. The presented 2D analytical model can simulate and better predict results of groundwater changes than previous 1D analytical models. Further, this model can simultaneously consider the effect of varying recharge over time and space on groundwater level change.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Educational virtual games in supporting SDG 4: Research trend in Scopus, Topic, and Novelty explored

Quality education is one of the aspects targeted for development by the SDGs points. Virtual game education is one of the tools used to achieve the goals emphasized by the SDGs. This research aims to identify trends and contributions of virtual game education (VGE) in education. This research uses bibliometric analysis techniques sourced from the Scopus database. The software used to visualize existing data is VosViewer. Over the past five years, research on VGE has been steady, peaking in 2022 with the most significant number of documents. VGE research increased from 2019 to 2022 but decreased in 2023. VGE research has been published as conference papers with Springer as publisher. Canada and the US are countries that have made significant contributions to this research. Ten dominant subjects impact education by developing digital learning media technology. The research uses a combined approach (quantitativequalitative) in the data analysis. These things are closely related to SDG point 4 (quality of education). Research on similar topics can be further developed using data other than Scopus, such as WOS and Citespace, as tools for more interesting visualization compared to VOSviewer.