Abstract: Internet access is a vital part of the modern world and an important tool in the education of our children. It is present in schools, homes and even shopping malls. Mastering the use of the internet is likely to be an important skill for those entering the job markets of the future. An internet user can be anyone he or she wants to be in an online chat room, or play thrilling and challenging games against other players from all corners of the globe. It seems at present time (or near future) for many people relationships in the real world may be neglected as those in the virtual world increase in importance. Internet is provided a fast mode of transportation caused freedom from family bonds and mixing with different cultures and new communities. This research is an attempt to study effect of Internet on Social capital. For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size amounted 168 students of Payame Noor University of Kermanshah city in country of Iran were considered. Degree of social capital is moderate. With the help of the Multi-variable Regression, variables of Iranian message attractive, Interest to internet with effect of positive and variable Creating a cordial atmosphere with negative effect be significant.
Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the
epidemiology of waterborne diarrhoeal among children aged 6-36
months old in Busia town, western Kenya. The study was carried out
between Feb. 2008 and Feb. 2010. Cases of diarrhoea reported in 385
households were linked to household water handling practices. A
mother with a child of 6-36 months old was also included in the
study. Diarrhoea prevalence among children 6-36 months was 16.7%
in Busia town, Bwamani (19.6%) and Mayenje (10.6%) clustered in
Mayenje sub-location reported the highest and the lowest prevalence
of diarrhoea. There was a positive correlation between the prevalence
of diarrhoea in children and the level of the mother-s education,
29.9% (n= 100). Diarrhoea cases decreased in range from 35.5% (n
=102) to 4.8% (n= 16), corresponding to increase in age from 6-35
months on average. In conclusion, prevalence of diarrhoea in
children of 6-36 months old was 16.7% in Busia town. This was
higher in children whose mother-s age was below 18 years and with
low level of education, the rate decreased with increase in age of
children. Prevalence of diarrhoea in children aged 6-36months in
households was higher in children aged 6-17 and 36 months and
whose mothers were less educated and fell between the ages of 18-24
years. The Influence of human activities at the main source of
drinking water on the prevalence of diarrhoea in these children was
insignificant.
Abstract: Particulate matter (PM) in ambient air is responsible
for adverse health effects in adults and children. Relatively little is
known about the concentrations, sources and health effects of PM in
indoor air. A monitoring study was conducted in Ankara by three
campaigns in order to measure PM levels in indoor and outdoor
environments to identify and quantify associations between sources
and concentrations. Approximately 82 homes (1st campaign for 42,
2nd campaign for 12, and 3rd campaign for 28), three rooms (living
room, baby-s room and living room used as a baby-s room) and
outdoor ambient at each home were sampled with Grimm
Environmental Dust Monitoring (EDM) 107, during different
seasonal periods of 2011 and 2012. In this study, the relationship
between indoor and outdoor PM levels for particulate matter less than
10 micrometer (.m) (PM10), particulate matter less than 2.5.m
(PM2.5) and particulate matter less than 1.0.m (PM1) were
investigated. The mean concentration of PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 at
living room used as baby-s room is higher than living and baby-s
room (or bedroom) for three sampling campaigns. It is concluded that
the household activities and environmental conditions are very
important for PM concentrations in the indoor environments during
the sampling periods. The amount of smokers, being near a main
street and/or construction activities increased the PM concentration.
This study is based on the assessment the relationship between indoor
and outdoor PM levels and the household activities and
environmental conditions
Abstract: Exploring an autistic child in Elementary school is a
difficult task that must be fully thought out and the teachers should
be aware of the many challenges they face raising their child
especially the behavioral problems of autistic children. Hence there
arises a need for developing Artificial intelligence (AI)
Contemporary Techniques to help diagnosis to discover autistic
people.
In this research, we suggest designing architecture of expert
system that combine Cognitive Maps (CM) with Case Based
Reasoning technique (CBR) in order to reduce time and costs of
traditional diagnosis process for the early detection to discover
autistic children. The teacher is supposed to enter child's information
for analyzing by CM module. Then, the reasoning processor would
translate the output into a case to be solved a current problem by
CBR module. We will implement a prototype for the model as a
proof of concept using java and MYSQL.
This will be provided a new hybrid approach that will achieve new
synergies and improve problem solving capabilities in AI. And we
will predict that will reduce time, costs, the number of human errors
and make expertise available to more people who want who want to
serve autistic children and their families.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the
relationship between parent involvement and preschool disabled
children’s development. Parents of 3 year old disabled children
(N=440) and 5 year old disabled children (N=937) participating in the
Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study were interviewed or
answered the web design questionnaire about their actions in parenting
their disabled children. These children’s developments were also
evaluated by their teachers. Data were analyzed using Structural
Equation Modeling. Results were showed by tables and figures. Based
on the results, the researcher made some suggestions for future studies.
Abstract: Asthma is a condition that causing chronic health problems in children. In addition to basic therapy against disease, we must try to reduce the impact of chronic health problems and also optimize their medical aspect of growth and development. A boy with mild asthma attack frequent episode did not showed any improvement with medical treatment and his asthma control test was 11. From radiologic examination he got hyperaerated lung and billateral sinusitis maxillaris; skin test results were house dust, food and pet allergy; an overweight body; bad school grades; psychological and environmental problem. We followed and evaluated this boy in 6 months, treated holistically. Even we could not do much on environmental but no more psychological and school problems, his on a good bodyweight and his asthma control test was 22. A case of a child with mild asthma attack frequent episode was reported. Asthma clinical course show no significant improvement when other predisposing factor is not well-controlled and a child’s growth and development may be affected. Improving condition of the patient can be created with the help of loving and caring way of nurturing from the parents and supportive peer group. Therefore, continuous and consistent monitoring is required because prognosis of asthma is generally good when regularly and properly controlled.
Abstract: With optimized bandwidth and latency discrepancy ratios, Node Gain Scores (NGSs) are determined and used as a basis for shaping the max-heap overlay. The NGSs - determined as the respective bandwidth-latency-products - govern the construction of max-heap-form overlays. Each NGS is earned as a synergy of discrepancy ratio of the bandwidth requested with respect to the estimated available bandwidth, and latency discrepancy ratio between the nodes and the source node. The tree leads to enhanceddelivery overlay multicasting – increasing packet delivery which could, otherwise, be hindered by induced packet loss occurring in other schemes not considering the synergy of these parameters on placing the nodes on the overlays. The NGS is a function of four main parameters – estimated available bandwidth, Ba; individual node's requested bandwidth, Br; proposed node latency to its prospective parent (Lp); and suggested best latency as advised by source node (Lb). Bandwidth discrepancy ratio (BDR) and latency discrepancy ratio (LDR) carry weights of α and (1,000 - α ) , respectively, with arbitrary chosen α ranging between 0 and 1,000 to ensure that the NGS values, used as node IDs, maintain a good possibility of uniqueness and balance between the most critical factor between the BDR and the LDR. A max-heap-form tree is constructed with assumption that all nodes possess NGS less than the source node. To maintain a sense of load balance, children of each level's siblings are evenly distributed such that a node can not accept a second child, and so on, until all its siblings able to do so, have already acquired the same number of children. That is so logically done from left to right in a conceptual overlay tree. The records of the pair-wise approximate available bandwidths as measured by a pathChirp scheme at individual nodes are maintained. Evaluation measures as compared to other schemes – Bandwidth Aware multicaSt architecturE (BASE), Tree Building Control Protocol (TBCP), and Host Multicast Tree Protocol (HMTP) - have been conducted. This new scheme generally performs better in terms of trade-off between packet delivery ratio; link stress; control overhead; and end-to-end delays.
Abstract: As a multicultural country, Indonesia has many subcultures
with unique performing arts. Some of them are well-known
to international tourists, such as music ensemble (known as gamelan)
in Bali and Java, shadow puppet play (wayang) in Java, and martial
arts (known as pencak silat) in Sumatra. Some examples of famous
traditional dances in Indonesia are Srimpi from Yogyakarta and Solo,
Legong from Bali, and Gong dance from Kalimantan. Performing arts
show the identity of a nation. However, they are a complex subject,
especially when they are addressed to children. The performing arts,
e.g. music, dance theatre, and opera are experiential, experimental,
and emotionally charged. Therefore, the right strategy and promotion
need to be developed to engage children to appreciate and preserve
traditional dances. This study aims to explore and identify
possibilities of internet usage as a medium to promote traditional
dances, especially to children in Indonesia.
Abstract: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder which affects individuals with varying degrees of impairment. Currently, there has been ample research done in serious game for autism children. Although serious games are traditionally associated with software developments, developing them in the autism field involves studying the associated technology and paying attention to aspects related to interaction with the game. Serious Games for autism cover matters related to education, therapy for communication, psychomotor treatment and social behavior enhancement. In this paper, a systematic review sets out the lines of development and research currently being conducted into serious games which pursue some form of benefit in the field of autism. This paper includes a literature review of relevant serious game developments since in year 2007 and examines new trends.
Abstract: Self-directed learning (SDL) was developed initially
for adult learning. Guglielmino constructed a scale to measure SDL.
Recent researchers have applied this concept to children. Although
there are sufficient theoretical evidences to present the possibility of
applying this concept to children, empirical evidences were not
provided. This study aimed to examine the quality of SDL and
construct a scale to measure SDL among young children. A modified
scale of Guglielmino-s scale was constructed and piloted with 183
subjects of age 9. Findings suggest that the qualities of SDL in young
ages are apparently congruent with that of adults.
Abstract: The present study aims to explore the role of parents'
ethnic socialization practices contributes to the ethnic identity
development, self-esteem and psychological adjustment of multi
ethnic children in Sabah, Malaysia. A total of 342 multi ethnic
children (age range = 10 years old to 14 years old; mean age = 12.65
years, SD = 0.88) and their parents participated in the present study.
The modified version of Multi group Ethnic Identity Measure
(MEIM), The Familial Ethnic Socialization Measure (FESM). The
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) and Behavioral and Emotional
Rating Scale Edition 2 (BERS-2) were used in this study. The results
showed that: i) parents' ethnic socialization practice was a strong
predictor of ethnic identity development of multi ethnic children; ii)
parents' ethnic socialization practice also was a significant predictor
of self-esteem of multi ethnic children; iii) parents' ethnic
socialization practice was not a significant predictor of psychological
adjustment of multi ethnic children. The results of this study showed
the implications parents' ethnic socialization practices and ethnic
identity development in successful multi ethnic families.
Abstract: Computers are increasingly being used as educational
tools in elementary/primary schools worldwide. A specific
application of such computer use, is that of multimedia games, where
the aim is to combine pedagogy and entertainment. This study
reports on a case-study whereby an educational multimedia game has
been developed for use by elementary school children. The stages of
the application-s design, implementation and evaluation are
presented. Strengths of the game are identified and discussed, and its
weaknesses are identified, allowing for suggestions for future redesigns.
The results show that the use of games can engage children
in the learning process for longer periods of time with the added
benefit of the entertainment factor.
Abstract: Integrative teaching methodology is based on
connecting and summarizing knowledge from different subjects in
order to create better understanding of different disciplines and
improvement of competences in general. Integrative teaching
methodology was implemented and realised during one academic
year in 17 Latvian schools according with specially worked out
programme by specialists of different fields for adaptation in social
environment of children and young people with learning, cognitive
functions and motor disorders. Implemented integrative teaching
methodology consisted from three subsections which were
specialised for adaptation in social environment, improvement of
cognitive functions and improvement and harmonization of
personality. The results of investigation showed that the use of
integrative teaching methodology is an effective way for
improvement of learning motivation and negotiation of learning
disorders of different age schoolchildren.
Abstract: A review of the literature found that Domestic
violence and child maltreatment co-occur in many families, the
purpose of this study attempts to emphasize the factors relating to
intra-family relationships (order point of view) on violence against
the children, For this purpose a survey technique on the sample size
amounted 200 students of governmental guidance schools of city of
Gilanegharb in country of Iran were considered. For measurement of
violence against the children (VAC) the CTS scaled has been used
.The results showed that children have experienced the violence more
than once during the last year. degree of order in family is high.
Explanation result indicated that the order variables in family
including collective thinking, empathy, communal co-circumstance
have significant effects on VAC.
Abstract: Data Mining aims at discovering knowledge out of
data and presenting it in a form that is easily comprehensible to
humans. One of the useful applications in Egypt is the Cancer
management, especially the management of Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukemia or ALL, which is the most common type of cancer in
children.
This paper discusses the process of designing a prototype that can
help in the management of childhood ALL, which has a great
significance in the health care field. Besides, it has a social impact
on decreasing the rate of infection in children in Egypt. It also
provides valubale information about the distribution and
segmentation of ALL in Egypt, which may be linked to the possible
risk factors.
Undirected Knowledge Discovery is used since, in the case of this
research project, there is no target field as the data provided is
mainly subjective. This is done in order to quantify the subjective
variables. Therefore, the computer will be asked to identify
significant patterns in the provided medical data about ALL. This
may be achieved through collecting the data necessary for the
system, determimng the data mining technique to be used for the
system, and choosing the most suitable implementation tool for the
domain.
The research makes use of a data mining tool, Clementine, so as to
apply Decision Trees technique. We feed it with data extracted from
real-life cases taken from specialized Cancer Institutes. Relevant
medical cases details such as patient medical history and diagnosis
are analyzed, classified, and clustered in order to improve the disease
management.
Abstract: In policy discourse of 1990s, more inclusive spaces
have been constructed for realizing full and meaningful participation
of common people in education. These participatory spaces provide
an alternative possibility for universalizing elementary education
against the backdrop of a history of entrenched forms of social and
economical exclusion; inequitable education provisions; and
shrinking role of the state in today-s neo-liberal times. Drawing on
case-studies of bottom-up approaches to school governance, the study
examines an array of innovative ways through which poor people
gained a sense of identity and agency by evolving indigenous
solutions to issues regarding schooling of their children. In the
process, state-s institutions and practices became more accountable
and responsive to educational concerns of the marginalized people.
The deliberative participation emerged as an active way of
experiencing deeper forms of empowerment and democracy than its
passive realization as mere bearers of citizen rights.
Abstract: Failure in mastery of motor skills proficiency during
childhood has been seen as a detrimental factor for children to be
physically active. Lack of motor skills proficiency tends to reduce
children’s competency and confidence level to participate in physical
activity. As a consequence of less participation in physical activity,
children will turn to be overweight and obese. It has been suggested
that children who master motor skill proficiency will be more
involved in physical activity thus preventing them from being
overweight. Obesity has become a serious childhood health issues
worldwide. Previous studies have found that children who were
overweight and obese were generally less active however these
studies focused on one gender. This study aims to compare motor
skill proficiency of underweight, normal-weight, overweight and
obese young boys as well as to determine the relationship between
motor skills proficiency and body composition. 112 boys aged
between 8 to 10 years old participated in this study. Participants were
assigned to four groups; underweight, normal-weight, overweight and
obese using BMI-age percentile chart for children. Bruininks-
Oseretsky Test Second Edition-Short Form was administered to
assess their motor skill proficiency. Meanwhile, body composition
was determined by the skinfold thickness measurement. Result
indicated that underweight and normal children were superior in
motor skills proficiency compared to overweight and obese children
(p < 0.05). A significant strong inverse correlation between motor
skills proficiency and body composition (r = -0.849) is noted. The
findings of this study could be explained by non-contributory mass
that carried by overweight and obese children leads to biomechanical
movement inefficiency which will become detrimental to motor skills
proficiency. It can be concluded that motor skills proficiency is
inversely correlated with body composition.
Abstract: The object of this research is the design and
evaluation of an immersive Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for
deaf children. Recently we have developed a prototype immersive
VR game to teach sign language mathematics to deaf students age K-
4 [1] [2]. In this paper we describe a significant extension of the
prototype application. The extension includes: (1) user-centered
design and implementation of two additional interactive
environments (a clock store and a bakery), and (2) user-centered
evaluation including development of user tasks, expert panel-based
evaluation, and formative evaluation. This paper is one of the few to
focus on the importance of user-centered, iterative design in VR
application development, and to describe a structured evaluation
method.
Abstract: The current education system in India is adept in
equipping and assessing the scholastic development of children.
However, there is an immediate need to strengthen co-scholastic
areas like life-skills, values and attitudes to equip students to face real
life challenges. Audio-visual technology and their respective media
can make a significant contribution to a value based learning
curriculum. Thus, co-scholastic skills need to be effectively nurtured
by a medium that is entertaining and impactful. Films in general have
a tremendous impact in our society. Films with a positive message
make a formidable learning experience that can influence and inspire
generations of learners. Leveraging on this powerful medium,
EduMedia India Pvt. Ltd. has introduced School Cinema a well
researched film-based learning module supported by a fun and
exciting workbook, designed to introduce and reaffirm life-skills and
values to children, thereby having a positive influence on their
attitudes.
Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by
abnormalities in social communication, language abilities and
repetitive behaviors. The present study focused on some grammatical
deficits in autistic children. We evaluated the impairment of correct
use of different Persian verb tenses in autistic children-s speech. Two
standardized Language Test were administered then gathered data
were analyzed. The main result of this study was significant
difference between the mean scores of correct responses to present
tense in comparison with past tense in Persian language. This study
demonstrated that tense is severely impaired in autistic children-s
speech. Our findings indicated those autistic children-s production of
simple present/ past tense opposition to be better than production of
future and past periphrastic forms (past perfect, present perfect, past
progressive).