A Software Engineered Voice-Enabled Job Recruitment Portal System

The inability of job seekers to get timely job information regarding the status of the application submitted via conventional job portal system which is usually dependent on accessibility to the Internet has made so many job applicants to lose their placements. Worse still, the epileptic services offered by Internet Service Providers and the poor infrastructures in most developing countries have greatly hindered the expected benefits from Internet usage. These have led to cases of online vacancies notifications unattended to simply because a job seeker is neither aware nor has access to the Internet. With an increasing patronage of mobile phones, a self-service job vacancy notification with audio functionality or an automated job vacancy notification to all qualified job seekers through mobile phones will simply provide a solution to these challenges. In this paper, we present a Voice-enabled Job Recruitment Portal (JRP) System. The system is accessed through two interfaces – the voice user’s interface (VUI) and web interface. The VUI was developed using VoiceXML and the web interface using PHP, and both interfaces integrated with Apache and MySQL as the middleware and back-end component respectively. The JRP proposed in this paper takes the hassle of job hunting from job seekers, provides job status information in real-time to the job seeker and offers other benefits such as, cost, effectiveness, speed, accuracy, ease of documentation, convenience and better logistics to the employer in seeking the right candidate for a job

Biomedical applications of belief networks

Biomedicine is an area in which computers have long been expected to play a significant role. Although many of the early claims have proved unrealistic, computers are gradually becoming accepted in the biomedical, clinical and research environment. Within these application areas, expert systems appear to have met with the most resistance, especially when applied to image interpretation.In order to improve the acceptance of computerised decision support systems it is necessary to provide the information needed to make rational judgements concerning the inferences the system has made. This entails an explanation of what inferences were made, how the inferences were made and how the results of the inference are to be interpreted. Furthermore there must be a consistent approach to the combining of information from low level computational processes through to high level expert analyses.nformation from low level computational processes through to high level expert analyses. Until recently ad hoc formalisms were seen as the only tractable approach to reasoning under uncertainty. A review of some of these formalisms suggests that they are less than ideal for the purposes of decision making. Belief networks provide a tractable way of utilising probability theory as an inference formalism by combining the theoretical consistency of probability for inference and decision making, with the ability to use the knowledge of domain experts.nowledge of domain experts. The potential of belief networks in biomedical applications has already been recog¬ nised and there has been substantial research into the use of belief networks for medical diagnosis and methods for handling large, interconnected networks. In this thesis the use of belief networks is extended to include detailed image model matching to show how, in principle, feature measurement can be undertaken in a fully probabilistic way. The belief networks employed are usually cyclic and have strong influences between adjacent nodes, so new techniques for probabilistic updating based on a model of the matching process have been developed.An object-orientated inference shell called FLAPNet has been implemented and used to apply the belief network formalism to two application domains. The first application is model-based matching in fetal ultrasound images. The imaging modality and biological variation in the subject make model matching a highly uncertain process. A dynamic, deformable model, similar to active contour models, is used. A belief network combines constraints derived from local evidence in the image, with global constraints derived from trained models, to control the iterative refinement of an initial model cue.In the second application a belief network is used for the incremental aggregation of evidence occurring during the classification of objects on a cervical smear slide as part of an automated pre-screening system. A belief network provides both an explicit domain model and a mechanism for the incremental aggregation of evidence, two attributes important in pre-screening systems.Overall it is argued that belief networks combine the necessary quantitative features required of a decision support system with desirable qualitative features that will lead to improved acceptability of expert systems in the biomedical domain

Mortality decline and the demographic response: Toward a new agenda

A central proposition of demographic transition theory is that declines in infant and child mortality can encourage subsequent declines in fertility. Even the earliest formulations of the theory recognized that fertility decline would occur only with a lag, but neither theory nor empirical work has explored the length of such lags. This paper urges that individual perceptions and beliefs about mortality risks, conspicuously absent from the demographic research agenda, be studied directly. It proceeds to link mortality perceptions to health care decisionmaking and investments in children. The paper concludes by calling for a new agenda on mortality decline. This agenda would focus on three main themes: individual perceptions of health levels and trends, including mortality risks, with the concept of social learning being prominent; the overlap of modern and traditional health care systems and the associated beliefs, with an emphasis on the perceived efficacy of modern modes of prevention and treatment; and the role played by perceived mortality risks and health in affecting parental investments in schooling, with attention to adult as well as to child mortality and health. These issues can be studied profitably in high-mortality settings as well as in settings of moderate mortality risk

2016 - The Twenty-first Annual Symposium of Student Scholars

The full program book from the Twenty-first Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 21, 2016. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/sssprograms/1015/thumbnail.jp

Models and analysis of vocal emissions for biomedical applications

This book of Proceedings collects the papers presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications, MAVEBA 2003, held 10-12 December 2003, Firenze, Italy. The workshop is organised every two years, and aims to stimulate contacts between specialists active in research and industrial developments, in the area of voice analysis for biomedical applications. The scope of the Workshop includes all aspects of voice modelling and analysis, ranging from fundamental research to all kinds of biomedical applications and related established and advanced technologies

Patriarchy and discordant discourses in the contemporary Roman Catholic Church : the voices of priests and women in parish settings

This thesis explores the sexual theology and contemporary teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and considers their implications for women and priests. It examines the salience and relevance of traditional teaching in the everyday lives of priests and women. It questions the link between a traditionally formed priesthood and the customary beliefs and practices of 'ordinary' English Catholics. Feminist scholarship has produced powerful insights into the ways in which organised religion has subordinated women through patriarchal structures and organisation, although there has been little exploration of the gendered nature of Catholic sexual theology. This thesis suggests that the negative construction of women's bodies in sexual theology, underpins the continued subordination of women in the Catholic Church. It argues that religious inscriptions on women's bodies are central to the continued control of women Al a patriarchal Church. This thesis uses patriarchy, sexual theology, and power and authority, as the main themes of discussion. An examination of the discourses of traditional sexual theology and contemporary teaching reveals that patriarchal inscriptions on women's bodies are central to each of these themes and they are mutually supportive and sustaining. Sociological research has demonstrated a disjuncture between contemporary teaching and the beliefs and practices of 'ordinary' English Catholics. This thesis adds a gender dimension by suggesting that the English parish is a place of contradictions in which differing attitudes towards women are a significant factor. It also examines the links between contemporary teaching and the beliefs and practices of English Catholic priests and women. The evidence suggests that traditional sexual theology has little relevance in the everyday lives of English Catholic priests and women. There is a lack of `fit' between the traditional teaching of the Church and social experience. Nevertheless patriarchal ideas and beliefs continue to exist and have value, both in contemporary teaching and in the day-to-day life of the parish, and contribute to the contradictions and conflict of contemporary parish life. The discourses of English Catholic the priests and women in this study suggest, that both have been affected not only by the dominant discourse of the Church , but also by the critical discourses of the surrounding world. Views of women are emerging, which are in contrast to the negative view of women in Catholic sexual theology. The discourses of women and priests have much in common with each other but little in common with either traditional sexual theology or the teaching of the current pope. Together these discourses represent a significant point of resistance to the negative view of women in Catholic sexual theology and to traditional power and authority in the Catholic Church. A 'customary Priesthood' with an affinity to the 'customary Catholicism' of English Catholics appears to be emerging. This calls to question the legitimacy of traditional teaching and papal authority

Social change and fertility transition in Sri Lanka

The study investigates and interprets the factors that contributed to the recent decline in fertility in Sri Lanka, despite its low economic standing. It seeks to elucidate the social transformation that has taken place and looks at the socio-cultural determinants that have brought about the process of fertility transition. In this regard, the significant effects of the welfare measures in force in the country in respect of health, education, nutrition and housing have been brought to light. Hence the study tends to fall outside the scope of the conventional wisdom laid down in the demographic transition theory outlined by Notestein, which emphasised the contribution that economic development plays in lowering fertility. The approach to the study hinges on selected variables like education, age at marriage, gender roles per se and female employment. The cardinal role played by free education in contributing to the transition is given particular coverage. Education is treated more as a cultural asset which determines and shapes values, preferences and aspirations in respect of marriage, fertility, family formation and other aspects such as career development which enables women to play roles away from home. Unfortunately, inferences about women's position do not always gain statistical support, as they are intricately woven into the fabric of societal gender settings and traditions. In respect of age at marriage, the socio-cultural factors of society like the caste system, a dowry and horoscope matching with details of Karmic determinants have been examined in some detail. The study also uncovers the social deprivation aspects which for long led women in the plantation sector to experience fertility performance lower than the national level. Going by normal demographic rationale, their high degree of labour force participation should account for it. But it was social deprivation and the resultant low nutritional levels that reduced their reproductive ability to low levels. With a better life ushered in by a programme of social uplift during the early 'eighties, this ethnic group showed signs of first a rise in fertility, and on having reached the threshold it has now begun showing signs of a decline attributable to healthier lives. Similarly, a relatively invisible agent, the prevalent “urban outlook," is shown to contribute to the transition process, and has recently become even more significant due to the intensive rural amelioration efforts of the government. This outlook is all pervasive and permeates the society in general in effecting the transition under review