A study of data coding technology developments in the 1980-1985 time frame, volume 2

The source parameters of digitized analog data are discussed. Different data compression schemes are outlined and analysis of their implementation are presented. Finally, bandwidth compression techniques are given for video signals

Synopsis of an engineering solution for a painful problem Phantom Limb Pain

This paper is synopsis of a recently proposed solution for treating patients who suffer from Phantom Limb Pain (PLP). The underpinning approach of this research and development project is based on an extension of “mirror box” therapy which has had some promising results in pain reduction. An outline of an immersive individually tailored environment giving the patient a virtually realised limb presence, as a means to pain reduction is provided. The virtual 3D holographic environment is meant to produce immersive, engaging and creative environments and tasks to encourage and maintain patients’ interest, an important aspect in two of the more challenging populations under consideration (over-60s and war veterans). The system is hoped to reduce PLP by more than 3 points on an 11 point Visual Analog Scale (VAS), when a score less than 3 could be attributed to distraction alone

Teacher's activity analysis within a didactic perspective

This communication first presents the theoretical framework (the Joint Action Theory in Didactics) we use to analyse ordinary teaching/learning activities in science classrooms. This theory has been developed in French didactic research and takes account of the three-way relationship linking teacher, student and a piece of knowledge to be taught and learned. Our general purpose is to describe and understand school science practices. In the second part of the communication we present the corresponding methodology and its different steps through the analysis of a physics inquiry-based lesson developed in grade 8 and dealing with the voltage law. Lastly, we discuss some points with regard to the symposium issues

Big Data as a Technology-to-think-with for Scientific Literacy

This research aimed to identify indications of scientific literacy resulting from a didactic and investigative interaction with Google Trends Big Data software by first-year students from a high-school in Novo Hamburgo, Southern Brazil. Both teaching strategies and research interpretations lie on four theoretical backgrounds. Firstly, Bunge's epistemology, which provides a thorough characterization of Science that was central to our study. Secondly, the conceptual framework of scientific literacy of Fives et al. that makes our teaching focus precise and concise, as well as supports one of our methodological tool: the SLA (scientific literacy assessment). Thirdly, the "crowdledge" construct from dos Santos, which gives meaning to our study when as it makes the development of scientific literacy itself versatile for paying attention on sociotechnological and epistemological contemporary phenomena. Finally, the learning principles from Papert's Constructionism inspired our educational activities. Our educational actions consisted of students, divided into two classes, investigating phenomena chose by them. A triangulation process to integrate quantitative and qualitative methods on the assessments results was done. The experimental design consisted in post-tests only and the experimental variable was the way of access to the world. The experimental group interacted with the world using analyses of temporal and regional plots of interest of terms or topics searched on Google. The control class did 'placebo' interactions with the world through on-site observations of bryophytes, fungus or whatever in the schoolyard. As general results of our research, a constructionist environment based on Big Data analysis showed itself as a richer strategy to develop scientific literacy, compared to a free schoolyard exploration.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 8 table

Disseminating Research Information through Facebook and Twitter (DRIFT): presenting an evidence based framework

Background: The social media platform Facebook boasts over 1,284 million daily active users globally. It is also known that a large proportion of adults use the internet to seek health related information.Aim: to critically analyse the use of social media to engage parents of children with ADHD with clinical research findings.Methods: Observation and qualitative content analysis combined with Facebook insights was used to evaluate the levels of engagement and interaction with different types of research information.Results: Over 1100 people from 41 nations have engaged with the group. Sharing information through a range of Facebook functions was found to successfully achieve engagement and reach nationally and internationally for this demographic.Conclusion: Lay research users are eager to engage and understand clinical research and social media is an appropriate way to disseminate this. This article has proposed some methods and explanatory reasons for this phenomena.Implications for practice: It is known that social media can be used for effective communication. This article presents a much-needed evidence based framework that may be used by nursing and health researchers to successfully achieve this