443,231 research outputs found
Antismoking campaignsâ perception and gender differences: a comparison among EEG Indices
Human factorsâ aim is to understand and evaluate the interactions between people and tasks, technologies, and environment. Among human factors, it is possible then to include the subjective reaction to external stimuli, due to individualâs characteristics and states of mind. These processes are also involved in the perception of antismoking public service announcements (PSAs), the main tool for governments to contrast the first cause of preventable deaths in the world: tobacco addiction. In the light of that, in the present article, it has been investigated through the comparison of different electroencephalographic (EEG) indices a typical item known to be able of influencing PSA perception, that is gender. In order to investigate the neurophysiological underpinnings of such different perception, we tested two PSAs: one with a female character and one with a male character. Furthermore, the experimental sample was divided into men and women, as well as smokers and nonsmokers. The employed EEG indices were the mental engagement (ME: the ratio between beta activity and the sum of alpha and theta activity); the approach/withdrawal (AW: the frontal alpha asymmetry in the alpha band); and the frontal theta activity and the spectral asymmetry index (SASI: the ratio between beta minus theta and beta plus theta). Results suggested that the ME and the AW presented an opposite trend, with smokers showing higher ME and lower AW than nonsmokers. The ME and the frontal theta also evidenced a statistically significant interaction between the kind of the PSA and the gender of the observers; specifically, women showed higher ME and frontal theta activity for the male character PSA. This study then supports the usefulness of the ME and frontal theta for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of gender issues and of the ME and the AW and for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of smoking habits
Relating emotional intelligence to academic achievement among university students in Barbados
This study investigated the relationships between emotional intelligence and academic
achievement among 151 undergraduate psychology students at The University of the
West Indies (UWI), Barbados, making use of Barchard (2001)âs Emotional Intelligence
Scale and an Academic Achievement Scale. Findings revealed significant positive
correlations between academic achievement and six of the emotional intelligence
components, and a negative correlation with negative expressivity. The emotional
intelligence components also jointly contributed 48% of the variance in academic
achievement. Attending to emotions was the best predictor of academic achievement
while positive expressivity, negative expressivity and empathic concern were other
significant predictors. Emotion-based decision-making, responsive joy and responsive
distress did not make any significant relative contribution to academic achievement,
indicating that academic achievement is only partially predicted by emotional
intelligence. These results were discussed in the context of the influence of emotional
intelligence on university studentsâ academic achievement.peer-reviewe
Multi-layer Architecture For Storing Visual Data Based on WCF and Microsoft SQL Server Database
In this paper we present a novel architecture for storing visual data.
Effective storing, browsing and searching collections of images is one of the
most important challenges of computer science. The design of architecture for
storing such data requires a set of tools and frameworks such as SQL database
management systems and service-oriented frameworks. The proposed solution is
based on a multi-layer architecture, which allows to replace any component
without recompilation of other components. The approach contains five
components, i.e. Model, Base Engine, Concrete Engine, CBIR service and
Presentation. They were based on two well-known design patterns: Dependency
Injection and Inverse of Control. For experimental purposes we implemented the
SURF local interest point detector as a feature extractor and -means
clustering as indexer. The presented architecture is intended for content-based
retrieval systems simulation purposes as well as for real-world CBIR tasks.Comment: Accepted for the 14th International Conference on Artificial
Intelligence and Soft Computing, ICAISC, June 14-18, 2015, Zakopane, Polan
Interoperability, Trust Based Information Sharing Protocol and Security: Digital Government Key Issues
Improved interoperability between public and private organizations is of key
significance to make digital government newest triumphant. Digital Government
interoperability, information sharing protocol and security are measured the
key issue for achieving a refined stage of digital government. Flawless
interoperability is essential to share the information between diverse and
merely dispersed organisations in several network environments by using
computer based tools. Digital government must ensure security for its
information systems, including computers and networks for providing better
service to the citizens. Governments around the world are increasingly
revolving to information sharing and integration for solving problems in
programs and policy areas. Evils of global worry such as syndrome discovery and
manage, terror campaign, immigration and border control, prohibited drug
trafficking, and more demand information sharing, harmonization and cooperation
amid government agencies within a country and across national borders. A number
of daunting challenges survive to the progress of an efficient information
sharing protocol. A secure and trusted information-sharing protocol is required
to enable users to interact and share information easily and perfectly across
many diverse networks and databases globally.Comment: 20 page
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