205 research outputs found

    AI: Limits and Prospects of Artificial Intelligence

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    The emergence of artificial intelligence has triggered enthusiasm and promise of boundless opportunities as much as uncertainty about its limits. The contributions to this volume explore the limits of AI, describe the necessary conditions for its functionality, reveal its attendant technical and social problems, and present some existing and potential solutions. At the same time, the contributors highlight the societal and attending economic hopes and fears, utopias and dystopias that are associated with the current and future development of artificial intelligence

    L’absence d’ostéomoduline est associée à des anomalies du développement squelettique et à l’arthrose

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    Purpose: To investigate the roles of osteomodulin (OMD), a small proteoglycan known for controlling collagen fibrils organization in bone, in the development of osteoarthritis (OA) associated with subchondral bone sclerosis. Methods: Loss of function and overexpressing mice for Omd aged 4, 8, and 16 months were used to study Omd roles in bone and cartilage metabolism and answer whether mice develop spontaneous OA. Surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) model was performed to investigate its role in mechanically-induced OA. Additionally, we used omd overexpression as well as a mutant deficiency for omd in the zebrafish model to study omd effects on skeletal metabolism and cartilage development. Finally, in vitro models were used to further study OMD in osteoclastogenesis. Results: Omd regulated bone and cartilage microarchitectures. Knock-out mice showed thinner calcified cartilage in the medial tibial plateau, and their growth plate was thicker at 16 months compared to WT. Both trabecular and cortical bone volume/total volume ratios were increased in the Omd knock-out mice and they showed a reduced percentage of porosity. The trabecular number of the knock-out mice was increased while their trabecular total volume was decreased. Further, their cortical bone showed increased thickness, and a higher whole bone strength. Knock-out mice were more prone to develop cartilage lesions spontaneously. Interestingly, Omd knock-out mice developed subchondral bone sclerosis spontaneously while overexpressing mice showed less subchondral bone sclerosis in the DMM OA model. At 16 months, Omd-overexpressing mice had the less trabecular number and a greater structure-model index for their trabecular bone geometry. The zebrafish model showed that the ectopic overexpression of omd induced developmental defects with abnormal cartilage structures. Further, we studied the development of OA in zebrafish, an animal model that develop OA features in the synovial jaw joint during aging and which is an excellent genetic model to study OA. We showed that adult zebrafish lacking omd were more prone to articular cartilage degeneration. Furthermore, mutant zebrafish showed increased mature osteoclasts generation and increased TRAP staining revealing a higher osteoclast activity. Impaired osteoclastogenesis might be involved in the defects involved during scale regeneration. Our zebrafish results are supported by our in vitro experiments where we demonstrated that OMD bound to RANKL and inhibited osteoclastogenesis. Conclusions: OMD is a key factor in subchondral bone sclerosis associated with OA. This small proteoglycan participates in bone and cartilage homeostasis notably by acting on the regulation of osteoclastogenesis.Objectif: Étudier les rôles de l'ostéomoduline (OMD), un petit protéoglycane connu pour contrôler l'organisation des fibrilles de collagène dans l'os, dans le développement de l'arthrose associée à la sclérose osseuse sous-chondrale. Méthodes: La perte de fonction et la surexpression d’Omd chez des souris âgées de 4, 8 et 16 mois ont été utilisées pour étudier les rôles d'Omd dans le métabolisme osseux et cartilagineux et déterminer si les souris développaient une arthrose spontanée. La déstabilisation chirurgicale du modèle de ménisque médial (DMM) a été réalisée pour étudier son rôle dans l’arthrose induite mécaniquement. De plus, nous avons utilisé la surexpression d'omd ainsi qu'un mutant déficient pour omd dans le modèle de poisson zèbre pour étudier les effets d'omd sur le métabolisme squelettique et le développement du cartilage. Enfin, des modèles in vitro ont été utilisés pour étudier OMD dans l'ostéoclastogenèse. Résultats: Nous avons démontré qu’Omd régulait les microarchitectures osseuses et cartilagineuses. Les souris knock-out présentaient un cartilage calcifié plus mince dans le plateau tibial médian, et leur plaque de croissance était plus épaisse à 16 mois par rapport aux souris sauvages WT. Les rapports du volume d’os/volume total pour l’os trabéculaire et cortical étaient augmentés chez les souris Omd knock-out et leur porosité osseuse diminuée. Le nombre de trabécules des souris knock-out était plus élevé tandis que leur volume total trabéculaire était diminué. De plus, leur os cortical était plus épais et la resistance de leur os tibial accrue. Les souris knock-out étaient plus susceptibles de développer des lésions cartilagineuses spontanément. Les souris knock-out développaient spontanément une sclérose osseuse sous-chondrale, tandis que les souris surexprimant Omd ont montré moins de sclérose osseuse sous-chondrale dans le modèle DMM. À 16 mois, les souris surexprimant Omd avaient le plus petit nombre de trabécules et un indice de modèle de structure plus élevé pour leur géométrie osseuse trabéculaire. Le modèle de poisson zèbre a montré que la surexpression ectopique d'omd induit des défauts de développement avec des structures cartilagineuses anormales. En outre, nous avons étudié le développement de l’arthrose chez le poisson zèbre, un modèle qui développe des signe d’arthrose dans l'articulation synoviale de la mâchoire au cours du vieillissement. Nous avons montré que les poissons zèbres adultes dépourvus d'omd étaient plus sujets à la dégénérescence du cartilage articulaire. En outre, le poisson zèbre mutant a montré une génération accrue d'ostéoclastes matures et une augmentation de la coloration TRAP révélant une activité ostéoclastique plus élevée. Une ostéoclastogenèse altérée pourrait être impliquée dans les défauts observés lors de la régénération des écailles. Nos résultats sur le poisson zèbre sont étayés par nos expériences in vitro où nous avons démontré que l'OMD se liait à RANKL et inhibait l'ostéoclastogenèse. Conclusions: L'OMD est un facteur clé de la sclérose osseuse sous-chondrale associée à l’arthrose. Ce petit protéoglycane participe à l'homéostasie osseuse et cartilagineuse notamment en agissant sur la régulation de l'ostéoclastogenèse

    COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Acceptance in Ethnic Minority Individuals in the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods study using Protection Motivation Theory

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    Background: Uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine among ethnic minority individuals has been lower than in the general population. However, there is little research examining the psychosocial factors that contribute to COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy in this population.Aim: Our study aimed to determine which factors predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention in minority ethnic individuals in Middlesbrough, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, in addition to demographic variables.Method: We used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. 64 minority ethnic individuals (33 females, 31 males; mage = 31.06, SD = 8.36) completed the survey assessing PMT constructs, COVID-19conspiracy beliefs and demographic factors. 42.2% had received the booster vaccine, 57.6% had not. 16 survey respondents were interviewed online to gain further insight into factors affecting booster vaccineacceptance.Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was a significant predictor of booster vaccination intention, with higher perceived susceptibility being associated with higher intention to get the booster. Additionally, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly predictedintention to get the booster vaccine, with higher conspiracy beliefs being associated with lower intention to get the booster dose. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed that barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination included time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event ofexperiencing side effects. Furthermore, there was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals.Conclusion: PMT and conspiracy beliefs predict COVID-19 booster vaccination in minority ethnic individuals. To help increase vaccine uptake, community leaders need to be involved in addressing people’s concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination

    International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022

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    This conference proceedings gathers work and research presented at the International Academic Symposium of Social Science 2022 (IASSC2022) held on July 3, 2022, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Information Management of Universiti Teknologi MARA Kelantan Branch, Malaysia; University of Malaya, Malaysia; Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Ngudi Waluyo, Indonesia; Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines; and UCSI University, Malaysia. Featuring experienced keynote speakers from Malaysia, Australia, and England, this proceeding provides an opportunity for researchers, postgraduate students, and industry practitioners to gain knowledge and understanding of advanced topics concerning digital transformations in the perspective of the social sciences and information systems, focusing on issues, challenges, impacts, and theoretical foundations. This conference proceedings will assist in shaping the future of the academy and industry by compiling state-of-the-art works and future trends in the digital transformation of the social sciences and the field of information systems. It is also considered an interactive platform that enables academicians, practitioners and students from various institutions and industries to collaborate

    English translations of gender nonconformity in shōjo manga and anime: a trans-queer materialist feminist analysis

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    Shōjo, a category of manga and anime (Japanese comics and animation) primarily marketed to young girls, has a notable history of depicting gender nonconformity — i.e. gender/sexual identities, expressions, or embodiments marked as divergent from dominant norms. With the increasing popularity of manga and anime outside of Japan in the last three to four decades, many shōjo series have been translated into English, where particular linguistic constraints and political imperatives have manifested in the approaches taken to translating gender nonconformity. Applying a decolonial and trans-queer materialist feminist theoretical framework to the domain of multimodality, this thesis investigates English translations of gender nonconformity in three key titles that have defined shōjo’s growth and movement into English-speaking popular culture: The Rose of Versailles, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, and Ouran High School Host Club. I use a comparative analysis methodology to analyse selected excerpts of official translations and fan translations and develop an understanding of how their treatments of gender nonconformity were influenced by material factors. Through these three case studies, I attempt to define an overall trajectory of translational approaches to gender nonconformity in shōjo and shed light on shōjo’s role in the mutual negotiation of gender/sexual frameworks between Japan and the English-speaking Western world

    Religion, Education, and the ‘East’. Addressing Orientalism and Interculturality in Religious Education Through Japanese and East Asian Religions

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    This work addresses the theme of Japanese religions in order to rethink theories and practices pertaining to the field of Religious Education. Through an interdisciplinary framework that combines the study of religions, didactics and intercultural education, this book puts the case study of Religious Education in England in front of two ‘challenges’ in order to reveal hidden spots, tackle unquestioned assumptions and highlight problematic areas. These ‘challenges’, while focusing primarily on Japanese religions, are addressed within the wider contexts of other East Asian traditions and of the modern historical exchanges with the Euro-American societies. As result, a model for teaching Japanese and other East Asian religions is discussed and proposed in order to fruitfully engage issues such as orientalism, occidentalism, interculturality and critical thinking

    The Cultural Politics of Anti-Elitism

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    This book examines the highly ambivalent implications and effects of anti-elitism. It draws on this theme as a cross-cutting entry point to provide transdisciplinary analysis of current conjunctures and their contradictions, drawing on examples from popular culture and media, politics, fashion, labour and spatial arrangements. Using the toolboxes of media and discourse analysis, hegemony theory, ethnography, critical social psychology and cultural studies more broadly, the book surveys and theorizes the forms, the implications and the ambiguities and limits of anti-elitist formations in different parts of the world. Anti-elitist sentiments colour the contemporary political conjuncture as much as they shape pop cultural and media trends. Populists, right-wing authoritarian ones and others, direct their anger at cultural, political and, sometimes, economic elites while supporting other elites and creating new ones. At the same time, "elitist" knowledge and expertise, decision-making power and taste regimes are being questioned in societal transformations that are discussed much more positively under headlines such as participation or democratization. The book brings together a group of international, interdisciplinary case studies in order to better understand the ways in which the battle cry "against the elites" shapes current conjunctures and possible future politics, focusing on themes such as nationalist political discourse in India, Austria, the UK and Hungary, labour struggles and anti-oligarchy rhetoric in Russia, tax-avoiding elites and fiscal imaginaries, working-class agency, Melania Trump as a celebrity narrative in Slovenia, aesthetic codes of the Alt-Right, football hooliganism in Germany, "hipster hate" in German political discourse or the politics of expertise and anti-elite iconography in high fashion internationally. The book is intended for undergraduates, postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers

    Systematic Approaches for Telemedicine and Data Coordination for COVID-19 in Baja California, Mexico

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    Conference proceedings info: ICICT 2023: 2023 The 6th International Conference on Information and Computer Technologies Raleigh, HI, United States, March 24-26, 2023 Pages 529-542We provide a model for systematic implementation of telemedicine within a large evaluation center for COVID-19 in the area of Baja California, Mexico. Our model is based on human-centric design factors and cross disciplinary collaborations for scalable data-driven enablement of smartphone, cellular, and video Teleconsul-tation technologies to link hospitals, clinics, and emergency medical services for point-of-care assessments of COVID testing, and for subsequent treatment and quar-antine decisions. A multidisciplinary team was rapidly created, in cooperation with different institutions, including: the Autonomous University of Baja California, the Ministry of Health, the Command, Communication and Computer Control Center of the Ministry of the State of Baja California (C4), Colleges of Medicine, and the College of Psychologists. Our objective is to provide information to the public and to evaluate COVID-19 in real time and to track, regional, municipal, and state-wide data in real time that informs supply chains and resource allocation with the anticipation of a surge in COVID-19 cases. RESUMEN Proporcionamos un modelo para la implementación sistemática de la telemedicina dentro de un gran centro de evaluación de COVID-19 en el área de Baja California, México. Nuestro modelo se basa en factores de diseño centrados en el ser humano y colaboraciones interdisciplinarias para la habilitación escalable basada en datos de tecnologías de teleconsulta de teléfonos inteligentes, celulares y video para vincular hospitales, clínicas y servicios médicos de emergencia para evaluaciones de COVID en el punto de atención. pruebas, y para el tratamiento posterior y decisiones de cuarentena. Rápidamente se creó un equipo multidisciplinario, en cooperación con diferentes instituciones, entre ellas: la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, la Secretaría de Salud, el Centro de Comando, Comunicaciones y Control Informático. de la Secretaría del Estado de Baja California (C4), Facultades de Medicina y Colegio de Psicólogos. Nuestro objetivo es proporcionar información al público y evaluar COVID-19 en tiempo real y rastrear datos regionales, municipales y estatales en tiempo real que informan las cadenas de suministro y la asignación de recursos con la anticipación de un aumento de COVID-19. 19 casos.ICICT 2023: 2023 The 6th International Conference on Information and Computer Technologieshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-3236-

    Watching the Watchers: Contemporary Television, Complex Seriality, and Media Literacy

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    Narrative seriality dominates the twenty-first century mediascape, and nowhere is this more apparent than in television, where audiences have on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of unique series. Approaching seriality through the lens of contemporary television programming, this dissertation, Watching the Watchers: Contemporary Television, Complex Seriality, and Media Literacy, joins the growing body of interdisciplinary research on the affordances, limitations, causes, and implications of the serial form in American culture. More precisely, it treats the contemporary television series as a cipher through which it identifies and interprets how series negotiate the contours of their formal identity with its viewers. The dissertation opens with a deep genealogy of television seriality, in which it excavates and interprets the economic, technological, and cultural origins of contemporary television storytelling practices. From there, it moves into two case studies, analyzing the ways in which Westworld and Watchmen speak to the tendency of contemporary television series to theorize their own narrational forms. Where foundational texts in seriality studies have already established the innate reflexivity of all narrative series, this dissertation locates within Westworld a newer trend in “complex” television, which it calls metaseriality, that thematizes the processes by which series stage conversations between contemporary and past expressions of seriality; current series and their serial contemporaries; and the serial form and its audiences. Then, in its chapter on Watchmen, the dissertation explores what it means to watch a series that is simultaneously watching its audiences. Coding the multi-generational inheritance of trauma as a symptom of narrative, cultural, and genetic seriality, Watchmen attempts to remediate that trauma through experiments in narrative form. Finally, this dissertation turns toward the pragmatic goal of developing a critical pedagogy of television seriality. Without targeted instruction in formal and media literacy, consumers become unwitting students of the commercial logic of seriality. Watching the Watchers addresses the urgent demand for such a pedagogy by providing the rationale and resources necessary to support instructors in the creation of courses or units on television seriality.Doctor of Philosoph
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