ICT education for development — a case study

Abstract“Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D)” is a general term that is used to define the applications of ICTs for the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. In other words, the ICT4D is applying information technologies for poverty reduction purposes. Today the concept is far more evolved from when it started just as the ICT industry. Especially along with the Internet now the possibilities for collaboration have significantly increased. Since information and communication technologies will be shaping the future, the jobs acquired in the ICT industry will be even more valid. On the other hand while the need for professionals is increasing, the number of well trained professionals is not accumulating with the same acceleration rate, due to the high costs and accessibility problems. This paper focuses on a unique and successful project called SPARK (Youth Movement in Informatics). SPARK is a partnership of UNDP, Cisco and Youth for Habitat Association. This project aims to improve the level of information technology expertise among youth using the Cisco NetAcad e-learning platform, while simultaneously encouraging volunteerism. Moreover, SPARK aims to support young people to develop their social capacities and helps them participate in the new information-based global economy through the peer education model on advanced information technology and networking skills. Through the case of SPARK, this paper also emphasizes the importance of the ICT education for development and poverty reduction and illustrates the impact it makes on people’s lives

A field deployable method for a rapid screening analysis of inorganic arsenic in seaweed

The authors thank the support for getting the seaweed samples from the projects funded under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive research programmes in Ireland. Reference number 14 SF 860. The authors thank Corny Brombach for the graphical abstract.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Therapy for Irregular Menstruation with Acupunture and Herbal Pegagan (Centella Asiatica (L.))

Background : Menstruation is bleeding periodic scale and cyclical from uterus extrication (deskuamasi) endometrium. Menstruation bleeding is complex interaction result wich involve hormone system and body system, that are hypothalamus, hypofisis, ovarium and uterus. Every woman has different menstruation cycle. The causes of irregular menstruation are genetic and bad habit life. While according to TCM, irregular menstruation is Yue Jing Bu Tiao. Purpose : to knowing the effect of acupuncture therapy and point of Guanyuan (CV 4), Shenshu (BL 23), Sanyinjao (SP 6) and Shenmen (HT 7). Therapy was given 12 times, 3 times every week. Herbal therapy wich given was pegagan (Centella asiatica (L)) with dose 0,3 and consumed everyday after eat. Result : therapy that used acupuncture and herbal in irregular menstruation case showing menstruation cycle change, that was menstruation cycle became shorter from 76 days to 41 days. Conclusion : acupuncture therapy on point of Guanyuan (CV 4), Shenshu (BL 23), Sanyinjao (SP 6), Shenmen (HT 7), and pegagan herbal (Centella asiatica (L)) could shorten menstruation cycle from 76 days to 41 days

Singular patterns of skull shape and brain size change in the domestication of South American camelids

Patterns of selection in South American camelids (Lamini) and their unique demographic history establish the llama and alpaca as remarkable cases of domestication among large herd animals. Skull shape is implicated in many changes reported between wild and domestic taxa. We apply 3D geometric morphometric methods to describe skull shape, form, and size, differences among the four species of Lamini. In so doing, we test if domesticated Lamini exhibit changes similar to those in other domesticated groups: not only in the skull, but also in brain and body size. In contrast to other domesticated artiodactyls, very little change has occurred in domestic alpacas and llamas compared to their wild counterparts. Nevertheless, their differences are statistically significant and include a flatter cranium, inclined palate and increased airorhynchy in the domestics. Selection pressures that contrast with those on other herd animals, as well as recent population bottlenecks, likely have influenced the morphological patterns we note in Lamini. High-resolution 3D morphospace allows skull size, shape, and form (shape + size), to discriminate all four species, with form providing the greatest separation. These results help differentiate morphologically the Lamini, which in nature are distinguished mainly by body size, and provide an additional tool to archaeologists for distinction of wild and domestic remains. Most of our shape analyses suggest a marginally closer relationship between the alpaca and vicuña, to the exclusion of the guanaco, supporting the genetic relationships for this group. The expected brain size change between wild and domestic populations is lower than previously thought, with a 15.4% reduction in llama, and 6.8% reduction in alpaca. This is the lowest reduction in brain size thus far reported among domesticated Artiodactyla

Police Crime Arrests in the United States, 2011

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to provide empirical data on cases of police crime arrests during the year 2011. The study identifies and describes incidents in which nonfederal sworn law enforcement officers were arrested for one or more criminal offenses. Research Design & Method – The study is a quantitative content analysis of news articles identified through the Google News search engine using 48 automated Google Alerts queries. The unit of analysis in this study is criminal arrest case (not individual arrested officer). Intercoder Reliability – The Krippendorf’s alpha coefficient is strong (Krippendorf’s α = .9153) across the variables in the study. The overall level of simple percentage of agreement between coders across all of the variables (97.7%) also established a high degree of reliability. Research limitations/implications – The data are limited to cases that involve an official arrest. The data are also the result of a filtering process that includes the exercise of media discretion as to types of news stories reported and content devoted to particular news stories. Practical Implications – The study demonstrates that an annual report on police crime arrests can provide empirical data to better understand this neglected area of research. Originality/value – The study augments the few existing studies on the topic and is the only one known to describe the phenomenon in an annual report of police crime arrests as it occurs within law enforcement agencies nationwide

Bidirectional Associations Between Coparenting Relations and Family Member Anxiety: A Review and Conceptual Model

Research into anxiety has largely ignored the dynamics of family systems in anxiety development. Coparenting refers to the quality of coordination between individuals responsible for the upbringing of children and links different subsystems within the family, such as the child, the marital relationship, and the parents. This review discusses the potential mechanisms and empirical findings regarding the bidirectional relations of parent and child anxiety with coparenting. The majority of studies point to bidirectional associations between greater coparenting difficulties and higher levels of anxiety. For example, the few available studies suggest that paternal and perhaps maternal anxiety is linked to lower coparental support. Also, research supports the existence of inverse links between coparenting quality and child anxiety. A child’s reactive temperament appears to have adverse effects on particularly coparenting of fathers. A conceptual model is proposed that integrates the role of parental and child anxiety, parenting, and coparenting, to guide future research and the development of clinical interventions. Future research should distinguish between fathers’ and mothers’ coparenting behaviors, include parental anxiety, and investigate the coparental relationship longitudinally. Clinicians should be aware of the reciprocal relations between child anxiety and coparenting quality, and families presenting for treatment who report child (or parent) anxiety should be assessed for difficulties in coparenting. Clinical approaches to bolster coparenting quality are called for.FSW – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

Coding and noncoding variants in EBF3 are involved in HADDS and simplex autism

BACKGROUND: Previous research in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has indicated an important contribution of protein-coding (coding) de novo variants (DNVs) within specific genes. The role of de novo noncoding variation has been observable as a general increase in genetic burden but has yet to be resolved to individual functional elements. In this study, we assessed whole-genome sequencing data in 2671 families with autism (discovery cohort of 516 families, replication cohort of 2155 families). We focused on DNVs in enhancers with characterized in vivo activity in the brain and identified an excess of DNVs in an enhancer named hs737. RESULTS: We adapted the fitDNM statistical model to work in noncoding regions and tested enhancers for excess of DNVs in families with autism. We found only one enhancer (hs737) with nominal significance in the discovery (p = 0.0172), replication (p = 2.5 × 10 CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we identify DNVs in the hs737 enhancer in individuals with autism. Through multiple approaches, we find hs737 targets the gene EBF3 that is genome-wide significant in NDDs. By assessment of noncoding variation and the genes they affect, we are beginning to understand their impact on gene regulatory networks in NDDs

ACES: Analysis of Conservation with an Extensive list of Species

MOTIVATION: An abundance of new reference genomes is becoming available through large-scale sequencing efforts. While the reference FASTA for each genome is available, there is currently no automated mechanism to query a specific sequence across all new reference genomes. RESULTS: We developed ACES (Analysis of Conservation with an Extensive list of Species) as a computational workflow to query specific sequences of interest (e.g., enhancers, promoters, exons) against reference genomes with an available reference FASTA. This automated workflow generates BLAST hits against each of the reference genomes, a multiple sequence alignment file, a graphical fragment assembly file, and a phylogenetic tree file. These data files can then be used by the researcher in several ways to provide key insights into conservation of the query sequence. AVAILABILITY: ACES is available at https://github.com/TNTurnerLab/ACES. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary Figure 1 is available online in Bioinformatics

Dampak Tayangan Sinetron Terhadap Karakter Anak Usia Dini di PAUD Berlian Bondoyudo Kabupaten Lumajang Tahun Ajaran 2013/2014

Tayangan sinetron si Madun mempunyai pengaruh positif bagi anak terhadap terbentuknya karakter disiplin, mandiri dan berani dilihat dari frekuensi, durasi dan jenis. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dampaktayangansinetronterhadapkarakteranakusiadini di PAUD Berlian Bondoyudo Kabupaten Lumajang tahunajaran 2013/2014. Metode penelitian adalah deskriptif kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data melalui wawancara, observasi dan dokumentasi, analisis data menggunakan reduksi, penyajian data dan verifikasi/ penarikan kesimpulan. Hasil dari penelitian yaitu pembentukan karakter anak usia dini di PAUD Berlian dilakukan salah satunya melalui tayangan sinetron yang menarik karena tayangan sinetron si Madun dapat membentuk karakter yang sesuai dengan perkembangan dan pertumbuhan anak.   Kata Kunci: Karakter, Si Madun, Tayangan sinetron, PAU

MEDIA MASSA DAN CYBER CRIME DI ERA SOCIETY 5.0: Tinjauan Multidisipliner

The mass media in the era of society 5.0 is the main means of disseminating messages and information to the wider community. The era of society 5.0 and the birth of new media has made people's daily lives easier. Currently, the mass media has a dual role, namely as a means of sharing messages in the flow of communication and also acting as an agent of change for the community. Many people's expectations of the role of mass media as agents of change for the wider community to become even better turned out to have a myriad of challenges. Because basically the mass media has a flexible nature. Mass media as a means of disseminating information and messages to the wider community is in line with the realities of life, every new change of course has new risks that follow. The rapid development of mass media also brings the rapid development of cyber crime in human life. And here is a new challenge that must be faced by every party in the era of society 5.0. Reflecting on the case above, the research in this journal focuses on discussing the challenges that must be faced by each party involved in society 5.0 in the era of cyber crime that attacks all aspects of life. This research uses an explanatory method based on literature study in which all data are obtained from books, journals, articles and internet media. This study aims to see and find out to what extent the parties involved in society 5.0 face cyber crime, especially the mass media. The theory used in this study is social learning theory to discuss the reasons for the existence of cyber crime, then use and gratification theory to see the extent to which society is affected by mass media in society 5.0 and finally media ecology theory to see how the role of mass media is in dealing with cybercrime.The mass media in the era of society 5.0 is the main means of disseminating messages and information to the wider community. The era of society 5.0 and the birth of new media has made people's daily lives easier. Currently, the mass media has a dual role, namely as a means of sharing messages in the flow of communication and also acting as an agent of change for the community. Many people's expectations of the role of mass media as agents of change for the wider community to become even better turned out to have a myriad of challenges. Because basically the mass media has a flexible nature. Mass media as a means of disseminating information and messages to the wider community is in line with the realities of life, every new change of course has new risks that follow. The rapid development of mass media also brings the rapid development of cyber crime in human life. And here is a new challenge that must be faced by every party in the era of society 5.0. Reflecting on the case above, the research in this journal focuses on discussing the challenges that must be faced by each party involved in society 5.0 in the era of cyber crime that attacks all aspects of life. This research uses an explanatory method based on literature study in which all data are obtained from books, journals, articles and internet media. This study aims to see and find out to what extent the parties involved in society 5.0 face cyber crime, especially the mass media. The theory used in this study is social learning theory to discuss the reasons for the existence of cyber crime, then use and gratification theory to see the extent to which society is affected by mass media in society 5.0 and finally media ecology theory to see how the role of mass media is in dealing with cybercrime