Reconsidering Clark's Theory in CSCW

The use of Herbert Clark’s work as a theoretical framework in the Computer Supported Collaborative Work domain is often dismissed or judged as “cooked” and led to a large body of controversy. This article intends to reconsider his contribution and re-examined the criticisms he received. The main critics addressed to Clark are that his notion of Common Ground is far too mentalist and lacks “situatedness”. We argue that most of these criticisms stem from the verbal conversational aspects of Clark’s theory. We sustain here the idea that his broader model of the “joint action” provides a fruitful ground for research in CSCW. Through one case study of our research, we indeed show how what Clark defines as “Common Ground “could be interpreted in a situated context. The discussion also addresses how this model can serve as a design framework

Survey of Oral Manifestation of Covid-19 in Medical Specialties in Sulaimaniyah City Hospitals

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 is a serious infection resulting in a global threat caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) characterized by different symptoms, ranging from mild flu to severe pneumonia. Objective:To focus on the oral manifestations which could be present in some cases of COVID-19 and to assess the associations between oral health and COVID19. on188 medical specialists in Sulaimaniyah city. The questionnaire was composed of 3 parts; the 1st part included demographic features. The 2nd part was composed of questions concerning the oral hygiene condition of the participants, and the 3rd section encompassed questions about oral complications during infection with COVID-19. Results: Among 188 participants, 92% complained of oral manifestation while being infected with Covid-19 at significant levels. Facial and masticatory muscle pain 27.1%, facial or oral numbness 8%, jaw bones or joint pain 39.9%, changes in buccal mucosa and gingiva 10.1%, bleeding gingivitis 9%, Altered taste sensation 67.6%, altered smell sensation 69.1% and xerostomia 54.8% were highly associated with Covid-19. Conclusion: Some cases of Covid-19 usually present with different oral manifestations. Therefore, oral care monitoring should be enhanced for Covid-19 patients and maintain good oral health

Partner Modeling is Mutual

Collaborative learning has been hypothesized to be related to the cognitive effort engaged by co-learners to build a shared understanding. The process of constructing this shared understanding requires each team member to build some kind of representation of the behavior, beliefs, knowledge or intentions of other group members. This contribution reports interesting findings regarding to the process of modeling each other. In two empirical studies, we measured the accuracy of the mutual model, i.e. the difference between what A believes B knows, has done or intends to do and what B actually knows, has done or intends to do. In both studies, we found a significant correlation between the accuracy of A's model of B and the accuracy of B's model of A. This leads us to think that the process of modeling one's partners does not simply reflect individual attitudes or skills but emerges as a property of group interactions. We describe on-going studies that explore these preliminary results

The effects of animations on verbal interaction in computer supported collaborative learning

This paper focuses on the interaction patterns of learners studying in pairs who were provided with multimedia learning material. In a previous article, we reported that learning scores were higher for dyads of an ‘animations’ condition than for dyads of a ‘static pictures’ condition. Results also showed that offering a persistent display of one snapshot of each animated sequence hindered collaborative learning. In the present paper, further analyses of verbal interactions within learning dyads were performed in order to have a better understanding of both the beneficial effect of animations and the detrimental effect of the presence of persistent snapshots of critical steps on collaborative learning. Results did not show any differences in terms of verbal categories between the two versions of the instructional material, that is, static versus animated pictures. Pairs who were provided with persistent snapshots of the multimedia sequences produced fewer utterances compared to participants without the snapshots. In addition, the persistent snapshots were detrimental both in terms of providing information about the learning content and in terms of producing utterances solely for the purpose of managing the interaction. In this study, evidence also showed that these two verbal categories were positively related to learning performances. Finally, mediation analyses revealed that the negative effect of persistent snapshots was mediated by the fact that peers of the snapshots condition produced less information providing and interaction management utterances. Results are interpreted using a psycholinguistic framework applied to computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) literature and general guidelines are derived for the use of dynamic material and persistency tools in the design of CSCL environments

Mutual Modelling in Robotics: Inspirations for the Next Steps

Mutual modelling, the reciprocal ability to establish a mental model of the other, plays a fundamental role in human interactions. This complex cognitive skill is however difficult to fully apprehend as it encompasses multiple neuronal, psychological and social mechanisms that are generally not easily turned into computational models suitable for robots. This article presents several perspectives on mutual modelling from a range of disciplines, and reflects on how these perspectives can be beneficial to the advancement of social cognition in robotics. We gather here both basic tools (concepts, formalisms, models) and exemplary experimental settings and methods that are of relevance to robotics. This contribution is expected to consolidate the corpus of knowledge readily available to human-robot interaction research, and to foster interest for this fundamentally cross-disciplinary field

Large-Area, Highly Sensitive SERS Substrates with Silver Nanowire Thin Films Coated by Microliter-Scale Solution Process

A microliter-scale solution process was used to fabricate large-area, uniform films of silver nanowires (AgNWs). These thin films with cross-AgNWs were deposited onto Au substrates by dragging the meniscus of a microliter drop of a coating solution trapped between two plates. The hot spot density was tuned by controlling simple experimental parameters, which changed the optical properties of the resulting films. The cross-AgNW films on the Au surface served as excellent substrates for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, with substantial electromagnetic field enhancement and good reproducibility