Cartoons beyond clipart: a computer tool for storyboarding and storywriting

The concept of a text in English teaching has become greatly generalised; moving image 'texts' as resources which learners may interpret and produce, in similar ways to traditional print texts, find an increasingly emphasised place in the English curriculum. This thesis seeks to identify how computers currently fit into work which connects moving image media with English teaching, and how they may further contribute to educational practice. After the educational context is established and recent practice described, four stages of research are undertaken. [Continues.

Cartoons beyond clipart: a computer tool for storyboarding and storywriting

This paper describes the motivation, proposal, and early prototype testing of a computer tool for story visualisation prior to storywriting. An analysis of current software for making various types of visual story is made; this identifies a gap between software which emphasises preset banks of artwork, and software which emphasises low-level construction and/or drawing. A proposal is made to fill this gap, and a prototype implementation of the proposal is described in the context of a school-based study with Year 5, covering ages 9-10 years. Results from this prototype study both validate the novel proposal made and demonstrate that children are capable of more complex graphical interaction than most current software permits

The effect of a computer-based cartooning tool on children’s cartoons and written stories

This paper reports a study assessing a new computer tool for cartoon storytelling, created by the authors for a target audience in the upper half of the English and Welsh Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6, covering ages 9 to 11 years). The tool attempts to provide users with more opportunities for expressive visualisation than previous educational software; its design was motivated by earlier work connecting “moving image literacy” with print literacy, and it was used here in storywriting preparation work: users first visualised a known story, then wrote their versions of it based on the cartoons they had made. The stories produced are compared with stories written using two other preparation activities, one a pencil-and-paper cartooning exercise and the other a teacher’s normal planning session, which also resulted in a retelling of a known story. The study finds that no one preparation process had a noticeably different effect on the final written stories; however, the cartoons produced with the software are found to be quite different to their paper counterparts, showing a greater variety of character action, pose and interaction, slightly more variety of camera shot distance, and more pictures. Children’s and teachers’ reactions to the software tool are also discussed

Intelligibility of Electrolarynx Speech using a Novel Hands-Free Actuator

During voiced speech, the larynx provides quasi-periodic acoustic excitation of the vocal tract. In most electrolarynxes, mechanical vibrations are produced by a linear electromechanical actuator, the armature of which percusses against a metal or plastic plate at a frequency within the range of glottal excitation. In this paper, the intelligibility of speech produced using a novel hands-free actuator is compared to speech produced using a conventional electrolarynx. Two able-bodied speakers (one male, one female) performed a closed response test containing 28 monosyllabic words, once using a conventional electrolarynx and a second time using the novel design. The resulting audio recordings were randomized and replayed to ten listeners who recorded each word that they heard. The results show that the speech produced using the hands-free actuator was substantially more intelligible to the majority of listeners than that produced using the conventional electrolarynx. The new actuator has properties (size, weight, shape, cost) which lends itself as a suitable candidate for possible hands-free operation. This is one of the research ideals for the group and this test methodology presented as a means of testing intelligibility. This paper outlines the procedure for the possible testing of intelligibility of electrolarynx designs

An imaging neutron/gamma-ray spectrometer

We present the test results of a neutron/gamma-ray imaging spectrometer for the identification and location of radioactive and special nuclear materials. Radioactive materials that could be fashioned into a radiation dispersal device typically emit gamma rays, while fissile materials such as uranium and plutonium emit both neutrons and gamma rays via spontaneous or induced fission. The simultaneous detection of neutrons and gamma rays is a clear indication of the presence of fissile material. The instrument works as a double-scatter telescope, requiring a neutron or gamma ray to undergo an interaction in two detectors to be considered a valid event. While this requirement reduces the detector efficiency, it yields information about the direction and energy of the incident particle, which is then used to reconstruct an image of the emitting source. Because of this imaging capability background events can be rejected, decreasing the number of events required for high confidence detection and thereby greatly improving its sensitivity. The instrument is optimized for the detection of neutrons with energies from 1-20 MeV and gamma rays from 0.4 to 10 MeV. Images and energy spectra for neutron and gamma rays are reported for several sources including depleted uranium and plutonium. In addition, the effect of neutron source shielding is investigated

Associations between adverse childhood experiences, attitudes towards COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine hesitancy: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect life-course health and well-being, including risk-taking behaviour and trust. This study explored associations between ACEs and trust in health information on COVID-19, attitudes towards and compliance with COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine hesitancy. DESIGN: National cross-sectional telephone survey using a sample of landline and mobile numbers stratified by Health Board, deprivation quintile and age group. SETTING: Households in Wales during national COVID-19 restrictions (December 2020 to March 2021). PARTICIPANTS: 2285 Welsh residents aged ≥18 years. MEASURES: Nine ACEs; low trust in National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 information; supporting removal of social distancing and mandatory face coverings; breaking COVID-19 restrictions; and vaccine hesitancy (rejection or uncertainty of vaccination). RESULTS: Increasing ACE counts were independently related to low trust in NHS COVID-19 information, feeling unfairly restricted by government and ending mandatory face coverings. High ACE counts (4+ vs 0 ACEs) were also associated with supporting removal of social distancing. Breaking COVID-19 restrictions increased with ACE count with likelihood doubling from no ACEs to 4+ ACEs. Vaccine hesitancy was threefold higher with 4+ ACEs (vs 0 ACEs) and higher in younger age groups. Thus, modelled estimates of vaccine hesitancy ranged from 3.42% with no ACEs, aged ≥70 years, to 38.06% with 4+ ACEs, aged 18–29 years. CONCLUSIONS: ACEs are common across populations of many countries. Understanding how they impact trust in health advice and uptake of medical interventions could play a critical role in the continuing response to COVID-19 and controlling future pandemics. Individuals with ACEs suffer greater health risks throughout life and may also be excluded from interventions that reduce infection risks. While pandemic responses should consider how best to reach those suffering from ACEs, longer term, better compliance with public health advice is another reason to invest in safe and secure childhoods for all children

Differences in social preference between the sexes during ontogeny drive segregation in a precocial species (dataset)

Data used in Whiteside et al Differences in social preference between the sexes during ontogeny drive segregation in a precocial speciesHypotheses for why animals sexually segregate typically rely on adult traits such as differences in sexual roles leading to differences in habitat preferences, or size dimorphism resulting in differences in forage selection or activity budgets. However, segregation can occur in juveniles before such roles or size dimorphism is well established. In humans, leading hypotheses suggest that: 1) sexes differ in their behavioural repertoire and the synchronisation of this behaviour causes segregation; and 2) sexes separate in order to learn and maximise future reproductive roles. We reared pheasants Phasianus colchicus from hatching, for eight weeks, in the absence of adults and predators in a controlled environment with standardised habitat and food provision. Females aggregated with their own sex from hatching whereas males initially exhibited random association but segregation became pronounced with age. The increase in segregation corresponded to an increase in sexual size dimorphism. By standardising habitat availability, diet and removing predation risk we could reject the Predation Risk Hypothesis and the Forage Selection Hypothesis operating at this age. Activity budgets did not differ between the sexes providing no support for the Behavioural Synchrony or the Activity Budget Hypotheses. Both sexes preferentially approached groups of unfamiliar, same-sex birds in binary choice tests, providing support for the Social Preference Hypothesis. Females may segregate to avoid male aggression, whereas males may segregate to seek opportunities to assert dominance or practice sexual contests. Sexual segregation therefore appears to become established early in development, especially in precocial species. As such, a clear understanding of ontogenetic factors is essential to further our understanding of adult assortment patterns. This may not be inherent but rather emerge as a consequence of social interactions early in life.ER