Reflective Practices at Tertiary Level: A Gender Wise Comparison

The study aimed to determine reflective practices of teachers at tertiary level and to determine the difference in reflective practices of teachers on the basis of gender. Present study was descriptive in nature. Population of the study comprised of all the 5404 teachers teaching in universities of Islamabad. 12% of teaching faculty was selected by using proportional stratified sampling technique. Questionnaire developed by Wilkes and Chapman (2015) was adapted as research tool. Findings revealed that tertiary level teachers were practicing reflection in-action and reflection on-action, using different tools of reflection, they practice reflection by examining others and own perspectives and question assumptions of others as well as their own related with their teaching. A significant difference was found among teachers by gender regarding their reflective practices. Male teachers were found better as compare to female teachers in their reflective practices. On the basis of findings of the study it is recommended that at tertiary level workshops and awareness seminars may be conducted to raise teacher’s awareness of the importance and use of reflective practices in teaching especially for female teachers

Validity of self-reported drug use during pregnancy

Introduction: Epidemiology studies often rely on maternal self-reports for drug use information, however, the degree of drug use under-reporting among pregnant women is largely unknown. The purpose of this study is to assess the accuracy of self-reports for methadone, buprenorphine, opioids (prescription opioids and heroin), marijuana, benzodiazepines, amphetamines/methamphetamines, and cocaine/crack-cocaine in a population of pregnant women. Methods: Analysis was based on 102 pregnant women enrolled in the \u27Biomarkers in Pregnancy Study\u27 (BIPS) cohort at the University of New Mexico. Women attending the UNM Milagro clinic, designated to pregnant women with the current or past history of substance abuse, were enrolled during one of the first prenatal care visits and followed up to term. Self-reported information about drug use was compared with the results of the urine drug screens conducted during the third trimester. Simple kappa and prevalence-and-bias-adjusted kappa coefficients were calculated as measures of agreement. Sensitivity and specificity of self-reports for each drug class were also estimated using urine toxicology screening as the gold standard. In addition, logistic regression was conducted to evaluate the effect of number of toxicology screens on agreement. Results: The mean maternal age of the sample was 26.4 ± 4.9 years and included a large proportion of ethnic minority (78% Hispanics/Latina) and socially disadvantaged (51% \u3c less than high school education and 95% Medicaid-insured) pregnant women. On average, these patients had 4.8 ± 3.0 urine drug screens in the third trimester. For methadone-maintenance therapy, there was a perfect agreement between self-reports and urine screens (k and PABAK =1.0, 100% sensitivity and specificity). Simple kappa coefficients for other classes of drugs revealed varied levels of agreement, however, PABAK coefficients indicated moderate to almost perfect agreement for other classes of drugs. Sensitivity of self-reports was low for all classes of drugs, with marijuana and opioids more acceptable than other classes of drugs. The specificity of self-report was high for classes of drugs. Logistic regression revealed no association between number of toxicology screens and agreement. Discussion: These results indicated that sensitivity of self-reports for all classes of drugs was low with opioids and marijuana more acceptable than other drugs

Rapid placement and anatomical sculpting of hardened posterior composite

Posterior composites have long had a reputation for being difficult and time consuming in clinical practice. In addition to this reputation, it has been noted that recurrent caries and in general failure of these restorations prematurely has been a problem. Relative to amalgams, posterior composites have vexed even good clinical dentist. This video presentation illustrates techniques that not only save time but also create more predictable high-quality restorations

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE COGNITIVE IMPACTS OF MUSIC ACROSS DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS IN MITIGATING STRESS

The efficacy of music in therapeutically influencing human lifestyle can be broadly classified. Music is known to relieve stress and anxiety (Meyers et al., 2021). The influence of music in the cognitive regions of the brain and its ability to stimulate the body’s reward centers is considered a powerful tool to enhance and flourish human life. What makes music different from other mediums of stress relief is that the music industry is backed by variety. Individuals have the freedom to choose from different genres and select what best suits their personality. All humans share this cross-culturally existing feature called ‘music’ which is customizable and universal by nature (CROSS, 2001). Data was collected from 100 healthy respondents. Results showed that 83% of the participants chose music as the main source of distraction during stressful conditions. Pop and hip-hop was found to be the most preferred music genre for people in the age group of 15-35 years whereas classical music genre was the most preferred choice for individuals above 35 years of age. Another important observation in this paper was that the majority of the respondents increase their duration of listening to music during stressful situations, thus showing the significance of music as a solitary source in overcoming stress. In this paper, we aim to gauge the role of stress and the influence of music in positively mediating anxiety and stress issues in common individuals across different generations.&nbsp

St. Louis Regional Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy

This semester the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Team (GHGRT) of the Sustainability Exchange program at Washington University in St. Louis was tasked with initial planning to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the St. Louis area for OneSTL. To do so, GHGRT began by meeting with experts in the field, including Rene Dulle, Tim Michels, and Emily Andrews, to determine the best course of action and get insight into the situation as it stands. Based on this information, we decided to focus on building energy use and resulting carbon emissions. The team then researched energy use in the city of St. Louis and investigated Ameren’s plan for converting from fossil fuels to carbon neutral energy by 2050. The team also investigated paths for funding for St. Louis citizens through avenues such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and rebates from Spire and Ameren. The team also considered non-technical and non-monetary strategies for reducing carbon emissions, focusing on community education. To complete our analysis, we created several model scenarios for citizens and buildings in St. Louis to show how our strategies could be implemented in the real world. In this report we also discussed some challenges we had while completing the project as well as some expected future steps for this project

Large language model for Bible sentiment analysis: Sermon on the Mount

The revolution of natural language processing via large language models has motivated its use in multidisciplinary areas that include social sciences and humanities and more specifically, comparative religion. Sentiment analysis provides a mechanism to study the emotions expressed in text. Recently, sentiment analysis has been used to study and compare translations of the Bhagavad Gita, which is a fundamental and sacred Hindu text. In this study, we use sentiment analysis for studying selected chapters of the Bible. These chapters are known as the Sermon on the Mount. We utilize a pre-trained language model for sentiment analysis by reviewing five translations of the Sermon on the Mount, which include the King James version, the New International Version, the New Revised Standard Version, the Lamsa Version, and the Basic English Version. We provide a chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse comparison using sentiment and semantic analysis and review the major sentiments expressed. Our results highlight the varying sentiments across the chapters and verses. We found that the vocabulary of the respective translations is significantly different. We detected different levels of humour, optimism, and empathy in the respective chapters that were used by Jesus to deliver his message

Effect of Reflective Practices on Quality Instruction at Higher Level

Present study intends to explore the effect of reflective practices on quality instruction at higher education level. Major objective of the study was to assess the effect of reflective practices on quality instruction at higher level. The effect of reflective practices was explored on five indicators of quality instructions including professional responsibilities and effective human relations, planning and preparation of curriculum, instructions, assessment practices and classroom environment. Study was descriptive in nature. Population of the study comprised of 5149 teachers teaching in universities of Islamabad. By using stratified random sampling technique 515 (10%) teaching faculty of universities was selected. 515 questionnaires were distributed among teachers and from them 408 teachers returned hence the response rate was 79.22%. Two research questionnaires were used which includes Reflective Practice instrument developed by Linda LawrenceWilkes and Alan Chapman (2015) with Cronbach’s Alpha reliability of .84, and Quality Instruction questionnaire developed by the researcher with Cronbach’s Alpha reliability of .87. Findings revealed that there is significant effect of reflective practice on quality instruction at higher level, Reflective practice has positive effect on maintaining classroom environment, assessment practices and instructional techniques of teachers. It is recommended to conduct trainings and seminars for the awareness of teachers about reflective practices and its importance and role in improving quality of instruction

Solving Sudoku from an Image using Modular Architecture Approach

Sudoku puzzles can be found in various physical forms in newspapers, magazines and elsewhere. It may often be desirable to convert this puzzle into a digital format for ease of solving. This paper proposes a method for extracting and solving a Sudoku puzzle captured in an image. AI techniques can then be applied to solve the Sudoku puzzle. A modular architecture is created for this purpose. Modules can be replaced as needed, making it easier to improve and maintain an application using the proposed architecture DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150312