From Schemes to Validation

UID/LIN/03213/2013Formal analyses of human movement are intended to be - by nature - objective. Despite the great interest in Gesture Studies of descibing gesture and other body movement forms, there is no one standardized guideline for the formal transcription nor annotation of body movementes. Thus, scienctists are left to adapt versions of pre-existing annotation schemes or develop their own. This paper aims at providing an overview of the gamut of annotation schemes used in the multimodal communication literatura in order to raise questions about how researchers define, treat and analyze body movements in their data. Differences of definitions cause problems when it comes to comparing research findings and are directly connected to the question of how body movement units are identified and classified by the research community. On the one hand, there is the problem of formal and functional labeling that are often collapsed in the adopted annotation scheme; on the other, definitional diversity affects humans raters' evaluation and judgmnt, not to mention differences in the annotation process when marking start- and end-points of a movement unit. Another issue is that human movement is often studied in a fragmented manner, where researchers (without blame) focus only on certain articulatores and not others. Whereas manual gestures are most studied within the the fiel, and some attempts have been undertaken for its standardization (inter alia Bressem, Ladewig, & Müller 2013; Lausberg & Sloetjes 2009), a structured annotation guideline for other articulators' expressions has yet to be reached (cf. "head-gestures annotation schemes": Kousidis 2013; Poggy 2010; Heylen 2008; Cerrato 20017; Allwood & Cerrato 2003). Consequently, a comprehensive annotation scheme containing all body articulators is unavailable to gesture researchers, although within the performing arts domain we find an example of that type (i.e. Laban movement analyses and notation). Besides the problems of definig the movement units and the segmentation issues, researchers also face obstacles in processing the data and the estimation of their reliability and validity. Already the widely used statistical coefficients for the measurement of inter-rater agreement (i.e. Fleiss' kappa, Krippendorff's alfa, Cohen's kappa), are problematic for this field (McHugh 2012) and are not aways included in the statistical evaluation exactly. Some researchers claim that a statistical calculation of agreement is not mandatory (e.g. Stelma & Cameron 2007). This presentation intends to provide more questions than answers, but at the same time provide suggestions to scientists tackling the questions of how to perform formal studies of human movements.publishersversionpublishe

Results of thermomechanical treatment implementation in hammer drop forging industrial process

The study concerns cost-effective realization of Thermomechanical controlled processing (TMCP) in a forging process. The goal of the study was to produce mechanical properties of the steel in as-forged direct-cooled condition equivalent to those of quenched-tempered structural steel with simultaneous energy-savings benefits. The results of satisfactory implementation into hammer forging of a complex-geometry made of microalloyed medium-carbon steel 38MnVS6 in industrial conditions are presented. The use of finite element analysis for estimation of proper run of cooling curves and full-scale simulation for reproducible hot deformation and cooling conditions resulted in producing Rm over 1 120 MPa with elongation reaching 20 %

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Classroom: Student Experiences at a Small, Liberal Arts University in the South

Research consistently shows that diversity, equity, and inclusion significantly impact student’s experiences in the classroom and their learning outcomes. Our qualitative study aimed to obtain insight from students on their experiences regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion at the university. This study also hoped to provide important information and feedback that can be used to inform the university’s faculty workshops. We targeted students who belonged to minority groups in our sample and conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 participants. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews were conducted via Zoom. We found several common experiences among participants including a lack of inclusive course material, lack of demographic similarities between students and professors, tokenism, the racial binary, being misgendered and/or deadnamed, and an impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly every participant emphasized the importance of making diversity trainings mandatory for all faculty. Perceptions of whether the university was accommodating towards disabilities was inconclusive, but many students pointed out flaws in the accessibility of campus buildings. In addition, many students provided suggestions and advice for how the university’s faculty can improve the classroom space in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our study was limited by our small sample size and lack of participants with physical disabilities. Future research should focus on broader understandings of disabilities on the college campus as well as examining a larger sample of participants and a wider range of universities

Toward a Theory of Risk Information Processing: The Mediating Effects of Reaction Time, Clarity, Affect, and Vividness

This project examined the variables that mediate the relationship between the exogenous variables numerical presentation and numeracy and the endogenous variables risk perception and risk related decisions. Previous research suggested that numerical format and numeracy influence outcomes. The question that remained unanswered was why? The goal of this project was to peer into the proverbial black box to critically examine information processing at work. To examine possible mediating variables, two theoretical models that have emerged in the risk perception literature were tested. The first is an evolutionary theory proposing that over time, individuals have developed an augmented ability to process frequency information. Thus, frequency information should be clearer and people should be faster at forming risk perceptions with information in this format. According to this model, processing speed and evidence clarity mediate the relationship between evidence format and risk perception. A second framework, the affective processing theory, argues that frequency information is more vivid and people derive more affect from information in this format. Therefore, according to this model, affect and vividness mediate the relationship between presentation format and risk perception. In addition to these two perspectives, a third theory was proposed and tested. The integrated theory of risk information processing predicted that reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness would all influence risk perception. Two experiments were conducted to test the predictions of these three theories. Overall, some support for an integrated model was found. Results indicated that the mediating variables reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness had direct effects on risk perception. In addition, risk perception had a strong influence on risk related decisions. In Study 2, objective numeracy had a direct effect on reaction time, such that people with high numeracy spent more time forming risk evaluations. Furthermore, people with a preference for numerical information evaluated numerical evidence as clearer and more vivid than people who preferred to receive evidence in nonnumerical formats. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided

A Formal and Functional Analysis of Gaze, Gestures, and Other Body Movements in a Contemporary Dance Improvisation Performance

UID/FIL/00183/2019 PTDC/FER‐FIL/28278/2017This study presents a microanalysis of what information performers “give” and “give off” to each other via their bodies during a contemporary dance improvisation. We compare what expert performers and non-performers (sufficiently trained to successfully perform) do with their bodies during a silent, multiparty improvisation exercise, in order to identify any differences and to provide insight into nonverbal communication in a less conventional setting. The coordinated collaboration of the participants (two groups of six) was examined in a frame-by-frame analysis focusing on all body movements, including gaze shifts as well as the formal and functional movement units produced in the head–face, upper-, and lower-body regions. The Methods section describes in detail the annotation process and inter-rater agreement. The results of this study indicate that expert performers during the improvisation are in “performance mode” and have embodied other social cognitive strategies and skills (e.g., endogenous orienting, gaze avoidance, greater motor control) that the non-performers do not have available. Expert performers avoid using intentional communication, relying on information to be inferentially communicated in order to coordinate collaboratively, with silence and stillness being construed as meaningful in that social practice and context. The information that expert performers produce is quantitatively less (i.e., producing fewer body movements) and qualitatively more inferential than intentional compared to a control group of non-performers, which affects the quality of the performance.publishersversionpublishe

The Evolution of Methotrexate as a Treatment for Ectopic Pregnancy and Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia: A Review

Methotrexate was developed in 1949 as a synthetic folic acid analogue to compete with folic acid and thus interfere with cell replication. While initially developed as a potential treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a serendipitous observation led to methotrexate's use to effect the dramatic cure of a case of advanced choriocarcinoma. This prompted the exploration for the potential of methotrexate to treat other conditions involving disordered trophoblastic tissue. Methotrexate has subsequently revolutionized the treatment of two pregnancy-related conditions—gestational trophoblastic neoplasia and ectopic pregnancy. This article reviews the development of modern treatment protocols that use methotrexate to medically treat these two important gynaecological conditions

Controlled austempering of hammer forgings aimed at pseudo normalized microstructure directly after deformation

The study concerns cost-effective realization of controlled thermomechanical processing (CTMP) of medium-carbon and HSLA steel aimed at producing microstructure and properties equivalent to normalized condition directly after forging. The results of theoretical and physical modeling of hot forging with subsequent heat treating adopted for industrial realization in continuous manner were verified in semi-industrial conditions of a forge plant

Dit is mijn lijf:Over de – schuldige? – relatie tussen seksueel geweld en de offertheologie van de Catechismus van de Katholieke Kerk binnen de context van het debat over seksueel geweld

De offertheologie in de Catechismus van de Katholieke Kerk (1995, CKK) vormt de kern van de leer en de moraal van die kerk. Met deze theologie heeft deze kerk een eigen positie en rol in het – publieke debat – over seksueel geweld zoals dat bijv. in de Raad van Europa gevoerd wordt. In dit onderzoek gaat het er over of de tekst van deze theologie mede een factor zou kunnen zijn van het fenomeen seksueel geweld – zoals bijv. gedefinieerd in Het Verdrag van Istanbul (2011) van de Raad van Europa? Cultuurwetenschappers als Mieke Bal, Franz Hinkelammert en Alice Miller hebben aangetoond dat bijbelteksten over Eva en Adam (Genesis 3) en over Isaak en Abraham (Genesis 22), alsmede interpretaties daarvan, teksten zijn die vaak elementen van geweld bevatten. En juist deze bijbelteksten hebben een fundamentele betekenis in die offertheologie, gelet ook op diens verstaan van het dagelijks leven van mensen, met diens noties over lichaam en ziel, over “de natuurlijke relatie” tussen man en vrouw en over het offer. Met de kritische analysemethodes van Bal e.a. wordt de CKK nagelezen op interpretaties van die Genesisverhalen en op de betekenissen van diens notie van het Offer van Christus. Het onderzoek laat zo zien hoezeer juist het offerconcept van deze catechismus van het machtsinstituut Rooms-Katholieke Kerk, seksueel geweld met verschillende manieren en in verschillende gremia, van biechtstoelen tot de Heilige Stoel, onzichtbaar maakt, versluiert of legitimeert

Klauzule generalne w prawie o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji

General clauses in the law of unfair competition are the subject of this article. The author acknowledges that a general clause could be understood in two ways. First of all, as a norm resulting from a provision, which authorizes an entity applying the law to base its decision on a non-legal criterion. Second of all, a term not precisely formulated. The necessity for general clauses in unfair competition law is caused by the impossibility to accurately determine all possible forms of unfair practices of those entities on the market, whose goal is to acquire consumers for their goods (services).Przedmiotem artykułu są klauzule generalne w prawie o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji. Autor przyjmuje, iż klauzula generalna może być rozumiana dwojako. Po pierwsze, jako norma wynikająca z przepisu upoważniającego podmiot stosujący prawo do oparcia swojego orzeczenia na kryterium pozaprawnym. Po drugie, jako sam zwrot nieostry. Konieczność klauzuli generalnej w prawie o zwalczaniu nieuczciwej konkurencji wynika z niemożliwego do precyzyjnego ustalenia wszystkich możliwych postaci nieuczciwych działań przedsiębiorców na rynku w celu pozyskania klientów dla swoich towarów (usług)

a study on coordinating turns in a contemporary dance improvisation exercise

UID/LIN/03213/2013How does a group of people collaborate and take turns when no speaking is allowed? Unlike previous studies on turn-taking (e.g. Duncan 1972; Sacks, Schegloff & Jefferson 1974; Kendon 1967; Ochs et al. 1996), the context of this inquiry is linguistically independent. The present study intends to contribute to the literature by presenting data collected in a silent improvisation session in the context of the performing arts and its quali-quantitative analysis, where the focus is on how the body, rather than speech, participates in collaborative decision-making. Five expert performers and five non-performers, joined by choreographer Jo ̃ao Fiadeiro, were filmed separately during a contemporary dance exercise, the ”Real-Time Composition Game” (Fiadeiro 2007). The Game involves participants sitting around a table, and through means of selfselection, performing single actions at a time on a table using various objects to develop compositions and learn the nature of improvisation. A micro-analysis of portions of the session was conducted using ELAN (Lausberg & Sloetjes 2009). The annotation scheme codes for: a) directedness behavior (spatial location and orientation of the body, gaze points, object interaction); b) a formal description of movement units (MUs) of the various articulators; and c) a hermeneutic tier categorizing the functional-semiotic interpretation of the MUs (following a hierarchical taxonomy: self-focused, context-focused; communication-focused). The first two levels of annotation have an objective quality; the third level, based on the previous ones, describes raters’ subjective interpretation of the participants’ movements. Despite completing the task both collaboratively and creatively, the non-performer group reverted to those turn-taking strategies common in everyday social interactions, minus those involving the vocal modality (i.e. frequent gaze shifts and communicative body movements). In contrast, we found that intersubjectivity was actively avoided by the expert group, both in the performers’ bodily movements and mutual gaze, with turn management being regulated by means of alternative cognitive and social strategies, which will be presented. Besides the differences in communicative body movements across the groups, we will also compare self-focused movements, produced as neurophysiological responses to a cognitive load. A qualitative macro-analysis of the two groups’ entire sessions will focus on features directly related to the decision-making process throughout the improvisation exercises, such as hesitation versus determination. These differences will be analyzed under the light of recent literature focusing on social cognition and decision-making (inter alia Frith & Singer 2008). Constraints such as common knowledge, alignment, trust and the interaction of reason and emotion will be taken into account to contrast the results between the groups. The results of these analyses and their implications for computational modeling of turns in the context of of multimodality, as well as the relevance with questions of embodiment, creativity, and performance will be discussed together with future research.publishersversionpublishe