A serious game for children with speech disorders and hearing problems

Tezin basılısı İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi'ndedir.Speechimpedimentaffectingchildrenwithhearingdifficultiesandspeechdisordersrequires speech therapy and much practice to overcome. In fact, speech therapy via serious games gives an opportunity to children with speech disorders and hearing problems to overcome their problems. As far as children are more inclined to play games, so we intend to learn them by entertainments like serious games. In this thesis, we have designed and implemented a serious game that can be used both as a therapy and as a tool to measure the performance of children with speech impediments in which children will learn to speak specific words that they are expected to know before the age of 7. And then we will teach them how to make sentences. The game consists of three steps. The first step provides information for parents or therapists to decide if their child needs speech therapy or not. In the second step, the child starts to learn specific words while playing the game. The third step aims to measure the performance of the child and evaluate how much the child has learned at the end of the game. The game has an avatar which can be controlled by the child through speech, with the objective of moving the avatar around the environment to earn coins. The avatar is controlled by both voice commands such as Jump, Ahead, Back, Left, Right, and arrow keys of the keyboard. The child will be guided by an arrow during the game instead of getting help from a therapist or a teacher to guide the child to the next goal. This allows the child to practice longer hours, compared to clinical approaches under the supervision of a therapist, which are time-limited. Our preliminary performance measurements indicate an improvement of 40% for children who play our game at least 5 times and a specific period of time.Declaration of Authorship ii Abstract iv Öz v Acknowledgments vii List of Figures x List of Tables xi Abbreviations xii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction ................................... 1 1.1.1 Learning definition ........................... 1 1.1.2 Does gamification work? ........................ 2 1.2 Introduction to Serious Games: ........................ 4 1.2.1 What is serious games? ........................ 4 1.2.2 First Serious Game ........................... 5 1.2.3 Background on Serious Games .................... 5 1.3 Research Problems ............................... 7 1.4 Motivation.................................... 8 1.5 Research Contributions............................. 9 1.5.1 Research Publications ......................... 9 1.6 Thesis Outline ................................. 9 2 Background 11 2.1 Related Works ................................. 11 2.2 An overview of Serious Games in health ................... 13 2.3 Does speech therapy and language recovery work? .............. 14 2.4 A literature survey of serious games for speech disorder ........... 14 2.5 Main Characteristics of Into the Forest Game ................ 15 3 Proposed System 19 3.1 Game engine analysis .............................. 19 3.2 Avatar ...................................... 20 3.3 Proposed Game ................................. 21 4 Implementation 30 4.1 Preliminary Testing............................... 30 4.2 Testing ...................................... 32 5 Conclusion and Future Work 37 5.1 Conclusion.................................... 37 5.1.1 Future Work .............................. 38 Bibliography 3

The Relationships Between General Health and Emotional Intelligence with Defence Mechanisms on University Students of Payame Noor University

AbstractThe aim of present study, studies relationships between general health and emotional intelligence with defence mechanisms on university students of Payam Noor university branch of Marand. The sample size was 120 university students were chosen by a multi-stage cluster sampling method with different majors. For gathering data, students filled out Goldberg general health questioner, and bar _On emotional intelligence questioner and DSQ- 40 defence mechanisms questioner. To analyse the data, Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis were used. The findings revealed there were positive associations between general health with some defence mechanisms and positive association between emotional intelligence with some defence mechanisms too but negative association between general health and emotional intelligence

An Overview of The Available Methods for Morphological Scoring of Pre-Implantation Embryos in In Vitro Fertilization

Assessment of embryo quality in order to choose the embryos that most likely result in pregnancy is the critical goal in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The current trend in human in vitro fertilization/embryo transfer (IVF/ET) protocols is to decrease the rate of multiple pregnancies after multiple embryo transfer with maintaining the pregnancy rate at admissible levels (according to laboratory standards). Assessment of morphological feathers as a reliable non-invasive method that provides valuable information in prediction of IVF/intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome has been frequently proposed in recent years. This article describes the current status of morphological embryo evaluation at different pre-implantation stages

The relationship of marital quality and sexual satisfaction with marital status in Iranian women: a Path model

Introduction :  Marriage is the most common life event in all societies. More than 90% of people in the world get married at least once in their life; there are some factors, however, that may make a marriage unstable. This study aimed to investigate the relationship  of   marital quality   and  sexual  satisfaction  with  marital status  by  using  Path  model  in  Iranian  women   who  referred to health  centers  affiliated  to  Shahid   Beheshti  University  of  Medical  Sciences Tehran, Iran in  2015.Methods: This was cross-sectional study conducted on  400 women from January to May 2015(8 months),  who were  selected  through  multistage  sampling method. Data were collected through distinct  questionnaires  demographic  characteristics ,instability marriage , marital  quality and  Larson  sexual  satisfaction   that completed  by   interview   . Descriptive   statistics,  Pearson’s  test   were  performed by SPSS V.16 and   LISREL8.80    used  for  analysis  of  data. (P<0.05)Results: The mean age of  400  participants   was 26.74 ± 3.50 years  old, and  their   mean duration of marriage was 7.90 ± 4.30 years . Marital   quality    was the most effective predictor of marital status(P<0.001).  Sexual   satisfaction    had  direct  association with marital status through direct effect of marital quality (P<0.001). Moreover, smoking (P<0.001)  and  addiction  of  spouse (P<0.08)   had    association  with  marital status  inversely. (p< 0.05).Conclusion:  Noticed  to  sexuality  and  increase quality  marital  life  and avoidance  of high risk behaviors   will help  to  stability  marriage. Declaration of Interest: None. 

Effective Factors on Sexual Quality of Life in Iranian Women: A Path Model

Introduction: Sexual affairs are one of the physiological needs affecting human health. Sexual functioning disorders can reduce individual’s capabilities and creativities. Sexual relations are in the center of women’s quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the correlation   of  sexual  violence, stress perceived, demographic  characteristic  of  women   and  high  risk  behavior  spouse    with  sexual  quality  life of  women  by  using  Path  model  in  Iranian  women   who  referred to health  centers  affiliated  to  Shahid   Beheshti  University  of  Medical  Sciences Tehran, Iran in  2015.  Methods: This   was   sectional   descriptive-correlative  study conducted on 800 women  who were  selected  through  multistage  sampling method. Data were collected through distinct  questionnaires  demographic  characteristics ,sexual quality life of  female(SQOL-F) , sexual  violence, stress perceived   and  high risk behavior  spouse   that completed  by   interview  .Software  SPPS16   and   LISREL8.80    used  for  analysis  of  data.  Results: The   results   revealed   that   among   direct   pathways, sexual violence  (β = -0.40)  was the most effective predictor of sexual  quality  of  life  women.  The age (β=-0.03 ) had an inverse association with sexual  quality  of  life  women through direct effect of sexual violence(β=0.33). Moreover, education (β=0.03) had a direct  association  with  sexual  quality  of  life  women   through  inverse  association  0f  sexual  violence (β=-0.10). Stress perceived ( β=-0.24) and  high risk behavior spouse (β=-0.30) indirectly,  effects on  sexual  quality  of  life  women. Conclusion:   Women have the rights to experience a safe and enjoyable sexual relationship. Sexual function is very complicated and is affected by many factors, including   the  personal   lifestyle  and  interpersonal relationships. It is essential  that  noticed to sexuality and  increase quality  marital  life  but    avoidance  of  high risk  behaviors    will help  to it.Keywords: Sexual  Quality, Sexual  violence, Stress perceived , High risk behavior, Women, Ira

Downregulation Of Extracellular Matrix And Cell Adhesion Molecules In Cumulus Cells Of Infertile Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Women With And Without Insulin Resistance

Objective The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the cumulus oocyte complex (COC) is composed of several molecules that have different roles during follicle development. This study aims to explore gene expression profiles for ECM and cell adhesion molecules in the cumulus cells of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients based on their insulin sensitivity following controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). Materials And Methods In this prospective case-control study enrolled 23 women less than 36 years of age who participated in an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. Patients were subdivided into 3 groups: control (n=8, fertile women with male infertility history), insulin resistant (IR) PCOS (n=7), and insulin sensitive (IS) PCOS (n=8). We compared 84 ECM component and adhesion molecule gene expressions by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction array (qPCR-array) among the groups. Results We noted that 21 of the 84 studied genes differentially expressed among the groups, from which 18 of these genes downregulated. Overall, comparison of PCOS cases with controls showed downregulation of extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1); catenin (cadherin-associated protein), alpha 1 (CTNNA1); integrin, alpha 5 (ITGA5); laminin, alpha 3 (LAMA3); laminin, beta 1 (LAMB1); fibronectin 1 (FN1); and integrin, alpha 7 (ITGA7). In the IS group, there was upregulation of ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 8 (ADAMTS8) and neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) compared with the controls (P<0.05). Conclusion Downregulation of ECM and cell adhesion molecules seem to be related to PCOS. Gene expression profile alterations in cumulus cells from both the IS and IR groups of PCOS patients seems to be involved in the composition and regulation of ECM during the ovulation process. This study highlights the association of ECM gene alteration as a viewpoint for additional understanding of the etiology of PCOS

Measuring performance of children with speech and language disorders using a serious game

Speech therapy via serious games gives an opportunity to children with speech disorders and hearing problems to overcome their problems by playing serious games. As far as children are more inclined to play games, so we intend to learn them by entertainments. In this paper, we have designed and implemented a serious game that can be used both as therapy and as a tool to measure the performance of children with speech impediments. The game consists of three steps. The first step provides information for parents or therapists to decide if their child needs speech therapy or not. In the second step, the child starts to learn specific words while playing the game. The third step aims to measure the performance of the child and evaluate how much the child has learned at the end of the game. The game has an avatar which can be controlled by the child through speech, with the objective of moving the avatar around the environment to earn coins. The avatar is controlled by both voice commands such as Jump, Ahead, Back, Left, Right, and arrow keys of the keyboard. The game allows the child to practice longer hours, compared to clinical approaches under the supervision of a therapist, which are time-limited. Our preliminary performance measurements indicate an improvement of 40% for children who play our game 5 times

Gene therapy in beta thalassemia: a review article

Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease that occurs due to a decrease in the synthesis of Please recheck. In beta thalassemia, defects in β-globin synthesis lead to an imbalance of β- and α-globin chains and the accumulation of α4 chains in the erythroid precursor which leads to ineffective erythropoiesis, shortened red blood cell survival, and finally clinical symptoms such as delayed sexual and physical maturation, endocrine dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, liver disease, bone deformities and hepatosplenomegaly. Current treatments such as transfusion, iron chelating agents and allogeneic stem cell hematopoietic transplantation have limitations in their use, including iron overload, lack of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched compatible donor, and graft versus host disease (GVHD). Gene therapy is a new therapeutic option for beta thalassemia patients that induces the continuous expression of beta globin chains in the patient’s hematopoietic stem cells. The idea of gene therapy was first proposed in the early 1970s, and the ultimate goal of this treatment method is to express the defective gene in the target cell in a way that can reduce the symptoms of the disease or eliminate them (symptoms) altogether. There are two general methods for gene therapy: the integrating vector, in which the desired gene is inserted into the genome of the target cell and its lifelong expression follows, is the non-integrating method, in which the vector doesn’t integrate into the genome of the target cell and the cytoplasmic form enables gene expression. The first beta thalassemia gene therapy was performed in France in 2006, and in this clinical trial, the first patient with the E/β0 thalassemia was treated at the age of 18. Gene therapy for beta-thalassemia has been approved by the food and drug administration in 2022 for patients aged 12 years and older who have a non β0/β0 phenotype. It seems that this therapeutic option is the definitive treatment method for blood transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia patients.     However, this treatment method still has limitations: high cost, sensitivity of lentiviral vector production, and the possibility of integration of the vector near the proto-oncogene and its activation are some of them

The use of cranberry for prevention of Urinary tract infection

Background and Aims:Urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that affects any part of the urinary tract. Antibiotics can be used for prevention of recurrent urinary tract infection,and due to the adverse effects of chemical medicines including allergen effects, resistance creation to bacteria and toxicity cases, herbal treatment have been noticed alternatively. This study aimed to identify effective herbal drugs on preventing urinary tract infection. Materials and Methods:Databases such as Ovid, Medline, Scopus, Science direct and Inter science were searched using keywords such as complementary therapy, herbal medicine, alternative medicine and urinary tract infection from 1994 to 2012. Results:Studies have shown that herbal products particularl

A serious game for children with speech disorders and hearing problems

Speech impediment affecting children with hearing difficulties and speech disorders requires speech therapy and much practice to overcome. To motivate the children to practice more, serious games can be used because children are more inclined to play games. In this paper, we have designed and implemented a serious game in which children can learn to speak specific words that they are expected to know before the age of 7. The game consists of an avatar controlled by the child through speech, with the objective of moving the avatar around the environment to earn coins. The avatar is controlled by voice commands such as Jump, Ahead, Back, Left, Right. Children will be guided by an arrow during the game instead of a getting help from a therapist or a teacher to guide the child to the next coin. This allows the child to practice longer hours, compared to clinical approaches under the supervision of a therapist, which are time-limited