A comparison of conventional and deep learning methods of image classification

The aim of the research is to compare traditional and deep learning methods in image classification tasks. The conducted research experiment covers the analysis of five different models of neural networks: two models of multi–layer perceptron architecture: MLP with two hidden layers, MLP with three hidden layers; and three models of convolutional architecture: the three VGG blocks model, AlexNet and GoogLeNet. The models were tested on two different datasets: CIFAR–10 and MNIST and have been applied to the task of image classification. They were tested for classification performance, training speed, and the effect of the complexity of the dataset on the training outcome.

The Role of Diversity in Company Productivity: The Case of the Bank Sector in Kosovo

Importance to identifying how diversity affects individual and group productivity in todays globalized world is increasing. The purpose of this research lies in the phenomenon of diversity and further analysis of the impact that diversity has on the work environment. To conduct this research, I interviewed 20 managers and 30 employees of the banking sector regarding the composition of their staff with emphasis on diversity. The data were processed using the statistical analysis of SPSS program. Human resources have positively influenced the increase of success, productivity and has eased problem solving, bettered performance, training, salary, and diversity of employees. This study will have practical significance in the easier approach of problems in human resource management and their motivation.

Individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of high-performance training in athletics and volleyball

The study investigated the extent of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of high-performance training. Individualisation refers to the extent to which the training design is tailored to an athlete's individual wishes, interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Readjustment refers to the adjustment of day-to-day training to an athlete's current physical, health-related and psychological constitution. Athlete codetermination refers to an athlete's involvement in decision-making on the training design. German national-squad members in athletics and volleyball ( n = 336) reported these variables in an online questionnaire. Analyses revealed four central findings: (1) Large parts of athletes’ training were characterised by high degrees of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination. (2) These characteristics were more pronounced in athletics than in volleyball. (3) They explained large parts of the appropriateness of athletes’ training (whether the training was ‘just right’ for an athlete's performance development). Consistently, greater extents of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of training control were associated with better multi-year performance development. (4) Participation in performance analytics had no additional, specific effect on training appropriateness. All the results consistently applied to both youth age and adult age. In conclusion, greater extents of individualisation, readjustment and athlete codetermination of the training design apparently facilitate long-term training efficiency.

Athlete of Emotion - Examining the Perdekamp Emotional Method

<p>The Perdekamp Emotional Method (PEM) is an emerging psychophysiological acting system that claims to allow actors ‘safe, reliable and repeatable access’ to emotion, with no recourse to their own psychology, imagination or personal experience. Developed in Germany over the last thirty years, the process regards the emotions as innate, biological movement patterns, hard-coded in human beings, that can be invoked consciously through a specific combination of physiological triggers. In light of recent international studies that point to significant psychological unwellness throughout the acting profession, there is an ethical imperative for drama schools to investigate such techniques, and evaluate their legitimacy against more commonly utilised approaches to achieving believable emotion, such as the Emotion Memory techniques of Konstantin Stanislavski and Lee Strasberg, which have courted criticism for being both inefficient and, at worst, harmful. While Austrian research has been carried out to establish the scientific legitimacy of PEM, nothing has been written about it in English, and it is only just beginning to be introduced to performance training institutions around the world. This thesis investigates PEM's claims in order to contribute critically to the depth and understanding of this system, and to evaluate the potential value of introducing PEM into the conservatoire model of a tertiary Drama School, using practical experiments and teaching observations at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School as a case study. Its research results are evaluated through a combination of a historical review of acting approaches to producing emotion, interviews with PEM creator Stephen Perdekamp and Master Instructor Sarah Victoria about the pedagogy of PEM and its theoretical underpinnings (and evaluating this against current neuroscience theories concerning emotion), observations of and interviews with students learning PEM through workshop instruction, and practical experiments of applying PEM to screen work with student performers through a period from March 2017 to November 2018.</p>

Athlete of Emotion - Examining the Perdekamp Emotional Method

<p>The Perdekamp Emotional Method (PEM) is an emerging psychophysiological acting system that claims to allow actors ‘safe, reliable and repeatable access’ to emotion, with no recourse to their own psychology, imagination or personal experience. Developed in Germany over the last thirty years, the process regards the emotions as innate, biological movement patterns, hard-coded in human beings, that can be invoked consciously through a specific combination of physiological triggers. In light of recent international studies that point to significant psychological unwellness throughout the acting profession, there is an ethical imperative for drama schools to investigate such techniques, and evaluate their legitimacy against more commonly utilised approaches to achieving believable emotion, such as the Emotion Memory techniques of Konstantin Stanislavski and Lee Strasberg, which have courted criticism for being both inefficient and, at worst, harmful. While Austrian research has been carried out to establish the scientific legitimacy of PEM, nothing has been written about it in English, and it is only just beginning to be introduced to performance training institutions around the world. This thesis investigates PEM's claims in order to contribute critically to the depth and understanding of this system, and to evaluate the potential value of introducing PEM into the conservatoire model of a tertiary Drama School, using practical experiments and teaching observations at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School as a case study. Its research results are evaluated through a combination of a historical review of acting approaches to producing emotion, interviews with PEM creator Stephen Perdekamp and Master Instructor Sarah Victoria about the pedagogy of PEM and its theoretical underpinnings (and evaluating this against current neuroscience theories concerning emotion), observations of and interviews with students learning PEM through workshop instruction, and practical experiments of applying PEM to screen work with student performers through a period from March 2017 to November 2018.</p>

5-A-SIDE SOCCER: PREVALENCE OF SPORTS INJURIES IN BRAZILIAN TEAM PLAYERS

ABSTRACT Introduction: 5-a-side soccer is a sports modality exclusively for athletes with vision impairment (VI) classified as blind - B1 (Blind 1) by the visual classification process. Type of impairment and high-performance training are factors that contribute to the development of sports injuries. Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize the prevalence of sports-related injuries in visually disabled athletes of the Brazilian 5-a-side soccer team. Methods: The method was defined as a descriptive, longitudinal, epidemiological study. The sample was composed of ten male athletes, members of the Brazilian 5-a-side soccer team, including two athletes without VI and eight athletes with the B1 visual classification, who participated in competitions in 2014. The questionnaire for the data collection was based on the Sport Injuries Protocol for Paralympic Sports (PLEEP), expressing quantitative data analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: The results showed that, in 2014, five athletes with VI had seven sports injuries, with a prevalence of 62.5%, clinical incidence of 0.87 injuries per athlete per year, and 1.4 injuries per injured athlete. The main sports injuries were muscle strain (28.6%), groin pull (athletic pubalgia) (28.6%), and shin splints (periostitis) (28.6%). All sports injuries occurred in the lower limbs, affecting legs (71.4%) and hips (28.6%). Overload was the most frequent mechanism (57%), reported after the technical kick movement and linked to the muscle imbalance between dominant and supporting lower limbs, in addition to the postural misalignment typical of people with visual impairments. Conclusions: In summary, the Brazilian 5-a-side soccer athletes presented a pattern of overload injuries resulting from the repetition of the technical kick movement, occurring predominantly in sports competitions. Epidemiological data can contribute to the development of strategies to prevent injuries in this sport. Level of evidence II, Progressive prognostic study.

TRAINING EFFECT CONTRIBUTE TO THE JOB SATISFACTION AND PERFORMANCE OF CIVIL SERVICE IN THE TRANSMIGRATION AND MANPOWER SERVICE OF BULUNGAN REGENCY

The rationale of this study was to analyze and prove the training effect on the performance of the Civil Service through job satisfaction variables. Type of research is included in explanatory research. The population is all employees of Transmigration and Manpower Office of Bulungan Regency about 55 persons. The number of samples in this study were 55 respondents. The sampling technique performed by using total sampling technique. Data analysis technique used a path analysis approach. The findings showed that training has a positive and significant effect on employee job satisfaction. Training has a positive and significant effect on employee performance. Job satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on employee performance. In step 1, training is proven to have a significant effect on employee performance. In step 2 when training and job satisfaction are regressed together to predict employee performance, training remains significant. Thus job satisfaction is able to mediate the effect of training on employee performance.

Constant Resistance During Proportional Speed Provoked Higher Lower Limb Proximal Musculature Recruitment than Distal Musculature in Young Healthy Adults

The lack of exercise in society today often leads to severe muscle loss and poor physical performance. Training methods targeting specific weakened muscle groups can help prevent or counteract muscle loss. This study aimed to analyze how the lower extremity muscles are activated when pushing a sled with constant resistance at two different speeds. Twenty-six participants with an average age of 23.77 years consented to having electromyography surface electrodes placed along the gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed), tibialis anterior (TA), and gastrocnemius (GA) of their dominant leg. Muscle activation levels were then measured while the participant walked and ran with and without sled resistance. The study results showed that muscle activation was comparable during all trials and was not influenced by speed or constant resistance. However, the muscle activation for GMax and GMed was significantly higher than the activation levels exhibited by GA and TA. While pushing a sled has been shown to impact all studied musculature similarly, adding resistance to the movement can affect gait parameters such as stride length and cadence. Our findings support the use of sled training in patients with hip pathologies who are seeking to strengthen their GMax and GMed.