Studying and Addressing Listening Levels of Children in a Rural Poverty-Stricken Area

This chapter reports the work of a teacher educator/researcher as she supported teacher candidates to assess and tutor struggling readers in a public school in a rural, economically depressed, yet diverse, area. Alerted by the scores for listening comprehension the candidates were finding over several semesters that indicated little reading potential for the students being assessed, she worked with the school's principal to reassess one group of students at the end of the year to determine growth, and therefore potential success, of the school's new intervention program in raising listening levels. No significant results were found, yet school personnel made no change in their program to address it. The teacher educator/researcher subsequently followed the implications of the research to provide instruction in listening skills to students in two other schools. The chapter closes with a discussion of what may truly make a difference in developing listening skills for the children in this community beyond a commercial program.

A Method of Analyzing the Residual Values of Low-Emission Vehicles Based on a Selected Expert Method Taking into Account Stochastic Operational Parameters

Increasing the market share of low-emission vehicles in relation to individual mobility is one of the main postulates of modern transport policy. In the discussion on low-emission and the new structure of the car fleet, the role of new vehicles is emphasized above all, ignoring the importance of the secondary market. In recent years, both in Poland and in other European Union countries, there has been a noticeable dynamic development of electromobility implementation processes in urban areas, the initial effect of which is increasing market accessibility to commercial vehicles with electric EV/BEV, hybrid HEV/PHEV and fuel cell powered FCEV. As in the case of vehicles powered by conventional ICEV fuels, also in relation to those defined as low-emission, their residual value is lost along with the operational process. Information on this variable is important both for the owner of a newly purchased vehicle, which after the period of its operation will decide to sell it as well as to the future buyer. The scientific aim of the study is to analyze the residual values of selected vehicle models from the primary and secondary market, with particular emphasis on stochastic operational phenomena. The subject of the research is to obtain extensive knowledge on the achieved changes in the residual values of low-emission vehicles in relation to ICEVs. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the commercial program, data approximated from auction portals and own numerical modeling tool based on a neural network was performed. The research sample included, among others, selected models of passenger cars, the purchase offer of which included the choice of a drive unit powered by conventional and low-emission fuels. The use of this method allowed to answer the question whether low-emission vehicles are characterized by a greater or lesser loss of value in relation to conventionally powered vehicles ICEV.

Development of a Slit-Type Soundproof Panel for a Reduction in Wind Load and Low-Frequency Noise with Helmholtz Resonators

With the rapid increase in automobiles, the importance of reducing low-frequency noise is being emphasized for a comfortable urban environment. Helmholtz resonators are widely used to attenuate low-frequency noise over a narrow range. In this study, a slit-type soundproof panel is designed to achieve low-frequency noise attenuation in the range of 500 Hz to 1000 Hz with the characteristics of a Helmholtz resonator and the ability to pass air through the slits on the panel surface for reducing wind load. The basic dimension of the soundproof panel is determined using the classical formula and numerical analysis using a commercial program, COMSOL Multiphysics, for transmission loss prediction. From the numerical study, it is identified that the transmission loss performance is improved compared to the basic design according to the shape change and configuration method of the Helmholtz resonator. Although the correlation according to the shape change and configuration method cannot be derived, it is confirmed that it can be used as an effective method for deriving a soundproof panel design that satisfies the basic performance.

Two Cases Using the Praat-Based Automatic Voice Analysis Program as an Alternative to CSL

There are a number of voice analysis programs around the world. Domestic voice analysis is performed by relying heavily on specific commercial program. We intend to develop coding for voice analysis using Praat and apply it to clinical practice. This study consisted of Experiment 1 and Experiment 2. Experiment 1 was the development of automated voice analysis coding based on Praat. The coding was largely divided into a recording, an analysis, and a storage section. Experiment 2 was applied to the voice analysis of 2 male patients pre- and post-operation with this coding. The analysis parameters of this coding provided 26 parameters for vowel /a/, nine parameters for sentence analysis, and a total of 4 parameters for voice range profile analysis. In two male patients, the pitch and the intensity increased, the voice quality improved, and the sentence length decreased after surgery. The coding was well made, so the output was good in real time. The code is automated as much as possible to block manual errors and increases convenience and efficiency by generating the result sheet in real time.

Pilot evaluation of a personalized commercial program on weight loss, health outcomes, and quality of life

WW is a validated behavioral weight management program that encourages healthy habits. WW developed a method of personalizing the SmartPoints® budget depending on dietary and lifestyle preferences, and participants were placed into one of three plans as a pilot evaluation of this new program. In this 6-month, single-arm pilot study, participants attended weekly workshops and used an app to monitor eating and physical activity. Baseline and 6-month assessments included weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, energy intake, cravings, happiness, health-related quality of life, hunger, and fullness. Of 145 adults assessed at baseline, 126 (87%) provided follow-up data. Pre–post changes showed significant reductions in body weight (7.39% ± 5.93%), calories consumed (24.79% ± 32.35%) and significant improvements in cravings, happiness, all SF-36 scales and hunger but not in fullness. Greater % weight loss was related to greater improvements in happiness (r = .38, p < .001), general health perceptions (r = .29, p = .001), and health change (r = .31, p = .001), and greater reduction in role limitations due to personal or emotional problems (r = .24, p = .01). Greater % reduction in caloric intake was associated with greater reductions in cravings (r = .23, p = .01), as well as with greater improvements in happiness (r = .23, p = .01), physical functioning (r = .23, p = .01), and general health perceptions (r = .23, p = .01). Participants in this modified program achieved significant weight loss, regardless of dietary plan, as well as improvements in a variety of other physical and psychological constructs. Those who achieved greater reductions in weight also reported greater improvements in cravings, happiness and some quality of life measures.

An analytical model of static stiffness for linear rolling guideway considering the structural deformations of carriage

To solve the deformations and stiffnesses changes of linear rolling guideway under different loads, and to provide reference for the structural design of the carriage, this paper presents an analytical model of three-degrees-of-freedom static stiffness for linear rolling guideway considering the structural deformations of the carriage. In this study, first, the contact loads and elastic deformations between balls and raceways caused by external loads and preload were obtained by Hertz contact theory. The elastic deformations between balls and raceways were described by the change of the curvature centers of the carriage raceways. Next, according to the constraints and loading conditions of the carriage, the elastic beam theory was introduced, and the structural deformations of the carriage under the contact loads were equivalent to the deformations of two cantilever beams. Then, the external loads and the displacements of the carriage were derived by the static equilibrium conditions of the carriage. At last, the proposed equivalent model of carriage structure deformations was validated by comparing the calculated deformations of the carriage with those from a commercial program under various loading conditions, and the accuracy of the static stiffness model proposed in this paper was further verified by the experimental results in the reference. The results show that the calculated structural deformations of carriage matched the deformations calculated by a commercial program well. Also, with relative errors of 4.4–17.5%, the calculated stiffnesses using the model proposed in this paper more closely matched the measured stiffnesses. Clearly, there is a better match between the calculated results of the proposed model and the measurements than with the conventional rigid model.

Self-Reported Nutritional Factors Are Associated with Weight Loss at 18 Months in a Self-Managed Commercial Program with Food Categorization System: Observational Study

Little is known about nutritional factors during weight loss on digital commercial weight loss programs. We examined how nutritional factors relate to weight loss for individuals after 4 and 18 months on a mobile commercial program with a food categorization system based on energy density (Noom). This is a two-part (retrospective and cross-sectional) cohort study. Two time points were used for analysis: 4 months and 18 months. For 4-month analyses, current Noom users who met inclusion criteria (n = 9880) were split into 5% or more body weight loss and stable weight loss (0 ± 1%) groups. Individuals who fell into one of these groups were analyzed at 4 months (n = 3261). For 18-month analyses, individuals from 4-month analyses who were still on Noom 18 months later were invited to take a one-time survey (n = 803). At 18 months 148 participants were analyzed. Noom has a system categorizing foods as low-, medium-, and high-energy-dense. Measures were self-reported proportions of low-, medium-, and high-energy-dense foods, and self-reported nutritional factors (fruit and vegetable intake, dietary quality, nutrition knowledge, and food choice). Nutritional factors were derived from validated survey measures, and food choice from a novel validated computerized task in which participants chose a food they would want to eat right now. ANOVAs compared participants with 5% or more body weight loss and participants with stable weight (0 ± 1%) at 4 months on energy density proportions. Analyses at 18 months compared nutritional factors across participants with >10% (high weight loss), 5–10% (moderate weight loss), and less than 5% body weight loss (low weight loss), and then assessed associations between nutritional factors and weight loss. Individuals with greater weight loss reported consuming higher proportions of low-energy-dense foods and lower proportions of high-energy-dense foods than individuals with less weight loss at 4 months and 18 months (all ps < 0.02). Individuals with greater weight loss had higher fruit and vegetable intake (p = 0.03), dietary quality (p = 0.02), nutrition knowledge (p < 0.001), and healthier food choice (p = 0.003) at 18 months. Only nutrition knowledge and food choice were associated with weight loss at 18 months (B = −19.44, 95% CI: −33.19 to −5.69, p = 0.006; B = −5.49, 95% CI: −8.87 to −2.11, p = 0.002, respectively). Our results highlight the potential influence of nutrition knowledge and food choice in weight loss on a self-managed commercial program. We also found for the first time that in-the-moment inclination towards food even when just depicted is associated with long-term weight loss.

The Analysis of Deformability, Structure and Properties of AZ61 Cast Magnesium Alloy in a New Hammer Forging Process for Aircraft Mounts

This article presents the analysis of the deformability, structure and properties of the AZ61 cast magnesium alloy on the example of a new forging process of aircraft mount forgings. It was assumed that their production process would be based on drop forging on a die hammer. Two geometries of preforms, differing in forging degree, were used as the billet for the forging process. It was assumed that using a cast, unformed preform positively affects the deformability of hard-deformable magnesium alloys and flow kinematics during their forging and reduces the number of operations necessary to obtain the correct product. Numerical analysis of the proposed new technology was carried out using DEFORM 3D v.11, a commercial program dedicated to analyzing metal forming processes. The simulations were performed in the conditions of spatial strain, considering the full thermomechanical analysis. The obtained results of numerical tests confirmed the possibility of forming the forgings of aviation mounts from the AZ61 cast magnesium alloy with the proposed technology. They also allowed us to obtain information about the kinematics of the material flow during forming and process parameters, such as strain intensity distribution, temperatures, Cockcroft–Latham criterion and forming energy. The proposed forging process on a die hammer was verified in industrial conditions. The manufactured forgings of aircraft mounts made of AZ61 magnesium alloy were subjected to qualitative tests in terms of their structure, conductivity and mechanical properties.

WADAH KOMUNITAS EDUTANI DI RAWA BUNGA

According to Rey Oldenburg in the book The Great Good Place (1997) regardless of the first place (residence / house) and second place (place of work), humans need a third place as a space to meet those needs. This need is increasing in line when the social life of the community develops from complex to multi-complex. Meanwhile, Jakarta, which is characterized by metropolitan cities in Indonesia, makes its population have a fast and instant lifestyle. The comprehension of the importance of healthy eating is one of the things that is forgotten. Unhealthy eating patterns cause urban problems with higher mortality rates at 45-50 years old. Therefore, this study aims to produce the concept of designing a third place which, in addition to being a forum for interaction, and education about healthy eating can also improve the economy through strengthening communities in urban agriculture for people in Rawa Bunga and surrounding areas. The design of the third place project uses the disprogramming method of Bernard Tchumi, by combining two different program configurations, namely: edutani program as part of a community program with a commercial program. This disprogramming method then becomes the foundation in composing time compositions, which results in building designs that can meet the characteristics of third place and open architecture; namely; playful, conversation, neutral, leveler, accessibility and accommodation, a low profile and regulars. Keywords: agriculture education; healthy eating; third placeAbstrakMenurut Rey Oldenburg dalam buku The Great Good Place (1997) terlepas dari first place (tempat tinggal/rumah) dan second place (tempat bekerja), manusia memerlukan third place (tempat ketiga) sebagai ruang untuk memenuhi kebutuhan tersebut. Kebutuhan ini meningkat sejalan dengan kehidupan sosial masyarakat berkembangan dari kompleks menjadi multi kompleks. Sementara itu, Jakarta yang bercirikan kota metropolitan di Indonesia membuat penduduknya memiliki gaya hidup yang serba cepat dan instan. Pemahaman masyarakat akan pentingnya pola makan sehat menjadi salah satu hal yang terlupakan. Pola makan yang tidak sehat menimbulkan permasalahan perkotaan dengan tingkat kematian yang semakin tahun semakin tinggi pada usia 45-50 tahun. Oleh karena itu, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menghasilkan konsep perancangan sebuah third place yang selain dapat menjadi wadah interaksi, dan edukasi tentang pola makan sehat juga dapat meningkatkan perekonomian melalui penguatan komunitas dalam pertanian perkotaan bagi masyarakat di kelurahan Rawa Bunga dan sekitarnya. Perancangan proyek third place ini menggunakan metode disprogramming dari Bernard Tchumi, dengan menggabungkan dua konfigurasi program yang berbeda yaitu: program edutani sebagai bagian dari program komunitas dengan program komersial. Metode disprogramming ini kemudian menjadi landasan dalam menyusun gubahan masa, yang menghasilkan rancangan bangunan yang dapat memenuhi karakter-karakter third place dan open architecture; yaitu playful, conversation, neutral, leveler, accessibility and accommodation, a low profile and regulars.