Capacity Development and Workplace Learning: An Analysis of Factors Influencing Workplace Learning at Afghan Ministry of Education, Department of Planning

Capacity development (CD) is a popular strategy in international development, but studies show that many CD programs fail to develop the expected results. There is no agreed-upon body of theories to guide CD practice either. To address this issue, this research drew upon the workplace learning literature to explore the dynamics of capacity development in the context of Afghan Ministry of Education (MoE), Department of Planning (DoP). The purpose was to understand the perceptions of the MoE-DoP staff on how different factors influenced their workplace learning and how the CD project led by the UNESCO International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP) utilized those factors for developing their capacities. The conceptual framework— developed using major theories of learning, especially Lave and Wegner (1991) and Billet’s (1990, 2004)—was used to frame the research and analyze the participants’ experiences. The main data collection method was in-depth interviewing. The sample included eight employees with diverse backgrounds, each of whom were interviewed at least three times. The findings include a list of learning incidents reported by the participants and a list of influencing factors classified into three categories: personal (gender, education, language skills, personal vision, and confidence in learning), task-related (cognitive demand, access to information, professional interactions, and combination of theory and practice), and contextual (guidance, a culture of openness and information sharing, incentive structure, organizational structure, and internal politics). The IIEP project was found to have utilized many of the factors to facilitate the participants’ workplace learning such as engaging them in technical tasks like strategic planning and developing projection models, mentoring through technical assistants, creating incentives, and offering opportunities for formal training and education. The project, however, has not conducted a systematic assessment of the influence of personal, task-related, and contextual factors on each individual participant and has not developed individualized learning plans to guide their informal workplace learning. This research provides a framework for analyzing the complexities of CD process and designing effective interventions, and an example of how such a framework can be used for evaluating CD programs

Conductance modulation of charged lipid bilayer using electrolyte-gated graphene-field effect transistor

Graphene is an attention-grabbing material in electronics, physics, chemistry, and even biology because of its unique properties such as high surface-area-to-volume ratio. Also, the ability of graphene-based materials to continuously tune charge carriers from holes to electrons makes them promising for biological applications, especially in lipid bilayer-based sensors. Furthermore, changes in charged lipid membrane properties can be electrically detected by a graphene-based electrolyte-gated graphene field effect transistor (GFET). In this paper, a monolayer graphene-based GFET with a focus on the conductance variation caused by membrane electric charges and thickness is studied. Monolayer graphene conductance as an electrical detection platform is suggested for neutral, negative, and positive electric-charged membrane. The electric charge and thickness of the lipid bilayer (Q LP and L LP) as a function of carrier density are proposed, and the control parameters are defined. Finally, the proposed analytical model is compared with experimental data which indicates good overall agreemen

Unsourced Random Access Using Multiple Stages of Orthogonal Pilots: MIMO and Single-Antenna Structures

We study the problem of unsourced random access (URA) over Rayleigh block-fading channels with a receiver equipped with multiple antennas. We propose a slotted structure with multiple stages of orthogonal pilots, each of which is randomly picked from a codebook. In the proposed signaling structure, each user encodes its message using a polar code and appends it to the selected pilot sequences to construct its transmitted signal. Accordingly, the transmitted signal is composed of multiple orthogonal pilot parts and a polar-coded part, which is sent through a randomly selected slot. The performance of the proposed scheme is further improved by randomly dividing users into different groups each having a unique interleaver-power pair. We also apply the idea of multiple stages of orthogonal pilots to the case of a single receive antenna. In all the set-ups, we use an iterative approach for decoding the transmitted messages along with a suitable successive interference cancellation technique. The use of orthogonal pilots and the slotted structure lead to improved accuracy and reduced computational complexity in the proposed set-ups, and make the implementation with short blocklengths more viable. Performance of the proposed set-ups is illustrated via extensive simulation results which show that the proposed set-ups with multiple antennas perform better than the existing MIMO URA solutions for both short and large blocklengths, and that the proposed single-antenna set-ups are superior to the existing single-antenna URA schemes

Readiness of Teaching Hospitals to Attract Medical Tourists Based On Organization-Oriented Standards of Joint Commission International (JCI): a case study

Background & Objectives: The ability to attract tourists in international health markets depends on the quality standards. The aim of this study was to determine the state of educational hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences based on organization-oriented standards of joint commission international. Methods: This Descriptive study was performed in four selected teaching hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. Data collection was carried out using the questionnaires of the organization-oriented standards of joint commission international including 76 questions in 6 areas of improving quality and patient safety, infection prevention and control, leadership and guidance, safety and facility management, training and staff competence and information and communication management. Descriptive statistics were used as mean and percentage. Data were entered into SPSS20 software. Results: The compliance rate of organization-oriented standards in the hospitals was 81.2% that indicated the relative readiness with regard to the standards of joint commission international in attracting medical tourists. The highest compliance rate of standards was related to safety and facility management (84.4%) and the lowest compliance rate was related to quality improvement and patient safety (75.2 %). Conclusion: Hospitals should pay more attention to the quality improvement and patient safety in order to meet international standards and obtain an international accreditation certificate, and they are supposed to improve standards in this area through corrective actions. Key¬words: Medical Tourism, Joint Commission International, Quality Assurance, Organization-Oriented Standards, Teaching Hospital Citation: Zarei E, Ahmadi Kashkoli S, Khezeli MJ, Fazli Ouchhesar F, Azizi A, Shamsadini Lori A. Readiness of Teaching Hospitals to Attract Medical Tourists Based On Organization-Oriented Standards of Joint Commission International (JCI): a case study. Journal of Health Based Research 2017; 3(3): 253-265

Mitigating Bias: Enhancing Image Classification by Improving Model Explanations

Deep learning models have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in learning complex patterns and concepts from training data. However, recent findings indicate that these models tend to rely heavily on simple and easily discernible features present in the background of images rather than the main concepts or objects they are intended to classify. This phenomenon poses a challenge to image classifiers as the crucial elements of interest in images may be overshadowed. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to address this issue and improve the learning of main concepts by image classifiers. Our central idea revolves around concurrently guiding the model's attention toward the foreground during the classification task. By emphasizing the foreground, which encapsulates the primary objects of interest, we aim to shift the focus of the model away from the dominant influence of the background. To accomplish this, we introduce a mechanism that encourages the model to allocate sufficient attention to the foreground. We investigate various strategies, including modifying the loss function or incorporating additional architectural components, to enable the classifier to effectively capture the primary concept within an image. Additionally, we explore the impact of different foreground attention mechanisms on model performance and provide insights into their effectiveness. Through extensive experimentation on benchmark datasets, we demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed approach in improving the classification accuracy of image classifiers. Our findings highlight the importance of foreground attention in enhancing model understanding and representation of the main concepts within images. The results of this study contribute to advancing the field of image classification and provide valuable insights for developing more robust and accurate deep-learning models

Its greatest benefit of inclusion is its challenge”: Efl teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of learners with disabilities

Inclusion has long been a hotbed for debate in many educational fields but TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). To the best knowledge of the research, no study has been conducted on the issue of inclusion in Iran, especially considering EFL learners with special needs. Considering teachers as the central pillar of the inclusive education, the present study sought to investigate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of physically-impaired EFL learners in English language classes. To this end, a comprehensive survey was conducted using the 25-item Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming (ORM) scale (Antonak & Larrivee, 1995) to collect data from 254 Iranian EFL teachers, of whom 30 teachers were subsequently interviewed to guarantee the triangulation of the findings. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, with the SPSS Software version 20 being used for the quantitative analysis. Findings indicating the Iranian EFL teachers’ neutral-topositive attitudes are thoroughly discussed in this paper. The paper also contains some information about the perceived benefits/challenges of inclusion, its pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research

AugmenTory: A Fast and Flexible Polygon Augmentation Library

Data augmentation is a key technique for addressing the challenge of limited datasets, which have become a major component in the training procedures of image processing. Techniques such as geometric transformations and color space adjustments have been thoroughly tested for their ability to artificially expand training datasets and generate semi-realistic data for training purposes. Data augmentation is the most important key to addressing the challenge of limited datasets, which have become a major component of image processing training procedures. Data augmentation techniques, such as geometric transformations and color space adjustments, are thoroughly tested for their ability to artificially expand training datasets and generate semi-realistic data for training purposes. Polygons play a crucial role in instance segmentation and have seen a surge in use across advanced models, such as YOLOv8. Despite their growing popularity, the lack of specialized libraries hampers the polygon-augmentation process. This paper introduces a novel solution to this challenge, embodied in the newly developed AugmenTory library. Notably, AugmenTory offers reduced computational demands in both time and space compared to existing methods. Additionally, the library includes a postprocessing thresholding feature. The AugmenTory package is publicly available on GitHub, where interested users can access the source code: https://github.com/Smartory/AugmenTor

Photosynthetic Response and Adaptation of Plants in Perspective of Global Climate Change

The intense agricultural and human being activities, especially after the industrialization era, have increased the CO2 concentration, which led to changes in the global climate. Climate change and its consequences, that is, elevated CO2, water stress, and extreme temperatures, have induced many biotic and abiotic stresses and have caused alterations in plant physiology, leading to a reduced photosynthetic capacity of plants. Photosynthesis is the most crucial biochemical process in plants that determines the final dry matter production and productivity of plants. The efficiency and status of the photosynthetic apparatus can be measured by the measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence. Measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence are easy, non-destructive, and quick, and it reflects changes in the general bioenergy status of a plant. Studies have indicated that abiotic stresses emerging from climate changes cause changes in the biological processes of plants and damage the internal structure of photosynthesis and control of the cellular process. Chlorophyll fluorescence, meanwhile, is an effective parameter and an indicator of photosynthetic status and its mechanisms under stressful conditions. Therefore, the photosynthetic changes and adaptation and the role of chlorophyll fluorescence in determining its status under climate change are discussed in this chapter

Xenon and krypton separation in a chromatographic column packed with granulated nano NaY zeolite

In order to investigate the gas separation ability of a column packed with nanozeolitic material, nano NaY zeolite was synthesized and granulated. These uniform granules packed in a chromatographic column were utilized for separation of Xe and Kr under various operating conditions. With regards to the response peaks obtained from trace injections of Xe and Kr into the column, the first and second normalized moments of peaks were calculated. Moreover, the height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP) for the column was determined. The results illustrated that the retention time of Xe was remarkably greater than Kr indicating that, the nano NaY zeolite was a good choice as an adsorbent in Kr and Xe separation process. Moreover, a simple and temperature dependent correlation was derived to predict the HETP for the packed column. Ultimately, the calculated HETP values were in a good agreement with experimental data

Association between Dietary Acid Load and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: A Systematic Review

Background: Several studies have suggested a potential association between diet and mental disorders. This systematical review investigated the association between dietary acid load (DAL) and mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and stress.Methods: Online databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science searched for published studies using relevant keywords until January 2024.Results: Seven studies were included in this systematic review, of which 6 were on adults. Five out of six studies on depression evaluated dietary acid load (DAL) with potential renal acid load (PRAL) method of which 3 of them reported a significant association. Three out of five studies that used net endogenous acid production (NEAP) method also presented a significant direct association. Furthermore, five studies examined the relationship between DAL and anxiety and all revealed a significant direct association. Moreover, a direct association between DAL and stress was noticed in two other studies. In terms of children and adolescents, a prospective study found no association between DAL and overall mental health among children and adolescents.Conclusion: Dietary acid load, especially PRAL, may be associated with psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, and stress among women. However, in the interpretation of these findings, it should be considered that the heterogeneity among studies is high as most of them conducted the study on women and participants had underlying diseases; so the conclusion cannot be extended to the overall population due to the limited number and design of current studies