bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtual Reality and Biofeedback for Automotive Experience Assessment in Industry 5.0
Authors: Brito Gabriel de , Miguez Rafael , Dias Felipe Leão , Rodrigues Daniela , Soussa Márcio , Winkler Ingrid
Published: October 2024

In this session of XR Experience, we share our innovative industrial project that integrates biofeedback into a VR-based vehicle experience assessment carried out by the automotive industry. Our research group integrates Pico 4 Enterprise or Meta Quest Pro HMDs with Samsung 7 smartwatch, to showcase the analyses of participants’ heart rate and eye tracking data, offering insights into their stress levels, attention, and relaxation responses, surrogating their sense of presence in the immersive automotive experience.
An evidence-based and critical analysis of the Fediverse decentralization promises
Authors: Xavier Henrique S.
Published: October 2024

This paper examines the potential of the Fediverse, a federated network of social media and content platforms, to counter the centralization and dominance of commercial platforms on the social Web. We gather evidence from the technology powering the Fediverse (especially the ActivityPub protocol), current statistical data regarding Fediverse user distribution over instances, and the status of two older, similar, decentralized technologies: e-mail and the Web. Our findings suggest that Fediverse will face significant challenges in fulfilling its decentralization promises, potentially hindering its ability to positively impact the social Web on a large scale.
Caracterizando Polarização em Redes Sociais: Um Estudo de Caso das Discussões no Reddit sobre as Eleições Brasileiras de 2018 e 2022
Authors: Cunha Gustavo F. , Silva Ana Paula Couto da
Published: October 2024

This paper presents a methodology for analyzing polarized discussions on social media by combining and adapting existing techniques, such as stance detection and various mathematical evaluations on the graph modeled data. Using Reddit threads from the Brazilian presidential elections in 2018 and 2022 as a case study, we conducted an assessment of online political polarization. The results indicate an increasing trend in polarization and a decline in debate diversity over the analyzed periods.
Through the Eyes of Instagram: Analyzing Image Content utilizing Meta's Automatic Alt-Text
Authors: Olivetti João Francisco Hecksher , Melo Philipe de Freitas
Published: October 2024

Multimedia communication has become an essential part of social media, with images representing a significant part of the content on most platforms. This study investigates image content on Instagram through Meta’s internal image classification algorithm, Automatic Alt-Text (AAT). Our approach differs from research on data from comments and hashtags because of the use of actual visual descriptions as the means of understanding the kinds of the content published on the network. Our analysis of 200k posts reveals 1,471 unique tags being used to characterize image content on Instagram, representing mostly objects, food, animals, locations and other common components of social media photos. Notably, we found that content about personal aesthetics is highly popular on the platform, with person and selfie being respectively some of the top two most common tag and post categories, being also highly related to other tags such as makeup, lipstick and eyeliner. Furthermore, we explored the connections between tags, representing very popular content trends within the network. Finally, we uncover substantial differences in posting behavior of influencers and news pages when compared to regular users, observing they post more frequently and about more specific content, suggesting what may attract more engagement on Instagram.
Quando as Avaliações Viram Bombas: Explorando a Dinâmica do Review Bombing nos Jogos no Metacritic
Authors: Ribeiro Marcus Vinicius Guerra , Pimentel Clara Andrade , Melo Philipe de Freitas
Published: October 2024

This study investigates the phenomenon of “Review bombing” on Metacritic, a platform for aggregating media reviews. Review bombs involve the deliberate posting of a large volume of negative reviews to alter the reputation of a media work, often driven by political, social, or creator-related disagreements. We collected extensive data from Metacritic, comprising 145K games and 1M reviews to understand and identify the characteristics of review bombing online. Using clustering techniques and analyzing various user and game-related metrics, we found that targeted games experience a significant increase in review volume, often with similar content and slightly higher toxicity, reflecting coordinated dissatisfaction campaigns. Additionally, the clustering achieved an F1-score of 0.5263, revealing particular challenges to categorizing this kind of attacks, such as the removal of evidence by platform moderation and difficulty in labeling minor attacks. The study highlights the need for robust mechanisms to detect and mitigate review bombs to preserve the integrity of review platforms and consumer trust.
Twitter and the 2022 Brazilian Elections Portrait: A Network and Content-Driven Analysis
Authors: Malagoli Larissa , Piorino Giovana , Ferreira Carlos H. G. , Silva Ana Paula Couto da
Published: October 2024

The influence of online social networks on people’s actions and beliefs has grown significantly over the past decade, impacting everyday life. This is especially evident in Brazil, where these platforms have been instrumental in disseminating political content rapidly and widely. In this work, we aim to understand how the political debate surrounding the Brazilian elections of 2022 on Twitter unfolds through different levels of user engagement. We provide a content analysis that unveils the main topics discussed by different users, regardless of the strength of their interactions. Our results enrich the understanding of how online discussions evolved on social media during this important event in the recent history of democracy in Brazil.
Análise de sentimentos de conteúdo compartilhado em comunidades brasileiras do Reddit: Avaliação de um conjunto de dados rotulados por humanos
Authors: Piorino Giovana , Moreira Vitor , Lima Luiz Henrique Quevedo , Pagano Adriana Silvina , Silva Ana Paula Couto da
Published: October 2024

The soaring use of social media and its impact on society have been raising ethical issues about the content disseminated by these platforms, particularly from the perspective of responsible AI given the need to mitigate the propagation of bias and the spread of toxic language. Sentiment Analysis of the language of these communities poses big challenges, since it requires quality datasets that can be used in supervised training of models. The social network Reddit comprises smaller, sub-communities centered on specific topics, called Subreddits. Through manual annotation of posts in Subreddits related to Brazilian content and communities, we have developed a dataset for Sentiment Analysis in Brazilian Portuguese. We report the results of our annotation process and characterize the language of the posts. Our dataset is meant to support Sentiment Analysis tasks for social media language in Brazilian Portuguese.
Acceptance and Usability of Complex Medical Systems: A Study with Radiology Professionals
Authors: Silva Fábio Ap. Cândido da , Freire André Pimenta , Pereira Marluce Rodrigues
Published: October 2024

The increasing demand for imaging tests has made radiology information systems crucial in medical practice, especially those based on web technology. These systems include Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), Radiology Information Systems (RIS), and Hospital Information System (HIS), generate and manipulate images through specialized software. To operate this complex software, require attention to detail and image manipulation techniques for accurate diagnoses. Usability issues in medical image manipulation software, given the process of adapting to new software and complex tasks, can result in inaccurate diagnoses with clinical impact. This is a qualitative study, which is based on the work routines of radiology professionals, focusing on issues of cognitive learning, interaction, and usability with radiology software. Moderate usability tests with radiology technicians were conducted to identify the difficulties and challenges they encounter while using medical image manipulation software. The analysis identified 64 problems grouped into 20 categories and organized under Visual Presentation, Content, Information Architecture, and Interactivity. The paper emphasizes violated heuristics and describes how these problem categories impact users in their medical activities and their influence on the clinical process. The obtained results provide insights to enhance usability practices and recommendations, aiming to support the development systems used in radiology practice.
Comprehensive View of the Biases of Toxicity and Sentiment Analysis Methods Towards Utterances with African American English Expressions
Authors: Andrade Guilherme , Nery Luiz , Benevenuto Fabricio , Figueiredo Flavio , Zannettou Savvas
Published: October 2024

Language is a dynamic aspect of our culture that changes when expressed in different technologies and/or communities. On the Internet, social networks have enabled the diffusion and evolution of different dialects, including African American English (AAE). However, this increased usage of different dialects is not without barriers. One particular barrier, the focus of this paper, is on how sentiment (Vader, TextBlob, and Flair) and toxicity (Google’s Perspective and models from the open-source Detoxify) scoring methods present biases towards utterances with AAE expressions. In particular, AI tools cannot understand the re-appropriation of the terms, leading to false positive scores and biases. Here, we study the bias of Toxicity and Sentiment Analysis models based on experiments performed on Web-and spoken English datasets.
Characterizing the Toxicity of the Brazilian Extremist Communities on Telegram
Authors: Cavalini Athus , Donadia Thamya , Comarela Giovanni
Published: October 2024

Telegram has become a central element in discussions related to the ecosystems of information disorder and extremism on social networks. Present on 70% of smartphones in Brazil, the application presents itself as a safe communication space, which began to be used by deplatformed individuals and groups, including extremist groups, who saw the application as a space for building communities and maintaining contact with their audience. In this context, this study presents a characterization of Brazilian extremist communities on Telegram based on the analysis of over 2 million messages broadcast on 128 chats on the platform, focusing on the analysis of the toxicity observed in the content shared in these spaces and its relationship with the conversational dynamics of the groups. The results reveal that these communities share highly toxic messages, including manifestations of hate speech and conspiracy theories, and that the toxicity of the content reflects on its popularity and consequently its spread across the network.
Tagging Enriched Bank Transactions Using LLM-Generated Topic Taxonomies
Authors: Moraes Daniel de S. , Costa Polyana B. da , Santos Pedro T. C. , Pinto Ivan de J. P. , Colcher Sérgio , Busson Antonio J. G. , Pinto Matheus A. S. , Rocha Rafael H. , Gaio Rennan , Tourinho Gabriela , Rabaioli Marcos , Favaro David
Published: October 2024

This work presents an unsupervised method for tagging banking consumers’ transactions using automatically constructed and expanded topic taxonomies. Initially, we enrich the bank transactions via web scraping to collect relevant descriptions, which are then preprocessed using NLP techniques to generate candidate terms. Topic taxonomies are created using instruction-based fine-tuned LLMs (Large Language Models). To expand existing taxonomies with new terms, we use zero-shot prompting to determine where to add new nodes. The resulting taxonomies are used to assign descriptive tags that characterize the transactions in the retail bank dataset. For evaluation, 12 volunteers completed a two-part form assessing the quality of the taxonomies and the tags assigned to merchants. The evaluation revealed a coherence rate exceeding 90% for the chosen taxonomies. Additionally, taxonomy expansion using LLMs demonstrated promising results for parent node prediction, with F1-scores of 89% and 70% for Food and Shopping taxonomies, respectively.
Modelagem do Interesse por Áreas Urbanas Usando Redes Sociais Baseadas em Localização
Authors: Santos Gustavo H. , Delgado Myriam , Silva Thiago H.
Published: October 2024

Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs) can help model users’ interests in urban areas in several ways. In the present work, we focus on Interest Networks (iNETs), which result from modeling LBSN data into graphs. The present study provides insights into which areas are frequently visited together by getting data from two distinct LBSNs, Foursquare and Google Places. Although the studied LBSNs differ in nature, with data varying in regularity and purpose, both modeled iNETs revealed similar urban behavior patterns and were likewise impacted by socioeconomic and geographic factors. Also, we discuss the development of a tool to empower urban studies and the by-products of this research.
ARIA e Interactive Access: projetando chatbots para idosos
Authors: Ribeiro Carlos Nery , Oliveira Cynthya Letícia Teles de , Araujo Lucas Padilha Modesto de , Rodrigues Kamila Rios da Hora , Manzato Marcelo Garcia
Published: October 2024

Elderly individuals represent a significant portion of the population, and trends indicate that this number will increase at an accelerating rate. The elderly often face challenges when interacting with conversational systems, whether due to a lack of familiarity or age-related limitations, such as reduced visual acuity and dexterity. Therefore, it is essential to consider the needs of the elderly when designing these systems. In this work, we present the Assistente de Recomendação e Interação Acessível (ARIA), an accessible chatbot for the elderly that provides recommendations for cultural content, and Interactive Access, a set of guidelines for building accessible chatbots for the elderly. Performance and usability tests were conducted on both artifacts, based on Nielsen’s heuristics. The artifacts showed positive results, pointing the next steps for studies with elderly users.
Cursos Curtos Online Síncronos para Meninas do Ensino Médio e Concluintes e para Professoras do Ensino Básico
Authors: Pimentel Maria da Graça C. , Eusébio Juliana , Goularte Rudinei , Leite Uthant V. , Picoli Helen S.
Published: October 2024

Globally, women are underrepresented among students and professionals in Information Technology. In Brazil, high school girls have limited knowledge about Computing and face gender stereotypes, perceiving the field as male-dominated with low female representation. Our project offers short, free, synchronous online courses in Introduction to Computing with Python for high school girls and graduates, and introductory computational thinking courses with Scratch for elementary school teachers. Since October 2021 , 1249 high school girls from across Brazil have completed one of the courses for girls in the 27 classes offered up to June 2024. Since February 2023, 119 elementary school teachers have completed one of the courses for teachers. This report presents the evolution of our courses, details their approach, reports quantitative results, includes testimonials from graduates, and tracks the progress of those who have reported pursuing higher education in the field.
Mídias Digitais como Ferramentas para Promover o Pensamento Computacional e Reduzir a Diferença de Gênero em Computação
Authors: Esteves Lara Oliveira , Daniel Luiza Caldeira , Silva Sarah Cristina F. da , Guimarães Maria Luísa R. , Quintela Bárbara de Melo , Oliveira Alessandreia Marta de
Published: October 2024

The present work describes an institutional extension project initiative that, in addition to offering a playful approach to Computing for elementary school girls, also utilizes social media to disseminate the actions carried out by female students and professors, share accessible content about Computing, and feature profiles of relevant women in the field across various digital media. The project provides representation by involving female professors and mentors (undergraduate students) with the aim of breaking gender stereotypes and attracting more girls to Computing and related fields. A survey conducted with some of the undergraduate students involved in the project indicates that this type of project can also encourage women to remain in the field of Computing after entering higher education.
Sincronismo e Interatividade com a Segunda Tela frente à Implementação da TV 3.0 no Brasil
Authors: Celestino Antonio , Pernisa Júnior Carlos
Published: October 2024

This article aims to discuss the challenges of synchronization and interactivity for Digital TV 3.0 in Brazil. The standard being developed for the transmission of the TV 3.0 signal will bring combined broadcasting and broadband, in order to expand interactivity resources for the viewer. As the available interactive resources increase, questions arise about how these extra materials can be consumed and how a second screen can help in the interaction with such content, in synchronization with the main stream of a television program. Transmitting this content on the TV signal itself, instead of releasing it on the Internet, is a viable practice, but it will require production, transmission and synchronization efforts.
Desenvolvimento de Editores Colaborativos em Tempo Real: Revisão Rápida
Authors: Dantas Laurentino Augusto , Silva Joab Cavalcante da , Pimentel Maria da Graça C.
Published: October 2024

Currently, users expect to collaborate synchronously with others, including over the Web. Developing a real-time collaborative editor (RCE) that enables geographically dispersed users to simultaneously edit the same document relies on specific algorithms and techniques. To understand how real-time collaborative editors are developed and tested, and which algorithms or techniques are crucial for their development, we conducted a systematic review addressing the following questions: For which types of objects does the literature present real-time collaborative editing systems (RTCE)? What is the most commonly used architecture by researchers to implement RTCE systems, how are they represented, and which works present models or roadmaps for the development of RCEs? Between Operational Transformation (OT) and Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) algorithms, which one appears most frequently in the selected works? What are the main types of tests conducted to evaluate collaborative editors, which articles conducted user tests, and what is the average number of users involved in these tests? Which works discuss undo/redo techniques? Which works discuss the use of comments, chat, or history as tools to support collaborative work? After screening 365 records published between 1993 and 2024, the review analyzed 23 studies published between 2002 and 2022. The results revealed various approaches and techniques employed in the implementation of RTCEs, offering a comprehensive view of research in this area. This, in turn, allowed for the identification of challenges that future research should address.
PAR Digital: Uma Ferramenta Web em Prol da Educação Inclusiva
Authors: Diniz Daniele C. S. , Pereira Adriano C. M. , Borges Adriana , Valladão Adriana , Nogueira Maria Luisa
Published: October 2024

Special education, from an inclusive perspective, should be present at all levels of education, from early childhood education to higher education. To ensure the inclusion of students with disabilities, it is essential to adapt the curriculum and monitor the development of each individual through the Individual Development Plan. This article presents a description of the objectives and functionalities of PAR Digital, an assistive technology tool that helps teachers plan, implement, and evaluate activities for students with disabilities in regular classrooms. The platform offers a repository of differentiated strategies, based on Universal Design for Learning, to personalize teaching and monitor student progress. This tool is innovative and was developed following best architectural practices for web application design and development.
Mitigando os Limites das Métricas Atuais de Avaliação de Estratégias de Modelagem de Tópicos
Authors: de Souza Júnior Antônio Pereira , Viegas Felipe Augusto Resende , Rocha Leonardo Chaves Dutra da
Published: October 2024

Topic Modeling (TM) helps extract and organize information from large amounts of textual data by discovering semantic topics from documents. This master thesis delves into issues of topic quality evaluation, responsible for driving the advances in the TM field by assessing the overall quality of the topic generation process. Since traditional TM metrics capture the quality of topics by strictly evaluating the words that make up the topics, either syntactically (e.g., NPMI, TF-IDF Coherence) or semantically (e.g., WEP), we investigate whether we are approaching the limits of what the current evaluation metrics can assess regarding TM quality. For this, we perform a comprehensive experimental evaluation, considering three widely used datasets (ACM, 20News, and WOS) for which a natural organization of the collection’s documents into semantic classes (topics) does exist. We contrast the quality of topics generated by four traditional and state-of-the-art TM techniques (i.e., LDA, NMF, CluWords, and BERTopic) with each collection’s “natural topic structure”. Our results show that, despite the importance of the current metrics, they could not capture some important idiosyncratic aspects of the TM task, in this case, the capability of the topics to induce a structural organization of the document space into distinct semantic groups. To mitigate such limitations, we propose incorporating metrics commonly used to evaluate clustering algorithms into the TM evaluation process, relying on some commonalities between TM and clustering tasks. Results highlight the effectiveness of clustering metrics in distinguishing the results of TM techniques compared to the datasets’ground truth (class organization). However, adopting additional evaluation metrics implies expanding the analysis space. Thus, as a third contribution, we propose consolidating the various metrics into a unified framework, using Game Theory for decision-making, specifically Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT). Our experimental results demonstrate that MAUT allows a more precise assessment of TM quality.
Understanding Musical Success Beyond Hit Songs: Characterization and Analyses of Musical Careers
Authors: Seufitelli Danilo Boechat , Moro Mirella M.
Published: October 2024

Streaming brought the high data availability over the web associated with music consumption and listener preference. With such data, we can extract relevant knowledge, such as what can lead some songs to success and others not. In this scenario, Hit Song Science emerged, an area of study focused on revealing the dynamics of success in the music industry. Collecting hits can lead artists to experience periods of success far beyond the "ordinary" periods known as Hot Streaks. In this sense, understanding the factors of how the different profiles of artists stand out and reach their most successful periods can be crucial for the music industry, which deals with the constant natural evolution of the market and needs to reinvent itself to satisfy the desires of its consumers: connect successful music and artists. Thus, this thesis aims to identify the characteristics that lead artists to reach their most successful periods.
Suporte a Alertas de Emergência na TV 3.0 Brasileira
Authors: Costa Richelieu R. A. , Omaia Derzu , Araújo Tiago M. U. , Pereira Jóison O. , Cruz Miguel P. S. , Barbosa Matheus M. , Toscano Rafael , L. S. Filho Guido
Published: October 2024

The TV 3.0 project is under development, managed by the Forum of the Brazilian Digital Terrestrial TV System (SBTVD), with the participation of researchers from academia and industry. There was a Call for Proposals for this development, resulting in 36 responses from 21 organizations worldwide. The proposals were evaluated and examined, and the SBTVD Forum forwarded its recommendations on selecting candidate technologies to the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Currently, some researchers are working on elaborating specifications for video encoding, audio encoding, subtitles, and emergency warnings, among others. This work analyzed the emergency warning requirements for warnings with glosses and audio description media. We proposed and developed a solution for these requirements, involving the extension of the CCWS server API and a system architecture implemented as a proof of concept.
Autoria Imersiva em Realidade Virtual para Aplicações Mulsemídia Interativas
Authors: Farias Flávio Miranda de , Muchaluat-Saade Débora C.
Published: October 2024

Existem diversas propostas na literatura para a criação de aplicativos multimídia com conteúdo 2D. Entretanto, essas propostas não fornecem soluções adequadas para conteúdo imersivo tridimensional. Além disso, há pouco consenso sobre a metodologia de autoria de mídia 360 graus, que inclui efeitos sensoriais sincronizados com os objetos de mídia. Quando se necessita produzir conteúdo imersivo e interativo com suporte a efeitos sensoriais, geralmente são necessárias soluções individuais criadas para cada caso, utilizando várias ferramentas diferentes. Para preencher essa lacuna, esta tese propôs realizar a autoria de forma imersiva em um ambiente de Realidade Virtual (RV) para a construção de aplicações multimídia interativas. A proposta é implementada no sistema AMUSEVR, um ambiente de realidade virtual para autoria de aplicativos multimídia 360 graus. O sistema proposto permite compor várias cenas 360 graus interativas com mídias sensoriais, organizando objetos diretamente em um espaço 3D. Além disso, o AMUSEVR permite que os usuários verifiquem o comportamento espaço-temporal da aplicação por meio de seu modo de pré-visualização, usando a tecnologia VR em todas as fases do projeto. Para avaliar a proposta, foram realizados três experimentos de autoria com a ferramenta proposta utilizando a metodologia GQM por meio da aplicação dos questionários SUS, UEQ e framework CDN e com resultados analisados pelo método estatístico Mann-Whitney. Os experimentos foram realizados com 10, 20 e 42 participantes, obtendo resultados positivos.
Uma análise de plataformas de streaming e as possibilidades para um guia de programação na TV 3.0
Authors: Montezano Cristiane Turnes , Pernisa Júnior Carlos , Moreno Marcelo F.
Published: October 2024

This study explores the presence and role of the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) in streaming platforms, aiming to understand how the next-generation television, known as TV 3.0, might adapt to content organization. With the advent of TV 3.0, new requirements emerge, such as app-driven navigation and the integration of OTA (over-the-air) and OTT (over-the-top) content, necessitating significant transformations in the viewer experience. We believe that streaming platforms offer an initial model that can guide these changes, bringing the TV 3.0 interface closer to the established format of current streaming services. However, one of the greatest challenges will be balancing digital complexity with the need to maintain the simplicity and fluidity that viewers are accustomed to, ensuring that the new TV retains its identity. In this context, the EPG emerges as a crucial tool to facilitate viewers’ adaptation and understanding of this new form of television interaction. The research was conducted through an exploratory bibliographic analysis, which included a detailed study of the interfaces of three streaming platforms: Globoplay, RTVEplay, and Pluto TV. These platforms combine on-demand content with live and linear broadcasts. This article is part of a broader study on the potential interfaces for the TV of the future, with a focus on content organization on screen and viewer interaction.
Sympathie für Hexen
Authors: Lauxmann Bernhard
Published: October 2024

Wer kennt sie nicht, Petronella Apfelmus? Seit zehn Jahren trifft man die Apfelhexe in Kinderzimmern – als Tonie-Figur, als Buch oder als Stimme von Nana Spier, die Eltern an Drew Barrymore erinnert. Das Staunen über den Erfolg der Buchreihe von Sabine Städing und die zahlreichen Spin-offs der Petronella-Welt ist groß. Woran liegt der Erfolg? Und wie verhält sich Petronella als literarische Figur zum aktuellen Hexenboom oder #WitchTok? Dieser Artikel widmet sich dem veränderten Hexenbild in der gegenwärtigen Jugend- und Kinderbuchliteratur und leistet einen orientierenden Beitrag auch zum Verständnis der sogenannten neuen Hexen, die nicht mehr im Verborgenen operieren, sondern sich um mediale Sichtbarkeit bemühen. Der Text steigt ein mit den kommerziell erfolgreichen Hexengeschichten Städings, geht den zentralen literarischen Hexendarstellungen in ihren Büchern nach und verortet diese mithilfe eines dreiteiligen Modells vor dem Hintergrund gegenwärtiger Bedürfnislagen und eingespielter Traditionslinien.
Liberale Theologie
Authors: Fritz Martin
Published: October 2024

Zum Christsein heute gehört unweigerlich das Bewusstsein, selbst anders Christ zu sein als andere Christen. Gleiches gilt für das Nachdenken über das Christsein. Es vollzieht sich immer in Abgrenzung von anderen theologischen Richtungen, Parteien oder Schulen. Weil sich das Christentum spätestens mit dem Anbruch von Reformation, Neuzeit und Moderne in eine Vielfalt von Konfessionen, Strömungen und Gruppierungen aufgespaltet hat, sind Frömmigkeit und Theologie positionell geworden: Wer Christ oder Christin ist und wer Theologie treibt, verortet sich dabei zwangsläufig in einem Feld einander widersprechender Positionen.
Real gains being made as a result of the transposition of the European Minimum Wage Directive
Authors: Lübker Malte , Schulten Thorsten
Published: October 2024

In most EU countries there were significant increases in minimum wages on 1 January 2024. Despite persistently high inflation rates in the majority of member states, these were sufficient to maintain or even expand the purchasing power of the minimum wage. The dynamics of minimum wages have also been advantaged by the European Minimum Wage Directive, passed in autumn 2022. In the course of transposing the Directive, many member states have been striving to achieve the reference values of 60% of the median wage or 50% of the average wage. However, the trend in Germany was different: the country’s Mindestlohnkommission (Minimum Wage Commission), against the votes of trade union members, only advocated a small increase in the minimum wage, and one which fell behind the rise in prices. In their approach and conclusions, the authors focus on the German aspect but this version of their original report slightly expands on that (see also the surrounding discussion) with the aim of widening the coverage and the consideration of its themes to the countries of south-east Europe.
Das Wiederaufleben von Pay-for-Performance
Authors: Banning Stefan , Greß Stefan , Schnee Melanie
Published: October 2024

Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen sind mittlerweile seit mehreren Jahren Bestandteil der deutschen Gesundheitsversorgung. Dieses Versorgungsangebot wird derzeit auf Downloadzahlen basierend vergütet, was die Qualität der Versorgung und die Nutzung der Anwendung nicht adäquat berücksichtigt. Demgegenüber steht das Konzept Pay-for-Performance (P4P), welches als alternative Vergütungsform den Versorgungsbereich mit Digitalen Gesundheitsanwendungen weithin optimieren könnte.
Flüchtlingsmigration in Deutschland
Authors: Peseke Marlen
Published: October 2024

Das 21. Jahrhundert ist ebenso von einer Flüchtlingsära geprägt, wie bereits schon das 20. Jahrhundert. Hatte es im Jahr 2004 noch den Anschein, als würden die Flüchtlingszahlen rückläufig sein, so sind ca. 10 Jahre später etwa 60 Mio. Menschen weltweit auf der Flucht. Allein in 2015 kamen mehr als eine Million dieser Flüchtlinge nach Deutschland. Mit der Aufnahme von Flüchtlingen in dieser Größenordnung wird das deutsche Gesundheitssystem vor eine große Herausforderung gestellt. Mit gründlich recherchierten Fakten zur Gesundheitsversorgung von Asylbewerbern in Deutschland und deren gesundheitswirtschaftliche Folgen zeigt die Autorin Mängel im deutschen Gesundheitssystem und eine dadurch bedingte immense Kostensteigerung der Gesundheitsausgaben auf. Darauf aufbauend liefert sie Handlungsempfehlungen zur langfristigen Abwendung von Gesundheitsschäden und Folgeerkrankungen von Asylberechtigten, die erfolgsversprechend scheinen und sich gleichermaßen an Wissenschaftler und Praktiker richten.
Perspective Chapter: Parenting, the Christian Perspective
Authors: Addy Patricia
Published: October 2024

Parenting is a universal phenomenon and has different perspectives by different people based on faith/religion, culture and tradition, society, education and many more. This chapter focuses on parenting from the Christian perspective and the set objectives are to: (1) Discuss parenting from the Christian perspective and (2) explore parenting styles of handling wayward children. The research is a qualitative one that employed the phenomenological and theological approaches of study. Secondary data was mainly gathered from scholarly works from Christian books, journals and articles from the internet. The Bible was also referred to in most cases to provide a theological reflection on the subject of study. The data gathered was grouped and analysed under definitions, purposes, responsibilities and styles of parenting. Some findings from the research are that parenting from the Christian perspective is a process, a calling, a vehicle and a responsibility of raising children into responsible Christian adults. Parenting may have a biological or a non-biological connection. Children are part of God’s creation plan and are a blessing. Wayward children could be restored through love and acceptance, prayers, pointing them to Jesus, never giving up on them and exploring solutions together with the wayward children.
Zinc Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis and Photocatalytic Applications
Authors: Gonzalez Cuadra Jaime , Lahlahi Abderrahim , Porcar Samuel , Cadena Robinson , Toca Santiago , Fraga Diego , Carda Juan
Published: October 2024

The upcoming chapter explores zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films, examining their crystalline and optical properties. It discusses various deposition techniques for creating thin films, defined as layers from nanometers to micrometers thick, used in electronics, optics, and coatings. Thin film deposition methods, crucial for controlling film thickness and properties, include physical vapor deposition (PVD), sputtering, thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation, and pulsed laser deposition (PLD). These techniques are vital in electronics, optics, and materials research. The chapter also covers ZnO thin films’ applications, emphasizing their photocatalytic abilities. ZnO has a large bandgap energy (3.37 eV), making it effective in UV light absorption and photocatalytic reactions. Upon UV photon absorption, ZnO generates electron-hole pairs, leading to efficient redox processes. ZnO’s chemical stability ensures lasting photocatalytic activity, resisting degradation under harsh conditions. It can be formed into nanostructures like nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanosheets, increasing surface area and catalytic efficiency. ZnO generates reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydroxyl radicals, superoxide radicals, and hydrogen peroxide during photocatalysis. These ROS degrade organic pollutants, functionalizing substrates to break down fertilizers, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, nitrates, and pollutant gases such as nitrogen oxides and benzene compounds.
Comparing the Impact of Continuous Endurance and High-intensity Interval Training on Cecal Butyrate and Propionate Levels in Diabetic Rats Induced by High-fat Diet
Authors: Solouki Sogand , Gorgani-Firuzjaee Sattar , Jafary Hanieh , Delfan Maryam
Published: October 2024

Background: Dysbiosis and metabolic disorders of the microbiota, often caused by an imbalance in the intestinal microbial composition, are significant issues linked to immobility, obesity, and diabetes. Physical exercise is recognized for its role in managing these symptoms by regulating the composition and metabolites of the intestinal microbiota, thereby improving gut health and overall metabolic function. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate and compare the effects of continuous endurance training (CET) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on two key cecal microbiota metabolites, butyrate and propionate, in diabetic rats. Methods: Forty-five male Wistar rats were made diabetic by a high-fat diet and were trained under CET and HIIT exercise protocols. Cecal tissue samples were taken from the rats to evaluate the effect of exercise, and the levels of two microbial metabolites, butyrate and propionate, were measured using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Results: Among the exercise patterns studied, HIIT significantly improved the concentrations of butyrate and propionate, while CET showed no effect on these metabolites. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, unlike CET, HIIT may effectively mitigate metabolic disturbances resulting from gut dysbiosis in diabetic patients. However, any definitive conclusion about the effects of CET and HIIT exercises on intestinal microbial metabolites necessitates further comprehensive tests on other metabolites and an examination of additional supporting evidence, such as changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiome.
La dimensió impossible
Authors: Navarro Jover Luis
Published: October 2024

La dimensió impossible reivindica el paper actiu de l’arquitecte com un sintetitzador capaç de transformar, canviar o anul·lar les regles que imposa el context per alterar perceptivament els elements propis de l’arquitectura, mirant de jugar amb la realitat de l’usuari-espectador. Una arquitectura de la qual no ens importa tant la forma, el volum o el pes, sinó com s’entén en la seva relació amb el medi o com és capaç de generar ambients d’alta intensitat que possibilitin una vinculació rica i densa entre el subjecte i l’espai.
La dimensió impossible també defensa l’existència d’una arquitectura complexa, ambigua, equívoca, en què projectar esdevé un procés obert en el qual totes les parts conviuen en un conjunt dotat i potenciat per les experiències, els entorns i els significats que l’envolten. Una arquitectura capaç d’establir noves lleis perceptives, que ens despertin els sentits i ens deixin aproximar-nos a l’objecte i a l’espai arquitectònic des de visions que tenen a veure amb l’element sensorial, el perceptiu o l’atmosfèric.
És a dir, l’impossible superposat al que és visible.
АНАЛИЗ СИЛ СОПРОТИВЛЕНИЯ КОПАНИЮ НА КОВШЕ ЭКСКАВАТОРА ИЗМЕНЁННОЙ КОНСТРУКЦИИ
Authors: Бурый Григорий Геннадьевич
Published: October 2024

В статье рассматривается ковш экскаватора изменённой конструкции и его преимущества. Приведены зависимости для расчёта сил сопротивления копанию на ковше новой конструкции. Приведены зависимости силы сопротивления копанию от угла поворота ковша при его различных объёмах.
PHILOSOPHICAL AND ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DIGITAL IMMORTALITY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Сметана ладимир Васильевич
Published: October 2024

Статья посвящена критическому анализу философских и этических импликаций цифрового бессмертия - концепции сохранения и продолжения существования человеческого сознания в цифровой форме после биологической смерти. В статье рассматриваются различные философские взгляды на эту концепцию, начиная от оптимистичных прогнозов трансгуманистов до скептических оценок, указывающих на потенциальные риски и негативные последствия. Особое внимание уделяется проблеме идентичности и аутентичности цифрового сознания. Статья анализирует аргументы сторонников и противников концепции личностной идентичности, обсуждая возможность сохранения непрерывности личности в цифровой форме и уникальность субъективного опыта. В статье также рассматриваются этические вызовы, связанные с созданием и использованием цифрового сознания. Обсуждаются вопросы прав цифровых существ, ответственности за их действия, а также потенциальные социальные последствия, такие как усиление социального неравенства и дискриминации.

The article is devoted to a critical analysis of the philosophical and ethical implications of digital immortality - the concept of preserving and continuing the existence of human consciousness in digital form after biological death. The article examines various philosophical views on this concept, ranging from optimistic forecasts of transhumanists to skeptical assessments indicating potential risks and negative consequences. Special attention is paid to the problem of identity and authenticity of digital consciousness. The article analyzes the arguments of supporters and opponents of the concept of personal identity, discussing the possibility of preserving the continuity of personality in digital form and the uniqueness of subjective experience. The article also examines the ethical challenges associated with the creation and use of digital consciousness. The issues of the rights of digital beings, responsibility for their actions, as well as potential social consequences such as increased social inequality and discrimination are discussed.
CRYSTALLIZATION AND POLYMERIZATION: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Authors: Карпин Владимир Александрович , Шувалова Ольга Ивановна
Published: October 2024

Анализируя различные состояния физической и биологической природы, ученые обычно ищут их сходства и отличия. При этом нередко сравнивают процессы кристаллизации и полимеризации. Представленные материалы убедительно показывают неправомерность подобных сравнений. На примере сравнительного изучения кристаллов и биополимеров показана возможность сходства по форме, но не по содержанию. Это совершенно различные, самостоятельные объекты, что делает проблематичной саму возможность происхождения органической природы из неорганической.

Analyzing various states of physical and biological nature, scientists usually look for their similarities and differences. At the same time, crystallization and polymerization processes are often compared. The presented materials convincingly show the illegality of such comparisons. By the example of a comparative study of crystals and biopolymers, the possibility of similarity in form, but not in content, is shown. These are completely different, independent objects, which makes the very possibility of the origin of organic nature from inorganic problematic.
Shared storytelling with a virtual learning companion: prospects in child-AI collaboration
Authors: Ong Ethel , De Jesus Christine Rachel , Gilig Luisa Katherine , Ong Dionne Tiffany
Published: October 2024

Advances in natural language processing techniques enhance the capabilities of conversational agents to process input text and generate fluent responses in various genre. In the educational setting, these conversational agents can function as learning companions to promote peer learning, enhance social interaction, and motivate collaborative behavior. In this paper, we investigate how children collaborate with conversational agents in the context of story construction. We conducted user studies and administered survey forms to collect children’s evaluation of their experience, captured the child-agent conversation logs, and used an observation checklist to monitor the interaction. We analyzed the logs to determine how children respond to varying roles portrayed by the agent and the dialogue moves that motivate collaborative behavior during storytelling. We correlated these with the children’s reported perception and our own observation of the interaction based on performance, collaboration and humanity attributes. Drawing on these results, we identified the roles of conversational agents that align with children’s traits and abilities as storytellers and propose dialogue strategies to facilitate collaborative storytelling. Findings from our study can inform future educational technology designers on the roles of conversational agents as collaborative learning companions who can adapt to the individual needs and preferences of the children.
Perbedaan Disiplin Belajar Siswa SMP Ditinjau dari Jenis Kelamin
Authors: Mandrisa Azagia , Sano Afrizal
Published: October 2024

This research is motivated by the fact that there are still students who lack discipline in studying. One of the factors that influences learning discipline is gender. This research aims to: (1) describe the learning discipline of male students, (2) describe the learning discipline of female students and, (3) test whether there are significant differences in learning discipline between male and female students at SMP Negeri 32 Padang . This research used a comparative descriptive approach, with a sample of 276 students using proportional stratified random sampling techniques. The results showed that the study discipline of male students was in the high category (76.19%), the study discipline of female students was also in the high category (80.64%) and there were significant differences in study discipline between male and female students with The significance level is 0.000.
Serum Carnitine Concentrations and Cardiac Function in Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Patients Receiving High-Dose Anthracyclines
Authors: Lin Christine , Narayan Hari K. , Trovillion Erin , Armenian Saro , Alejandro Lawrence , Kuo Dennis John
Published: October 2024

OBJECTIVE

Anthracycline chemotherapy agents have significant dose-dependent cardiotoxic effects. ­Carnitine, a non-essential amino acid, is involved in long chain fatty acid oxidation, and carnitine deficiency can result in cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmias. If administered concurrently with chemotherapy, carnitine supplementation could be a potential strategy to prevent cardiotoxicity. However, the association between serum carnitine concentrations and anthracycline cardiotoxicity during cancer treatment in the childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) age range has not been established.

METHODS

This prospective pilot cohort study characterized changes in serum carnitine concentrations and cardiac function before, during, and approximately 1 year after large-dose anthracycline therapy in newly diagnosed CAYA cancer patients.

RESULTS

Among 21 patients with a mean cumulative anthracycline dose exposure of 409 mg/m2 of ­doxorubicin equivalents, left ventricular ejection fraction and relative wall thickness decreased, indicating an overall decline in cardiac function. A reversible decrease in serum carnitine concentrations was also observed. A non-statistically significant positive correlation was observed; for every 1 mmol/L decrease in serum carnitine concentration, there was a 0.09% decrease in LVEF (p = 0.2).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings from this small pilot study suggest that there may be a relationship between serum carnitine concentrations and cardiac function after anthracycline therapy that should be evaluated in larger studies.