bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A RASCH ANALYSIS ON STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN STRUCTURE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION SECTION OF TOEFL TEST
Authors: Anandi Rizki Prahita
Published: October 2023

TOEFL test has been used in the universities for many purposes, for instance, since 2021, Sharia Faculty has implemented this rule for graduation requirements. Therefore, Sharia International Center (SIC) has initiated TOEFL Training Batch 1 to analyse the students’ English ability since the students have never been exposed to the TOEFL test before. This research was carried out to analyze the students’ English proficiency and difficulty to answer questions in the Structure and Written Expression part of the TOEFL test so that the they will get an insight about what should they emphasize to improve their score. Approximately 24 students’ answer sheets were collected and analysed using Winstep from Rasch Measurement Model. They answered 40 questions of the section. The findings of the study showed that many of the students (more than 50%) have low level of structure and written expression skills. Meaning that they have difficulties in answering some questions in this section. The results also reported that they still have difficulty to answer questions related to complex sentences and parallelism in a sentence. All these findings can be a valuable information for both students and English lecturers. Lecturers can help the students improve their English ability or TOEFL score by analysing types of question they cannot answer and then design the classroom teaching and learning focusing more on this aspect.
INVESTIGATING TESOL GRADUATE STUDENTS’ MULTIDIMENSIONAL FEEDBACK ENGAGEMENT IN A DIALOGIC SUPERVISORY FEEDBACK PRACTICE
Authors: Enita Sarai , Sumardi Sumardi
Published: October 2023

This qualitative case study seeks to uncover how four graduate TESOL students engage in dialogic supervisory feedback about three-dimensional levels of engagement: affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions. Four TESOL graduate students involved in the same supervision group from a public university in Indonesia were recruited for this study using purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews and students’ commented proposals were used to collect data, and the data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings were thematized following three dimensions of student engagement. The findings of this study bring insights into the potential of dialogic feedback in graduate students' thesis writing development and provide implications for supervisory feedback practices in similar ESL/EFL settings.
PROMOTING PRIMARY ENGLISH TEACHER'S AWARENESS ON INTERCULTURALLY-SENSITIVE TEACHING MATERIALS: AUTOBIOGRAPHY NARRATIVE INQUIRY
Authors: Anggieta Sellina , Sumardi Sumardi
Published: October 2023

The new era of global flows opens more chances for people to interact with others from a different cultures. Globalization offers a new lens to examine intercultural sensitive (IS) language tasks in designing teaching material. However, this study's design of intercultural sensitivity in the Indonesian-Thai context focuses on teachers' perceptions and is still under-researched. Thus, this study investigates teachers' perception of IS pedagogy in English language teaching (ELT) for promoting primary English teachers' merged into their practice of teaching materials. This study uses autobiographical narrative inquiry. The data analysis uses Bennett's (1993) framework of IS, which involves the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) in five stages to communicate across cultures in the Indonesian-Thai context. The data garnered autobiographical data from narrative inquiry in the form of short stories and lesson plans. The results capture that the teaching materials enhance IS as language pedagogy in ELT. The study suggests discovering teachers' understanding and viewing of IS in teaching English language materials at primary levels.
THE USE OF LEARNERS’ "ONE NIGHT SPEED SYSTEM" STUDYING METHODS ON ENGLISH LESSON
Authors: Sholatingratri Aulia Inayah , Nagara Graena Pelangi
Published: October 2023

One Night Speed System (ONSS) is the only a model of study method to complete any task in one night. Meanwhile, the expert stated that the distance between learners' study time should be in accordance with what is the response to understanding school material. This study was made to find out the answer to whether there is an effect of ONSS on learning outcomes, especially English. This research was conducted specifically for the student population in Indonesia which is limited to 71 (18 males and 53 female) learners from various levels of education. This study uses a descriptive quantitative approach. data analysis using logistic regression analysis method. Based on the questionnaire, it was found that most of the learners thought that there was success from the application of the ONSS learning method in understanding English material. The results showed that there was success in understanding English lessons in the use of ONSS to learn English without an impact on the decline in grades. Even so, the understanding of the material obtained is not optimal and has more impact on learners' health problems.
Investment Multiplier Effect of Hajj Funds on Economic Growth in Indonesia
Authors: Andni Riyan , Widodo Syukri Fathudin Achmad , Afendi Arief Hidayat
Published: October 2023

This study aims to measure the multiplier effect coefficient of investment in Hajj funds held by the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) starting in 2017-2021 on the country’s economy. Data was collected from BPKH  and Central Statistics Agency (BPS) publications. This type of research is a descriptive quantitative analysis of the economic balance equation, namely Y= C I+G, with the multiplier effect coefficient analysis tool. The results showed that BPKH Investment had a positive effect on economic growth. Still, the Multiplier Value of Hajj fund investment by BPKH showed that the allocation had not demonstrated awareness of the multiplier number in channelling investment instruments. BPKH focused on studying investment instruments that provide returns in increasing the funds of prospective pilgrims so that the results are significant in driving economic growth. Reviewing the mechanisms in channelling investments, such as embracing MSMEs as financing recipients and allocating investment budgets for labour-intensive projects, is necessary.
Under the Guidance of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Contemporary Madura, Indonesia
Authors: Hannan Haukil
Published: October 2023

This ethnographic study explores the phenomenon of religious authority held by a murshid (Sufi Master), Kiai Haji Abdul Mannan, in Madura, Indonesia, despite his unconventional background. Applying Max Weber’s theory of charismatic authority, the research delves into the factors enabling the rapid attraction of jamā‘a (followers) and the establishment of his religious influence. This study emphasizes the pivotal role of the murshid’s charisma in building his religious authority and highlights how the newly founded majelis dhikr (religious chanting group), known as Majelis Dzikir Nurut Tauhid, consolidates the jamā‘a and fortifies the murshid’s religious authority. This study provides profound insights into how religious authority can thrive and endure within the Madura context, even when the religious leader possesses an unconventional background. The main argument of this study is that the religious authority of the murshid is constructed upon charisma, charismatic claims, and a cohesive community of followers. It offers a compelling example of the intricacies of religious authority dynamics in society.
Peran Maryam Khatoon Molkara dan Ayatollah Khomeini terhadap Akses Teknologi Kesehatan (Operasi Perubahan Kelamin) bagi Transgender dan Transeksual di Iran - Madeline Kisariani Jahamou
Authors: Jahamou Madeline
Published: October 2023

Tulisan ini merupakan kajian dari globalisasi dan strategi yang akan berfokus pada akses teknologi kesehatan bagi para transgender dan transeksual di Iran. Konflik yang disebabkan oleh perbedaan orientasi seksual merupakan sebuah isu yang paling berkembang pada masa globalisasi seperti saat ini dalam masyarakat. Isu yang juga merupakan isu yang dikaji dalam ilmu hubungan internasional ini memperlihatkan bagaimana peran pemerintah dalam mewujudkan keamanan individu bagi masyarakatnya khususnya bagi para transgender dan transeksual. Proses globalisasi yang turut berkontribusi pada perkembangan teknologi kesehatanlah yang menjadi diksursus tersendiri dalam melihat isu transgender dan transeksual. Berbeda dengan banyak negara yang masih melarang masyarakatnya untuk merubah jenis kelamin, Iran memiliki kebijakan yang berbeda terkait perubahan jenis kelamin. Ini semua berdasarkan alasan medis dan tertunya peran individu seperti Maryam Khatoon Molkara dan juga Ayatollah Khomaini. Lebih lanjut lagi, tulisan ini akan mengkaji bagaimana peran individu serta globalisasi dapat mewujudkan akses teknologi (Operasi Perubahan Kelamin) dilakukan secara legal di Iran.
Nuklir Iran dalam Neorealisme Defensif
Authors: Mohamad Fuat Najib Mohamad Fuat Najib
Published: October 2023

Sistem struktur internasional yang anarki, power dibutuhkan oleh setiap negara agar mampu bertahan. Dikatakan juga, bahwa tujuan akhir negara adalah bertahan (survival), bukan mencapai power. Dengan maksud bahwa power merupakan sebuah cara, bukan sbuah tujuan. Hal ini juga yang dilakukan Iran dalam sistem internasional yang seolah-olah dikendalikan oleh Amerika Serikat. Iran dengan kepemilikan nuklir dan progam pengembangannya dianggap sebagai kekuatan yang dapat mengancam kekuatan yang menghegemoni kawasan dan tentunya Amerika Serikat. Kepemilikan nuklir Iran di Timur Tengah akan mempengaruhi negara lain yang berada di sekitarnya. Dalam pandangan neorealisme defensif, Iran dalam pengembangan teknologi nuklir merupakan bentuk kesadaran menjaga keamanan nasionalnyaidari ancaman hegemoni kekuatan di kawasan dan tentunya dari Amerika Serikat yang mengancam kedaulatan negara Iran. Sebab nuklir dianggap sebagai power yang dimiliki oleh negara selain kekuatan militer dan ekonomi.
Analisis Kebijakan Demokratisasi sebagai Instrumen Kekuasaan dalam Politik Luar Negeri Amerika Serikat
Authors: Hamado Kardina , Sikky Rahmat
Published: October 2023

Democratization is US policy which campaign democrazy as the norms and values through realist and liberal strategy in foreign politic. This research is aimed to know the interest behind the democratization policy and US authority position globally. This reasearch used national interests concept, foreign policy and foreign politic by applying descriptive analysis method. The result of this research showed that nations thus considered to have violated the democrazy principles are a thread to washington intererst occurrence. Democratization as instrument is proven beneficially to US to intervence by economic and military politic to determine democracy standard which affected toward US impact and authority in various country significantly.
Analisys of Indonesian Political Economic Policies In National Economic Recovery Due To Global Pandemic Turbulence
Authors: Bayu Mogana Putra Bayu Mogana Putra , Ridwan Adnan Erlangga
Published: October 2023

Turbulensi pandemi menyebabkan negara-negara di seluruh dunia, termasuk Indonesia, mengalami turbulensi ekonomi. Penelitian dalam karya tulis ilmiah ini berfokus pada kajian kebijakan pemulihan ekonomi nasional yang dihasilkan pemerintah Indonesia sebagai kebijakan politik ekonomi dalam pemulihan ekonomi nasional pasca gejolak pandemi. Karya tulis ilmiah ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas dan produktivitas kebijakan politik ekonomi dalam pemulihan ekonomi nasional di Indonesia. Terakhir, karya tulis ilmiah ini mengungkap kebijakan politik ekonomi pemerintah Indonesia dalam pemulihan ekonomi nasional pasca gejolak pandemi melalui tiga aspek utama sebagai alat analisis. Aspek tersebut meliputi alokasi, distribusi, dan evaluasi pelaksanaan pemulihan ekonomi nasional. Dengan demikian, efektivitas dan produktivitas kebijakan pemulihan ekonomi nasional yang dijalankan pemerintah dapat terungkap melalui kebijakan politik ekonomi.
YORDANIA SEBAGAI MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRY YANG STABIL DAN AMAN
Authors: Zulfa Finna Naila , Ardhi Moh. Alfian Kusuma , Sayidina Savrila Cilcia
Published: October 2023

Yordania sebuah negara dengan sistem pemerintahan monarki konstitusional dengan raja sebagai kepala pemerintahannya. Yordania berdemokrasi dalam sikap pemerintahannya, hal itu ditunjukkan dengan terlibatnya berbagai kelompok dan suku dalam pemerintahan. Suku bedouin merupakan suku yang menopang kerajaan yordania selama ini. Belakangan ini yordania sempat masuk pada kategori negara dengan middle economy country yang stabil bahkan sempat masuk kategori upper middle country berdasar keputusan world bank pada tahun 2016. Bagaimana bisa negara dengan penghasil minyak bumi terendah di timur tengah menjadi negara upper di bidang ekonomi. Artikel ini bertujuan menjelaskan bagaimana kondisi politik ekonomi dan juga perekonomian yordania serta menjelaskan bagaimana yordania masuk ke dalam katergori middle income country yang aman dan stabil. Penulis artikel jurnal menggunakan pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif dalam melakukan penelitian yaitu suatu Teknik yang dipakai guna mendapatkan pengetahuan ataupun kajian pada sebuah studi di satu masa tertentu. Dalam artikel jurnal ini, penggunaan pendekatan ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan kondisi ekonomi dan politik keamanan di dalam pemerintahan Yordania. Studi pustaka digunakan sebagai Teknik pengumpulan data pada studi ini dimana jurnal terakreditasi, buku, artikel ilmiah serta website lainnya menjadi bahan yang dianalisa. Artikel ini kemudian focus kepada pertanyaan Bagaimana kondisi perekonomian dan politik keamanan Yordania sehingga mampu menjadi middle income country yang aman dan stabil.
ANALISIS SOFT DIPLOMACY QATAR MELALUI QATAR CHARITY DI INDONESIA
Authors: Auladiy Kafianka
Published: October 2023

Qatar merupakan salah satu negara yang memiliki pengaruh cukup besar di kawasan Timur Tengah. Dalam kebijakan politiknya Qatar mengadopsi “kebijakan luar negeri terbuka”, yang mana banyak mengandalkan alat-alat soft diplomacy salah satunya seperti media diplomasi ekonomi, politik, dan pertahanan, Qatar juga memberikan bantuan kemanusiaan dan sumbangan melalui Qatar Charity sebagai wujud soft diplomacy. Penulis menggunakan konsep soft diplomacy sebagai alat analisis untuk mengetahui potensi atas kerja sama melalui lembaga Qatar Charity serta keunggulan Qatar dalam bidang ekonomi, politik, dan pertahanan. Metode penelitian yang dipakai dalam penelitian ini adalah kualitatif deskriptif, dengan mengambil studi pustaka sebagai sumber data utama. Hasil dari analisis yang didapat, penulis mengemukakan bahwasannya Qatar terus meningkatkan potensi politik, ekonomi, dan militernya untuk aktif dalam komunitas internasional.  Qatar Charity sebagai wujud strategi soft diplomacy Qatar dalam pembangunan citra di komunitas internasional, salah satunya di Indonesia
Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior in E-Cigar Users Community in Indonesia
Authors: Masan Gracekeren Evalasdhy , Raksanagara Ardini S. , Rinawam Fedri Ruluwedrata
Published: October 2023

Background: Cigarettes, both traditional and electronic, are widely used. In 2018, 9.1% of Indonesians smoked, up from 8.8% in 2016. In several nations, including Indonesia, e-cigarette use are increasing. As a result, regulation to minimize the use of e-cigarettes must be implemented. This study aimed to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of e-cigarette users in the Indonesian vaper community.Methods: This study was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional method. conducted from September to December 2021. Questionnaires were distributed via social media to 42 randomly selected vaper communities. The minimum sample size was 247 respondents. The analysis used Univariate.Results: A total of 247 e-cigarette users participated in this study, most of them 17-24 years old (78%), mostly male (62.7%), and 61.5% respondents were high school graduates/equivalent. A total of 65.2% had a monthly income of fewer than 3 million rupiahs, 47.0% of respondents had poor knowledge scores, and 53.0%  had positive attitudes toward e-cigarettes. Half of the respondents are long-time users of e-cigarettes and only use e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes were used irregularly/occasionally. The average number of puffs/days was 50-99 puffs/day.  Half of the respondents wanted to quit smoking.Conclusions: Knowledge of e-cigarettes is good, and attitudes that show approval of the use of e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are used irregularly/sometimes. The campaign that e-cigarettes are not a substitute for regular cigarettes and awareness regarding the potential danger of e-cigarettes needs to be increased. Government regulation regarding the control of e-cigarettes needs to be considered because underage children are already using them.
Pregnant Human Myometrial 1-41 Cell Viability Test on Vitamin D Administration
Authors: Aziz Muhammad Alamsyah , Krisnadi Sofie Rifayani , Handono Budi , Setiabudiawan Budi
Published: October 2023

Background: Preterm labor is one of the universal causes of perinatal mortality worldwide. One of the causes of preterm labor is uterine muscle integrity problems. Some mechanistic studies show insight into  vitamin D activity’s possible role in the injured muscle. This study aimed to determine whether vitamin D can increase muscle cell viability.Methods: This experimental research used human smooth muscle uterine myometrium cell line PHM1-41. The cells were cultured for 24 hours in hypoxia condition, then incubated with several doses of vitamin D. The PHM1-41 cell viability was measured using spectrophotometry.Results: The result showed that the minimum level of muscle cell viability after vitamin D incubation was with 300nM administration, and the maximum level was after 10nM (88.57%+4.48 and 96.21%+2.13 respectively).Conclusions: Vitamin D at a specific dose could improve cell availability. The optimal dose to improve cell viability was 10nM.
Presence of Multidrug Resistance (MDR) Escherichia coli in the Citarum River located in Greater Bandung Area, Indonesia
Authors: Megantara Imam , Muhtado Azmi Raffi , Pradini Gita Widya , Goenawan Hanna , Sylviana Nova
Published: October 2023

Background: One of the main problems of the Citarum River is the contamination of E. coli due to livestock activities, washing toilets, and industry. In addition, irrational use of antibiotics in the community and livestock can increase E. coli resistant strains to antibiotics. This study aimed to identify the presence of multidrug resistance (MDR) and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) E. coli strains in Citarum river clusters, namely industrial, livestock, and residential clusters.Methods: This was a descriptive study. A sample of 100 mL surface water from each Citarum cluster. Culture, antibiotic sensitivity test, and PCR to identify blaCTX-M-15 gene carriers of ESBL E. coli were carried out in the sample.Results: There were 37 isolates of E. coli, with 24% of these isolates showing MDR properties, which can be found in industrial, livestock, and residential clusters at 13%, 8%, and 3% respectively. The most E. coli-resistant antibiotics found in these samples were ampicillin (45%), followed by tetracycline (37%), and azithromycin (29%). The PCR examination did not find the blaCTX-M-15 gene carrying ESBL properties in all three Citarum river clusters.Conclusion: The presence of E. coli isolates in each Citarum river cluster suggests the occurrence of river pollution due to animal, human or industrial waste.  Therefore, it is necessary to make better government regulations regarding sanitation and education for the surrounding community regarding the importance of keeping the river clean.
Brasil, Espelho de Cabo Verde: o caso do carnaval de São Vicente
Authors: Lorena Carmo Daun e
Published: October 2023

RESUMO O carnaval de São Vicente é um símbolo da identidade da ilha e, simultaneamente, um campo que evoca e intersecta vários referentes identitários, sendo o Brasil o principal. Neste artigo, revisita-se a longa história de discursos e representações acerca da relação identitária entre Cabo Verde e Brasil, a partir do caso do carnaval de São Vicente. Com base em pesquisa arquivística e etnográfica, apresentam-se várias influências culturais brasileiras que, ao longo do tempo, marcaram o carnaval da ilha, e discute-se essa suposta relação, propondo a metáfora do espelho para melhor ilustrar essa identificação unilateral e demanda identitária.
Brazil, Mirror of Cape Verde: the case of the São Vicente carnival
Authors: Lorena Carmo Daun e
Published: October 2023

ABSTRACT The São Vicente carnival is a symbol of the island’s identity and, at the same time, a field that evokes and intersects several identity referents, with Brazil being the main one. This article revisits the long history of discourses and representations about the identitarian relation between Cape Verde and Brazil, through the case of the São Vicente carnival. Based on archival and ethnographic research, the article presents several Brazilian cultural influences that over time marked the island’s carnival and discusses this supposed relation, proposing the mirror metaphor to better illustrate this unilateral identification and identity demand.
Formação Teatral Marcada pela Educação Popular e Cultura Popular: um meio de emancipação para jovens
Authors: Camargos Júlia
Published: October 2023

RESUMO O artigo discute os sentidos que jovens periféricos atribuem à sua experiência de formação teatral marcada pela educação popular e pela cultura popular em uma instituição de ensino em Belo Horizonte. Destacando a presença da diversidade, da coletividade e de pautas políticas na sua formação, os jovens apontam a conscientização social como impacto significativo desse processo. A experiência artístico-pedagógica teatral se configurou como espaço de socialização, positivação de identidades de jovens subalternizados e contribuiu para os seus processos de emancipação como sujeitos sociais.
Hierarchical WaveFunction Collapse
Authors: Beukman Michael , Ingram Branden , Liu Ireton , Rosman Benjamin
Published: October 2023

Video game developers are increasingly utilising procedural content generation (PCG) techniques in order to generate more content far quicker than if it were designed. Although promising, much of the successful work to date has been achieved in simple 2D environments or has required significant hand-designed effort. This is due to the difficult nature of defining plausible metrics, fitness functions or reward functions which can quantify the quality of generated levels. Our work aims to avoid this difficulty by utilising minimal human design to build up constraints, and generating diverse levels that maintain these constraints. We achieve this by hierarchically applying the recent WaveFunction collapse (WFC) algorithm. Our approach allows designers to specify larger-scale components, and additional constraints that are difficult to enforce using standard WFC. We empirically demonstrate that our approach does indeed incorporate these higher-level structures, and is more controllable than our baselines. Despite these benefits, our levels do not suffer from a lack of diversity. Finally, we illustrate the scalability and flexibility of our approach by applying it to both 2D and 3D domains.
Beyond the Meta: Leveraging Game Design Parameters for Patch-Agnostic Esport Analitics
Authors: Pedrassoli Chitayat Alan , Block Florian , Walker James , Drachen Anders
Published: October 2023

Esport games comprise a sizeable fraction of the global games market, and is the fastest growing segment in games. This has given rise to the domain of esports analytics, which uses telemetry data from games to inform players, coaches, broadcasters and other stakeholders. Compared to traditional sports, esport titles change rapidly, in terms of mechanics as well as rules. Due to these frequent changes to the parameters of the game, esport analytics models can have a short life-spam, a problem which is largely ignored within the literature. This paper extracts information from game design (i.e. patch notes) and utilises clustering techniques to propose a new form of character representation. As a case study, a neural network model is trained to predict the number of kills in a Dota 2 match utilising this novel character representation technique. The performance of this model is then evaluated against two distinct baselines, including conventional techniques. Not only did the model significantly outperform the baselines in terms of accuracy (85% AUC), but the model also maintains the accuracy in two newer iterations of the game that introduced one new character and a brand new character type. These changes introduced to the design of the game would typically break conventional techniques that are commonly used within the literature. Therefore, the proposed methodology for representing characters can increase the life-spam of machine learning models as well as contribute to a higher performance when compared to traditional techniques typically employed within the literature.
Observer Rules for Box-Split Grammars
Authors: Baron Nicholas , Eger Markus
Published: October 2023

Grammars are well-suited for the generation of structured content, such as text. Some specialized grammars, such as Shape Grammars, can even be used to generate 3D structures inside a game world like Minecraft. However, the top-down nature of grammars present limitations when it comes to modeling structures that should be connected to or utilize given geometry. In this paper, we describe an extension to an existing grammar model, called Box-Split Grammars, that extends it with the ability to observe existing geometry during the generation process, in order to incorporate it propertly into the generated structures. This modification also requires the addition of back-tracking in order to handle states in which certain geometry was (not) observed. We demonstrate the utility of this extension by showing how it can be used to place support structures for bridges and tunnels in a way that fits within an existing landscape.
Creating Diverse Play-Style-Centric Agents through Behavioural Cloning
Authors: Ingram Branden , Van Alten Clint , Klein Richard , Rosman Benjamin
Published: October 2023

Developing diverse and realistic agents in terms of behaviour and skill is crucial for game developers to enhance player satisfaction and immersion. Traditional game design approaches involve hand-crafted solutions, while learning game-playing agents often focuses on optimizing for a single objective, or play-style. These processes typically lack intuitiveness, fail to resemble realistic behaviour, and do not encompass a diverse spectrum of play-styles at varying levels of skill. To this end, our goal is to learn a set of policies that exhibit diverse behaviours or styles while also demonstrating diversity in skill level. In this paper, we propose a novel pipeline, called PCPG (Play-style-Centric Policy Generation), which combines unsupervised play-style identification and policy learning techniques to generate a diverse set of play-style-centric agents. The agents generated by the pipeline can effectively capture the richness and diversity of gameplay experiences in multiple video game domains, showcasing identifiable and diverse play-styles at varying levels of proficiency.
Herd’s Eye View: Improving Game AI Agent Learning with Collaborative Perception
Authors: Nash Andrew , Vardy Andrew , Churchill Dave
Published: October 2023

We present a novel perception model named Herd's Eye View (HEV) that adopts a global perspective derived from multiple agents to boost the decision-making capabilities of reinforcement learning (RL) agents in multi-agent environments, specifically in the context of game AI. The HEV approach utilizes cooperative perception to empower RL agents with a global reasoning ability, enhancing their decision-making. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the HEV within simulated game environments and highlight its superior performance compared to traditional ego-centric perception models. This work contributes to cooperative perception and multi-agent reinforcement learning by offering a more realistic and efficient perspective for global coordination and decision-making within game environments. Moreover, our approach promotes broader AI applications beyond gaming by addressing constraints faced by AI in other fields such as robotics. The code is available at https://github.com/andrewnash/Herds-Eye-View
FlexComb: A Facial Landmark-Based Model for Expression Combination Generation
Authors: Pikula Bogdan , Engels Steve
Published: October 2023

Facial expressions are a crucial but challenging aspect of animating in-game characters. They provide vital nonverbal communication cues, but given the high complexity and variability of human faces, the task of capturing the natural diversity and affective complexity of human faces can be a labour-intensive process for animators. This motivates the need for more accurate, realistic and lightweight methods for generating emotional expressions for in-game characters.
In this work, we introduce FlexComb, a Facial Landmark-based Expression Combination model, designed to generate a real-time space of realistic facial expression combinations. FlexComb leverages the highly varied CelebV-HQ dataset containing emotions in the wild, and a transformer-based architecture. The central component of the FlexComb system is an emotion recognition model that is trained on the facial dataset, and used to generate a larger dataset of tagged faces. The resulting system generates in-game facial expressions by sampling from this tagged dataset, including expressions that combine emotions in specified amounts. This allows in-game characters to take on variety of realistic facial expressions for a single emotion, which addresses this primary challenge of facial emotion modeling. FlexComb shows potential for expressive facial emotion simulation with applications that include animation, video game development, virtual reality, and human-computer interaction.
Navigation in Adversarial Environments Guided by PRA* and a Local RL Planner
Authors: Ray Debraj , Sturtevant Nathan R.
Published: October 2023

Real-time strategy games require players to respond to short-term challenges (micromanagement) and long-term objectives (macromanagement) simultaneously to win. However, many players excel at one of these skills but not both. This research is motivated by the question of whether the burden of micromanagement can be reduced on human players through delegation of responsibility to autonomous agents. In particular, this research proposes an adversarial navigation architecture that enables units to autonomously navigate through places densely populated with enemies by learning to micromanage itself. Our approach models the adversarial pathfinding problem as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and trains an agent with reinforcement learning on this MDP. We observed that our approach resulted in the agent taking less damage from adversaries while travelling shorter paths, compared to previous approaches for adversarial navigation. Our approach is also efficient in memory use and computation time. Interestingly, the agent using the proposed approach also outperformed baseline approaches while navigating through environments that are significantly different from the training environments. Furthermore, when the game design is modified, the agent discovers effective alternate strategies considering the updated design without any changes in the learning framework. This property is particularly useful because in game development the design of a game is often updated iteratively.
Preface
Authors: Eger Markus , Cardona-Rivera Rogelio Enrique
Published: October 2023

The 19th AAAI conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment
was held at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
The Predictive Power of Academic Motivation of Primary School Teacher Candidates on Their Self-Efficacy in the First Reading and Writing Teaching
Authors: SIDEKLI Sabri , UZUNOĞLU Dilşat
Published: October 2023

The aim of this study was to determine the predictive power of academic motivation of primary school teacher candidates on their self-efficacy in the first reading and writing teaching. To this end, the study was designed as correlational survey model. The universe of the study consisted of public university students at Grades 2, 3 and 4 of the department of primary school education in 2021-2022 spring semester and the participants were selected randomly for this study. As data collection tool, “Academic Motivation Scale” was used in order to determine the motivational level of candidate primary school teachers, whereas “Self-Efficacy Scale for the First Reading and Writing Teaching” was used to evaluate the self-efficacy of the primary school teacher candidates in the first reading and writing teaching. Designed on “Google Forms”, these two scales were administered to teacher candidates in one online session. For the data collection procedure, two weeks were allowed for data collection. At the end of this duration, the data was analyzed. As for data analysis, descriptive statistical analysis and simple linear regression analysis were used in the study. As a result of the study, it was seen that both academic motivation level and self-efficacy level of the teacher candidates on the first reading and writing teaching were at high level. Additionally, it was realized that there was a significant relationship between academic motivation and self-efficacy in the first reading and writing teaching, and also it was stated that academic motivation significantly predicted the level of self-efficacy in the first reading and writing teaching. Besides, academic motivation accounted for 22% of the changes in the self-efficacy scores in the first reading and writing teaching.
No Association Between Insomnia Severity, and Discrepancy Between Desired Time in Bed and Desired Total Sleep Time Among Shift-Working Nursing Professionals
Authors: Bzeih Wafaa , Kim Sohyeong , Yi Kikyoung , Chung Seockhoon
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective This study aimed to explore whether the discrepancy between a patient’s desired time in bed and desired total sleep time (DBST index) can be used as a tool to assess the insomnia severity of shift-working nursing professionals.Methods Two studies were conducted during two different times among two groups of shiftworking nursing professionals working in COVID-19 inpatient wards (study I), or nurses who witnessed patient death during the previous 2 years (study II), using a single voluntary survey. The survey was completed by a total of 366 participants: 226 in the first study, and 140 in the second. Participants’ age, sex, marital status, and past psychiatric history were collected. In addition to questions regarding the DBST index, the Glasgow Sleep Effort Scale (GSES), Dysfunctional Beliefs about Sleep-2 items (DBS-2), and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were assessed.Results In both studies, the DBST index did not reflect insomnia severity, preoccupation with sleep, or dysfunctional beliefs about sleep in the linear regression analysis. In addition, ISI was expected by GSES (β = 0.67 in study I, β = 0.62 in study II, all p < 0.001) and DBS-2 (β = 0.16 in study II, p = 0.020), but not by the DBST index.Conclusions It was observed that the DBST index was not significantly associated with insomnia severity, preoccupation with sleep, or dysfunctional beliefs about sleep in two studies done among shift working-nursing professionals.
Subcutaneous Emphysema Following Nasal Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in a Patient With a History of Tongue Base Tumor Resection
Authors: Ji Ki-Hwan
Published: October 2023

Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is chosen as the primary modality for most patients with obstructive sleep apnea due to its efficacy and safety. However, PAP therapy can cause potential side effects, including barotrauma, which in most cases is benign and manageable. Nevertheless, rare but serious complications, such as subcutaneous emphysema, may also occur. Here, I present a case of a middle-aged man with a history of tongue base tumor resection who developed subcutaneous emphysema in the neck following nasal PAP therapy. This case highlights the potential risk associated with previous surgical interventions and PAP therapy.
Investigation of the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Sleep Hygiene in High School Students
Authors: Haylı Çiğdem Müge , Kösem Dilek Demi̇r , Felek Emrah
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective This study aimed to conduct a descriptive study to examine the relationship between perceived stress and sleep hygiene in high school students.Methods The data required for the research were collected online between December 16, 2022 and March 10, 2023. The study group of the research consisted of high school students. An online survey method, a socio-demographic data collection form, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) were obtained from 219 high school students living in Hakkari, Turkey, who were selected by the convenience sampling method, one of the nonprobability sampling methods. The independent sample t-test, ANOVA analysis, and Pearson correlation test were used to analyze the data.Results A total of 51.1% of the participating high school students were boys, and 48.9% were girls. A total of 35.6% of the participating high school students were 16 years old, 27.4% were 17 years old, 21.5% were 15 years old, and 15.5% were 18 years old. It was found that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) between the PSS subdimensions and the SHI scores of high school students according to the variables, such as age, high school type, and class status. It was found that there was a significant relationship among the gender variable, the PSS subdimensions, and the SHI scale (p < 0.05).Conclusions It can be concluded that factors, such as age, high school type, and class status, did not affect the relationship between perceived stress and sleep hygiene in high school students and that the gender variable had an effect on the relationship between perceived stress and sleep hygiene. It is recommended that research to examine the relationship between perceived stress and sleep hygiene should be performed by expanding the samples.
Sleep Quality Assessment in Correlation to Autonomic Nerve Function in Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Authors: Ibrahim Haidar K. , Hashim Zainab Hasan , Desher Younus
Published: October 2023

Background and Objective Diabetes mellitus negatively impacts the quality of life of its patients. Autonomic dysfunction may disturb sleep quality by negatively affecting multiple systems, including, but not limited to, the cardiovascular, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts. The current study aims to assess sleep quality and examine the degree of correlation with autonomic nervous function in relatively well-controlled type 2 diabetic patients.Methods This study uses a cross-sectional design to assess sleep quality in 88 type 2 diabetic patients via the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), accordingly dividing them into two groups: good or poor sleepers. Subsequently, the study evaluates autonomic nerves’ conductivity by measuring electrical skin conductance using Sudoscan for the hands and feet.Results Of 88 recruited patients, 53% showed poor sleep quality, with higher incidence in females. Autonomic nerve conductivity showed moderate damage in poor sleepers with 59.53 ± 13.35 μS and 59.68 ± 16.91 μS of hand and foot electrodes, respectively. Autonomic damage induces sleep disturbance mainly through increased nighttime voiding in 91.49% of the poor sleepers group compared to 41.46% in the good sleepers group. PSQI score was found to strongly and inversely correlate with autonomic nerve conductivity via hand electrodes, with a correlation coefficient of -0.62 and a determination coefficient of 0.39.Conclusion Poor sleep quality seems to be a significant problem even in relatively well-controlled type 2 diabetic patients with no diagnosed micro- or macrovascular complications. Autonomic dysfunction negatively affects the quality of sleep and leads to sleep disturbance by increasing nighttime micturition as one of its complications.
Positional Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Therapeutic Modalities and Clinical Effects
Authors: Lee Ki-Il , Choi Ji Ho
Published: October 2023

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by recurrent occurrences of partial or complete collapse of the upper airway during sleep, leading to shallow breathing or breathing pauses. These repeated breathing disruptions can result in intermittent hypoxia, hypercapnia, hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system, and fragmented sleep patterns. Left untreated, OSA can have significant health implications, including various symptoms and serious consequences. Positional OSA is a subtype of OSA where during sleep, the severity of apnea events is significantly higher in the supine position. This condition can worsen respiratory parameters, such as apnea/hypopnea events, oxygen desaturation and arousals, and cardiovascular burdens. Positional therapy is a treatment approach used for patients with positional OSA. Typically, positional therapy involves encouraging the patient to avoid sleeping on their back, and instead sleep in a lateral position. Various modalities for positional therapy exist, including positional training using a tennis ball, alarm, or vest, and sleep positioning pillows. Novel electric-operated postural devices have also been developed. Positional therapy has shown promise in improving apneic events and lowest oxygen saturation in patients with position-dependent sleep apnea. In comparison to positive airway pressure treatment, positional therapy has been reported to demonstrate non-inferior effects, while achieving better compliance. Consequently, positional therapy can be a cost-effective and non-invasive therapeutic alternative for managing positional OSA.
Compromiso y Satisfacción Laboral en Personas Mayores Trabajadoras de un Municipio del Centro Sur de Chile
Authors: Peña Axt Juan Carlos , Arias Lagos Loreto , Vera Cornejo Freddy , Ferrada Peña María Pilar
Published: October 2023

Este trabajo se adscribe dentro de una investigación más amplia denominada diagnóstico de relaciones laborales con perspectiva de género realizada en un municipio del centro sur de Chile. Este trabajo es de carácter cuantitativo y se llevó a cabo en un municipio del centro sur de Chile. La población fue de 1255 funcionarios para lo cual se utilizó una muestra de 365 personas de distintos grupos etarios. Los análisis son estadísticos descriptivos y se utilizan tablas de frecuencia y gráficos. Los resultados de este estudio específicos de las personas mayores apuntan a un alto grado de satisfacción laboral y percepción del clima laboral positivo. En esta línea los datos evidencian que las personas mayores funcionarios de este municipio no sienten ser discriminados y tampoco destacan sufrir situaciones de violencia laboral, presentando porcentajes similares en todos los grupos etarios que fueron parte de la muestra. Paralelamente estos mismos datos apuntan a una percepción positiva de las brechas de género en el ámbito laboral.
Socially Dangerous Behavior of Adolescents: Clinical, Psychopathological and Psychological Characteristics, the Role of Destructive Content
Authors: Badmaeva V.D. , Karaush I.S. , Chibisova I.A. , Fedonkina A.A.
Published: October 2023

The article discusses the features of socially dangerous behavior of adolescents. The aim of the study was to study the impact of clinical, social and psychological characteristics, destructive content on the formation of socially dangerous behavior in adolescents. The results of a survey of 21 teenagers aged 13—18 with socially dangerous behavior who planned and committed extremist and terrorist crimes attacks on educational institutions are described. The initial illnesses in adolescents, identified in adolescents during the ESPP, were diseases of schizophrenic origin (38%), personality disorders (28.6%), and organ disorders (9.5%). It was found that the likelihood of developing a psychosomatic disorder in adolescents occurs more often when biological manifestations, problems of family behavior and negative psychosocial manifestations, behavioral disorders are identified in history of behavioral disorders as an indicator of the persistence of existing clinical manifestations. The study of the factors influencing the formation of individual mental health in adolescents is the initial link in determining the targets for the prevention of mental disorders and the commission of socially dangerous acts.
Psychological Difficulties in Marriage Migrant Women Adaptation
Authors: Mironova O.I. , Ruonala L.A.
Published: October 2023

The paper is devoted to the theoretical review of psychological difficulties in the adaptation of migrant women, who moved to a new country due to family reunification. In this article, psychological difficulties are understood as any internal barriers, violations, failures, etc., that prevents optimal adaptation, in this case, of migrants. The focus of research by modern scientists is aimed at studying socially disadvantaged migrants and labor migrants. There is not enough research on women who have moved to a new country with their husbands. Four groups of psychological difficulties were identified that impede the successful adaptation of women, as well as the clinical manifestations associated with these difficulties: women’s expectations regarding interaction with society do not coincide with society’s expectations which contributes to the emergence of frustration and deprivation; the predominance of external motivation when moving to another country (following a husband) results in loss of work and familiar environment which often leads to depression and/or somatization; the predominance of compelled contacts in the structure of communication causes an increased irritability; self-image as a migrant before the move does not coincide with real self-image in a new country generates intrapersonal conflicts.
Features of Sexual Self-Awareness in Patients with Organic Personality Disorder and Multiple Disorders of Sexual Preference
Authors: Basinskaya I.A. , Bezhenar N.V. , Borisova T.Y.
Published: October 2023

The article analyzes the results of an empirical study aimed at assessing the dynamics of the parameters of sexual self-awareness and the tendency to aggressive behavior in interpersonal interaction in persons suffering from organic personality disorder with multiple disorders of sexual preference in the process of compulsory treatment. 30 patients were examined before and after the course of treatment (psychopharmacological effects in combination with antiandrogens and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy). The following methods were used: “MyF”, “CTO”, “Coding”, the “Hands” test of Wagner. The changes in the psychological characteristics and parameters of sexual self-consciousness revealed in the course of the study allowed us to identify actual targets for psychotherapeutic influence and were taken into account by us when determining the assessment of the risk of relapse and the degree of social danger of patients.