Automation of Stress Recognition Using Subjective or Objective Measures

Automation of stress recognition involves collecting stress-reflecting data and then using a computational technique to estimate the stress level corresponding to that data. With the advent of objective sensors or mobile context measurement, automated stress recognition revolves around and is restricted to only these measures. Traditional subjective questionnaires and self-reports, though highly reliable, have been bounded to only clinical settings, without extending their scope to general population and natural environments. This review discusses some widely used questionnaires for measuring stress which can prove to be equally efficient to their conventional paper-based application when computerized. A summary on highly accepted objective measures of stress, including physiological, behavioural and contextual data, is provided next. Past research work using these subjective and objective measures for automatically recognizing stress is also reviewed. A comparative analysis of questionnaires and objective measures is conducted, which helped in highlighting significant advantages and disadvantages of the measures. Use of reports or questionnaires for automating stress recognition is suggested, owing to improved costs, high reliability and user trust.     

Cognitive estimations as a measure of executive dysfunction in childhood epilepsy

Children and adolescents with epilepsy are known to demonstrate executive function deficits. Despite prior work that has shown that cognitive estimation tasks are sensitive to executive dysfunction in children, such tasks have not been studied in children with epilepsy. This is particularly important given the fact that executive tasks have heretofore shown poor ecological validity, and it has been speculated that estimation tasks may show stronger ecological validity than other executive tests. One hundred and thirteen clinically referred children and adolescents with epilepsy were included. The Biber Cognitive Estimations Test was sensitive to cognitive dysfunction, with about half showing impairments on this task in comparison to age-matched normative data; the most frequently impaired subscales were quantity estimation and time estimation. Moreover, the Biber Cognitive Estimation Test showed moderate correlations with not only overall intellectual functions and academic achievement but also other commonly administered tests of executive functions, including digit span, Trailmaking, and the Tower of London but not with the contingency naming test. Cognitive estimations were also modestly correlated with age of epilepsy onset but not other epilepsy-severity variables such as number of antiepilepsy drugs (AEDs) or seizure frequency. Unfortunately, the hypothesis that the Biber Cognitive Estimation Test would show strong ecological validity was not supported, as it showed weak relations with parent-reported executive function deficits. The significance and limitations of this investigation are discussed.     

A new method for automated reconstruction of pre-transformation microstructures

A new method, referred to as the cluster method, is proposed and tested for the reconstruction of pre-transformation microstructure in Ti–6Al–4V alloy. The cluster method begins by constructing clusters of daughter grains (room-temperature hcp α-phase) that have a high probability of being transformed from the same parent grain (high-temperature bcc β-phase). These clusters are then grown, and back-transformed to the parent grain orientations using the ‘summation of mutual misorientation angle method’ (SMMA method). The cluster method is validated by comparing the obtained results with the results of the SMMA and triplet methods.     

High temperature mechanics of nanomoulded amorphous metals

High temperature mechanics of nanomoulded amorphous metals was investigated by in situ nanomechanical testing. Nanopillars of Pd₄₃Cu₂₇Ni₁₀P₂₀ metallic glass were synthesized by thermoplastic forming and their stress–strain response was obtained concurrent with direct observation of their deformation behaviour. This allowed the measurement of mechanical behaviour from nanopillars and the corresponding bulk substrate with identical thermal history. A rise in elastic modulus was seen with increase in temperature for both the nanopillars and substrate, which was explained by diffusive rearrangement of atomic-scale viscoelastic units. The results provide fundamental insights into structural rearrangement in metallic glasses.     

Ethnic Speech and Ethnic Action as Ethnic Behavior: Part 2. Validation of the Brunel Ethnic Behavior Inventory

This study sought to validate the Brunel Ethnic Behavior Inventory (BEBI) as a measure of two aspects of “doing” (i.e., ethnic speech and ethnic action) among the “ways of ethnicity” identified by Verkuyten. It also evaluates the construct validity of the BEBI alongside the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure-Revised (MEIM-R) and evaluates the BEBI and the MEIM-R (the latter of which measures exploration as “thinking” and commitment as “feeling” among ways of ethnicity) regarding criterion-related validity. Across two samples (n = 120 for Sample 1 and n = 148 for Sample 2), the BEBI and the MEIM-R performed suitably with regard to construct validity. However, the BEBI arguably performed better with regard to criterion-related validity (i.e., in predicting scores on life satisfaction, flourishing, positive and negative moods, and positive and negative emotions). Implications for validation studies on ways of ethnicity are discussed.     

Traumatic Incidents and Experiences of Racism and Sexism: Examining Associations with Components of Critical Consciousness for System‐Involved Girls of Color

Scholarship identifies critical consciousness as a key developmental asset in promoting the well‐being of adolescents experiencing multiple socio‐structural axes of oppression. Girls of color at acute risk for legal system involvement or re‐involvement are absent from this literature. They are a critical population in which to examine this construct given their experiences of oppression and the myriad benefits of critical consciousness. The current study addresses this gap by examining traumatic incidents and experiences of racism and sexism as correlates of critical reflection and action among a sample of girls (N = 220; Mean age = 14.5 years; SD = 1.3 years). Using path analysis and multigroup modeling, we examine direct associations between these three manifestations of structural oppression and critical consciousness and explore the interplay of traumatic incidents, and racism and sexism in girls’ critical consciousness development. Findings suggest that experiences of sexism and racism, uniquely and positively predict critical action, but not critical reflection. Surprisingly, girls’ experiences of traumatic incidents do not predict reflection or action. Finally, multigroup analyses show no evidence that these associations vary by the interplay of traumatic incidents, racism, and sexism. Implications for community psychology values and juvenile legal system practice and policy are discussed.     

Ranking of Drivers for Green Manufacturing Implementation Using Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution Method

The governments are under tremendous pressure to sustain high manufacturing growth in emerging economies. Unfortunately, the manufacturing sector consumes much energy and other resources and emits a large amount of green house gases, which increases environmental problems such as climate change and global warming. One possible solution to this problem is green manufacturing (GM) implementation in industry. However, GM implementation faces many challenges. Various motivating factors named as ‘drivers’ should be facilitated by the government and industry to make this change possible. This paper investigates the drivers for GM implementation and their ranking based on fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution method using government, industry and experts perspectives. The study concluded that competitiveness, incentives, organizational resources and technology are top ranked drivers and should be facilitated by the government and industry to help implement GM. The ranking of these drivers is expected to help the government and industry to focus on few important drivers to facilitate the GM implementation with limited resources. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.