On ranking sets of statements in terms of plausibility

The axioms adopted by Packard (1981) and Heiner and Packard (1983) for plausibility ranking of sets of statements are critically examined. It is shown that the informational requirement of the Heiner-Packard (1983) framework is much stronger than Packard's (1981) framework and hence both axiomatic setups are examined separately. A characterization of the leximin rule is provided in Packard's framework and the nonintuitive implications of the Heiner-Packard (1983) axioms are discussed. It is also demonstrated that in both frameworks, minor variations of some of the axioms convert the characterization results into logical impossibilities.I am grateful to Prof. P. K. Pattanaik for many helpful suggestions.     

Impact of Vygotskian Intervention on Persons with Intellectual Impairment

Vygotskian mode of intervention is a suitable technique for teaching. This study is an attempt to explore the role of Vygotskian mode of intervention in facilitating cognitive development of persons with intellectual impairment. Thirty individuals with mild intellectual impairment (IQ 50–69) from various organizations at Kolkata, India, participated in this study. An intervention program based on Vygotskian principles was run. Findings of the study showed that this method was able to accelerate cognitive functioning of the participants. It is suggested that scaffolding may be used as a rehabilitation method for the persons with intellectual impairment.     

‘Bridging’ and ‘Exit’ as Metaphors of Multilingual Education: A Constructionist Analysis

Using social constructionist perspective this paper critically examines the multilingual education (MLE) discourse and practices in the Indian states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The choice of MLE model is influenced by the construction of the problem of tribal children??s learning as ??poor?? or ??inadequate?? bridging between the language and concepts used in everyday life and school. ??Bridging?? and ??exit??, therefore, became key metaphors of MLE programmes. The discursive embedding of these metaphors in the policy documents indicates that they are political and serve to fulfill the mandates of the constitution of India and policy frameworks for early education in mother tongue without subverting the language hierarchy or the majority-centric school education. The current MLE programmes lack pedagogy of critique and limit the scope for reflexive deliberations.     

A variant selection mechanism in the deformed and recrystallized β matrix of a metastable β-titanium alloy

ABSTRACT

The variant selection criteria during β to α phase transformations in a metastable β-titanium alloy (Ti-5553) in the presence of deformation are examined. Two distinct metallurgical states in the β matrix, heavily deformed and fully recrystallized, were obtained from a 90% cold-rolled alloy. The deformed and recrystallized samples were subjected to aging heat treatment for a short time to allow the precipitation of an intragranular α phase. Electron backscattered diffraction was used to assess the α crystallographic variant occurrence in the deformed as well as in the recrystallized β grains. A discrete pole figure analysis revealed that a limited number of variants were evolved in the deformed β grains while there was no variant selection in the recrystallized β matrix. The results suggest that activation of {112}<111>_β slip systems determines a strong variant selection in the plastically deformed β matrix.     

Does Absence of Hearing Ability Enhance Visual Vigilance? It Depends on Task Complexity

Successful performance of a vigilance task in a particular modality can be affected by the allocation of attentional resources to other cognitive processes using same or different modalities. The present study investigated whether loss of hearing affects visual vigilance task performance and also if it’s a function of increased task complexity. A sample of 30 adolescents ( 15 with hearing loss and 15 with normal hearing) were selected by matching them in pairs according to their working memory functioning and other relevant organismic variables. A software program measured the performance on vigilance task with varying task complexity levels. Analysis of the obtained data indicates that the effect of hearing impairment on visual vigilance is moderated by task complexity and that is contingent to attentional resources. Here, deprivation in hearing ability negatively affects functioning of visual vigilance significantly only when the task complexity increases. But no significant differences are observed in hearing and hearing impaired adolescents when the task demanded less attentional resources.     

Understanding time use,stress and recovery practices among early career physicians: an exploratory study

Early career physicians (ECPs) work an average of 80 h per week, and at times may approach 24 continuous hours working. These hours, combined with a stressful work environment, and an inability to physically and psychologically detach from work make ECPs likely to experience burnout and other negative health-related consequences. This study provides insight into the stress and recovery challenges faced by ECPs in a typical hospital environment. Rich qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from participants regarding daily time usage, and recovery practices and needs. ECPs report longer working hours, less leisure time and shorter amounts of sleep than average working adults. ECPs do not participate in many resource-replenishing activities while at work, and when out of work, they tend to participate in more passive than active forms of recovery. Resource-draining activities were identified as requiring much of ECP’s nonwork time, further limiting recovery. The prevention of burnout and other negative health consequences among ECPs requires the building of a workplace and educational culture that supports regular resource replenishment. This includes the need for a curriculum of medical education that teaches ECPs to identify the signs of stress and recovery needs, and how to effectively address these needs.     

Wittgenstein on Public Language About Personal Experiences

Philosophia - In this paper, we would like to discuss Wittgenstein’s critique of the idea that a person’s experiences are necessarily private, and these experiences can only be...     

EEG phase synchronization during semantic unification relates to individual differences in children’s vocabulary skill

As we listen to speech, our ability to understand what was said requires us to retrieve and bind together individual word meanings into a coherent discourse representation. This so‐called semantic unification is a fundamental cognitive skill, and its development relies on the integration of neural activity throughout widely distributed functional brain networks. In this proof‐of‐concept study, we examine, for the first time, how these functional brain networks develop in children. Twenty‐six children (ages 4–17) listened to well‐formed sentences and sentences containing a semantic violation, while EEG was recorded. Children with stronger vocabulary showed N400 effects that were more concentrated to centroparietal electrodes and greater EEG phase synchrony (phase lag index; PLI) between right centroparietal and bilateral frontocentral electrodes in the delta frequency band (1–3 Hz) 1.27–1.53 s after listening to well‐formed sentences compared to sentences containing a semantic violation. These effects related specifically to individual differences in receptive vocabulary, perhaps pointing to greater recruitment of functional brain networks important for top‐down semantic unification with development. Less skilled children showed greater delta phase synchrony for violation sentences 3.41–3.64 s after critical word onset. This later effect was partly driven by individual differences in nonverbal reasoning, perhaps pointing to non‐verbal compensatory processing to extract meaning from speech in children with less developed vocabulary. We suggest that functional brain network communication, as measured by momentary changes in the phase synchrony of EEG oscillations, develops throughout the school years to support language comprehension in different ways depending on children's verbal and nonverbal skill levels.     

An EEG-based neuro-recommendation system for improving consumer purchase experience

The aperture between the marketing domain and the electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) has been achieved with the inception of neuromarketing. This domain helps access the hidden information of the preferences and tastes of the consumers who intend to purchase. Research scholars have experimented with this emerging area in multiple aspects like designing pricing, promotions, predicting purchase-related activities, new product development, and so on. In this study, we have proposed an innovative use of neuromarketing to build a recommendation system. This recommendation system can potentially suggest suitable products to the consumer based on the past purchase behavior. This proposal carries huge potential in converting visitors to shoppers, increasing average order value, increasing the number of items per order, designing personalized promotions, and so on. The commonality of activated brain signals has been used to build this recommendation system. This neuromarketing-based recommendation system carries the advantage over the traditional recommendation system as this system suggests products based on the actual real-time state of the brain during the purchase. This system successfully initiated the starting point of building a neuromarketing-based recommendation system.     

Perceptions of Chaplains’ Value and Impact Within Hospital Care Teams

Many scholars have written about the role of spirituality in health care. One mechanism for incorporating spirituality into the care of patients is to integrate clinically trained chaplains into hospital care teams. We examined in a mixed-methods fashion, the effects of this type of integrated care team within a teaching hospital setting. The quality and impact of chaplain involvement were studied from patient and physician-in-training perspectives, using data from more than 200 patients and physicians in training. Findings clearly show that clinically trained chaplains can contribute meaningful expertise and real value to the quality and comprehensiveness of patient and physician experiences.