Your search

This study is an attempt to understand and describe the compositional principles of Chaoshan traditional houses (CTH) through a computational space syntax. In this approach, the space syntax is used to describe and verify the compositional rules of Chaoshan houses. Chaoshan rural residence is a classical Lingnan style building in Chaoshan area of eastern Guangdong province, associated with Teo-Swa people, a Han Chinese minority. This study takes the example the prototypes existing in the village of Zhupu, Haojiang District, Shantou city as a case study, to analyse the spatial form of the residences. The Zhupu village houses date from the Qing Dynasty - Qianlong period, around 1700 AD. The hypothesis of this study is that CTH buildings are a result of a space compositional rule system that can be described and replicated through a computational design methodology. This study will establish a computational architectural syntax, and is the first stage of an extended research work on the evolution of Chaoshan residential types. The understanding of this evolution may help, as future work, to develop urban strategies for adaptation of the CTH heritage buildings to the contemporary living conditions. As the result of this study is a computational 3D graphics modelling algorithm, the ability of the system to generate the house layouts is not limited to the reconstruction of existing typologies of CTH and its variations. The same algorithm will allow the generation of new housing schemes, with adaptation to design variables extracted from a particular site and region.

Sustainability takes priority with architect Matthew Barnett Howland. His house in England is made entirely of cork: 100 percent natural, 100 percent recyclable, with almost zero carbon emissions.

This study, focusing on the China's Yao minority community, investigates the feasibility to create a generative computational method to replicate the diversity of the existing Yao traditional wood buildings, addressing the critical issues currently facing computational design methods, in the attempt to adapt genetic-generative algorithms to the study of local ancient architecture. The project develops a computational tool to generate a network of three-dimensional prototypes, or building structures, derived from traditional wood frame village houses. It studies possible housing structures that illustrate some of the key working methods available in digital systems such as ‘generating' and ‘compositing' taking as a starting point computational strategies oriented towards geometry and where a set of local variables play a decisive role: available local technologies, use of raw materials, and the dimensioning of timber components based on data collected from Yao architecture.

Current global shifts in education towards inclusive early childhood education are deeply engineered by the crisis of educational exclusion. In responding to exclusion, teachers have mainly utilized dominant western theories to plan and implement inclusive teaching. In this chapter, we draw on a non-western philosophy, a Nichiren Buddhist (Soka) philosophy, to provide a ‘kaleidoscopic’ lens through which to create inclusive educational learning spaces that engender full participation of all children. The Soka education philosophy is a humanist concept which can guide teachers when preparing to create inclusive education. The aims of this chapter are threefold: The first is an exploration of the Nichiren Buddhist (Soka) philosophy. The second aim is to highlight how this philosophy can enable teachers to unleash the unlimited potential of children in inclusive learning settings. Thirdly, we argue that grounding early childhood teacher education in this philosophy can help improve the effectiveness of inclusive educational experience for all children.

Religion and migration are both phenomena that have endured perennially in the experience of humanity. However, studies on the relationship of these two subjects are not as prevalent compared to how widespread international migration has become especially among people coming from religious societies. This work contributes to the knowledge base on the significance of religion within the context of international migration by looking at how religious faith and practice evolve as a result of the experience of migration. Interviews about the migration narratives of Filipino Catholics working in Macau were conducted. These were supported by data collected through the use of survey questionnaires that look into changes in religious practices of respondents as well as their attitudes towards faith and belief. The study has found that there is constancy in the religious faith and practice of Filipino Catholics even amidst external changes to the physical and social environment brought about by moving to a predominantly secular society. Through recourse to anthropological analysis, this immutability of faith is attributable to the unique ethnographic feature of Filipinos’ high regard for the centrality and importance of interiority in their life. Keywords: migration, immigrant religion, faith, Filipino religiosity

Consumer neuroscience analyzes individuals’ preferences through the assessment of physiological data monitoring, considering brain activity or other bioinformation to assess purchase decisions. Traditional marketing tactics include customer surveys, product evaluations, and comments. For product or brand marketing and mass production, it is important to understand consumer neurological responses when seeing an ad or testing a product. In this work, we use the bi-clustering method to reduce EEG noise and automatic machine learning to classify brain responses. We analyze a neuromarketing EEG dataset that contains EEG data from product evaluations from 25 participants, collected with a 14 channel Emotiv Epoch + device, while examining consumer items. Four components comprised the research methodology. Initially, the Welch Transform was used to filter the EEG raw data. Second, the best converted signal biclusterings are used to train different classification models. Each biclustering is evaluated with a separate classifier, considering F1-Score. After that, the H2O.ai AutoML library is used to select the optimal biclustering and models. Instead of traditional procedures, two thresholds are used. First-threshold values indicate customer satisfaction. Low values of the second threshold reflect consumer dissatisfaction. Values between the first and second criteria are classified as uncertain values. We outperform the state of the art with a 0.95 F1-Score value.

The physiological mechanisms underlying variation in aggression in fish remain poorly understood. One possibly confounding variable is the lack of standardization in the type of stimuli used to elicit aggression. The presentation of controlled stimuli in videos, a.k.a. video playback, can provide better control of the fight components. However, this technique has produced conflicting results in animal behaviour studies and needs to be carefully validated. For this, a similar response to the video and an equivalent live stimulus needs to be demonstrated. Further, different physiological responses may be triggered by live and video stimuli and it is important to demonstrate that video images elicit appropriate physiological reactions. Here, the behavioural and endocrine response of male Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens to a matched for size conspecific fighting behind a one-way mirror, presented live or through video playback, was compared. The video playback and live stimulus elicited a strong and similar aggressive response by the focal fish, with a fight structure that started with stereotypical threat displays and progressed to overt attacks. Post-fight plasma levels of the androgen 11-ketotestosterone were elevated as compared to controls, regardless of the type of stimuli. Cortisol also increased in response to the video images, as previously described for live fights in this species. These results show that the interactive component of a fight, and its resolution, are not needed to trigger an endocrine response to aggression in this species. The study also demonstrates for the first time in a fish a robust endocrine response to video stimuli and supports the use of this technique for researching aggressive behaviour in B. splendens.

The emergence of blockchain technology in 2008 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of digital currencies, paving the way for the emergence of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Since then, blockchain has undergone four generations of development, expanding its applications across various sectors. In particular, the integration of blockchain into accounting and auditing practices has garnered significant attention due to its potential to transform traditional methods. However, there's a lack of clear understanding of how blockchain impacts traditional auditing practices and finance recordkeeping and the implications for audit quality. Significant challenges and uncertainties hinder its widespread adoption, including technical hurdles, regulatory complexities, and practical barriers. This dissertation aims to determine the transformative impact of blockchain technology on auditing practices and finance recordkeeping. In order to fully understand the impact of blockchain on auditing practices and finance recordkeeping, the dissertation utilizes a mixed sequential research approach that is divided into three phases. The first approach involves gathering qualitative data through interviews with blockchain experts. The second approach involves collecting secondary qualitative data through a systematic literature review to determine the changes that blockchain has brought to traditional auditing practices and finance recordkeeping. This is followed by a bibliometric analysis to identify current trends in blockchain research related to auditing practices and finance recordkeeping. The third approach involves gathering data through an online-focused survey distributed to finance and other industry professionals to determine the challenges organizations face in implementing blockchain technology in auditing practices and finance recordkeeping. Additionally, in phase three, case studies will be conducted based on the survey responses to examine the hindrances and challenges faced by organizations in implementing blockchain and its impact on auditing practices in different regions and among different demographic groups. As the findings indicate, Integrating blockchain technology into accounting and auditing practices can bring about significant improvements in transparency, efficiency, and fraud prevention. However, there are several challenges that must be overcome for successful implementation, such as technical difficulties, regulatory uncertainties, and privacy concerns. To overcome these hurdles, it is necessary to establish clear regulatory frameworks and innovative solutions. Although smart contracts offer automation, they also pose security risks that need to be addressed. Despite these challenges, blockchain has the potential to revolutionize auditing by enabling real-time auditing and enhancing integrity verification. To ensure audit quality, auditors must adapt to new responsibilities and stay up-to-date with emerging trends. Collaboration among stakeholders and continuous education and training programs are key to driving the successful adoption of blockchain technology

The potential of blockchain technology extends beyond cryptocurrencies and has the power to transform various sectors, including accounting and auditing. Its integration into auditing practices presents opportunities and challenges, and auditors must navigate new standards and engage with clients effectively. Blockchain technology provides tamper-proof record-keeping and fraud prevention, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and security in domains such as finance, insurance, healthcare, education, e-voting, and supply chain management. This paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of blockchain technology literature to gain insights into the current state and future directions of blockchain technology in auditing. The study identifies significant research themes and trends using keyword and citation analysis. The Vosviewer software was used to analyze the data and visualize the results. Findings reveal significant growth in blockchain research, particularly from 2021 onwards, with China emerging as a leading contributor, followed by the USA, India, and the UK. This study provides valuable insights into current trends, key contributors, and global patterns in blockchain technology research within auditing practices, and future research may explore thematic areas in greater depth.

In the 21st century, complex problem-solving (CPS) serves as a key indicator of educational achievement. However, the elements of successful CPS have not yet been fully explored. This study investigates the role of strategic exploration and different problem-solving and test-taking behaviors in CPS success, using logfile data to visualize and quantify students’ problemsolving behavior on 10 CPS problems with different characteristics and levels of difficulty. Additionally, in the present study, we go beyond the limits of most studies that focus on students’ problem-solving behavior pattern analyses in European cultures and education systems to examine Arabic students’ CPS behavior. The results show that computer-based assessments of CPS are feasible and valid in Jordanian higher education. The findings also confirm the structural validity of CPS, indicating that the processes of knowledge acquisition (KAC) and knowledge application (KAP) can be distinguished and separated in the problem-solving process. Large differences were identified in students’ test-taking behavior in terms of the efficacy of their exploration strategy. We identified four latent classes based on the students’ exploration strategy behavior. The study thus leads to a better understanding of how students solve problems and behave during the problem-solving process in uncertain situations.