The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese Department of Missions and Evangelism has announced a contest for the best 30-second or less explanation of what the Orthodox Church is—essentially an Orthodox “elevator speech.” To learn more about this contest, Bobby Maddex interviews Howard Lange, Administrator of the Department of Missions and Evangelism.

Bobby Maddex interviews Valerie Ann Zrake, the winner of the Elevator Speech Contest conducted by the Department of Missions and Evangelism of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

On the Feast of Pentecost, Fr. Pat compares events in the book of Genesis with the events in Acts 2.

The Italian food is at the heart of a project to give young people "focus and a bit of purpose".

Proposals for renewable energy schemes in Wales could be sped up under new plans.

The Poole Pirates win speedway's SGB Championship after beating the Oxford Cheetahs.

TCP BBR is one of the most powerful congestion control algorithms. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of BBR analysis, expanding on existing knowledge across various fronts. Utilising ns3 simulations, we evaluate BBR's performance under diverse conditions, generating graphical representations. Our findings reveal flaws in the probe's RTT phase duration estimation and unequal bandwidth sharing between BBR and CUBIC protocols. Specifically, we demonstrated that the probe's RTT phase duration estimation algorithm is flawed and that BBR and CUBIC generally do not share bandwidth equally. Towards the end of the article, we propose a new improved version of TCP BBR which minimises these problems of inequity in bandwidth sharing and corrects the inaccuracies of the two key parameters RTprop and cwnd. Consequently, the BBR' protocol maintains very good fairness with the Cubic protocol, with an index that is almost equal to 0.98, and an equity index over 0.95.

This research study explores peer teaching and learning without a domain expert teacher, within the context of an activity where teams of second level students (~16 years old) are required to create a learning experience for their peers. The study looks at how participants would like to be taught and how they would teach their peers if given the opportunity and examines the support they require, their motivation levels, and if they actually learn curriculum content using this approach. An exploratory case study methodology was used, and the findings suggest that students want varied learning experiences that include many of the elements which would fall under the heading of 21st century learning, that with some support and encouragement they can create innovative learning experiences for their peers, and that they can learn curriculum content from the process.

An online Moodle Workshop was evaluated for peer assessment effectiveness. A quasi-experiment was designed using a Seminar in Professionalism course taught in face-to-face mode to undergraduate students across two campuses. The first goal was to determine if Moodle Workshop awarded a fair peer grader grade. The second objective was to estimate if students were consistent and reliable in performing their peer assessments. Statistical techniques were used to answer the research hypotheses. Although Workshop Moodle did not have a built-in measure for peer assessment validity, t-tests and reliability estimates were calculated to demonstrate that the grades were consistent with what faculty expected. Implications were asserted to improve teaching and recommendations were provided to enhance Moodle.

Aim/Purpose: To encourage students’ engagement in peer assessments and provide students with better-quality feedback, this paper describes a technique for author-reviewer matching in peer assessment systems – a Balanced Allocation algorithm. Background: Peer assessment concerns evaluating the work of colleagues and providing feedback on their work. This process is widely applied as a learning method to involve students in the progress of their learning. However, as students have different ability levels, the efficacy of the peer feedback differs from case to case. Thus, peer assessment may not provide satisfactory results for students. In order to mitigate this issue, this paper explains and evaluates an algorithm that matches the author to a set of reviewers. The technique matches authors and reviewers based on how difficult the authors perceived the assignment to be, and the algorithm then matches the selected author to a group of reviewers who may meet the author’s needs in regard to the selected assignment. Methodology: This study used the Multiple Criteria Decision-Making methodology (MCDM) to determine a set of reviewers from among the many available options. The weighted sum method was used because the data that have been collected in user profiles are expressed in the same unit. This study produced an experimental result, examining the algorithm with a real collected dataset and mock-up dataset. In total, there were 240 students in the real dataset, and it contained self-assessment scores, peer scores, and instructor scores for the same assignment. The mock-up dataset created 1000 records for self-assessment scores. The algorithm was evaluated using focus group discussions with 29 programming students and interviews with seven programming instructors. Contribution: This paper contributes to the field in the following two ways. First, an algorithm using a MCDM methodology was proposed to match authors and reviewers in order to facilitate the peer assessment process. In addition, the algorithm used self-assessment as an initial data source to match users, rather than randomly creating reviewer – author pairs. Findings: The findings show the accurate results of the algorithm in matching three reviewers for each author. Furthermore, the algorithm was evaluated based on students’ and instructors’ perspectives. The results are very promising, as they depict a high level of satisfaction for the Balanced Allocation algorithm. Recommendations for Practitioners: We recommend instructors to consider using the Balanced Allocation algorithm to match students in peer assessments, and consequently to benefit from personalizing peer assessment based on students' needs. Recommendation for Researchers: Several MCDM methods could be expanded upon, such as the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) if different attributes are collected, or the artificial neural network (ANN) if fuzzy data is available in the user profile. Each method is suitable for special cases depending on the data available for decision-making. Impact on Society: Suitable pairing in peer assessment would increase the credibility of the peer assessment process and encourage students’ engagement in peer assessments. Future Research: The Balanced Allocation algorithm could be applied using a single group, and a peer assessment with random matching with another group may also be conducted, followed by performing a t-test to determine the impact of matching on students’ performances in the peer assessment activity.

Voice Activity Detection (VAD) distinguishes speech segments from noise or silence areas. An efficient and noise-robust VAD system can be widely used for emerging speech technologies such as wireless communication and speech recognition. In this paper, we propose two versions of an unsupervised Arabic VAD method based on the combination of the Short-Time Energy (STE) and the Spectral Centroid (SC) features for formulating a typical threshold to detect speech areas. The first version compares only the STE feature to the threshold (STE-VAD). In contrast, the second compares the SC vector and the threshold (SC-VAD). The two versions of our VAD method were tested on 770 sentences of the Arabphone corpus, which were recorded in clean and noisy environments and evaluated under different values of Signal-to-Noise-Ratio. The experiments demonstrated the robustness of the STE-VAD in terms of accuracy and Mean Square Error.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this project was to explore student perceptions of the value of both the creation of video content and exposure to other students’ work though peer assessment and inclusion of exemplars as unit material. Background: The research was in a first year information technology flipped-learning unit, where the assessment involved students developing video presentations that were peer assessed and exemplars incorporated into the unit as teaching material. Methodology: Data was gathered using a mixed methods approach using an online questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with a selection of questionnaire respondents. The interviews were designed to further explore issues identified from the analysis of the questionnaire data. Contribution: Informs on student perceptions of peer review and the integration of student generated content into University teaching. Findings: Most students enjoyed the video assessment (58%) with many preferring it to a written or programming task (55-58%). In the subsequent peer assessment, many liked seeing the work of others (67%) and found the approach engaging (63%) yet some other perceptions were mixed or neutral. Recommendations for Practitioners: University IT students generally enjoyed and perceived peer assessment and found student generated content to be valuable. Recommendation for Researchers: Further investigation of peer review and student generated content in contexts where the student cohort represents a variety of cultures and age categories Impact on Society: Contributes to a body of knowledge regarding peer assessment and student generated educational materials. Future Research: Future work is needed to better understand this domain, in particular the role of learners’ individual differences in order to successfully integrate these approaches into modern learning environments.

Aim/Purpose: The flipped classroom approach is one of the most popular active learning approaches. This paper explores the effectiveness of a new pedagogy, known as FOCUSED, for postgraduate students. Background: The flipped classroom approach is a trendy blended learning pedagogy which capitalizes on the flexibility of online learning and the stimulating nature of face-to-face discussion. This article describes a pilot study involving post-graduate students who experienced the flipped classroom approach in one of their courses. Methodology: In additional to online activities, students adopted a newly learned approach to solve a related problem that was given by another group of students during classes. Quantitative data were collected from pre- and post-tests for both self-learned online materials and group discussion during classes so that the effectiveness of the flipped classroom pedagogy could be examined from the perspective of a holistic learning experience. Findings: It was found that the average scores for the post-test for the self-learned online video were much higher than for pre-test, even though the post-tests for both online and face-to-face learning were higher than the respective pre-tests. The qualitative data collected at the end of the flipped classroom activities further confirmed the value of the flipped classroom approach. Even though students could self-learn, more students valued peer interactions in the classroom more than the flexibility of online learning.

Aim/Purpose: This study investigates the intention to invest in online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms among the bottom 40% (B40) Malaysian households by income. Background: The B40 group citizens earn less than USD 1,096.00 (i.e., RM 4,850.00) in monthly household income, thereby possessing relatively small capital investments suitable for online P2P lending. Methodology: Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this research developed and tested the relevant hypotheses with data collected from 216 respondents. The partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was employed to analyse the collected data. Contribution: This study contributes to the body of knowledge on financial inclusion by demonstrating the relevance of modified TAM in explaining the intention to invest in online P2P lending platforms among investors with lower disposable income (i.e., the B40 group in Malaysia). Findings: The findings revealed that information quality, perceived risk, and perceived ease of use are relevant to B40 investment intention in P2P online lending platforms. However, contrary to expectations, trust and financial literacy are insignificant predictors of B40 investment intention. Recommendations for Practitioners: The P2P lending platform operators could enhance financial inclusion among the B40 group by ensuring borrowers provide sufficient, relevant, and reliable information with adequate security measures to minimise risk exposure. The financial regulators should also conduct periodic audits to ensure that the operators commit to enhancing information quality, platform security, and usability. Recommendation for Researchers: The intention to invest in online P2P lending platforms among the B40 group could be enhanced by improving information quality and user experience, addressing perceived risks, reassessing trust-building strategies and financial literacy initiatives, and adopting holistic, interdisciplinary approaches. These findings suggest targeted strategies to enhance financial inclusion and investment participation among B40 investors. Impact on Society: The study’s findings hold significant implications for financial regulators and institutions, such as the Securities Commission Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, commercial and investment banks, and insurance companies. By focusing on these key determinants, policymakers can design targeted interventions to improve the accessibility and attractiveness of P2P lending platforms for B40 investors. Enhanced information quality and ease of use can be mandated through regulatory frameworks, while effective risk communication and mitigation strategies can be developed to build investor confidence. These measures can collectively promote financial growth and inclusion, supporting broader economic development goals. Future Research: Future research could expand the sample size to consider older B40 individuals across different countries and use a longitudinal survey to assess the actual investment decision of the B40 investors.

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of distance learning courses for the purpose of interdisciplinary continuing education in Speech Pathology and Dentistry. Methods: The online course was made available on the Moodle platform. A total of 30 undergraduates participated in the study (15 from the Dentistry course and 15 from the Speech Pathology course). Their knowledge was evaluated before and after the course, in addition to the user satisfaction by means of specific questionnaires. The course was evaluated by 6 specialists on the following aspects: presentation and quality of the content, audio-visual quality, adequacy to the target public, and information made available. To compare the obtained results in the pre- and post-course questionnaires, the test Wilcoxon was carried out, with a 5% significance level. Results: the teaching/learning process, including the theoretical/practical application for the interdisciplinary training, proved to be effective as there was a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post- course evaluations (p<0.001), the users’ satisfaction degree was favorable and the specialists evaluated the material as adequate regarding the target public, the audio-visual information quality and the strategies of content availability. Conclusion: The suggested distance-learning course proved to be effective for the purpose of Speech Pathology and Dentistry interdisciplinary education.

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this qualitative study is to explore social workers’ representations of hate speech (HS), the effects it has on the community, and socio-educational actions aimed at combating it. Background: Hate speech is any form of communication that promotes discrimination, hostility, or violence towards individuals or groups based on their identity. Although its spread is facilitated by particular characteristics of the online environment (such as anonymity and ubiquity), HS has pervasive consequences even in offline reality. In the last year, several community-based projects involving social workers have been implemented to address the problem. Professionals who work with the community play a crucial strategic role in the fight against HS. Therefore, it is imperative to begin by considering their perspective to gain a better understanding of HS and how it can be controlled. Methodology: Following a psycho-sociological perspective, six focus groups were conducted with 42 social workers (19 females and 23 males) belonging to associations or organizations of a different nature, such as NGOs, local social promotion organizations, universities, private social organizations, whose mission included the theme of countering hate speech. Contribution: There are no studies in the literature that consider the views of operators working to counter hate speech within communities. Our study contributes to deepening the knowledge of the phenomenon and identifying the most suitable strategies to combat it, starting from an approach that does not only focus on the online or offline dimension but on an integrated “onlife” approach. The study offers an outline of how hate speech affects the daily lives of the communities in the cities of Torino, Palermo, and Ancona. Additionally, it proposes a grassroots strategy to address hate speech. Findings: The results suggest that strategies effective in countering hate speech in offline contexts may not be effective in online environments. The technological revolution brought about by social media has significantly expanded the potential audience while weakening traditional communities. Addressing hate speech in the present context requires efforts to rebuild fragmented communities, gaining a thorough understanding of how the new virtual public space operates, and prioritizing hate speech as a specific concern only after these initial steps. Recommendation for Researchers: Hate speech represents a violation of human rights and a threat to freedom of expression. The spread of hateful messages has a significant impact on society, as it can negatively influence social cohesion, diversity, and inclusion. Understanding the causes and consequences of hate speech can help develop effective strategies to prevent and counter it, which is a crucial challenge for both research and society as a whole. Studying hate speech should involve the use of interdisciplinary methodologies. Future Research: Future research should focus on comparative analysis at the European Union level to assess the ability of civil society in other countries to develop effective strategies against hate speech.

Congcong FANG,Yun JIN,Guanlin CHEN,Yunfan ZHANG,Shidang LI,Yong MA,Yue XIE, Vol.E107-D, No.11, pp.1463-1467
Currently, an increasing number of tasks in speech emotion recognition rely on the analysis of both speech and text features. However, there remains a paucity of research exploring the potential of leveraging large language models like GPT-3 to enhance emotion recognition. In this investigation, we harness the power of the GPT-3 model to extract semantic information from transcribed texts, generating text modal features with a dimensionality of 1536. Subsequently, we perform feature fusion, combining the 1536-dimensional text features with 1188-dimensional acoustic features to yield comprehensive multi-modal recognition outcomes. Our findings reveal that the proposed method achieves a weighted accuracy of 79.62% across the four emotion categories in IEMOCAP, underscoring the considerable enhancement in emotion recognition accuracy facilitated by integrating large language models.
Publication Date: 2024/11/01

Effectively capturing opportunities requires rapid decision-making. We investigate the speed of opportunity evaluation decisions by focusing on firms' venture termination and venture advancement decisions. Experience, standard operating procedures, and confidence allow firms to make opportunity evaluation decisions faster; we propose that a firm's attentional orientation, as reflected in its project portfolio, limits the number of domains in which these speed-enhancing mechanisms can be developed. Hence firms' decision speed is likely to vary between different types of decisions. Using unique data on 3,269 mineral exploration ventures in the Australian mining industry, we find that firms with a higher degree of attention toward earlier-stage exploration activities are quicker to abandon potential opportunities in early development but slower to do so later, and that such firms are also slower to advance on potential opportunities at all stages compared to firms that focus their attention differently. Market dynamism moderates these relationships, but only with regard to initial evaluation decisions. Our study extends research on decision speed by showing that firms are not necessarily fast or slow regarding all the decisions they make, and by offering an opportunity evaluation framework that recognizes that decision makers can, in fact often do, pursue multiple potential opportunities simultaneously.

CLOSE to one million youths have successfully claimed their eBelia credit via ShopeePay. As of June 7, the programme has succeeded in generating sales amounting to 120% of the total amount disbursed by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) through ShopeePay. Additionally, some 140,000 sellers and traders that accept ShopeePay have already benefited from the eBelia programme.

Head of ShopeePay Malaysia Alain Yee said: ”As one of the newest mobile wallets to enter a crowded space, it is indeed humbling to receive the resounding support from eligible eBelia participants. When compared against MOF’s announcement, the bulk of the 1.7 million successful applicants have chosen ShopeePay. This is possibly because our e-wallet can be used both online and offline nationwide, with a reach as far and wide as Semporna, Sabah; Miri, Sarawak; Kemaman and Gong Badak in Terengganu and Bachok, Kelantan.”

Yee added that based on the preliminary data from June 1 till 7, user behaviour amongst eBelia recipients suggest that the programme has driven adoption of e-wallets and is likely going to lead to long term usage.

“Of the total successful eBelia applicants via our mobile wallet, about 40% are new ShopeePay users that activated their e-wallet just for eBelia. Additionally, we are positive that customer retention rate amongst these new users will be high as over 20% have already topped up their e-wallet at least once within the first week of using ShopeePay,” he explained.

On what the recipients have been spending on, Yee shared that many were seen to be using the eBelia credit on very practical purchases: daily necessities, food and beverages, books, as well as home and living items, among others. A closer look into the spending pattern of these eBelia youths for the past week reveals the following (Observations are made based on top 100 merchants by transactions recorded offline, online (merchants’ webstores and Apps), and on Shopee.

The boat will run between Shashkat and Hussaini Bridge in Upper Hunza

On Saturday night, a select few from Karachi enjoyed excerpts from the album and an extended trailer of ‘Ustad’

We are proud to present a new video tutorial on Camera Slideshow, a popular jQuery plugin.

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This tutorial shows how to manage slider options in Shopify template.

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This tutorial shows how to change the slider image rotation speed in JS Animated templates. The slider, usually used in the JS Animated templates is called TM_Slider and as any other jQuery based slider it has various settings. Let’s see …

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This tutorial shows how to change website scroll speed in Wordpress.

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These dynamics manifest in various ways, influencing interactions, decision-making and overall outcomes.

Context:

The Earth's rapidly changing environment is putting critical ecosystem services at risk. There are many challenges involved in understanding global environmental changes, and in providing societies with the policy-relevant knowledge base to deal with them. These challenges will reach across many aspects of scientific endeavour. Indeed, the research community requires state-of-the-art research infrastructures (RIs) to have the capability to explain and predict global environmental changes. In this context the Experimentation in Ecosystem Research conference will provide a platform for discussions on cutting-edge technological tools, large-scale integrative experimental design, technical constraints, data access and last but not least ecosystem modelling. The conference will attract speakers and delegates from around the world and will offer opportunities to reinforce global cooperation.  

Main topics:

• Grand challenges: With the current set of Experimental Research infrastructures in ecosystem science, do we have the capacity to tackle the grand challenges of today and tomorrow?
• In vitro and in natura : How realistic are they, and how they can be better linked?
• Technologies: Which emerging technologies could enhance (or are needed for) the performance and services offered by our RIs?
• Data: Towards an e-infrastructure for ecosystem research - challenges and opportunities
• Modelling:  How accurate is our capacity to forecast and upscale, and what is missing? How can we communicate uncertainty? How do we strike the right balance between modelling and experiments?

The conference is organized under the framework of the European FP7 project ExpeER ( www.expeeronline.eu )

Find out more in the flyer attached below or on the event's website: https://colloque6.inra.fr/expeer-conference

The "International Conference on Experimentation in Ecosystem Research in a Changing World: Challenges and Opportunities" will take place on the 24th and 25th of September at the National Museum of Natural History (auditorium de la Grande Galerie de l'Evolution), Paris, France.

Context:

The Earth's rapidly changing environment is putting critical ecosystem services at risk. There are many challenges involved in understanding global environmental changes, and in providing societies with the policy-relevant knowledge base to deal with them. These challenges will reach across many aspects of scientific endeavour. Indeed, the research community requires state-of-the-art research infrastructures (RIs) to have the capability to explain and predict global environmental changes. In this context the Experimentation in Ecosystem Research conference will provide a platform for discussions on cutting-edge technological tools, large-scale integrative experimental design, technical constraints, data access and last but not least ecosystem modelling. The conference will attract speakers and delegates from around the world and will offer opportunities to reinforce global cooperation.  

Main topics:

• Grand challenges: With the current set of Experimental Research infrastructures in ecosystem science, do we have the capacity to tackle the grand challenges of today and tomorrow?
• In vitro and in natura : How realistic are they, and how they can be better linked?
• Technologies: Which emerging technologies could enhance (or are needed for) the performance and services offered by our RIs?
• Data: Towards an e-infrastructure for ecosystem research - challenges and opportunities
• Modelling:  How accurate is our capacity to forecast and upscale, and what is missing? How can we communicate uncertainty? How do we strike the right balance between modelling and experiments?

The conference is organized under the framework of the European FP7 project ExpeER ( www.expeeronline.eu )

Find out more in the flyer attached below or on the event's website: https://colloque6.inra.fr/expeer-conference

Spoiler alert: it "looks like a whole store."

The post Here’s a peek inside Jayson Tatum’s sneaker closet appeared first on Boston.com.

Clic Sargent and the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity have a mutually beneficial arrangement to scrutinise each other's safeguarding arrangements

Greenbelt, MD – Passenger vehicle drivers were cited for speeding “significantly” more often than commercial truck and bus drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver campaign in 2013, according to the alliance.

Greenbelt, MD — Law enforcement officials issued more than 27,000 citations and warnings to drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

Washington — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving forward with – and seeking comment on – a proposed rule that would require the installation of speed-limiting devices on trucks, buses and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

Washington — Responding to stakeholder requests, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended until July 18 the comment period on a proposed rule that would require the installation of speed-limiting devices on trucks, buses and multipurpose passenger vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

Washington — Legislation recently introduced in the House would prohibit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from requiring speed-limiting devices on large trucks and buses.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s controversial final rule on its New Poultry Inspection System is set to be published and, in response to public comment, will not increase the maximum speed of processing lines.