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Physicochemical Properties of Water Samples in the Volta Region of Ghana: Implications for Public Health
No full textBachground: Access to safe drinking water is vital for public health, yet water sources in many developing countries, including Ghana, are often contaminated. This study assessed physicochemical properties of water samples from various sources in Ghana's Volta Region against WHO recommendations.Methodology: A cross-sectional study collected 104 water samples from wells, taps, boreholes, streams, and rainwater in Ho and surroundings from September 2021 to September 2022. Analyzed parameters included pH, total suspended and dissolved solids, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate, sulphate, fluoride, alkalinity, hardness, calcium, and magnesium.Results: 78.8% of samples were moderate to very hard. Median ammonia (46.2381 mg/L) and phosphate (12.2437 mg/L) levels exceeded WHO recommendations. 38.46% of samples had fluoride concentrations above WHO limits. Seasonal variations showed higher ammonia and phosphate levels during the dry season.Conclusion: Elevated ammonia, phosphate, fluoride, and elevated water hardness levels highlight the need for effective water treatment and management. Seasonal variations emphasize the importance of regular monitoring and targeted interventions. These findings inform evidence-based decision-making for public health interventions in the region
Education in Transition: Adapting and Thriving in a Post-COVID World
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted traditional education systems worldwide, prompting a rapid shift to online platforms and the emergence of innovative teaching strategies. This paper critically reviews the extensive body of research on post-COVID-19 education, focusing on the practical and feasible solutions proposed to maintain and enhance educational continuity. The review categorizes and examines studies on various approaches, including simulation-based training, project-based learning, and hybrid models, highlighting their effectiveness during and after the pandemic. Special attention is given to the role of information technology, the challenges faced by educators and students, and the importance of mental health support in the new educational landscape. The findings suggest that while digital tools such as virtual reality and 3D environments show promise, their implementation remains limited, particularly in resource-constrained settings. The study also identifies a significant gap in empirical research on these innovations in the post-pandemic era. Furthermore, the paper highlights the need for systemic changes in curriculum design, educator training, and policy development to address the long-term impacts of the pandemic on education. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, offering insights into how educational institutions can better prepare for future crises
Video Games, Historical Representation and Soft Power
No full textThis article explores how historical video games have become tools for UK and Chinese ‘soft power’ or ‘public diplomacy’ and the role of historical representation in portraying cultural identity in the global marketplace. In the UK, state support has been introduced for games representing British culture, which are assumed to conduct cultural diplomacy (a subcategory of public diplomacy). In China, public diplomacy - ‘telling China’s stories well’ - has been central to national promotion strategies under Xi Jinping. Although the success of these approaches is visible in game companies like Tencent and NetEase, regulators remain attentive to games that reflect upon China’s history and cultural heritage.
What does this mean for historical representation in and around video games? Do nationalistic regulatory environments threaten the capacity of games to offer thoughtful or challenging engagements with the past? And how effectively is historical representation mobilised to project soft power through video games
Multispecies Lawscapes in the Anthropocene: Priorities for a Critical, Constitutional Turn in Climate Change and Biodiversity Law
No full textThis chapter identifies five key emerging trends within scholarship on Earth system law, Earth jurisprudence, wild law, ecofeminism and critical posthumanism. These trends are: reliance upon network theories, rejection of binaries in favour of spectrums, plurality, power dispersion, and intersectionality. We employ these trends to expand the precise normative content of planetary justice and as key considerations for multispecies governance in the Anthropocene. This expansive work entails investigation of societal boundaries and multispecies boundaries, which we propose as mappable to already identified planetary boundaries. We suggest societal boundaries that require considering human injustices characteristic of the Anthropocene linked with colonialism, and expansive views of science to incorporate diverse knowledge systems and ecological reflexivity. We suggest multispecies boundaries that require deep noticing of non-human signals, particularly relating to human-induced inabilities to flourish, and deconstruction and dispersion of notions of agency in Anthropocene lawscapes
The return of the uncanny: artificial intelligence and estranged futures
No full textAlthough often considered to be a fault or a glitch in the system, the event of hallucination is integral to models of image-processing regularly employed by artificial intelligence (AI). Evoking an inhuman logic, the works in Trevor Paglen’s Adversarially Evolved Hallucinations series (2017–ongoing) render this hallucinatory space visible and open it up to investigation from within these systems. Produced by a generative adversarial network (GAN), the project reveals an uncanny domain of image production that raises significant misgivings about the routine use of generative AI (GenAI) in tasks associated with facial recognition and video surveillance. Through exploring the issues raised by Paglen in this work, the following essay enquires into questions related to machinic vision and AI more broadly. Through training neural networks – such as those employed in a GAN – to see the world for us, are we, to begin with, priming and instructing ourselves to see more like machines? What, furthermore, will happen when these inhuman, hallucinatory models of ‘seeing’ and processing the world supersede – in part or wholly – the sphere of human vision, not least in the adjacent fields of surveillance and contemporary models of automated warfare? Will these post-ocular models of seeing – which already determine, if not over-determine, our relationship to the world – become in turn entirely unaccountable, if not completely unfathomable, guidelines for defining normative and, more worryingly, non-normative behaviour patterns and everyday events. If, finally, AI models of image-processing replace ocular-centric ways of seeing, will these models have the capacity to further estrange, if not profoundly alienate, us from the world and our responsibility for the future impact and prejudicial potential of such images
Humanizing Humanoids: An Extensive Review on the Potential of Prosthetic Robotic Arm with Integrated Monitoring System for Disabled People
No full textThis review offers an in-depth review of current developments in patient monitoring technologies and prosthetic robotic arms, with a focus on their application for children with disabilities. These prosthetic arms’ design, development, and testing—which aspire to imitate the functions of human arms—are thoroughly explored. The paper also examines the application of virtual reality in user training and the significance of performance assessment in enhancing the functioning and design of the prosthetic. Additionally, numerous case studies are used to illustrate the various ways that robotic arms are used in industrial and rehabilitation contexts. It is emphasized as a potential way to raise the standard of care for kids with disabilities: the integration of patient monitoring systems and prosthetic robotic arms. The review attempts to highlight topics that need further research and lay a platform for future studies in this field
An in-situ investigation of office soundscape perceptual evaluation methodologies
No full textThe importance of acoustics in open-plan offices is well documented, with studies highlighting associations between acoustical characteristics and job satisfaction, productivity, and well-being
Instrumental teaching as part of a general music education
No full textTerminology in music education is as important as it is complex. Finding agreement on definitions and interpretations of terminology is always challenging in music education given the diverse cultural, political, and social landscapes that shape understandings of what it is to be musical. The idea of a ‘general music education’ is no different. What does this mean? How is it different from other forms of music education? What are our aims? Indeed, to whom does the ‘our’ refer here? And how is this different from instrumental teaching? These questions are all pertinent to understanding the relationship between instrumental teaching and a general music education and draw attention to key debates in the field. In this chapter, we examine these issues using the English context as a case study. However, it is important to observe that the locational specificity of this setting should not detract from the implications for teaching and learning wherever these are taking place. Conceptualisations of instrumental learning within general music education need to be considered and operationalised in a reflective fashion, wherever in the world they are occurring
Voice Coding Experiences for Developers with Physical Impairments
No full textPurpose
This research explores the current working practices of voice coders with physical impairments and investigates their perceptions of a research prototype utilising a fixed grammar speech coding approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were initially conducted with seven voice coders with physical impairments to understand their development practices, followed by an exploratory user study with five disabled voice coders to obtain their feedback on a fixed grammar voice coding system.
Findings
Interviews provided new insights around the tools voice coders utilise, the need for multimodal coding approaches, as well as experiences in working within mixed ability development teams. Findings from the user evaluation elicited views around the need for distinct monosyllable voice commands, as well as other requirements to support efficient voice coding (e.g., command chaining, intuitive navigation, and custom command definition).
Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted with experienced voice coders which may have influenced perceptions of the voice coding prototype. The system was also evaluated over a single evaluation session, whereas longitudinal research with novice voice coders could also present additional insights.
Practical implications
Further research is required into customisable multimodal voice coding approaches for developers with physical impairments who may have varying levels of experience in coding via alternative methods.
Originality/value
The findings present new insights around the working practices and unique requirements of voice coders with physical impairments and highlights important new avenues for future research