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ANTENATAL EXERCISE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG SAUDI PREGNANT WOMEN
No full textBackground: Regular physical exercise during pregnancy can help reduce the risk of complications for both the mother and the fetus. Globally, women’s exercise during pregnancy is low and decreases as pregnancy progresses. In Saudi Arabia, women’s antenatal exercise practices are understudied. There is an increase in women’s obesity and pregnancy-related weight gain, a lack of health counseling, and a lack of antenatal exercise guidelines. There is a need to explore the level of antenatal exercise and its associated factors. The findings can be used to develop culturally appropriate antenatal exercise education and counseling programs for Saudi pregnant women. Purpose of the study: To assess antenatal exercise adherence to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) exercise during pregnancy guidelines and its associated factors among Saudi pregnant women. Method: This is an exploratory, cross-sectional, and descriptive study. Data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire. The target population of this study was Saudi pregnant women. A convenient sampling method was used to include women 18 to 45 years old, living in the eastern province with a single, alive fetus and a normal pregnancy, naturally conceived, and who can read and write in Arabic. Exclusion criteria were women with a high-risk pregnancy, a medical problem except for diabetes mellitus, a psychological condition, or a mental or physical disability. In an exploratory manner, facilitators, and barriers as independent variables on intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental, organizational, and policy levels were included to assess their associations with antenatal exercise. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study sample’s characteristics, women’s levels of knowledge, attitude, and adherence to the ACOG antenatal exercise guidelines, in addition to antenatal exercise facilitators, and barriers on intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental, organizational, and policy levels. Bivariate relationships between antenatal exercise and its associated factors were assessed using the independent t-tests and Chi-square tests. Finally, the associations of demographic characteristics, women’s knowledge, attitude, antenatal exercise facilitators, and barriers on intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental, organizational, and policy levels factors with antenatal exercise were assessed using logistic regression analyses after assessing the assumptions. Statistical significance was tested at p ˂0.05
Enabling Immersive Experience in 360 Video Streaming with Deep Learning
Get PDFVirtual Reality (VR) has become increasingly popular in recent years, promoting numerous applications in fields such as education, entertainment, and the military. Among these, 360 video streaming is a prominent VR application. Despite its potential, many challenges exist in the 360 video streaming pipeline that must be addressed to ensure immersive user experiences. This dissertation proposes three research endeavors to address three significant technical challenges and consequently improve user experiences in 360 video streaming. Firstly, the research reveals the uniqueness of human attention in VR, which affects head movement prediction accuracy and, consequently, the efficiency of 360 video viewing. This led to the development of a new panoramic saliency detection approach tailored for 360 videos. Enhanced head movement prediction, augmented with this new saliency detection, results in more bandwidth-efficient 360 video streaming, delivering high-quality content to users. Secondly, the research identifies a privacy risk in VR, the potential leakage of sensitive information via visual side-channels from Head-Mounted Display devices. This exploration led to the development of INTRUDE, a highly accurate attack framework that leverages the unique correlation between a user's head movements and video content to infer video titles. Thirdly, the research sheds light on the issue of disconnected design between video downscaling and enhancement, leading to unsatisfactory 360 video streaming performance. The investigation resulted in the development of JOIN, a joint video downscaling and enhancement framework for neural-enhanced streaming. This end-to-end approach replaces the disconnected design, offering a more cohesive and efficient solution for streaming high-quality 360 videos in low bandwidth conditions. Collectively, these projects advance the state of VR technology, enhancing immersive experiences by safeguarding user privacy and improving video quality
The Impact of Teacher Autonomy on Teacher Engagement in the Language Arts Classroom
No full textTeacher autonomy in the classroom can determine the amount of engagement teachers have during literacy instruction. Drawing on previous research, this study investigates the influence of teacher autonomy on teacher engagement in the elementary, literacy classroom. This work is informed by Self-Determination Theory. The Teacher Autonomy Scale (TAS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were used as data collections tools in this research to explore the relationship between teacher autonomy and teacher engagement. Sixty-eight current elementary literacy teachers completed a survey to determine their perception of autonym and the influence it has on their engagement. Linear regression was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrate that teacher autonomy is positively correlated with teacher engagement in the elementary literacy classroom. The findings of this study contribute significantly to the existing body of literature on teacher autonomy and teacher engagement
Understanding the Knowledge of the American Development Model Among Speedskating Coaches
Get PDFAlthough the American Development Model (ADM) has been in place for almost a decade, little research has been done to determine whether it has been adopted and incorporated in United States sports organizations. Research in other countries on long-term athlete development (LTAD), the foundation of the American version, suggests that even with substantial government support, awareness and implementation of the model has met with modest success. The purpose of this research is to measure the awareness levels of the ADM among U.S. Speedskating (USS) coaches and measure their perceived effectiveness of the model. Using the RE-AIM theoretical framework as an evaluation tool, this research measures the knowledge, adoption, and implementation of the ADM among coaches and administrators. To answer the research questions, this study used an online questionnaire distributed to coaches. The results of that survey indicate that knowledge of the ADM is not widespread, but those aware of the ADM believe it is effective. In addition, there is widespread support of the values that make up the ADM
THREE CHAPTERS ON LIBERALISM IN 19TH CENTURY COLOMBIA
Get PDFThis dissertation examines the development and impact of liberal thoughton Colombia's socio-political and economic landscape. The tripartite structure explores how Colombia's early republic grappled with liberal ideologies, particularly those inspired by European and American classical liberalism, and how these ideas were reflected in the country's institutions, public policy, and political discourse. The first chapter discusses the emergence of liberalism in Colombia, identifying how classical liberal ideas took root amidst political upheaval, economic hardship, and ideological shifts. It shows us a big picture of the history of liberal ideas in the country in its 200 hundred years of existence. The work outlines the liberal ideas that inspired the Colombian Liberal Party, including free-market policies, secularism, and individual freedoms. The second chapter examines the influential role of Florentino González, a key liberal thinker and politician whose writings and political actions shaped Colombia's liberal period during the XIX century. González's advocacy for economic liberalization and political reform provides a unique lens on the period's ideological fervor and challenges. The third chapter focuses on El Neo-Granadino from 1848-1853, a prominent newspaper, to analyze how the media disseminated liberal ideas and promoted public discourse on economic freedom, state intervention, and individual rights. The study reveals that, although Colombia's liberal movement faced significant setbacks, the principles of liberalism persisted and adapted over time, and liberal ideas have significance on the configuration of Colombia as a nation. By providing a historical account of the liberal movement's development, this dissertation contributes to understanding Colombia's nuanced interplay between ideology, policy, and historical context
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5147.01
Get PDF“Using the on-campus telescope at George Mason University, new images of Tess Object of Interest (TOI) 5147-.01 were taken since those used in the previous follow-up done on this object, so additional analysis was obligatory. These sciences were reduced (eliminating all adverse effects created by the telescope and dark current) and plate-solved (comparing the stars in the sky to the rest of the celestial sphere to identify its celestial coordinates), and multi-aperture photometry performed on them to create a table of measurements by comparing the flux of the target star to the its neighboring stars, making sure that any perceived transit detected was actually a real dip in the light of the target star. A model was fitted to the light curve produced by that table after analysis and detrending, and its best fit parameters were compared to TESS’ calculations to eliminate the possibility of this detection being a false-positive and confirm this system as a transiting exoplanet. These results are mixed, and don’t imply that this transit is real, but have enough promise that future research into this system is recommended since the transit depth was within the margin of error, the RMS was comparable in ppt (parts per thousand0 to the depth, and the chi-square test implies statistical significance. The egress also lines up with the end of transit. However, the ingress time was at a time that was outside of the error, and none of the nearby stars nor the target were cleared as Nearby Eclipsing Binaries.
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5868.01
No full textSimulating Electric Vehicle Adoption Using Agent-Based Modeling
Get PDFThe adoption of new technologies involves technical, psychological, and social factors, often modeled using societal acceptance theories. With the ongoing transition to electric vehicles and the advent of vehicle-to-grid expansion, it has become crucial to understand the technical and social implications of electric vehicle adoption. However, much of the current literature neglects the social dimensions of the space in favor of technical considerations. This dissertation addresses these concerns by proposing an agent-based model of electric vehicle adoption based on the Integrated Framework for Electric Mobility (IFEM). IFEM is a behavioral theory that informs agent behavior, and agent parameterization data, including age, race, gender, income, social networks, and other socioeconomic factors. Exogenous time-series inputs to the model include policy, financial incentives, and a collection and analysis of nearly ten years of electric vehicle media coverage. News article frequency and sentiment analysis of the media coverage represent hype cycles and narratives surrounding these technologies. Both exogenous elements account for under-represented social dimensions in the research space, enhancing the comprehensiveness of the analysis. The model's efficacy is evaluated by comparing its performance against actual electric vehicle adoption data for Fairfax County, VA, the model's locality focus. Output analysis quantifies electric vehicle adoption's frequently overlooked societal benefits. Model performance compared to historic adoption outperforms other models, including an alternative implementation using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations. The proposed approach offers a novel perspective that contributes to the research domain, shedding light on the potential of electric vehicles while providing policy recommendations alongside insights into media influence. This interdisciplinary analysis aids in mitigating the limitations of aging infrastructure and understanding the societal implications of this technology integration into society
“A SMALL, BUT WELL CHOSEN LIBRARY”: OR, A HISTORY OF RURAL READING COMMUNITIES AND GENDERED CONSUMPTION PATTERNS IN VIRGINIA PLANTER SOCIETY DURING THE EARLY REPUBLIC
No full textUsing Virginian Jean Skipwith’s library as its point of departure, this dissertation seeks to explore the importance of print culture in creating rural reading societies, consumer networks and gendered consumption patterns in Virginia planter society during the early republic. Jean Skipwith’s library was one of the best documented Virginia libraries, allowing for a detailed exploration of how Virginians living in the most rural and remote areas of the state interacted and participated in a growing print culture during the early republic. The existence of invoices and letters between Jean Skipwith and her booksellers enables a study of her library in context with changes to her family and American society. Such evidence allows the opportunity to examine how Skipwith obtained books while living far from urban centers and to place her library within the framework of other women’s reading in Virginia, the United States, and Britain. Such documentation allows for an examination of how Skipwith built her library and interacted with her books over time.Skipwith’s library provides evidence that elite and middling American women in rural areas actively participated in the print culture revolution with a similar enthusiasm as their urban and British counterparts. Her library expands our understanding of how British and American print culture shaped concepts of gender, domesticity, and culture in rural Virginia between 1786 and 1826. An examination of Skipwith’s library, reading practices, and literary consumption patterns offers insights into concepts about refinement, children’s education, and family relationships within a slave society. Her library also offers an opportunity to explore the similarities and differences between men’s and women’s reading as well as the importance of shared familial reading. Finally, this study offers a comparison between provincial reading communities in Virginia and those in urban regions, both in the United States and Great Britain. This work attempts to understand the complex historical forces that shaped Americans’ concepts of family, gender, marriage, education, sociability, and refinement in the early republic through an examination of Jean Skipwith’s library
Ground-based Light Curve Follow-up Validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI 5907.01
Get PDF“The goal of this study was to validate the potential exoplanet TOI 5907.01. While TOI 5907.01 was identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), it has yet to be confirmed as an exoplanet through ground-based follow-up observations. Using images of TOI 5907.01 taken at the George Mason University observatory in combination with transit data from the NASA exoplanet archive, we produced a light curve plot in AstroImageJ (AIJ) to visualize the transit of TOI 5907.01 as it moved in front of its host star. Upon further analysis, our data was shown to match well to the data collected by TESS, however, we could not confirm TOI 5907.01 as an exoplanet due to the possibility that a nearby eclipsing binary star was the cause of the transit event we observed.