257 research outputs found
The story of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet
No full textThesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 2000The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet has been the wind quintet-in-residence at the University of Washington School of Music since 1968. Officially founded in 1962, when its members were on the faculty of the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, the group has had a long and stable history. Through their concerts, tours, and recordings, the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet has established an international reputation. Over the years, many distinguished composers have written works especially for the Soni Ventorum, thus expanding the repertoire of the wind quintet.This study traces the history of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet mainly through interviews with the quintet members themselves. This history includes antecedent quintets in which members of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet participated (namely, a student quintet at the Curtis Institute, The American Wind Ensemble of Vienna, and the U.S. Seventh Army Symphony Wind Quintet). It covers the founding of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet in 1962 at the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico through their tenure from 1968 through the present as the wind quintet-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle. It gives an account of the establishment of the Soni Ventorum's recording career, their approach to sound and ensemble, their many tours, participation in festivals and competitions, and personnel. The study details the Soni Ventorum's collaborations with colleagues at the University of Washington School of Music, especially the many composers who wrote pieces for the group. One chapter covers ensemble pieces that have been written for the members of the Son! Ventorum Wind Quintet, while another presents wind quintet and quartet arrangements that were prepared by the quintet members themselves. The final chapter provides biographies of the members of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet.The Introduction to the study is a brief history of wind quintets. The study concludes with detailed appendices cataloguing the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet's repertoire, concerts, residencies, tours and a complete discography.At the time of this writing, the author is aware of no other work detailing the history of an established wind quintet
The Analysis of Teacher Policy in Indonesia
No full textThe present qualitative research aims to investigate teacher policy in Indonesia viewed from international teacher standard revealed in the Teacher Policy Development Guide of United Nation. There are four dimensions as the focus of analysis: underpinning values, the purpose, key principles of implementation and key dimension for comprehensive teacher policy. Content analysis was employed to gauge the data from the rule of law on teacher and lecturer in Indonesia number 14 year 2005 about teacher and lecturer that is more specifically broken down into policy number 74 year 2008 about teacher. In addition, the researcher carefully investigated four dimensions revealed in the Indonesian teacher policy document as well as highlighted the results in the form of table. The findings confirmed that Indonesia has a comprehensive policy dealing with education system and teacher which reflects several international standards and features as well as accommodates local values. On the other hand, teacher policy in Indonesia is still presented in general language instruction without a specific implementation guide. To conclude, both policies have different languages and terminology in some extend but it has the same basic idea in terms of human right and democratic values both in the context of teacher policy and education in general.Â
Antara Ada dan Tiada: Studi Terhadap Tingkat Kehadiran dan Keaktifan Mahasiswa dalam Pembelajaran Online di Era Covid-19
No full textThe study aims to analyze the level of students’ attendance and interaction as well the availability of internet access during online learning in the era of Covid-19 pandemic. The case study is conducted at the English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training State Islamic University of Mataram. This research is a part of quantitative research design with surveys. The researcher developed a set of questionnaire in Google Form and shared it to the students via WhatsApp group. 215 students participated in this study. It was found that most of the students attended the class throughout the meetings, but it could not be concluded that they participated during the class from the beginning till the end of the meeting. The causes were by the lack of internet access, instability of signal as well as the availability of the devices. The phenomenon showed that students exist in the class but do not exist. A successful learning occurs when interaction and communication run smoothly among students and teachers.The study aims to analyze the level of students’ attendance and interaction as well the availability of internet access during online learning in the era of Covid-19 pandemic. The case study is conducted at the English Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training State Islamic University of Mataram. This research is a part of quantitative research design with surveys. The researcher developed a set of questionnaire in Google Form and shared it to the students via WhatsApp group. 215 students participated in this study. It was found that most of the students attended the class throughout the meetings, but it could not be concluded that they participated during the class from the beginning till the end of the meeting. The causes were by the lack of internet access, instability of signal as well as the availability of the devices. The phenomenon showed that students exist in the class but do not exist. A successful learning occurs when interaction and communication run smoothly among students and teachers
Investigating Cultural Dimensions in EFL Textbook by Using Byram Checklist
No full textThe present study is a content analysis that aims to investigate cultural dimension in an English textbook prescribed for senior high school in Indonesia which is officially published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2017. The data include 11 conversations, 17 reading texts, and 83 visual elements that are analysed qualitatively by employing Byram’s checklist. The findings show that stereotypes and national identity dominate the cultural dimensions with 28.05% and followed by social interaction and socialisation and life cycle with 15.9%. The occurrence of national geography is significant with 12.2%. However, social identity and social group, belief and behaviour, national history and social and political institutions are prescribed with less than 10%. The inclusion of various cultural dimensions has certain purposes. The inclusion of national identity, for instance, is pivotal for learners since the textbook is prescribed for senior high school students who are tremendously curious to determine their characters. This idea is aligned with the aim of the curriculum to facilitate the development of students with good character, good behaviour and strong nationality. It is concluded that the English textbook in Indonesia is on the way to its perfection in terms of proportionally represented cultural dimensions. However, the presence of various cultural aspects of the target culture and international target culture is also important to help students develop cultural competence and a certain level of respect as well as tolerance for others. Keywords: Textbook, cultural dimensions, cultural competence, national identit
EFL Students’ Learning Strategies During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study Between Urban and Rural School Settings
No full textThe present research is a descriptive quantitative research design using a survey method. There are 30 items adapted and modified from the SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning) theory used to measure students' strategies in learning English. There are two senior high school (SMA) and 2 junior high school (SMP) contexts or equivalent as the subject of this research, namely students who study in the city of Mataram (urban school setting) and outside the city of Mataram (rural school setting). There were 112 students who participated in this study. Data analysis was carried out by calculating the total score of each question to determine the percentage level of relevance of the statement to the student's condition. The results of this study indicate that the English learning strategies of students in the city and outside the city are almost the same where they use the six learning strategies. Affective strategies and metacognitive strategies remained as the most favorable learning strategies for the EFL students
Visualizing lecturers’ publications submitted to institutional repository during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case of Mataram State Islamic University, Indonesia
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine and visualize lecturers\u27 writings submitted to the Mataram State Islamic University\u27s institutional repository during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used bibliometric analysis with the total number of publications was 166 documents in various types.The results indicated that journal articles accounted for 42.16 percent (n=70) of all publications and more than half (65.66%) of total publications were authored in Indonesian language. Additionally, it was discovered that the terms pendidikan (education) and pembelajaran (learning) were the two most frequent terms in all type of publications, appearing 10,714 and 9,834 times respectively. Furthermore, this study discovered that Abdul Wahid was the most prolific author, while Abdul Quddus was the most collaborative one. This research also found that the terms covid-19 and pendidikan (education) were the most frequently occurring words combined in a single document with at least three co-occurrences. This study was expected to encourage lecturers to have publications and deposited into the institutional repository. It will benefit both lecturers and university in national and international scale
PULSE-SMART: Pulse-Based Arrhythmia Discrimination Using a Novel Smartphone Application
No full textCo-author Apurv Soni is a medical student in the MD/PhD Program at UMass Medical School.BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common and dangerous rhythm abnormality. Smartphones are increasingly used for mobile health applications by older patients at risk for AF and may be useful for AF screening. OBJECTIVES: To test whether an enhanced smartphone app for AF detection can discriminate between sinus rhythm (SR), AF, premature atrial contractions (PACs), and premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). METHODS: We analyzed two hundred and nineteen 2-minute pulse recordings from 121 participants with AF (n = 98), PACs (n = 15), or PVCs (n = 15) using an iPhone 4S. We obtained pulsatile time series recordings in 91 participants after successful cardioversion to sinus rhythm from preexisting AF. The PULSE-SMART app conducted pulse analysis using 3 methods (Root Mean Square of Successive RR Differences; Shannon Entropy; Poincare plot). We examined the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive accuracy of the app for AF, PAC, and PVC discrimination from sinus rhythm using the 12-lead EKG or 3-lead telemetry as the gold standard. We also administered a brief usability questionnaire to a subgroup (n = 65) of app users. RESULTS: The smartphone-based app demonstrated excellent sensitivity (0.970), specificity (0.935), and accuracy (0.951) for real-time identification of an irregular pulse during AF. The app also showed good accuracy for PAC (0.955) and PVC discrimination (0.960). The vast majority of surveyed app users (83%) reported that it was "useful" and "not complex" to use. CONCLUSION: A smartphone app can accurately discriminate pulse recordings during AF from sinus rhythm, PACs, and PVCs.MD/Ph
Association of common mental disorder symptoms with health and healthcare factors among women in rural western India: results of a cross-sectional survey
No full textFirst author Apurv Soni is a medical student in the MD/PhD Program at UMass Medical School.OBJECTIVES: Information about common mental disorders (CMD) is needed to guide policy and clinical interventions in low-income and middle-income countries. This study's purpose was to characterise the association of CMD symptoms with 3 inter-related health and healthcare factors among women from rural western India based on a representative, cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Surveys were conducted in the waiting area of various outpatient clinics at a tertiary care hospital and in 16 rural villages in the Anand district of Gujarat, India. PARTICIPANTS: 700 Gujarati-speaking women between the ages of 18-45 years who resided in the Anand district of Gujarat, India, were recruited in a quasi-randomised manner. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES MEASURES: CMD symptoms, ascertained using WHO's Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20), were associated with self-reported (1) number of healthcare visits in the prior year; (2) health status and (3) portion of yearly income expended on healthcare. RESULTS: Data from 658 participants were used in this analysis; 19 surveys were excluded due to incompleteness, 18 surveys were excluded because the participants were visiting hospitalised patients and 5 surveys were classified as outliers. Overall, 155 (22·8%) participants screened positive for CMD symptoms (SRQ-20 score ≥8) with most (81.9%) not previously diagnosed despite contact with healthcare provider in the prior year. On adjusted analyses, screening positive for CMD symptoms was associated with worse category in self-reported health status (cumulative OR=9.39; 95% CI 5·97 to 14·76), higher portion of household income expended on healthcare (cumulative OR=2·31; 95% CL 1·52 to 3.52) and increased healthcare visits in the prior year (incidence rate ratio=1·24; 95% CI 1·07 to 1·44). CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of potential CMD among women in rural India that is unrecognised and associated with adverse health and financial indicators highlights the individual and public health burden of CMD.MD/Ph
Comparing Pre-trained Human Language Models: Is it Better with Human Context as Groups, Individual Traits, or Both?
No full textPre-trained language models consider the context of neighboring words and
documents but lack any author context of the human generating the text.
However, language depends on the author's states, traits, social, situational,
and environmental attributes, collectively referred to as human context (Soni
et al., 2024). Human-centered natural language processing requires
incorporating human context into language models. Currently, two methods exist:
pre-training with 1) group-wise attributes (e.g., over-45-year-olds) or 2)
individual traits. Group attributes are simple but coarse -- not all
45-year-olds write the same way -- while individual traits allow for more
personalized representations, but require more complex modeling and data. It is
unclear which approach benefits what tasks. We compare pre-training models with
human context via 1) group attributes, 2) individual users, and 3) a combined
approach on five user- and document-level tasks. Our results show that there is
no best approach, but that human-centered language modeling holds avenues for
different methods
A methodology for prediction accuracy assessment of intelligent traffic signal control algorithms with SPaT messages
No full textNew smart traffic signal control algorithms are capable of predicting the traffic signal state (red, green, or amber) changes, which can be provided to users to achieve more efficient traffic flow. However, these predictions pose an uncertain impact on the traffic flow and safety depending upon the quality of prediction. The information regarding the current state as well as the predicted residual time of state is communicated to other users in the form of Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) data. In this paper, the SPaT message data is analyzed from an on-road pilot of different traffic signal control algorithms on provincial roads in the Province of North Holland. For analysis, new methods and indicators for quantification of prediction accuracy and quality of algorithm are proposed. These indicators can either be used for correction of state change prediction in real-time or for comparative analysis of the performance of different traffic signal control algorithms. This paper presents three main findings. First, it is found that a half fixed algorithm has very high prediction accuracy up to 99% for optimized directions. Second, the prediction accuracy of Time to Amber predictions improved by around 30% with this algorithm. Third, the overall reliability of prediction always increased with the use of the algorithmAccepted Author ManuscriptTransport and Plannin
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