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An abstract to the article "Executive function and sensorimotor skill in older adults: An intervention study" by Z. Gallant and R.I. Nicolson, is presented.

The present study investigated the predictive effects of different components of general executive functions on bilingual language control processes. Fifty-four unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals participated in a cued language switching task, with their event-related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral data recorded to probe into bilingual language control processes. In addition, their behavioral data during a flanker task, a tasks-witching task, and an n-back task were collected to tap into three relatively basic executive functions: inhibiting, shifting, and updating, respectively. ANOVA results of the language switching task showed that compared to non-switch trials, picture naming in switch trials was significantly slower and less accurate, and elicited a larger stimulus-locked N2 component. These switch effects indicate that inhibition on the non-target language occurs during the lexical selection phase. Sequential regression analyses showed that only the flanker effect robustly predicted the variability of the stimulus-locked (but not the cue-locked) N2 switch effect. Specifically, smaller flanker effects were associated with larger stimulus-locked N2 switch effects This suggests that better general interference suppression correlates with stronger inhibition exerted to regulate lexical interference from the non-target language. In conclusion, the general inhibition function could predict the intensity of real-time inhibition exerted on the lexical items in the non-target language during bilingual word production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Heart rate variability, executive function and functional fitness in women over 65 years old" by I. Martinez, C. Blasco-Lafarga, A. Cordellat, G. Sanchis-Soler, A. Roldan, A. Montoya-Vieco and R. Sanchis-Sanchis is presented.

Recently, poorer executive function and behaviour in childhood is related to prenatal and early-life exposure to paracetamol. There is a paucity of the histologic effect of paracetamol on the cerebral cortex, especially in postnatal periods. The current study aims to identify whether paracetamol induces changes in the cerebral cortex histology when administered postnatally from PND7-PND14. Twenty healthy male albino pups were used in this work. Pups were categorized into 2 groups, Group 1 (control group): includes 10 pups that received distilled water subcutaneously/daily from PND 7-PND14. Group 2 (paracetamol group): Includes pups that received a daily subcutaneous dose of 60mg/kg of paracetamol from PND 7-PND14. At the end of the experiment, euthanization with ether was performed, and the brain was carefully dissected out and left immersed in the fixative, then the samples were submitted to tissue processing and staining with Hematoxylin and Eosin. Light microscopic evaluation of sections of the frontal cortex of rats of paracetamol group exhibited a spectrum of histological changes in comparison with those of controls as the presence of vacuoles, some pyramidal cells were showed an irregularity in shape and possessed deeply stained nuclei with surrounding halos. Deeply stained neuroglial cells were noticed. Few of the granular cells were exhibited shrinkage, with deep staining. The presence of a dilated blood vessel was seen also. In addition, the appearance of double nuclei was noticed. Some pyramidal cells showed karyolysis with increased microglia often seen, vacuolated glial cells with fibrillary materials. Some degenerated granular cells are present. Moreover, features of necrosis often seen with the presence of degenerated glial cells with surrounding dead neurons. In Conclusion, the paracetamol induces moderate changes in the cerebral cortex histology when administered postnatally from PND7-PND14 indicated its adverse effects on the brain. The use of paracetamol should be under control especially for neonates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and/or Autism (IwD) are among the smallest group of individuals with disabilities attending college. However, as these individuals exit our school systems, they are increasingly seeking both postsecondary education opportunities and competitively paid employment in STEM fields. Unfortunately, while options are improving, access to STEM related post-secondary education and employment remain limited. IwD often experience learning and communication challenges that manifest as difficulties related to executive function and social relationships. Thus, individuals are likely to experience unique challenges that make adjusting to postsecondary and employment settings difficult. Investigating creative education solutions for IwD that support both the development of STEM skills necessary for employment and also promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills is one possible way to address the unique challenges presented by an untapped talent pool and the low employment rates of the group. One approach that may prove promising for increasing STEM education and employment opportunities for IwD is spatial visualization skills instruction, and some research suggests such an approach may also be beneficial for IwD. This research team implemented two pilot studies to explore: 1) how a curriculum designed for improving the spatial skills of first-year engineering students contributes to the development of spatial skills for IwD; 2) what modifications are needed to make the curriculum more accessible for IwD; 3) what are the limitations or benefits of virtual versus in-person teaching for this particular population; and 4) what are the perceptions of IwD regarding the curriculum and their capacity for success in STEM. Results from this pilot work, although limited, indicate IwD can improve spatial visualization skills through exposure to the curriculum. This paper includes results from two pilot studies and discusses plans for expanding the scope of this work in the future, including expanding the intervention to include CAD instruction, in partnership with Siemens, to develop a STEM career pathway for IwD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supporting students in becoming effective problem solvers is a critical component of K-12 mathematics instruction. Unfortunately, little is known about the factors that are related to problem solving proficiency in middle school students. We report the results of a study that employed a hierarchical linear regression analysis to examine the factors that influenced the problem-solving scores in a sample of 213 sixth and seventh grade students. Results support theoretical predictions that metacognition, executive function, student beliefs, and content knowledge all relate to problem solving proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the child has entered school age, working memory components can help children keep information or instructions in mind during classroom activities and then use them to solve problems. Therefore, stimulation of working memory development is something that needs to be given to children to be able to support the improvement of academic abilities at school more smoothly. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of using smart memory cards to improve working memory abilities in children aged 5-12 years. This research uses pre-experimental designs. The results showed that there was an increase in the score obtained by the subject after being given treatment using SMC media, and that the average posttest score for both visual spatial WM and verbal WM was higher than the average pretest score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social competence is a crucial developmental task for preschool children that involves higher neurocognitive processes. Research has revealed the significance of parenting stress and parenting behavior influencing the development of social competence during the preschool period. Nonetheless, the mechanism of relationship between parenting stress, parenting behavior, and child's social competence development has not been well explored. Furthermore, limited studies have investigated the mediating role of parenting practice in the relationship between parenting stress and child's social competence. This research aims to explore the role of parental autonomy support as one of parenting behavior as a mediator in the relationship of parenting stress and 4-6 years old child's social competence during COVID-19. Children aged 4-6 years old (N=56) and their parents participated in the current study. Children's social competence and parents' level of parenting stress were measured through two different parent-report questionnaires, and parental autonomy support was observed during the dyadic interaction. Data collection and observations are conducted online. Results indicate that parent autonomy support fully mediates the relationship of parenting stress and preschool children's social competence. This research extends previous studies about the indirect effect of parenting stress on preschool children's social competence mediated by parenting behavior in a pandemic condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with an autism spectrum disorder face the daily challenge of social interactions -- particularly in non-verbal communication. These difficulties make adequate interpersonal interactions "in realtime" a challenging obstacle to overcome in many cases and can lead to excessive demands, frustration and isolation (low level of Theory of Mind). Emotion cards are usually used in autism therapy to learn basic skills for recognizing emotions. Learning with autism is characterized by spontaneous -- sometimes- extraordinary -- mastery of complex contents. People with autism learn facts, details and routines well but have difficulties to transfer the learned contents to another context (Weak Central Coherence) or to react flexible to unpredicted events (low Executive Function). In addition, research has shown that autistics learn social competences while using a computer and performing practical exercises. Such systems provide the possibility to use an accepted computer simulated (virtual) environment in which autistic children can be taught social competences as emotion recognition. Consequently, we assume that learning emotion recognition in virtual learning environments can remove barriers and obstacles for autistics as they are more successful in solving social problems. Therefore, we are discussing in the paper at hand the potentials of how emotion recognition can be learned in virtual reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic increase of elders' representation in the general population poses certain social challenges and the need towards a healthy and active ageing process. An intact cognitive state is indispensable for the proper conduct of everyday activities in older age. The available research on the cognitive correlates of everyday functionality in older age however, has focused mainly on pathological aging, living the healthy spectrum of cognition largely unexplored. Most assessment tools of cognition and everyday functionality were primarily developed to examine clinical conditions, and therefore they may be less fit to examine the non-clinical population. This systematic literature review aimed to examine the cognitive domains, as well as the assessment tools for cognition and everyday functionality, that are most suitable for examining healthy seniors. The results indicate that general cognition, memory, and executive function seem to correlate frequently with everyday functionality in healthy seniors. The MMSE, TICS, and HVLT, seem to be the neuropsychological tests that correlate most frequently with everyday functionality in healthy seniors. In addition, the EPT and OTDL seem to be the assessment tools of everyday functionality that correlate most frequently with cognitive performance in healthy older adults. Some recommendations for further examination on the topic are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elena has a psychiatric disability: bipolar (manic/depressive) disorder. Daniele suffers from depression. Both are serious cognitive disorders that have significant effects on learning, especially learning online. One of the problems students with psychiatric disabilities encounter is finding support in online environments, especially when 10, 50, 100, or even 6000 kilometers away from the originating university. Students with disabilities represent a growing number of students in postsecondary education. As the opportunities for online education continue to grow exponentially, so do the number of students with cognitive disabilities, like Elena and Daniele. Unfortunately, this is often a forgotten group because of ignorance and fear in society. Taking online courses is an important option for all students. As we will see, at the same time an online course can be difficult for students with disabilities, it also has advantages. Access to online instruction needs to be made available to students with cognitive disabilities just as it is for students with learning, mobility, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury disorders. The fundamental question, then, of this paper is "what can be done to improve access, retention, and success for the 14% of postsecondary students with cognitive impairments taking online classes?" Targeting specific types of impairments is not an efficient option, given that even the same kinds of impairments often present themselves in different ways. Rather, this paper develops a conceptual framework around work done by the Center of Applied Special Technology in the application of recognition, strategic, and affective brain networks to improve instruction related to cognitive impairments including attention and memory, language, executive function, problem solving, and social interaction. Additionally, I recommend turning the locus of support for students with cognitive impairments 180°, addressing support for students at the instructional level rather than the institutional level, which usually takes the learner out of the classroom. This has the negative effect of making the students feel like they are not part of the class, and it delays support until the disabilities office has time to help the learners. This just-in-time approach based on instructional strategies personalizes instruction, minimizes frustration, and encourage persistence-leading to better learning and success. Caveat: Statistics and the nature of the problems described here describe the situation in the United States of America and are not meant to make assumptions of the postsecondary situation in Western Europe.] [Note: There may be a follow up presentation at this ECEL conference on some research conducted related to this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of learning process (standard system, e-learning or in a virtual environment) is associated with cognitive load and memory working activity. Working memory (or short-term memory) is the ability to hold multiple pieces of information in mind as you solve a problem. An example of short-term memory is a chess master who can explore several possible solutions mentally before choosing the one that will lead to checkmate. This ability to hold information temporarily to complete a task is specifically human. It causes frontal and pre-frontal lobe regions of the brain to become very active. It was proven that the frontal lobe also deals with higher-level cognitive functions like reasoning and judgment. Sometimes called executive function, it is associated with the pre-frontal cortex. The goal of our work is to study different approaches to assess and classify cognitive load and working memory activity along teaching activity. For this purpose, Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were acquired using Emotive EPOC+ neuroheadset and BrainProducts Amplifier with EasyCap helmet. The BrainProducts device offers high accuracy and possibility to investigate signals in Gamma range, but EPOC+ headset allows wireless acquisition that means user's mobility. The EEG signals were acquired using OpenVibe software from users involved in N-back dual memory tests and some typical reasoning scenarios (math type in our case). The experimental setting involved the use of 16 electrodes among which 6 collected brain signals from frontal and prefrontal brain regions. The raw data were preprocessed to reject the artifacts and filtered to obtain the Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma waves for further analysis and classification. Particular attention considers the beta wave that reflects active thinking, attention, solving real problems. A low power spectrum denotes relaxation, and it is most evident frontally. Gamma wave denotes mechanism of consciousness, associated with the formation of ideas, language and memory processing, and various types of learning. Alpha wave is also important in our study because it is related to positive and negative emotions, relaxation or responsiveness. For each wave of interest, the power spectrum and signal envelopes were obtained for relaxation state and playing N-back memory and reasoning tests. To classify cognitive load and working memory activity some well-known techniques for regression and classification were used like support vector machine and random forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the replicability of studies in design research triggered by the replication crisis in psychology. It highlights the importance of replicating studies to ensure the robustness of research results and examines whether the description in a publication is sufficient to replicate. Therefore, the publication of a reference study was analysed and a replication study was conducted. The design of the replication study appears similar to the reference study, but the results differ. Possible reasons for the differences and implications for replication studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature on self-regulation integrates two main components: effortful control (EC) and executive functions (EF). These constructs have historically been measured in separate fields, primarily with EC as the focus of temperament research while EF as the focus of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. This study examined the level of self-regulation (involving both effortful control and executive functions) amongst 201 5- to 7-year-old Hungarian children. Findings suggest that curricula designed to improve self-regulation skills may be most effective in helping children succeed in school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems have already proven useful in human lives generally, there is an opportunity for specialized human-AI interaction (HAI) systems to support and provide care for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the integration of this technology in this population must be thoughtfully designed to accommodate specific needs and limitations. This includes careful measurement of both humans and systems. We developed an evolving dataset categorizing relevant measurement tools into five groups: cognitive ability, demographics & personality, activity level, state of mind, and perceptions of the AI system. Each instance of the tool being used in the literature cataloged in the dataset is qualified in terms of how likely we would recommend using it in the domain of HAI for older adults with MCI based on contextual factors and internal reliability measures. This dataset will serve as a valuable resource for future research, aiding in the identification of promising areas and trends in AI systems for older adults with MCI as well as providing essential tools for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on robotic ostracism is still scarce and has only explored its effects on adult populations. Although the results revealed important carryover effects of robotic exclusion, there is no evidence yet that those results occur in child-robot interactions. This paper provides the first exploration of robotic ostracism with children. We conducted a study using the Robotic Cyberball Paradigm in a third-person perspective with a sample of 52 children aged between five to ten years old. The experimental study had two conditions: Exclusion and Inclusion. In the Exclusion condition, children observed a peer being excluded by two robots; while in the Inclusion condition, the observed peer interacted equally with the robots. Notably, even 5-year-old children could discern when robots excluded another child. Children who observed exclusion reported lower levels of belonging and control, and exhibited higher prosocial behaviour than those witnessing inclusion. However, no differences were found in children's meaningful existence, self-esteem, and physical proximity across conditions. Our user study provides important methodological considerations for applying the Robotic Cyberball Paradigm with children. The results extend previous literature on both robotic ostracism with adults and interpersonal ostracism with children. We finish discussing the broader implications of children observing ostracism in human-robot interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explore the potential impact of artificial emotional intelligence (AEI) on the ethical standing of social robots. By examining how AEI interacts with and potentially reshapes the two dominant perspectives on robots' moral status, namely the property-oriented approach and the social-relational approach, we aim to offer fresh insights into this pressing dilemma. Our analysis reveals that although the incorporation of AEI does not conclusively confer moral status to current social robots, it might challenge the boundaries that separate robots from other entities customarily considered to have more status, thereby increasing the complexity of the debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though there is a growing consensus that engineering instruction should be incorporated into United States K-12 classrooms,1,2,3,4 little research has focused on what student engineering looks like in these classroom setting. Topics for investigation include how students understand engineering tasks, which behaviors can be viewed as age-appropriate engineering, and how students may coordinate these behaviors to create a coherent engineering process. In addition, there is a paucity of research focused on the engineering of students with learning disabilities, despite the fact that U.S. classrooms include many students with reading and other learning challenges. In this study, we focus on a small class of students with language-based learning disabilities engaged in a literature-based engineering project. Students with LBLD generally have difficulty with word recognition and fluency, leading to struggles with reading comprehension.5 Additionally, these students may also face executive function challenges, including issues with memory, attention, organization of information, and generalization of skills to new situations.6 As these students proceeded through their engineering unit, we looked for evidence of "engineering moments," or moments where students engage in behaviors and thinking that can be viewed as the foundations of productive engineering practice. These engineering moments may include defining problems, planning, designing solutions, and engaging in evidence-based arguments. We argue that the students who successfully engaged in the literature-based engineering challenge exhibited capabilities including the ability to frame problems, use drawings and plans to guide their building, make informed design decisions, and reflect on and evaluate their work. The students who viewed the purpose of the unit as building a working prototype also exhibited the most coherent engineering process. Additional support and structure may be necessary, however, to help all students, including those with LBLD, navigate the complexities of open-ended engineering projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain damage resulting from acquired brain injury is a leading cause of long term disability. The damage range from cognitive impairments such as attention, concentration, memory, and executive function deficits, to motor disabilities that can significantly affect survivors' quality of life and limit their ability to perform everyday tasks. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the use of serious games to augment cognitive and/or physical rehabilitation offer benefits that are not generally offered by traditional rehabilitation methods. In this paper we identified game design principles which are relevant for brain damage rehabilitation and present several prototypes used for cognitive rehabilitation. We conducted a four-week study using these games in one of the Gaza, Palestine rehabilitation centers, in order to understand the potential and requirements of games as a solution to conventional rehabilitation problems of boredom due to repetition and insufficiency due to limited human resources and facilities. In this paper, we describe our study in which we designed and tested our game prototypes and present the lessons learned about what makes games useful from a therapeutic view. Finally we report conclusions and directions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dyslexia is a learning disability that impairs a person's ability to decode words accurately and fluently. This deficit can manifest itself in the language-related domain as difficulties in phonological and orthographic working memory, brain systems asynchrony, poor executive function skills and/or poor rapid naming processing. However it is not clear yet whether the dyslexia phenomenon is only related to language or if it can also be seen as a non-language deficit. Moreover, if it is also related to non-language activity, it is important to verify if it is possible to identify dyslexic readers at the earliest stage of information processing for better and effective remediation. Based on this, an effective algorithm was developed for analysis and classification of subjects as either Regular Readers or Dyslexic Readers, by using EEG recorded channels with Event Related Potentials (ERP) methodology during an auditory, short non-linguistic, simple, sub-phonetic choices reaction time task. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Launching a venture consumes a great deal of cognitive resources and energy. Individuals who exhaust such resources during the venture creation process may not be able to successfully launch a venture. This paper investigates the factors that help prospective entrepreneurs effectively utilize their cognitive resources, fuel the necessary energy, and persevere in the process to successfully launch a venture. We argue that a healthy lifestyle that is multidimensionally defined by a healthy diet, regular exercising, moderate alcohol consumption, and no smoking fuels the cognitive energy that would-be-entrepreneurs are in need of during an exhaustive venture creation process. We propose that individuals with higher adherence to a healthy lifestyle are more likely to launch an entrepreneurial venture due to healthy life choices' positive effect on entrepreneurial cognition in the form of a better functioning brain and higher positive well-being. We test the proposed relationships by using a comprehensive archival dataset from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk study). We find that there is a positive relationship between healthy lifestyle and venture creation, fully mediated by entrepreneurial cognitive resources, specifically well-being. Yet, interestingly, we find that a superior executive function can become a barrier to business initiation, probably because prospective entrepreneurs with higher executive function can more clearly see and comprehensively assess the high risks and/or uncertainties involved in venture creation and, ultimately, give up the pursuit of their entrepreneurial ideas. Paradoxically, higher executive function may be a curse for prospective entrepreneurs, especially the ones who might have been very successful had they run their own business. We discuss the implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To test the influence of neurocognitive functioning on community functioning among formerly homeless persons with serious mental illness and to determine whether that influence varies with social context, independent of individual characteristics. Method: In metropolitan Boston, 112 persons in Department of Mental Health shelters were administered a neuropsychological test battery and other measures and then randomly assigned to empowerment-oriented group homes or independent apartments, as part of a longitudinal study of the effects of housing on multiple outcomes. Subjects' case managers completed Rosen's 5-dimensional Life Skills Inventory at 3, 6, 12 and 18 months and subjects reported on their social contacts at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months. Subject characteristics are controlled in the analysis. Results: Three dimensions of neurocognitive functioningâ?”executive function, verbal declarative memory, and vigilanceâ?”each predicted community functioning. Better executive function predicted improved self-care and less turbulent behavior among persons living alone, better memory predicted more positive social contacts for those living in a group home, and higher levels of vigilance predicted improved communication in both housing types. Conclusions: Neurocognition predicts community functioning among homeless persons with severe mental illness, but in a way that varies with the social context in which community functioning occurs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with special needs face difficulties in teaching and learning activities in a regular elementary school. There are various aspects that affect their learning process in a regular school. The study objectives are: (1) to know the implementation of education for students with special needs in a regular elementary school. (2) to know if the school encounters obstacles in implementing education for special needs students. This study uses a case study method. Furthermore, the researcher collects the data through observation, interview, and documentation. The subjects of the study are the headmaster, teachers, and parents. The study results are: (1) to provide the service for students with special needs, the school proposes special assistant teachers to assist them. In addition, the teachers modify the learning activities that suit students' abilities and needs. (2) obstacles in the management of education for students with special needs are education financing, facilities and infrastructure, and less competent human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Self- Improvement School Project was funded by The Equitable Education Fund (EEF), Thailand. The purpose program was to improve the quality of 636 schools. Choafa Ubonratana School is one of the project schools for this case study. The research used mixed method research. Key informants were 30 school stakeholders and 3 school coaches. Data collection included quantitative data and qualitative data collection from field studies. The content analysis is used as well as the statistics used. It found that Choafa Ubonrat School is a charitable private school located in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand. They provide educational services to people of 28 villages from kindergarten level to secondary level with 28 teachers and 332 students. All are from various hill tribes along the borderline. Their parents are poor. They have trouble speaking and writing in Thai. Communication with teachers requires an interpreter. The development has caused all 13 hill tribe students to be able to read and write in Thai. Students has developed skills in the 21st century especially on a better and improved living and professional skills to raise additional income for their families. They have a better quality of life. All of these occurred from the determination and quadrilateral focus on the work and sacrifice of the teachers, academic leadership, and change of school administrators. As a result, the school has been developed all of administrator, teachers, students as well as parents especially core learning outcomes of students with knowledge, skills, attitude and values at the National Educational Average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many different health promotion programs. One of them is the "Tsuminory health education class-Apple class (Kagoshima, Japan)" for the elderly, developed by True Balance Co., Ltd. "Tsuminory health education class" is a program that aims to change participants' awareness of health and cause behavioral changes by holding eight workshops on health promotion knowledge for two hours once a week. Participants learn through hands-on experience in an easy-to-understand manner the four types of knowledge: knowledge about cells and blood vessels, knowledge about diet, knowledge about exercise, and knowledge about stress and mental health. Participants learn these contents in 2-hour, 8-time seminars once a week. Participants will be asked to record what they have learned in their daily lives, with the aim of changing their awareness of health and causing behavioral changes. The technique of applied behavior analysis is incorporated into the teaching technique of the classroom, and the effect is expected to continue even after the intervention because it promotes behavioral change and increases motivation to maintain health. It can also be expected to have a secondary effect of encouraging social participation of local residents and connecting people in the area. Until now, with the support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, it has been selected as one of the nationwide models for the primary prevention of lifestyle-related diseases (health promotion) as a healthcare business model, and has been carried out in Kagoshima Prefecture. So far, few participants have dropped out, and the satisfaction of the elderly who participated is very high. The "Tsuminory health education class" program uses intervention skills that are convincing and highly motivating for the subjects to change their behavior for health promotion. Those who can practice the "Tsuminory health education class" are "Health Medical Practitioner " certified by the Japan Health Medical Practitioner Association (JHMPA). However, in the process of teaching workshop techniques by experienced "Health Medical Practitioner" to novice "Health Medical Practitioner", it was difficult to teach the implicit skills of experts. The implicit skills of a proficient "Health Doctor" have a great influence on its effectiveness. Therefore, we have conducted workshops with experts in the implementation of the "Tsuminory health education class", and have conducted research to extract and structure formal and tacit knowledge. By using structured knowledge, practitioners' knowledge is shared and interventional techniques are unified. By using structured knowledge and implementing the program by the implementer, it becomes possible to implement the program in a unified manner with little dependence on the competence of the implementer. Furthermore, we aim to develop a remote system that incorporates knowledge structuring technology that can be performed remotely, with the aim of effectively implementing health promotion programs and increasing the number of participants. If it becomes possible to conduct classes remotely with the same level of skill as face-to-face classes, it will be possible to hold classes in areas far away from the venue, and many elderly people will benefit from this. We carried out a "Tsuminory health education class" in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, both face-to-face and remotely. It was confirmed that even when it was conducted remotely, it had the same effect as the face-to-face one. The programs that are effective in promoting health can be put into a knowledge-based system by structuring knowledge. It makes the formal and implicit techniques of intervention retrievable. In addition, applications such as AI-based technology proposals will become possible by making it machine-readable. This time, we will report the knowledge structure of the implementation method of "Tsuminory health education class" and the implementation results in Minamata City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last three decades saw a reliance on the use of personality tests by businesses and organisations trying to gain a competitive advantage in the market through avenues such as recruitment, team building, leadership development and culture alignment. The commissioning of early 20th Century personality models such as DISC and Myers-Briggs are claimed to provide valuable insights and benefits in various aspects of the employment process. They have however been controversially debated in the academic community due to issues surrounding validity and reliability. Discussions concerning leadership styles and leaders responsible for managing employees, are similarly indeterminate despite being subject to extensive research and analysis for many decades. Academics have yet to provide a comprehensive explanation of the holistic mechanisms underlying effective leadership. Instead, they have argued over factors such as a leader's traits, attributes, power relations or unidimensional versus collaborative models of engaging a work force. Current leadership theory literature demonstrates a paucity of leader self-understanding and self-reflection. We consider these two attributes as fundamental qualities of effective leadership, whereby an individual can transform and enhance their use of any leadership style. In this paper, we propose an advanced 21st Century solution that leverages the Intelligent Behaviour Analytics (IBA) framework, incorporating a deep and more effective understanding of leaders and their ability to transition between different leadership styles. Additionally, this framework offers methods for transitioning to more effective leadership styles based on situational requirements and takes into account a leader's own emotional and behavioural registers. This approach offers a structured opportunity for leaders to identify any biases, understand the reasons that these may develop and furthermore, evaluate the efficacy of their own behavioural traits and the way they, as individuals interact, manage and lead a team. The IBA framework is a multi-stage, holistic approach that proposes to improve performance metrics, organisational culture, business outcomes and increased wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to challenges in communication and cognition (e.g., attention, memory, organization, etc.), individuals with cognitive-communication needs (CCNs) experience difficulties performing activities of daily living, or ADLs (e.g., self-care, meal preparation, managing different routines and appointments). Voice-assisted technology (VAT) has been shown to support these individuals for ADLs; however, there are limited clinician-guided VAT training programs available for individuals with CCNs to use VAT for ADLs. This study aims to design and implement a 6-week virtual VAT training program focused on using Amazon Alexa voice commands to improve independence in ADL tasks for three adults with CCNs. This research study describes the collaborative design process of the VAT Training program by a clinical team and the 6-week delivery of the training program. By analyzing training session videos and participant interviews, the benefits and challenges from the training, as well as future plans to improve the implementation of VAT for telehealth are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause cognitive, communication, and psychological challenges that profoundly limit independence in everyday life. Conversational Agents (CAs) can provide individuals with TBI with cognitive and communication support, although little is known about how they make use of CAs to address injury-related needs. In this study, we gave nine adults with TBI an at-home CA for four weeks to investigate use patterns, challenges, and design requirements, focusing particularly on injury-related use. The findings revealed significant gaps between the current capabilities of CAs and accessibility challenges faced by TBI users. We also identified 14 TBI-related activities that participants engaged in with CAs. We categorized those activities into four groups: mental health, cognitive activities, healthcare and rehabilitation, and routine activities. Design implications focus on accessibility improvements and functional designs of CAs that can better support the day-to-day needs of people with TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]