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In the context of primary education, students aged 11–12 years old begin to integrate digital devices and online behaviours that are more common and widespread at the secondary level. The objective of this study is to understand the factors that determine the initial digital ecosystem of students, and to evaluate the risks that these students face at a certain threshold age. The 356 participants in the sample completed a questionnaire designed ad hoc based on the findings of other studies with the same aim. The identified correlations and the regression equations obtained indicate, fundamentally, that two out of every three students who own a smartphone use it to communicate with family and friends. Furthermore, the use of mobile phones encourages young people to join and participate in social networks at an early age. The study also reveals that at this age, students use social networks mainly for the consumption of audiovisual content and not so much to share personal information of a critical nature. Finally, students in this particular age group are considered at a threshold age because they begin using smartphones regularly, making autonomous decisions without sufficient supervision regarding digital risks, thus becoming part of the Frontier Collective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The broad usage of mobile devices nowadays, the sensitiveness of the information contained in them, and the shortcomings of current mobile user authentication methods are calling for novel, secure, and unobtrusive solutions to verify the users' identity. In this article, we propose TypeFormer, a novel transformer architecture to model free-text keystroke dynamics performed on mobile devices for the purpose of user authentication. The proposed model consists in temporal and channel modules enclosing two long short-term memory recurrent layers, Gaussian range encoding, a multi-head self-attention mechanism, and a block-recurrent transformer layer. Experimenting on one of the largest public databases to date, the Aalto mobile keystroke database, TypeFormer outperforms current state-of-the-art systems achieving equal error rate values of 3.25% using only five enrolment sessions of 50 keystrokes each. In such way, we contribute to reducing the traditional performance gap of the challenging mobile free-text scenario with respect to its desktop and fixed-text counterparts. To highlight the design rationale, an analysis of the experimental results of the different modules implemented in the development of TypeFormer is carried out. Additionally, we analyse the behaviour of the model with different experimental configurations such as the length of the keystroke sequences and the amount of enrolment sessions, showing margin for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile technology has changed the landscape of post-secondary education. This descriptive study examined student and instructor perceptions of student learning and engagement while using mobile technology. Overall, student perceptions of learning and engagement were neutral; however, instructors reported higher positive perceptions on both constructs. Positive aspects of mobile technology included themes of interactivity, convenience, note taking, and collaboration, whereas negative aspects included distraction, technology compatibility, and note taking. While there seems to be potential for the use of iPads in the classroom, caution should be taken when considering how to implement mobile technology into the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of using augmented reality (AR) via mobile devices on students' performance in practical physics work. The study involved 108 second-year bachelor students specializing in physics and chemistry at the Higher Normal School of Abdelmalek Essaadi University. In this experimental study, the students were divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. The results indicate that using AR via mobile devices positively impacts students' performance in practical physics work and significantly reduces the time required for the experimental group to complete various experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Modern Science is the property of Alcide De Gasperi University of Euroregional Economy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Real-time low-light video enhancement on smartphones remains an open challenge due to hardware constraints such as limited sensor size and processing power. While night mode cameras have been introduced in smartphones to acquire high-quality images in light-constrained environments, their usability is restricted to static scenes as the camera must remain stationary for an extended period to leverage long exposure times or burst imaging techniques. Concurrently, significant process has been made in low-light enhancement on images coming out from the camera’s image signal processor (ISP), particularly through neural networks. These methods do not improve the image capture process itself; instead, they function as post-processing techniques to enhance the perceptual brightness and quality of captured imagery for display to human viewers. However, most neural networks are computationally intensive, making their mobile deployment either impractical or requiring considerable engineering efforts. This paper introduces VLight, a novel single-parameter low-light enhancement algorithm that enables real-time video enhancement on smartphones, along with real-time adaptation to changing lighting conditions and user-friendly fine-tuning. Operating as a custom brightness-booster on digital images, VLight provides real-time and device-agnostic enhancement directly on users’ devices. Notably, it delivers real-time low-light enhancement at up to 67 frames per second (FPS) for 4K videos locally on the smartphone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Przegląd Elektrotechniczny is the property of Przeglad Elektrotechniczny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Driving in urban areas can be challenging and encounter acute stress. To detect driver stress, collecting data on real roads without interfering the driver is preferred. A smartphone-based data collection protocol was developed to support a naturalistic driving study. Sixty-one participants drove on predetermined real road routes, and driving information as well as physiological, psychological, and facial data were collected. The algorithm identified potentially stressful events based on the collected data. Participants classified these events as low, medium, or highly stressful events by watching recorded videos after the experiment. These events were then used to train prediction models. The best model achieved an accuracy of 92.5% in classifying low/medium/highly stressful events. The contribution of physiological, psychological, and facial expression indices and individual profile information was evaluated. The method can be applied to visualise the geographical distribution of stressors, monitor driver behaviour, and help drivers regulate their driving habits. Practitioner Summary: The data collection protocol for driving on real roads and the stressful event identification method could potentially be applied for in-vehicle driver status monitoring and stress intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore Moroccan pre-service elementary teachers' attitudes toward integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and the use of mobile devices in integrated STEM education. The research sample was selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected from 226 pre-service teachers in the Bachelor of Education Elementary Specialty (BEES) using a 28-item questionnaire. The validity of the items was tested by factor analysis using the extraction method of principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Reliability tests for the different constructs were conducted by calculating Cronbach's alpha. Frequency, mean, standard deviation and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that pre-service elementary teachers have generally neutral attitudes toward integrated STEM education, and they also showed that pre-service teachers' attitudes toward integrated STEM education do not depend on gender or grade level. However, these attitudes are dependent on pre-university studies. Pre-service teachers with a scientific background have significantly more positive attitudes toward integrated STEM education than their counterparts with a literary background. Furthermore, the results of this study also revealed that pre-service teachers have positive attitudes toward the use of mobile devices in integrated STEM education, and these attitudes are not dependent on gender, grade level, or pre-university studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Vection is a stationary individual's illusory experience of self-motion. This illusory self-motion is operationally important for aviation, particularly military aviation, since vection is a dramatic example of spatial disorientation (SD), which is an individual's failure to correctly sense the aircraft's position, motion, and/or attitude with respect to the fixed coordinate system of the Earth's surface and its gravitational vertical. Notably, SD is a major cause of fatal aviation mishaps, and the visual system is particularly prone to provoking vection. This article describes the Virtual Reality Vection System (VRVS), which uses computer-controlled virtual reality technology to induce vection under controlled conditions for training, demonstration, testing, and research. Materials and Methods The VRVS enables the precise specification of the number and appearance of visual stimulus elements intended to generate vection, including photorealistic images. The VRVS can present visual stimuli on any OpenXR-capable virtual reality headset. The VRVS currently records 2 types of behavioral responses, button presses to indicate the presence and duration of vection and the voltage of a handheld linear potentiometer to indicate the presence, duration, and magnitude of vection. Results An approved test plan helped guide, organize, document, and validate the VRVS during its development. Under this plan, a pair of tests guided hardware and software development of the VRVS system. Although the first test verified the ability of the VRVS to generate and measure vection, it also demonstrated that the VRVS can quickly manipulate the visual stimuli from one trial to the next so that the VRVS can support complex experimental designs. The second test used these capabilities to verify that the VRVS can characterize vection in a more analytic fashion using a masking paradigm. Specifically, the test assessed whether random stimulus elements injected into the vection-inducing stimulus disrupted vection in a quantifiable fashion. This work opens the door to studies that characterize the necessary and sufficient visual elements for vection-based SD. Discussion The VRVS is currently used to research, develop, test, and evaluate mitigation strategies targeting vection-related SD in degraded visual environments. Similarly, the VRVS is supporting research to develop methods to predict individual differences in visually induced motion sickness susceptibilities. The VRVS is currently being integrated with a precision motor-controlled rotating Barany chair for multisensory studies. It should be noted that since the VRVS was developed to support United States Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory projects, it is an Army product representing government intellectual property and may be freely available to other government institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctly identifying and classifying food is decisive in food safety. The food sector is constantly evolving, and one of the technologies that stands out is augmented reality (AR). During practical studies at Companhia de Entreposto e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo (CEAGESP), responsible for the largest food storage in South America, difficulties were identified in classifying aromatic herbs due to the large number of species. The project aimed to create an innovative AR application called ARomaticLens to solve the challenges associated with identifying and classifying aromatic herbs using the design science research (DSR) methodology. The research was divided into five stages according to the DSR methodology, from surveying the problem situation at CEAGESP to validating the application through practical tests and an experience questionnaire carried out by CEAGESP specialists. The result of the study presented 100% accuracy in identifying the 18 types of aromatic herbs studied when associated with the application's local database without the use of an Internet connection, in addition to a score of 8 on a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of the usability of the interface as rated by users. The advantage of the applied method is that the app can be used offline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the context of primary education, students aged 11–12 years old begin to integrate digital devices and online behaviours that are more common and widespread at the secondary level. The objective of this study is to understand the factors that determine the initial digital ecosystem of students, and to evaluate the risks that these students face at a certain threshold age. The 356 participants in the sample completed a questionnaire designed ad hoc based on the findings of other studies with the same aim. The identified correlations and the regression equations obtained indicate, fundamentally, that two out of every three students who own a smartphone use it to communicate with family and friends. Furthermore, the use of mobile phones encourages young people to join and participate in social networks at an early age. The study also reveals that at this age, students use social networks mainly for the consumption of audiovisual content and not so much to share personal information of a critical nature. Finally, students in this particular age group are considered at a threshold age because they begin using smartphones regularly, making autonomous decisions without sufficient supervision regarding digital risks, thus becoming part of the Frontier Collective.

Objectives The intensive use of mobile devices has been the research subject in many countries and cultures for several years. The main emphasis is usually focused on negative phenomena, ranging from problematic or excessive use to addiction to a mobile phone or smartphone. Simultaneously scales are also being developed to measure users' general orientation to the smartphone. One such tool is Smartphone Orientation Scale (SOS) by James A. Roberts and Meredith E. David. Material and methods The Smartphone Orientation Scale has been translated into Polish in accordance with the principle of linguistic equivalence. The research was conducted on a sample of 725 students (71% women) aged 18–50 from several universities in Poland. The assessment of the structure of Smartphone Orientation Scale was performed using CFA with the generalized least squares (GLS) estimator. The reliability of SOS was measured using Cronbach's α, McDonald's ω and temporal stability. Criterion validity was assessed by correlation with Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale (MPPUS-9), Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) and The Scale of Excessive Use of Social Networking Sites (SONKSS-16). Results CFA showed favourable goodness-of-fit values, similar to the original version of SOS scale. The statistical analysis proved high statistically significant coefficients of the discriminatory power of SOS. As expected, a high statistically significant correlation exists between SOS and problematic mobile phone use and excessive social media activity. Conclusions The adaptation study demonstrates that the Polish version of SOS has good psychometric properties and can be used in scientific and diagnostic research due to its enormous potential thanks to developed standards.

Augmented reality has a long research history in computer vision and computer graphics communities. It aims to enhance the user experience for real scenes via overlapping virtual objects. Nowadays, mobile augmented reality has attracted much attention from researchers and developers due to the development of hardware techniques. Modern mobile devices such as mobile phones have a powerful computational ability for augmented reality applications. As a result, many researchers have paid attention to mobile augmented reality. From the technical viewpoint of augmented reality, mobile augmented reality largely depends on camera pose estimation. However, existing methods make it difficult to achieve the best balance between accuracy and efficiency, according to our investigation, and this may handicap the performance of mobile augmented reality systems. To overcome the problem, in this paper, we propose a novel approach to camera pose estimation based on bundle optimization. Our proposed method is evaluated on real-world datasets and is also tested in the mobile augmented reality system. Both experiments demonstrate that our proposed method has fast speed and high accuracy.

Copyright of German Journal of Exercise & Sport Research is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores second screening behavior in Blantyre, Malawi, where individuals engage with secondary devices such as mobile phones or tablets while watching television. This study aims to uncover the motivations and gratifications behind second screen usage among Blantyre residents, offering insights into the convergence of digital and traditional media in everyday media practices and behavioral outcomes. Participants, aged between 15 and 79 years old, were selected through purposive sampling to ensure diversity across age, gender, and socio-economic status, residing in neighborhoods with high demographic representation such as Bangwe, Chilomoni, Manase, Manja, Mbayani, and Zingwangwa. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, focusing on participants' multi-screening habits, types of content consumed, and devices used. The study involved 10 in-depth interviews and 55 focus group participants, all of whom regularly used a mobile device with Internet access while watching television, providing a comprehensive exploration of electronic multi-screen consumption behaviors across different age groups in urban Blantyre. Results indicate that second screening behavior was prevalent among the study participants, demonstrating varied second screening characteristics. It is recommended that future research conduct a representative study to generalize these findings across the broader population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reading experience on a mobile device can be influenced by many external elements that affect the viewing conditions. The user holding position, operating style, and the light conditions of the surroundings can all play a crucial factor in the legibility of the text. Furthermore, the user's eye conditions may be an extra factor to consider when determining how to improve the reading experience. This study presents a context-aware application that adjusts the text font size based on the distance between the user and the device. The users select their preferred font size at certain distances in the calibration phase, accounting for individual preferences or their eye conditions, and the application uses the device's front camera to calculate the distance in real time and adjust the font size accordingly. We present implementation details and challenges faced during development and how they were addressed. A two-part experiment (n = 34) revealed that the application scored an excellent usability score while no differences were found between users with and without eye conditions, showing that both user groups find it equally usable. Additionally, initial results suggest that the visual landmarks used showed a promising start at addressing issues related to our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctly identifying and classifying food is decisive in food safety. The food sector is constantly evolving, and one of the technologies that stands out is augmented reality (AR). During practical studies at Companhia de Entreposto e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo (CEAGESP), responsible for the largest food storage in South America, difficulties were identified in classifying aromatic herbs due to the large number of species. The project aimed to create an innovative AR application called ARomaticLens to solve the challenges associated with identifying and classifying aromatic herbs using the design science research (DSR) methodology. The research was divided into five stages according to the DSR methodology, from surveying the problem situation at CEAGESP to validating the application through practical tests and an experience questionnaire carried out by CEAGESP specialists. The result of the study presented 100% accuracy in identifying the 18 types of aromatic herbs studied when associated with the application’s local database without the use of an Internet connection, in addition to a score of 8 on a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of the usability of the interface as rated by users. The advantage of the applied method is that the app can be used offline.

Traveler apps for mobile devices such as smartphones are becoming more widely available. This study aimed to identify traveler infectious disease self-monitoring implementation strategies on a mobile application. It analyzed 73 journals from the PubMed database using the descriptive-analytic method. The records used in this exploration study were those released between 2018 and 2023 that were collected based on the keywords “travelers’ application;” or “infectious disease”. Data analysis was conducted using the VOS viewer software analytical tools.According to the findings; studies on traveler application domination with pandemic COVID-19 travel apps used. The study on mobile applications for traveler applications on infectious disease revealed four clusters of dominant themes: information about the COVID-19 outbreak; application related to diagnosis for travelers; measurement community mortality and risk; and respondent risk assessment. This study also looked at research patterns throughout time. Current research themes concern travel risk applications that can raise people’s knowledge of endemic areas; health risk avoidance; and early identification of infectious illness signs to recommend beginning management. Through bibliometric analysis and network visualization; the researchers summarized current developments in infectious disease for traveler’s research to shed light on their research frontier; trends; and hot themes. These findings could be useful for future research and views in this quickly evolving subject.

This study examines the growth of mobile technology usage and the increasing cybersecurity threats that come with it, with over 3.8 billion users globally. The paper reviews existing research on mobile technology security, highlighting a surge in cybersecurity incidents, and identifies patterns, user behaviors, and technological gaps that exacerbate security risks. By providing a more nuanced understanding of mobile technology’s security challenges, this paper contributes to developing more effective protection strategies to ensure users’ safety in the digital domain.

Malaria is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide with a consistent mortality rate. The light microscope examination is the gold standard for detecting infection by malaria parasites. Still, it is limited by long timescales and requires a high level of expertise from pathologists. Early diagnosis of this disease is necessary to achieve timely and effective treatment, which avoids tragic consequences, thus leading to the development of computer-aided diagnosis systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) for the detection and classification of blood cells infected with the malaria parasite in blood smear images. Such systems involve an articulated pipeline, culminating in the use of machine learning and deep learning approaches, the main branches of AI. Here, we present a systematic literature review of recent research on the use of automated algorithms to identify and classify malaria parasites in blood smear images. Based on the PRISMA 2020 criteria, a search was conducted using several electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and arXiv by applying inclusion/exclusion filters. From the 606 initial records identified, 135 eligible studies were selected and analyzed. Many promising results were achieved, and some mobile and web applications were developed to address resource and expertise limitations in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the clear restrictive guidelines about the use of modern handheld devices among children younger than 2 years, parents are seen to extensively use these devices with their infants. However, parents’ perceptions in this regard remain unclear and underexplored especially, in the context of South Asian cultures such as Pakistan. This qualitative study aims to explore parents’ perceptions regarding their infants’ use of mobile devices. Using the purposive sampling technique, 10 couples (i.e. 20 parents) from Pakistan were individually interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Parents with at least two children including one infant (0–2 years) were included. Single parents and parents of children with special needs were excluded. Findings revealed parents hold mixed opinions regarding the use of mobile devices. Parents expressed negative outcomes of the use of mobile devices, which were categorized into internalizing problems, emotional problems, social interaction problems, and issues in cognitive processing. They also shared positive perceptions, categorized as learning outcomes, and increased cognitive abilities. Based on their first-time parenting experiences, parents expressed both negative and positive outcomes of the use of MDs with infants. A shift in perception was observed based on their first-time parenting experiences. With increased parenting demands, participants shared constant challenges in limiting the screen time of infants, leading to experiencing negative emotions among parents i.e. guilt and worry. This study can be useful among clinicians to consider the effects of the use of mobile devices while making a neurodevelopmental diagnosis. It can also be useful in promoting learning among infants in daycare/childcare centers, in developing parenting manuals, and in developing screen time policies or guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) are a valuable tool in language learning because they provide opportunities for authentic interaction. However, their effectiveness, compared with that of human interlocutors, in facilitating second and foreign language interaction has not been explored. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of IPAs (i.e. Google Assistant on smartphones) on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' oral proficiency outside the classroom and the differences between IPA-human interaction and human-only interaction. A total of 89 college freshmen participated in an out-of-class program consisting of 10-minute sessions twice a week for one semester. The participants were randomly divided into three groups: (1) those who interacted with Google Assistant on smartphones; (2) those who interacted with L1 English speakers; and (3) those who interacted with L2 English speakers. Both quantitative (English oral proficiency tests) and qualitative data (focus group interviews) were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that the out-of-class use of Google Assistant significantly improved the EFL learners' oral proficiency, with a positive effect similar to that of interaction with L1 English speakers. A detailed analysis of the interviews revealed that the mobility and ubiquity of Google Assistant exposed learners to a large amount of high-quality oral input, provided opportunities to practice speaking with immediate, multimodal feedback, engaged learners through various modes of interaction, eliminated learners' fear of making mistakes, reduced learners' anxiety in speaking English, and encouraged self-directed learning outside the classroom, which are all conducive to improving EFL learners' oral proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: No studies have examined notifications as they relate to parent stress. We aimed to examine associations between objective daily mobile device notifications and pickups with daily parenting stress. Methods: This was a within‐ and between‐subjects, cross‐sectional study that took place from 2020 to 2021. The study occurred during the coronavirus disease of 2019 pandemic. Data were collected in a low‐contact home visit. This study included 62 parents of 62 children aged 48–71 months. Parents downloaded a passive sensing app on their Android mobile devices collecting data on duration, device notifications and device pickups. Parents completed an end‐of‐day stress survey for 4 days. We used random effects models to examine the variation of daily stress with smartphone duration, notification frequency, pickup frequency and device‐initiated pickups, adjusting for covariates. Results: Parents were on average 37.3 years old (SD ± 5.7) and were predominantly mothers (82.3%). On average, parents received 293 daily notifications and picked up their phones 93 times. Duration of smartphone use and notification frequency were not associated with daily stress. Device‐initiated pickups were associated with daily parent stress. Conclusion: When notifications prompted parents to pick up their phones more often, parents experienced greater stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disparities may disproportionately exist for those with disabilities when using mobile devices, which are critical for independence in activities such as socialization and leisure. Prior 3D printing studies in rehabilitation have not focused on mobile device access to everyday preferred activities. This study examined user satisfaction, self-rated performance and satisfaction with daily activities while using the mobile device, and the feasibility of customized 3D printed assistive devices. The design was a one-group, quantitative pre-test to post-test study of individuals (n = 10) residing in long-term care with a physical disability due to a neurological condition. Satisfaction with the 3D printed device, as compared to the previously used assistive device, was significantly higher (p = 0.005), as well as improvements in self-rated daily activity performance (p = 0.016) and satisfaction (p = 0.037), with acceptability and satisfaction of the intervention. Findings suggest that 3D printing is feasible with a potential increase in user satisfaction through a customization process that is client centred. Recommendations for settings interested in providing customized 3D printed assistive devices, and for future studies, include client centred integration and educational support on mobile device usage during activities, familiarity with common customization and modification requests, and adjusting timelines to the facility's service delivery capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By around 2020, online communication had not only become a part of our daily lives but also appeared in its imitations and film representations. This article examines the formal solutions in five films released in 2018-2019 that attempt to portray the characteristics of online communication within the fabric of the film. Two feature films from Hungarian cinema are analyzed: Mihály Schwechtje’s Remélem, legközelebb sikerül meghalnod (Hope You Die Next Time) and Attila Hartung’s FOMO – Megosztod, és uralkodsz, as well as László Csuja’s documentary Kilenc hónap háború (Nine Months of War). Among foreign films released around the same time, Timur Bekmambetov’s Profile and Aneesh Chaganty’s Searching are the subjects of investigation. The article also addresses how most viewers watch these films made for the big screen on their own laptops and how this visual aspect correlates with the given film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geocaching is an activity that involves hiding or finding treasures (geocaches) anywhere with the help of GPS or geolocation. This work consists of the design, development and evaluation of a socioeducational practice, using a mobile device as a tool and a geolocation application as an instrument. The aim of this study is to find out the impact of the implementation of an educational practice in the municipal context to raise environmental awareness and improve digital literacy using geolocation. This proposal is part of the socio-educational area in the information society, within the field of child protection, specifically in a day care centre for minors. This research is qualitative, in particular it is a multiple case study and is framed within the narrative approach. The results and conclusions show that the children and the professionals involved are satisfied with the implementation of the socio-educational practice in the municipal context, with entertainment predominating as a positive aspect. The children have acquired mainly procedural knowledge, with the support of digital technology. Finally, it is worth mentioning the impact on motivation and conflict resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Three Good Things' (TGT), a structured journaling exercise, has shown great effect in helping improve mental well-being. However, the exercise could be quite tedious and difficult to carry out daily. To improve the user experience of the exercise, we developed 'Happy Click', a mobile application which makes use of a physically present smart button to enable users to record their daily TGT in a more engaging manner. Two preliminary exploratory studies were carried out to examine the feasibility of our approach where the effects of the TGT intervention designed around the mobile and tangible happy click concepts were examined. The findings suggested that participants had significantly less stress after carrying out the TGT using the tangible interface. Participants also reported better user experience and acceptance when carrying out the exercise using the tangible interface compared to the mobile and higher levels of attractiveness and stimulation with the mobile TGT compared to the traditional approach. While these promising results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited sample size, they also underscore the potential advantages of our 'Happy click' approach and highlight the need for further, larger-scale evaluations to be conducted to validate its efficacy and scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

M-learning refers to learning supported by mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, which can be taken anywhere and utilized independently of place and time. The continuous improvement of portable devices gives them new features, among which solutions favoring the development of language competencies can play an important role. The first part of the article will discuss theoretical justifications and models related to mobile learning, as well as associated approaches such as multimedia learning and multimodality. In the second part, with reference to available results of empirical research, an attempt will be made to indicate the potential and the limitations of mobile learning, as well as to signal research directions encompassing issues in this area that are worth exploring in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMobile phones are most likely the subject of targeted attacks, such as software exploits. The resources needed to carry out such attacks are becoming increasingly available and, hence, easily executable, putting users’ privacy at risk. We conducted a systematic literature analysis to understand the relationship between resources and attack feasibility and present a categorisation of social engineering and side-channel attacks on mobile phones focusing on the resources attackers require. Our proposed categorisation levels facilitate an in-depth understanding of how mobile phone attacks can be executed using different combinations of partly simple resources. The analysis reveals that discrete protection mechanisms are insufficient to provide all-inclusive protection. The proposed categorisation assists in building novel solutions for safeguarding users’ privacy from diverse attacks by carefully considering the potential misuse of resources. We conclude by outlining future research directions highlighting the urgent need for a holistic user defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A floating greenhouse for growing oyster mushrooms can be operated remotely via a mobile phone. This innovative system can enhance mushroom production and quality while saving time. By using the Android OS operating system on a mobile phone (Internet Mobile Device with Android OS, MGT Model: T10), users can adjust the humidity and temperature within the greenhouse. This approach is particularly beneficial for older adults. Create a smart floating greenhouse that can be controlled remotely to cultivate oyster mushrooms. It would help to enhance the quality of the mushrooms, reduce the time required for cultivation, and increase the yield per planting area. We carefully examined the specifications and proceeded to create a greenhouse that could float. In addition, we have developed a unit that could control temperature and humidity, a solar cell unit, and a rack for growing mushrooms. Our greenhouses were operated remotely. To determine the best conditions for growing plants in a floating greenhouse, we conducted a test to measure temperature and humidity. We then compared our findings to those of a traditional greenhouse test and determined the optimal parameters for floating greenhouse growth. These parameters include growth time, temperature, humidity, and weight. A mushroom nursery that can be controlled remotely and floats on water consists of four main components: a structure to regulate temperature and humidity, solar cells, and mushroom racks. Research shows that mushrooms grown under this automated control system grow better than those grown through traditional methods. The harvest period is shorter, and the yield is higher than the typical yield of 1.81–1.22. When considering the construction and use of remote-controlled floating mushroom nurseries, the daily weight of mushrooms accounted for 20.22%. The company's investment return rates were found to be 3.47 years, or 580.21 h per year, which is higher than the yield of traditional methods. This mobile phone remote control system, created by Arduino, is tailor-made for cutting-edge floating greenhouses that grow grey oyster mushrooms. It can be operated with ease via mobile devices and is especially user-friendly for elderly individuals. This system enables farmers to produce a high volume of quality breeds. Furthermore, those with fish ponds can utilize the system to increase their profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses issues concerning biometric authentication based on handwritten signatures. Our research aimed to check whether a handwritten signature acquired with a mobile device can effectively verify a user's identity. We present a novel online signature verification method using coordinates of points and pressure values at each point collected with a mobile device. Convolutional neural networks are used for signature verification. In this paper, three neural network models are investigated, i.e., two self-made light SigNet and SigNetExt models and the VGG-16 model commonly used in image processing. The convolutional neural networks aim to determine whether the acquired signature sample matches the class declared by the signer. Thus, the scenario of closed set verification is performed. The effectiveness of our method was tested on signatures acquired with mobile phones. We used the subset of the multimodal database, MobiBits, that was captured using a custom-made application and consists of samples acquired from 53 people of diverse ages. The experimental results on accurate data demonstrate that developed architectures of deep neural networks can be successfully used for online handwritten signature verification. We achieved an equal error rate (EER) of 0.63% for random forgeries and 6.66% for skilled forgeries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current paper conducted two parallel studies to explore user experiences of well-being conversational agents (CAs) and identify important features for engagement. Background: Students transitioning into university life take on greater responsibility, yet tend to sacrifice healthy behaviors to strive for academic and financial gain. Additionally, students faced an unprecedented pandemic, leading to remote courses and reduced access to healthcare services. One tool designed to improve healthcare accessibility is well-being CAs. CAs have addressed mental health support in the general population but have yet to address physical well-being support and accessibility to those in disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds where healthcare access is further limited. Method: Study One comprised a thematic analysis of mental health applications featuring CAs from the public forum, Reddit. Study Two explored emerging usability themes of an SMS-based CA designed to improve accessibility to well-being services alongside a commercially available CA, Woebot. Results: Study One identified several themes, including accessibility and availability, communication style, and anthropomorphism as important features. Study Two identified themes such as user response modality, perceived CA role, question specificity, and conversation flow control as critical for user engagement. Conclusion: Various themes emerged from individuals’ experiences regarding CA features, functionality, and responses. The mixed experiences relevant to the communication and conversational styles between the CA and the user suggest varied motivations for using CAs for mental and physical well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To tackle the challenge of keeping 5G mobile devices compact while supporting millimeter-wave bands, we've created an ultra-compact 4-port dual-band MIMO antenna with a defected ground structure (DGS). This design minimizes mutual coupling and covers a broad frequency range. Built on a Rogers TMM4 substrate with dimensions of 17.76×17.76 mm2, the antenna includes four planar patch antennas positioned perpendicularly at the corners. Each antenna operates at 28/38 GHz and features a rectangular patch with four rectangular slots and a full ground plane. The patches are separated by 0.5 λo, with the DGS further reducing mutual coupling. Both simulations and measurements indicate a significant reduction in mutual coupling (−39 to −60 dB), improving ECC, TARC, MEG, and DG. Time-domain and SAR analyses confirm the antenna's efficiency and its suitability for 5G devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long Range (LoRa) as a low-power wide-area technology is distinguished by its robust long-distance communications tailored for Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Because LoRa was primarily designed for stationary devices, when applied to mobile devices, they become susceptible to frequent channel attenuation. Such a condition can result in packet loss, higher energy consumption, and extended transmission times. To address these inherent challenges posed by mobility, we propose an adaptive mobility-based IoT LoRa clustering communication (AMILCC) scheme, which employs the 2D random waypoint mobility model, strategically partitions the network into optimal spreading factor (SF) regions, and incorporates an adaptive clustering approach. The AMILCC scheme is bolstered by a hybrid adaptive data rate (HADR) mechanism categorized into two approaches, namely intra-SF and inter-SF region HADRs, derived from the standard network-based ADR mechanism for stationary devices, to ensure efficient resource allocation for mobile IoT LoRa devices. Evaluation results show that, based on simulations at low mobility speeds of up to 5 m/s, AMILCC successfully maximizes the packet success ratio to the gateway (GW) by over 70%, reduces energy consumption by an average of 55.5%, and minimizes the end-to-end delay by 47.62%, outperforming stationary schemes. Consequently, AMILCC stands as a prime solution for mobile IoT LoRa networks by balancing the high packet success ratio (PSR) with reliability with energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Investment in mobile devices to support primary or elementary education is increasing and must be informed by robust evidence to demonstrate impact. This systematic review of randomised controlled trials sought to identify the overall impact of mobile devices to support literacy and numeracy outcomes in mainstream primary classrooms. Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to understand how mobile devices are used in primary/elementary education around the world, and in particular, determine how activities undertaken using mobile devices in the primary classroom might impact literacy and numeracy attainment for the pupils involved. Within this context, mobile devices are defined as tablets (including iPads and other branded devices), smartphones (usually those with a touchscreen interface and internet connectivity) and handheld games consoles (again usually with touchscreen and internet‐enabled). The interventions of interest were those aimed at improving literacy and/or numeracy for children aged 4–12 within the primary/elementary school (or equivalent) classroom. Specifically, the review aimed to answer the following research questions: ‐What is the effect of mobile device integration in the primary school classroom on children's literacy and numeracy outcomes?‐Are there specific devices which are more effective in supporting literacy and numeracy? (Tablets, smartphones, or handheld games consoles)‐Are there specific classroom integration activities which moderate effectiveness in supporting literacy and numeracy?‐Are there specific groups of children for whom mobile devices are more effective in supporting literacy and numeracy? (Across age group and gender).‐Do the benefits of mobile devices for learning last for any time beyond the study?‐What is the quality of available evidence on the use of mobile devices in primary/elementary education, and where is further research needed in this regard? An Expert Advisory Group supported the review process at key stages to ensure relevance to current practice. Search Methods: The search strategy was designed to retrieve both published and unpublished literature, and incorporated relevant journal and other databases with a focus on education and social sciences. Robust electronic database searches were undertaken (12 databases, including APA PsychInfo, Web of Science, ERIC, British Education Index and others, and relevant government and other websites), as well as a hand‐search of relevant journals and conference proceedings. Contact was also made with prominent authors in the field to identify any ongoing or unpublished research. All searches and author contact took place between October and November 2020. The review team acknowledges that new studies will likely have emerged since and are not captured at this time. A further update to the review in the future is important and would build on the evidence reflected here. Selection Criteria: The review included children within mainstream primary/elementary/kindergarten education settings in any country (aged 4–12), and interventions or activities initiated within the primary school classroom (or global equivalent) that used mobile devices (including tablets, smartphones, or hand‐held gaming devices) to intentionally support literacy or numeracy learning. In terms of study design, only Randomised Controlled Trials were included in the review. Data Collection and Analysis: A total of 668 references were identified through a robust search strategy including published and unpublished literature. Following duplicate screening, 18 relevant studies, including 11,126 participants, 14 unique interventions, and 46 relevant outcome measures were synthesised using Robust Variance Estimation and a random effects meta‐analysis model. Risk of Bias assessment was undertaken by three reviewers using the ROB2 tool to assess the quality of studies, with 13 studies rated as having some concerns, and 5 as having high risk of bias. Qualitative data was also extracted and analysed in relation to the types of interventions included to allow a comparison of the key elements of each. Main Results: A positive, statistically significant combined effect was found (Cohen's d = 0.24, CI 0.0707 to 0.409, p < 0.01), demonstrating that in the studies and interventions included, children undertaking maths or literacy interventions using mobile devices achieved higher numeracy or literacy outcomes than those using an alternative device (e.g. a laptop or desktop computer) or no device (class activities as usual). However these results should be interpreted with caution given the risk of bias assessment noted above (5 studies rated high risk of bias and 13 rated as having some concerns). As the interventions and classroom circumstances differed quite widely, further research is needed to understand any potential impact more fully. Sensitivity analysis aimed to identify moderating factors including age or gender, screen size, frequency/dosage of intervention exposure, and programme implementation features/activities (based on Puentedura's [2009] SAMR model of technology integration). There were too few studies identified to support quantitative analysis of sufficient power to draw robust conclusions on moderating factors, and insufficient data to determine impact beyond immediate post‐test period. Sensitivty analysis was also undertaken to exclude the five studies identified as having a high risk of bias, to identify any impact they may have on overall findings. Authors' Conclusions: Overall, this review demonstrates that for the specific interventions and studies included, mobile device use in the classroom led to a significant, positive effect on literacy and numeracy outcomes for the children involved, bringing positive implications for their continued use in primary education. However given the concerns on risk of bias assessment reported above, the differing circumstances, interventions and treatment conditions and intensities, the findings must be interpreted with caution. The review also supports the need for further robust research to better understand what works, under what circumstances, and for whom, in the use of mobile devices to support learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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