Application of Biology to Cultural Heritage

This Special Issue of the Applied Sciences, entitled “Application of Biology to Cultural Heritage” aimed to cover all the latest outstanding progress of biological and biochemical methods developed and applied to cultural heritage [...]

The Artificial Intelligence in Digital Radiology: Part 2: Towards an Investigation of acceptance and consensus on the Insiders

Background. The study deals with the introduction of the artificial intelligence in digital radiology. There is a growing interest in this area of scientific research in acceptance and consensus studies involving both insiders and the public, based on surveys focused mainly on single professionals. Purpose. The goal of the study is to perform a contemporary investigation on the acceptance and the consensus of the three key professional figures approaching in this field of application: (1) Medical specialists in image diagnostics: the medical specialists (MS)s; (2) experts in physical imaging processes: the medical physicists (MP)s; (3) AI designers: specialists of applied sciences (SAS)s. Methods. Participants (MSs = 92: 48 males/44 females, averaged age 37.9; MPs = 91: 43 males/48 females, averaged age 36.1; SAS = 90: 47 males/43 females, averaged age 37.3) were properly recruited based on specific training. An electronic survey was designed and submitted to the participants with a wide range questions starting from the training and background up to the different applications of the AI and the environment of application. Results. The results show that generally, the three professionals show (a) a high degree of encouraging agreement on the introduction of AI both in imaging and in non-imaging applications using both standalone applications and/or mHealth/eHealth, and (b) a different consent on AI use depending on the training background. Conclusions. The study highlights the usefulness of focusing on both the three key professionals and the usefulness of the investigation schemes facing a wide range of issues. The study also suggests the importance of different methods of administration to improve the adhesion and the need to continue these investigations both with federated and specific initiatives.

Some Novel Fractional Integral Inequalities over a New Class of Generalized Convex Function

The comprehension of inequalities in convexity is very important for fractional calculus and its effectiveness in many applied sciences. In this article, we handle a novel investigation that depends on the Hermite–Hadamard-type inequalities concerning a monotonic increasing function. The proposed methodology deals with a new class of convexity and related integral and fractional inequalities. There exists a solid connection between fractional operators and convexity because of its fascinating nature in the numerical sciences. Some special cases have also been discussed, and several already-known inequalities have been recaptured to behave well. Some applications related to special means, q-digamma, modified Bessel functions, and matrices are discussed as well. The aftereffects of the plan show that the methodology can be applied directly and is computationally easy to understand and exact. We believe our findings generalise some well-known results in the literature on s-convexity.

The Concept of Health-Promoting Collaboration—A Starting Point to Reduce Presenteeism?

Background: Since presenteeism is related to numerous negative health and work-related effects, measures are required to reduce it. There are initial indications that how an organization deals with health has a decisive influence on employees’ presenteeism behavior.Aims: The concept of health-promoting collaboration was developed on the basis of these indications. As an extension of healthy leadership it includes not only the leader but also co-workers. In modern forms of collaboration, leaders cannot be assigned sole responsibility for employees’ health, since the leader is often hardly visible (digital leadership) or there is no longer a clear leader (shared leadership). The study examines the concept of health-promoting collaboration in relation to presenteeism. Relationships between health-promoting collaboration, well-being and work ability are also in focus, regarding presenteeism as a mediator.Methods: The data comprise the findings of a quantitative survey of 308 employees at a German university of applied sciences. Correlation and mediator analyses were conducted.Results: The results show a significant negative relationship between health-promoting collaboration and presenteeism. Significant positive relationships were found between health-promoting collaboration and both well-being and work ability. Presenteeism was identified as a mediator of these relationships.Conclusion: The relevance of health-promoting collaboration in reducing presenteeism was demonstrated and various starting points for practice were proposed. Future studies should investigate further this newly developed concept in relation to presenteeism.

Supporting high-quality teaching in higher education through the HowUTeach self-reflection tool

This article introduces the development of the self-reflection tool HowUTeach for higher education teachers. HowUTeach is a research-based self-assessment tool created primarily for teachers in both science universities and universities of applied sciences. The purpose of HowUTeach is to increase teachers’ awareness of their teaching and thereby enhance individual self-reflection relating to work and well-being. HowUTeach uses responses to a questionnaire as a base to generate feedback that includes descriptions of different teaching dimensions as well as ideas on how to develop and improve teaching practices. This article defines these dimensions and presents the idea of counter feedback. The results from the pilot tests of HowUTeach were promising, and teachers identified that the instrument advanced their teaching practices. The tool is now being developed further.

Student Participation in Quality Assurance Processes of HEIs the Omani Context

Quality assurance and accreditation are the most pronounced words in the education sector. Quality culture involves all stakeholders in the process. Students who are the major stakeholders play a vital role in the QA process of an institution. The role of students in QA process in Oman context has been covered by conducting interviews from both students and staff members. The current study has been conducted on all the 13 branches of University of Technology and Applied Sciences. An online interview schedule was arranged with five students and two staff members from each branch. The list of students and staff was collected from the quality assurance department of UTAS branches. The results of the study showed that students are actively participating in various programs. The main hindrances to student involvement are low awareness about QA processes, time constraints, and low student representation towards QA processes. The implication of this research is important for HEIs, OAAA, academic researchers, and higher education stakeholders.

Mechanical Engineering Students Project-Based Learning in OUAS

This chapter introduces project-based learning approach which is used in the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OUAS), School of Engineering and Natural Resources, Mechanical Engineering Department to get local companies to offer project works to mechanical engineering students. The concept is based on organizing a local event or online event for the companies to come to OUAS campus to present their challenges needing engineering students to solve. The companies are then competing, selling, or pitching their problem for engineering students as the engineering students will then individually select the most interesting cases to be solved, and which has linkage to potential summer job and thesis work opportunities if projects are successful. The concept has proven to be successful, and it has been established as traditional event with many companies returning to the pitching event annually to get their industry problems solved by group of motivated engineering students.

Implementation of Multilingual Education for Sustainable Development in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan

The chapter presents a comparative analysis of the implementation of multilingual/bilingual education in Kazakhstan and the Netherlands. The study explores the origin and role of multilingualism, for socio-economic development, relevant regional and international practices in multilingual education, the growth of trilingual instruction, English language training and the use of digital technologies (distant, e-learning programs) in the Eurasian region, Major common features and differences of implementing multilingual/bilingual teaching between the two case studies and the main findings from research trips are identified. A theoretical analysis of scholarly approaches, as well as practical and methodological implications, are made on the example of implementing multilingual instruction at the Kazakhstani agricultural higher educational institutions, particularly Kazakh National Agrarian University and Kazakh S. Seifullin Agritechnical University and Dutch counterparts - Wageningen University, and the Hague University of Applied Sciences.

Mapping the Role of European Universities of Applied Sciences as Entrepreneurial Hubs of Regional Development

The chapter focuses on mapping and analysing regional engagement of universities of applied sciences through an institutional self-reflection tool which is developed within the international project UASiMAP and which aims to be useful at institutional level as well as to highlight the important role of this specific area of HE activities. The tool should serve not only for immediate self-evaluation but also to inform institutional improvement and dynamics. The authors define UAS as a specific entrepreneurial hub for regional development and propose a multidimensional model for reflection of the UAS role in regional development. Opportunities, challenges, and limits of the model´s individual dimensions are discussed in two ways: firstly, as reflections of relevant literature and, secondly, using the practical experiences of project partners from different European countries as arguments for the proposed dimension(s). A strategy for assessing progress using the proposed model and criteria for indicators are presented and discussed.

Report from the 13th International Conference on Researching and Applying Metaphor: "Metaphorical Creativity in a Multilingual World" (Hamar, Norway, 18–21 June 2020)

Report from the 13th International Conference on Researching and Applying Metaphor: Metaphorical Creativity in a Multilingual World (Hamar, Norway, 18–21 June 2020)The RaAM 2020 conference on metaphor research was held online on 18–21 June 2020, hosted by the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN) in Hamar, Norway. The aim was to exchange ideas and research findings of historians, culture studies specialists, and cognitive linguists from all around the world. The theme of the event was Metaphorical Creativity in a Multilingual World, including the following areas: multimodal metaphor, metaphor in spoken discourse, metaphor in gesture, metaphor in cross-cultural communication, metaphor and translation, metaphor and film, metaphor in education. Among the large group of researchers, specialists from Lithuania and Latvia presented their findings in metaphor research based on local data (Lithuanian media, posters, advertisements and billboards, film translation into Lithuanian). Sprawozdanie z trzynastej międzynarodowej konferencji dotyczącej badania i zastosowania metafory pt. Metaphorical Creativity in a Multilingual World (Hamar, Norwegia, 18–21 czerwca 2020)Wirtualna konferencja naukowa RaAM 2020 poświęcona badaniom nad metaforą odbyła się w dniach 18–21 czerwca 2020 roku w Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN) w Hamarze w Norwegii. Celem spotkania była wymiana myśli i wyników badań naukowych historyków, kulturoznawców i językoznawców kognitywnych z całego świata. Tematem konferencji była kreatywność metaforyczna w wielojęzycznym świecie i obejmował on następujące obszary: metafora multimodalna, metafora w dyskursie mówionym, metafora w gestach, metafora w komunikacji międzykulturowej, metafora i przekład, metafora i film, metafora w edukacji. Wśród licznych badaczy byli również specjaliści z Litwy i Łotwy, którzy zaprezentowali wyniki badań nad metaforą na podstawie danych ze źródeł krajowych (media litewskie, plakaty, reklamy i bilbordy, tłumaczenie filmów na język litewski).