THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONAL BACKGROUND NOISES ON VOICE RECOGNITION ACCURACY

Voice recognition has become an integral part of our lives, commonly used in call centers and as part of virtual assistants. However, voice recognition is increasingly applied to more industrial uses. Each of these use cases has unique characteristics that may impact the effectiveness of voice recognition, which could impact industrial productivity, performance, or even safety. One of the most prominent among them is the unique background noises that are dominant in each industry. The existence of different machinery and different work layouts are primary contributors to this. Another important characteristic is the type of communication that is present in these settings. Daily communication often involves longer sentences uttered under relatively silent conditions, whereas communication in industrial settings is often short and conducted in loud conditions. In this study, we demonstrated the importance of taking these two elements into account by comparing the performances of two voice recognition algorithms under several background noise conditions: a regular Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based voice recognition algorithm to an Auto Speech Recognition (ASR) based model with a denoising module. Our results indicate that there is a significant performance drop between the typical background noise use (white noise) and the rest of the background noises. Also, our custom ASR model with the denoising module outperformed the CNN based model with an overall performance increase between 14-35% across all background noises. . Both results give proof that specialized voice recognition algorithms need to be developed for these environments to reliably deploy them as control mechanisms.

Recreational Value Assessment of Urban Productive Landscape of Baguatian in Hangzhou Based on Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has achieved rapid development in recent years, and the use of cloud platforms to carry various large-scale services has become the general trend of the development of the information industry. This study investigates WTP of Hangzhou residents for the recreational value of Baguatian productive landscapes based on CVM and cloud computing. In this study, we did the related analysis on the social and economic characteristics and WTP of interviewees and made the monetization assessment about the recreational value of its urban productive landscapes. The result shows 62.1% of interviewees have WTP and the average payment intention (WTP) is $40.74 per year. Besides, the total recreational value of Hangzhou Baguatian productive landscapes is 354 million yuan; the relatively accepted payment mode is tax-paying and cash payment; the educational degree, occupational background, and income are the main factors influencing the tourists’ WTP and the correlation between interviewees’ origin, permanent residence, and WTP is not apparent.

ACTUAL QUESTIONS OF DIAGNOSIS AND EXPERTISE OF AN OVERLAPPING BRONCHIAL ASTHMA SYNDROME IN WORKERS OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES

Timely diagnosis and treatment of a well-known respiratory pathological state of an overlapping BA syndrome especially due to occupational background remains nowadays an actual clinical problem. In accordance with the reports of public health bodies is often registered among industrial workers in more than 20 occupational in such industries as metallurgy, chemical enterprises, construction, at transport, mechanical engineering, wood processing, animal husbandry, and so on. Along with the leading positions in mortality and occurrence, these pathologies show high levels of comorbidity which complicates differential diagnosis, expertise of work relatedness and treatment. These type of patients should be in a special group because they often show the development of acute processes. The patients often have low life standard. Their respiratory function is often oppressed, their mortality rates are high enough, they go to the doctor’s much more often than patients with other respiratory diseases (1,2,3). Due to these factors, it is necessary to find more informative, clinical and hygienic criteria to develop algorithm of diagnosis and expertise for this group of occupational patients.

A Study on the Level of Awareness of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS) At Tripoli, Libya on the Myths & Facts on Corona Virus (Covid – 19): Basis for Program Planning

The study aimed to determine the level of awareness of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) of Tripoli, Libya on the myths & facts on corona virus (COVID – 19). Specifically, this study answered the following questions:1) What are the Demographic Profile of the respondents in terms of Gender, Educational Background and Occupational Background?? 2) What are the Overseas Filipino Workers level of awareness on the myths & facts on corona virus (COVID-19)? 3) Based on the results of the study, what measures can be formulated to increase the level of awareness of the Overseas Filipino Workers on corona virus (COVID-19)? The findings that the researcher was able to extract from the study were: 1) the frequency and percentage of the Overseas Filipino Workers demographic profile in terms of Gender, shows that female are mostly dominant which is 29 or 66.25% while male is 17 or 36.91%. In terms of Educational Background, results reveals that mostly are on the College level which accounts to 29 or 63.04%, Bachelor degree holder, 11 or 23.91%, Masters 3 or 6.52%, Doctorate 1 or 2.2% and College Undergraduate 2 or 4.3%. Occupational Background of the respondents reveals that Predominantly, 26 or 56.5% belongs to the Health sector, Oil & Gas 7 or 15.2%, Education, 1 or 2.2%, Others like those of the Embassies 8 or 17.4%, Not applicable 4 or 8.7%. There was a “Not Applicable” response as there were participants on the symposium who are dependents of the Overseas Filipino Workers and are not currently employed in Tripoli, Libya. 2) Detailed analysis of Table 3 reflecting the results of the frequency and percentage of the Overseas Filipino Workers level of awareness on the Facts and Myths of COVID-19 reveals that mostly 91.31% are aware of the facts on COVID-19, 5.70% unaware and 2.98% undecided. Predominantly, 53.07% of the Overseas Filipino Workers are aware on Myths on COVID-19 as reflected on the “NO” responses on questions on MYTHS, however the 40.75% results on the “YES” responses showed only a difference of 12.32% which is quite alarming and 2.98% are undecided.3) The measures that could be formulated to increase the level of awareness of the Overseas Filipino Workers are to conduct information dissemination campaign through symposiums, research forums and the use of Information Education Campaign (IEC) materials. Based on these findings, the researcher was able to conclude that the Overseas Filipino Workers in Tripoli, Libya are aware of both the FACTS & MYTHS on COVID-19, however, it is worthwhile to note that there is small difference in the figures reflected on the MYTHS aspect, thus there is still a need to correct these misconceptions so as to contribute on measures to end this pandemic.

: Development and validation of tool for screening occupational mental health and workplace factors influencing it

Introduction:Occupational mental health is one of the key entity for ideal work place. Earlier studies have identified certain workplace factors to influence the mental health of the worker. “Workload”, “Reward”, “Community”, “Control”, “Values” and “Fairness” are the key areas identified in occupational psychology that determine the mental health of the worker. An imbalance in these factors may lead to negative occupational mental health, i.e. burnout. The burnout, a psychological syndrome is combination of emotional exhaustion, depletion of compassion and sense of reduced accomplishment. To note, the concept of occupational mental health in nation with second largest workforce is nascent. Further, the utility of existing western tools in Indian context is limited by multiple factors such as less comprehensibly, culturally inappropriate, patented and other factors. Hence, a tool was developed to screen the occupational mental health and workplace areas. Methods and results:Conventional steps involved in psychological tool development, viz. construct identification, drafting of pertinent questions, content validation, field testing of questions and others were adopted. After series of steps, a tool for screening the occupational mental health consisting of 21 questions and screening the key constructs influencing the mental health at workplace (workplace assessment) consisting of 25 questions were developed. Each of these questions sought responses using a 3-point scale i.e. “Never”, “Sometimes” and “Always”. As intended, the questions were relatively simple, shorter, comprehensible and compliant (no rejections) as observed by the feedback obtained during the pilot (feasibility) study involving 58 consenting volunteers. The tool was explored on larger sample involving workforce from various occupational background in addition to screening of the general mental health using general health questionnaire 5 (GHQ 5). The screening tool exhibited adequate test - retest reliability, internal consistency / reliability (cronbach’s α > 0.73) and correlation (correlation coefficient > 0.6) with the general mental health in larger evaluation of 153 consenting workers.Conclusion: Present study attempted to develop tool for screening adverse occupational mental health (burnout) and workplace factors that are known to be detrimental for mental health. Considering the magnitude of workforce and relatively naïve the concept of occupational mental health in the country, a tool (such as the one reported in the study) for screening the mentioned constructs are need of the hour. Hence, the proposed simple and easy to administer tool, would aid in recognizing the burnout and aid in early diagnosis and management of those requiring intervention.

A Quantitative Investigation on Awareness of Renewable Energy Building Technology in the United Arab Emirates

Sustainability in architecture engages a wide range of considerations in the light of the significant negative impact of buildings on the environment. One aspect of research in this parlance engages the technological and the social dimensions of building innovation, which promote the use of renewable technology as a mitigation strategy. The challenge, however, is that the end-users or building clients do not always have sufficient awareness and information regarding these technologies to guide their decision to accept it. Consequently, the diffusion of said innovations is slow, and the environmental or building problems they were invented to solve persist at the expense of both humanity and the environment. This study, therefore, focuses on a quantitative investigation to ascertain the level of awareness and interest of residents in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) as an example of renewable energy-based building technology. In this study, 289 residents participated, following the distribution of a questionnaire to demographically distinct individuals. This distinction was used in the analysis to highlight different groups such as, gender, generations, and occupational background of the respondents. The findings of the study show, firstly, that there is a high level of awareness of BIPV in the sample. The study also shows that comparing awareness with each of these demographic variables produced a second layer of findings. For example, the statistical analysis showed that there is no significant difference between the level of awareness and any of the demographic characteristics of the study participants. However, there is a significant statistical difference (p = 0.000) between awareness and interest in BIPV. In concluding this study, recommendations for further research that elaborates other statistical variables and tests, as well as a follow-up qualitative investigation are planned and outlined for future studies. The findings of this investigation may be of benefit to researchers, policy makers, as well as energy companies and marketing agencies within and outside the region.

Varicose Veins Among Different Occupational Background in City of Mosul-Iraq

Background and aim: The Objectives of the present study to determine the VV among people with different background occupations in the City of Mosul, Iraq. Materials and method: A cross-sectional study was performed at Mosul Teaching Hospital between November 2019 and February 2020. Two hundred people who were physically examined represented different jobs in Iraqi society (Nurses, address, Policemen, and teachers). A physical examination was conducted of all participants who agreed to engage in this study. Results: The overall prevalence rate of VV among different occupational backgrounds in the City of Mosul is 19.5%. The study found that the percentage of men (50.5%) and women (49.5%). Most of the patient was beyond to age group (41-45) years and the mean age of the participants was (39.1+3.1). According to the BMI, the results indicated that most subjects belong to a class<30 (77%). Conclusions: The nurses will seek to prevent excessive extended occupational standing and using sitting or walking when appropriate. As a result, an improvement in clinical practice may reduce the incidence of vascular disease. Keywords: Varicose, Veins, Occupational

Demography factors influencing Indonesian general knowledge on COVID-19

Pandemic COVID-19 is a health problem that is spread all over the world including Indonesia. As 4 June 2020, Indonesia has reached 28,818 persons confirmed COVID-19, 1,721 deaths related to COVID-19 and 8.892 patients have recovered from the disease. The amount of response and attention of the public regarding the COVID-19 case in Indonesia and the circulation of information in the community became the basis of interest in identifying and analyzing demography factors with general knowledge on COVID-19. Participants were 1,254 collected through online questionnaire distributed on social media platform, from February 5, 2020 to June 6, 2020. Data analyzed used Chi square test with significant &lt;0.05. The result showed that majority of respondents have good general knowledge about COVID-19 and the personal prevention towards the disease (&gt;75%). Nonetheless, most misinformation was that COVID-19 killed everyone contracted to it, came from a biological weapon laboratory, and that covering mouth and nose with bare hand is considered as correct coughing ethic. Characteristics that showed statistical significances were education, occupation, and educational/occupational background. Although Indonesian governments already give the best effort to educate the public to stop the transmission, an extensive educational health campaign should be done to raise awareness in public about preventive knowledge and behavior of COVID-19.

Social Formation of Peasants-Fishermen under Peripheral Capitalism in West Coastal Indonesia

This article discusses the social formation of peasants-fishermen under peripheral capitalism within the ethnicity and class differentiation of the Minangkabau fishing community in the west coast of Sumatra Island. The research aims to analyze the evidence of social formation in peasant-fishermen situation under the domination of a specific variant of capitalism. Peasant-fishermen in the less developed countries are transformed and subsumed by the capital without being dissolved, albeit their production process now forms an integral part of the capitalist economic system. This research conduct in the village of Tiku Selatan and V Jorong, Tanjung Mutiara Subdistrict, Agam District, West Sumatra Province. This research assesses two fishing villages' household heads using questionnaire surveys and fieldwork through observation, interviews, and secondary data. According to the findings, there are three categories of peasants-fishermen economic and occupational background related to modes of production, ethnicity, and class differentiation.