American InterContinental University

About: American InterContinental University is a education organization based out in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Image segmentation & Edge detection. The organization has 192 authors who have published 197 publications receiving 1651 citations. The organization is also known as: AIU Online.

Children's Experience of Loneliness at School and Its Relation to Bullying and the Quality of Teacher Interventions.

Abstract: Forty-two children aged between 8 and 10 years were interviewed about their experience of loneliness at primary school. The children were further asked to describe their experiences of being bullied, as well as to comment on their perception of the consequences of particular teacher interventions. It was found that a majority of children (80%) had periods of being lonely at school and that these experiences were associated with boredom, inactivity, a tendency to withdraw into fantasy, and a passive attitude towards social interactions. Moreover, children who invested in very few friendships were more vulnerable to becoming isolated. Similarly, a majority of children (68%) claimed to have been bullied, with lonely children being more likely to be victimized by peers. Furthermore, children reported that teacher interventions were on the whole not effective in bringing an end to their victimization experiences. Thus, the findings indicated that both bullying and particular kinds of teacher interventions were contributing factors to children's prolonged sense of loneliness at school. A developmental model of the interrelationship of these three variables is proposed and discussed. Key Words: Loneliness, Bullying, School, Phenomenology, and Life-World ********** The focus of the present research is the experience of loneliness, an area of human relating which, although universal, has not been given sufficient attention by contemporary psychological research. Although it is possible to discuss loneliness in its existential sense, as a condition which is interwoven into our everyday human activities (Jaspers, 1970; Moustakas, 1961), the approach that will be adopted here is to view it as a response to an interpersonal situation. The rationale for adopting this approach is rooted in the work of Sullivan (1953), who argued that loneliness in childhood could best be understood as the frustration of intimacy needs. Moreover, this approach is in keeping with the suggestion that a phenomenological approach to human development would seek to clarify children's life-worlds by means of descriptions of their intersubjective experiences (Berguno, 2003). Thus, in the present study, loneliness is construed as a human response to having had and lost a certain type of relationship. It is a situation in which the need for contact and tenderness are frustrated (Fromm-Reichmann, 1959). It can be such a frightening and painful experience that an individual may feel driven to reestablish communication with others without concern for the interpersonal consequences. Nevertheless, the experience of loneliness can be extraordinarily persistent, since it is not solely a desire for company, and therefore cannot be satisfied by simply being around others. Loneliness only yields to a very specific form of relationship; it can be interrupted by social activity but not alleviated by it (Bowlby, 1969; Sullivan, 1953). Social activity may, in fact, deepen the loneliness by highlighting the absence of meaningful interaction. Once a specific relationship has been established or repaired, loneliness vanishes, although the lonely individual may not in fact be in a position to establish the wished for relationship through his or her own efforts. The experience of loneliness is often accompanied by boredom and aimlessness. Everyday tasks and routines may lose their meaning and the lonely individual may blame himor herself for his or her "weakness." Moreover, the lonely individual may find that others respond to his or her loneliness with irritation and a lack of empathy, a situation which may then lead to further isolation. The psychoanalytic literature considers that the roots of loneliness can be found in infancy, whenever the earliest need for contact is frustrated (Klein, 1990). The developmental literature has highlighted that children have a deep need to involve others in their personal concerns, as well as the need to be invited into relationships by others. …

Strategies For Mass Customization

Abstract: Mass customization allows firms to produce only things their customers want (or produce after they have orders in hand). This approach, make-to-order, brings many benefits to firms in terms of cost and profit because of lower inventory levels, maximum sales, elimination of material waste, flexible production and, most of all, customer satisfaction. However, mass customization may not be the panacea for all organizations. While some companies are very successful with mass customization, others are not. This paper illustrates that mass customization strategies depend on an understanding of the conditions in each industry.

A critique of new materialism: ethics and ontology

Abstract: This article seeks to offer a critical assessment of the conception of ethics underlying the growing constellation of ‘new materialist’ social theories. It argues that such theories offer little if any purchase in understanding the contemporary transformations of relations between mind and body or human and non-human natures. Taking as exemplary the work of Jane Bennett, Rosi Braidotti, and Karen Barad, this article asserts that a continuity between ethics and ontology is central to recent theories of ‘materiality’. These theories assert the primacy of matter by calling upon a spiritual or ascetic self-transformation so that one might be ‘attuned to’ or ‘register’ materiality and, conversely, portray critique as hubristic, conceited, or resentful, blinded by its anthropocentrism. It is argued that framing the grounds for ontological speculation in these ethical terms licences the omission of analysis of social forces mediating thought’s access to the world and so grants the theorist leave to sidestep any questions over the conditions of thought. In particular, the essay points to ongoing processes of the so-called primitive accumulation as constituting the relationship between mind and body, human and non-human natures.

Use of high-frequency ultrasound in the assessment of injectable dermal fillers.

Abstract: Background: The use of dermal fillers for enhancing lips and reducing wrinkles is currently one of the fastest growing sectors of the cosmetic surgery market. There are numerous fillers available, some are synthetic others are isolated from biological material. Once injected the fillers have a varied lifespan ranging from months to years depending upon the material, site of injection and individual response. Current assessment techniques of filler performance are mostly limited to evaluations of the skin surface topography, and not to what is happening to the filler beneath the skin surface. The aim of this work was to see if high-frequency ultrasound could be used to image and measure filler dimensions in situ. Method: This was a pilot study of six healthy female volunteers aged 36–53 visiting the surgical outpatients department of a hospital in Glasgow. Volunteers had been injected with filler material into their upper lip 6 months before the visit. The patients all had their upper lip scanned using high-frequency ultrasound. The subsequent images were then assessed using the scanner software to assess the dimensions of the filler. Results: The filler material was clearly visible with the ultrasound and subsequently measurable in each scan. Each scan procedure was completed within a short time period meaning quantitative data could be acquired with minimum trauma to the volunteer. The scan images and data also provided valuable information for the volunteers and reinforced their perception of the fillers effect on their features. Conclusions: High-frequency ultrasound scanning provides a non-invasive, convenient and rapid technique for the assessment of filler performance. This pilot study produced three valuable pieces of information: • The ultrasound can image the filler material from which quantitative measurements can be made. • The technique is rapid and cost effective …• This investigation helped to reinforce the volunteer's perception of the filler effect.