Prosthetic motor imaginary task classification using single channel of electroencephalography

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is playing a very important role in human machine communications. Recent communication systems depend on the brain signals for communication. In these systems, users clearly manipulate their brain activity rather than using motor movements in order to generate signals that could be used to give commands and control any communication devices, robots or computers. In this paper, the aim was to estimate the performance of a brain computer interface (BCI) system by detecting the prosthetic motor imaginary tasks by using only a single channel of electroencephalography (EEG). The participant is asked to imagine moving his arm up or down and our system detects the movement based on the participant brain signal. Some features are extracted from the brain signal using Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficient and based on these feature a Hidden Markov model is used to help in knowing if the participant imagined moving up or down. The major advantage in our method is that only one channel is needed to take the decision. Moreover, the method is online which means that it can give the decision as soon as the signal is given to the system. Hundred signals were used for testing, on average 89 % of the up down prosthetic motor imaginary tasks were detected correctly. This method can be used in many different applications such as: moving artificial prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs due to it's high speed and accuracy.

Prosthetic motor imaginary task classification based on EEG quality assessment features

Brain Computer Interface (BCI) plays an important role in the communication between human and machines. This communication is based on the human brain signals. In these systems, users use their brain instead of the limbs or body movements to do tasks. The brain signals are analyzed and translated into commands to control any communication devices, robots or computers. In this paper, the aim was to enhance the performance of a brain computer interface (BCI) systems through better prosthetic motor imaginary tasks classification. The challenging part is to use only a single channel of electroencephalography (EEG). Arm movement imagination is the task of the user, where (s)he was asked to imagine moving his arm up or down. Our system detected the imagination based on the input brain signal. Some EEG quality features were extracted from the brain signal, and the Decision Tree was used to classify the participant's imagination based on the extracted features. Our system is online which means that it can give the decision as soon as the signal is given to the system (takes only 20 ms). Also, only one EEG channel is used for classification which reduces the complexity of the system which leads to fast performance. Hundred signals were used for testing, on average 97.4% of the up-down prosthetic motor imaginary tasks were detected correctly. This method can be used in many different applications such as: moving artificial limbs and wheelchairs due to it's high speed and accuracy.

Just imaginary: delimiting social inclusion in higher education

This paper explores the notion of a 'just imaginary' for social inclusion in higher education. It responds to the current strategy of OECD nations to expand higher education and increase graduate numbers, as a way of securing a competitive advantage in the global knowledge economy. The Australian higher education system provides the case for analysis. Three dilemmas for social inclusion policy in this context are identified: questions of sustainability, aspiration and opportunity. The paper argues that while social inclusion policy has 'first-order' effects in higher education, a just imaginary is required for more inclusive 'second-order' effects to be realized. It concludes that transformation of the current imaginary will require a more robust theorization of relations between social inclusion and higher education, to give new and unifying meaning to existing practices and to generate new ones. Short of this, social inclusion may be little more than just imaginary.

Meet the phallic teacher: curriculum design and identity in a neoliberal imaginary

This paper introduces the concept of the phallic teacher, a spectral figure that needs to be negotiated in teachers’ everyday work and in school-based disciplinary communities of practice. Reporting the findings of a three year doctoral study completed in 2014, the paper looks closely at how English teachers design both curriculum and identity in an environment where feminist and poststructuralist work of the late 20th century seems to have lost traction.These observations are based on empirical research in a Victorian school, combined with autoethnographic writing and other materials connecting teachers’ and researchers’ lives to the broader cultural postfeminist debate. The paper makes room for an absent subject, the teacher, marginalised in neoliberal discourses of curriculum and critiques the masculinist hegemony of outcomes and standards-based education. This provides us with new ways to challenge increasingly dominant current paradigms and to conceptualise a different future in which the standpoints of teachers are privileged in curriculum theory and curricular innovation.

Globalisation and multifaith societies

We are living in increasingly mobile, multifaith, and secular societies, which has led to new opportunities and challenges. We live in religiously diverse cities and neighbourhoods offering a rich array of cultural, artistic, architectural, and culinary experiences that are widely appreciated. At the same time, Western societies are grappling with the reality that they can no longer be defined as Christian nations, and this has impacted national identity, values, and education. This increased diversity is viewed and felt differently in different places. Some have embraced it and viewed it as a strength and advantage while others are resisting what they perceive as a threat to their way of life. This article examines the development of religious diversity, focusing on the UK and Australia as examples of 'Old' and 'New' World societies but also including broader contexts. It then discusses the growth of multifaith awareness lo¬cally and globally, including the role of the multifaith movement in promoting interreligious understanding. Finally, we consider the social and political aspects of living in a multifaith society and theoretical frameworks pertaining to religion and governance. This article aims to inform and assist scholars, religious and non-religious organisations and state actors to better respond to the changing religious landscape in order to maximise social inclusion and minimise tensions within and between diverse groups and societies.

The heritage 'NGO': a case study on the role of grass roots heritage societies in Iran and their perception of cultural heritage

This paper examines the activities of a group of heritage enthusiasts in Iran. Grass roots heritage activism is a relatively recent phenomenon that appeared in Iran since the late 1990s. They are increasingly operating collectively as cultural or heritage NGOs. They have diverse socio-economic origins and political views. However, as this paper argues, they share a common ground in their activities; one that maintains an ambivalent and critical relationship with the state and official definitions of heritage and identity. Referring to interview and other data collected during fieldwork in Iran, this paper traces and analyses the contours of that common ground and argues that there is a nascent heritage movement in the country. The impact and contribution of these emerging and self-reflective heritage movements to Iranian identity, which is reflected in their embracing of diversity and the notion of historical continuity, reveal the dynamism and complexity of the cultural and political landscape of contemporary Iranian society. They also reveal the importance of generating further scholarship in the field of Iranian cultural heritage. In conceptualising the characteristics of a nascent heritage movement in Iran, the paper makes a new contribution to the approach of existing scholarship in the broader field of heritage studies.

Meet the phallic teacher: designing curriculum and identity in a neoliberal imaginary

This paper introduces the concept of the phallic teacher, a spectral figure negotiated in teachers’ everyday work and in school-based disciplinary communities of practice. Reporting the findings of a three year Australian doctoral study completed in 2014, the paper looks closely at how English teachers design both curriculum and identity in an environment where feminist and poststructuralist work of the late 20th century seems to have lost traction. These observations made here are based on empirical research in a Victorian school, combined with autoethnographic writing and other materials connecting teachers’ and researchers’ lives to the broader cultural postfeminist debate. The paper makes room for an absent subject, the teacher, marginalised in neoliberal discourses of curriculum and critiques the masculinist hegemony of outcomes and standards-based education. This provides us with new ways to challenge increasingly dominant current paradigms and to conceptualise a different future in which the standpoints of teachers are privileged in curriculum theory and curricular innovation.

Theorizing the imaginary character in David Holman's the small poppies

For this project, I focus on David Holman's The Small Poppies (1989) as a case study to highlight the significance of the imaginary character in a stand-out Australian theatre-in education (TIE) play. The main premise of the article is to extend the study of imaginary characters and its association with young children, using a reflective inquiry that is based on an artist-in-school practitioner's viewpoint. Holman's play negotiates the competing forces between a child's positive notions about the imaginary companion and society's varied comprehension of such imaginings, which at times is unflattering. The story of Clint and his imaginary dog, Digger, in The Small Poppies emerges as a micro-socio-psychological phenomenon in the form of: (1) an invisible, known identity; (2) an emotional stabilizer; and (3) shared imaginings. In this study, the analysis pivots solely on the imaginary character at particular performative "turning points" (Bullock and Ritter 2011) within the play. The theorization of the imaginary character in The Small Poppies offers a new perspective for young people's relationships with imaginary characters from the field of Australian TIE.

Enacting the violent imaginary : reflections on the dynamics of nonviolence and violence in Buddhism

In this paper, I explore the complex ethical dynamics of violence and nonviolence in Mahāyāna Buddhism by considering some of the historical precedents and scriptural prescriptions that inform modern and contemporary Buddhist acts of self-immolation. Through considering these scripturally sanctioned Mahāyāna ‘case studies,’ the paper traces the tension that exists in Buddhist thought between violence and nonviolence, outlines the interplay of key Mahāyāna ideas of transcendence and altruism, and comments on the mimetic status and influence of spiritually charged texts. It is the contention of this paper that violent scriptural metaphors can create paradigms of enactment that are paradoxically illustrative of the core ‘non-violent’ Mahāyāna virtues of compassion (karuṇā), giving (dāna), patience (kṣānti), and vigor (vīrya). The discussion will show that these virtues are underpinned by the Mahāyāna philosophical mainstays of non-duality (advayavāda), bodhisattvic transcendent altruism, skillful means (upāya), and dependent co-origination (pratītyasamutpāda).

Education about religions and worldviews: promoting intercultural and interreligious understanding in secular societies

This volume presents the findings of a number of empirical and theoretical studies on education about religions and worldviews (ERW) conducted in the Western societies of Britain, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Educational programmes about diverse religions and worldviews began to be investigated and implemented as strategies to encourage interreligious understanding and social cohesion, particularly following the 2005 London bombings when a fear of youth radicalisation and home-grown terrorism became prevalent. In addition, as a growing number of people in Western societies, and young people especially, declare themselves to have no religious affiliation, state actors are currently grappling with the reality that we are living in increasingly multifaith and non-religious societies and government education systems have become places of contestation as a result of these changes. This volume examines ERW research and policies in a number of diverse places in the hope of identifying common themes, overlapping insights and best practices that can inform research and policy for religious literacy and interreligious understanding in other contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Intercultural Studies.