Considering Instructional Contexts in AAC Interventions for People with ASD and/or IDD Experiencing Complex Communicative Needs: A Single Case Design Meta-analysis

For children with autism or intellectual and developmental disabilities who also have complex communication needs, communication is a necessary skill set to increase independence and quality of life. Understanding the how, where, and communication style being taught is important for identifying deficits in the field as well as which interventions are most effective. This meta-analysis sought to identify effectiveness among different settings, behavioral strategies, and moderator variables. A systematic search and screening process identified 114 eligible studies with 330 participants; overall outcomes indicate that AAC interventions were effective with Tau effects ranging from 0.53- 1.03 and LRR effects ranging from 0.21- 2.90. However, no instructional context variables systematically predicted differences in intervention effectiveness.

Informal learning behaviors, interaction and workplace autonomy and readiness to learn

Purpose This paper aims to find a measurement model with better evidence of validity, with data extracted from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). To test a parsimonious model in which dispositional and workplace context characteristics are predictors of informal learning behaviors (ILBs). Design/methodology/approach The authors performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to improve the fit of the PIAAC data measurement model. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the prediction of ILBs by one dispositional variable (Readiness to Learn) and two workplace context variables (Autonomy and Interaction in the Workplace). Findings A measurement model emerged with 18 items divided into four factors. The three antecedent variables predicted ILBs. Interaction in the workplace resulted in higher scores, and workplace autonomy resulted in lower scores. Research limitations/implications The small number of items for ILBs prevented a more detailed exploration of predictors of different types of these behaviors. ILBs can be stimulated by policies that promote readiness to learn and that encourage the design of environments that require worker interactions and autonomy. Originality/value Few studies on ILBs in the workplace have investigated the prediction of dispositional and contextual antecedents based on a theoretical model. The findings herein were obtained using a diverse sample of countries, occupations and generations, allowing better generalization. The importance of interpersonal relationships in the workplace for predicting ILBs was emphasized.

Who Participates in Popular Feasts and Festivals? An Empirical Approach from Cultural Economics Applied to the Carnival of Barranquilla (Colombia)

The empirical analysis of individual participation in local and popular feasts and festivals is a field little explored by cultural economists. This article proposes a methodological scheme to analyse the profile of the participants in local and popular feasts and carnivals, allowing the establishment of a taxonomy that captures the heterogeneity of the participants replicable to other festivities and carnivals around the world. Similarly, participation equations that allow the analysis of the influence of context variables on individual decisions to participate in these types of events are estimated. For this, the Carnival of Barranquilla, the largest and most representative popular celebration in Colombia and declared by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is used as a case study. The data were obtained from the Citizen Perception Survey of the Barranquilla Cómo Vamos programme, which evaluates the quality of life and the fulfilment of development plans in that city, and an empirical strategy is employed consisting of the estimation of a probit discrete choice model, which allows modelling the individual decisions of a time-intensive good, such as a carnival, with a strong influence of traditional variables, such as cultural capital and the availability of leisure time, and other context variables: location of people in the territory, stratification and poverty. The different profiles found offer information on the different strategies that can be implemented from public policy to stimulate greater participation by the population in popular festivities and festivals.

The productivity in the beekeeping sector of Comalcalco, Tabasco, for the design of an improvement proposal

The objective of this research was to analyze the productivity of the beekeeping sector of the municipality of Comalcalco, Tabasco for the design of an improvement proposal, which was approached by studying the behavior of the context variables (environmental, cultural, economic, political, social and technological) and its influence on the dependent variable, (productivity). For this, a design of the Likert scale tool was carried out, which is composed of sections that include the context variables, through this tool the results were analyzed, then SWOT matrices (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) were generated. for each context variable, from which the following improvement proposals were obtained according to each variable respectively; characterize natural flowering, foster a business culture, create income control, manage political support, disseminate the benefits of bees to eradicate fear from society, and manage genetic improvement programs.

Territorial Analysis of the Survival of European Aid to Rural Tourism (Leader Method in SW Spain)

Due to the problems of the European rural environment, the European Union introduced territorial development strategies called the Leader Method (LEADER Initiatives and the now extinct PRODER Operational Programs implemented only in Spanish territory). The objective was to activate the economic development of these areas, to maintain the population and to slow down the migration and aging processes. During the last 25 years, these initiatives have been implemented in European rural areas, and more particularly in Extremadura, establishing new activities such as rural tourism, which has become the economic backbone of many families, complementing agricultural incomes. The development of rural tourism has led to the implementation of accommodation and catering services throughout Extremadura, adapting to the new tourist demands. However, after 25 years, its sustainability has been very different, with contextual variables that have conditioned its success. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the economic sustainability of the tourism offer financed by Leader and the extinct Proder in order to identify the factors that have determined its success in a territory with very diverse characteristics. For this purpose, a methodology based on two statistical analysis techniques (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) has been designed to establish behavioral patterns through the different context variables used. The results obtained have shown that factors such as investment, location, the presence of protected resources and accessibility are determining factors for the survival of the tourism offer.

Analysis of the competitiveness of pipeline maintenance service providers in oil wells in the state of Tabasco

In the industrial sector, it is important that companies have a high profitability, with strategies for the provision of services or product development that meet or exceed the demands of the market, this is called competitiveness. Maintaining a holistic approach within organizations requires the analysis and measurement of context variables, as well as the implementation of a culture of quality and continuous improvement. In the oil industry, well pipeline maintenance services are activities of the utmost importance to keep the energy sector productive, therefore it is important that companies engaged in this area be competitive. This study analyzes the impact of context variables on the competitiveness of companies that provide maintenance services to oil well pipelines, seeking that in a comprehensive manner and on the basis of the results obtained, determine the relationship they have with respect to their competitiveness, to propose improvement strategies that lead companies to evolve towards states of improvement with levels of competitiveness that allow them to position themselves at world-class levels.

Toward Optimal Solution for the Context-Attentive Bandit Problem

In various recommender system applications, from medical diagnosis to dialog systems, due to observation costs only a small subset of a potentially large number of context variables can be observed at each iteration; however, the agent has a freedom to choose which variables to observe. In this paper, we analyze and extend an online learning framework known as Context-Attentive Bandit, We derive a novel algorithm, called Context-Attentive Thompson Sampling (CATS), which builds upon the Linear Thompson Sampling approach, adapting it to Context-Attentive Bandit setting. We provide a theoretical regret analysis and an extensive empirical evaluation demonstrating advantages of the proposed approach over several baseline methods on a variety of real-life datasets.

Technical Report for the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de la Región Sierra in productivity matters

Measuring and improving productivity in today's organizations is of utmost importance, since the context in which we live is very dynamic and organizations are facing accelerated changes. It requires responsiveness to adapt to the demands of the markets and to be competitive. For this reason, companies must implement philosophies that allow continuous study with a comprehensive approach using techniques for measuring productivity. Such is the case of the present research where the performance of public higher education institutions is analyzed, considering the Tecnológico Nacional de México Campus of the Sierra Region, through the promotion of a technical report, where the instrument "Integral Productivity Evaluation Technique (TIEP), which consists of ten elements that favor productivity including context variables, is developed. The implementation of this tool allows the development of an integral diagnosis that is the basis for the proposal of a productivity improvement model.

Towards Understanding the Effects of Web 2.0 at the Project Level Knowledge Management on Projects’ Success

Web 2.0 is in use for knowledge management (KM) in organizations at different levels. In this research, we study the relationship between the use of Web 2.0 in knowledge management (KM) and its effect on the Project's success when Web 2.0 is in use for the project's KM. We also study the impact of project-level KM context variables on this relationship. Findings show that the uses do not have a decisively positive effect