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This paper discusses the design of a digital Chinese character composition game with the paper-interface named as ARC (Augmented Reality-based Chinese Characters) and its implementation in a Singapore primary school. The ARC game is designed to help beginning Chinese as second language (L2) learners to develop Chinese orthographic knowledge and improve quality of collaboration. Underlying sociocultural perspectives of learning, it seeks to enable learners to complete the game collaboratively in classrooms, and in this process to build a deep understanding of linguistic knowledge in solving in-situ language-related problems that emerge in language use. The results of a quasi-experiment indicate that ARC is an effective system for improving Chinese character learning performance and collaborative learning quality. It suggests that the augmented paper, enabling natural interactions, allow more and potentially young students to engage with educational content and collaboration. The problematizing scaffold should be embedded in the game design to elicit more opportunities for collaborative dialogue.

Introduction: Falls are an important public health issue with consequences that include injuries, quality of life reduction and high healthcare costs. Studies show that falls prevention strategies are effective in reducing falls rate among community-dwelling older adults. However, the evaluation for effectiveness was usually done in a controlled setting with homogeneous population, and thus may not be generalisable to a wider population. This study aims to evaluate the impact of community falls prevention programmes with group-based strength and balance exercises, on falls risk and health outcomes for older adults with falls risk in Singapore., Methods and Analysis: This is a pragmatic closed cohort stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial design study, which involves sequential crossover of clusters from the waitlist control condition to the intervention condition, with the sequence of crossover randomly determined. The intervention will be sequentially rolled out to 12 clusters (a minimum of 5 participants/cluster), over 6 time periods with 8-week intervals in Central and North regions of Singapore. The primary analysis will be conducted under the intention-to-treat principle. A general linear mixed model or generalised estimating equation analysis appropriate for a multilevel longitudinal study incorporating an appropriate error distribution and link function will be used. Markov model will be developed to estimate the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life years and incremental cost per fall prevented from the implementation of falls prevention strategies from a societal perspective. Conditional on there being clinically relevant differences in short-term outcomes, we will implement simulation modelling to project the long-term divergence in trajectories for outcomes and costs using the Markov model., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethics approval has been obtained. Results will be disseminated in publications and other relevant platforms., Trial Registration Number: NCT04788251., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Advances in technology enabled the development of a web-based, pictorial FFQ to collect parent-report dietary intakes of 7-year-old children in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes study. This study aimed to compare intakes estimated from a paper-FFQ and a web-FFQ and examine the relative validity of both FFQ against 3-d diet records (3DDR). Ninety-two mothers reported food intakes of their 7-year-old child on a paper-FFQ, a web-FFQ and a 3DDR. A usability questionnaire collected participants' feedback on the web-FFQ. Correlations and agreement in energy, nutrients and food groups intakes between the dietary assessments were evaluated using Pearson's correlation, Lin's concordance, Bland-Altman plots, Cohen's κ and tertile classification. The paper- and web-FFQ had good correlations (≥ 0·50) and acceptable-good agreement (Lin's concordance ≥ 0·30; Cohen's κ ≥ 0·41; ≥ 50 % correct and ≤ 10 % misclassification into same or extreme tertiles). Compared with 3DDR, both FFQ showed poor agreement (< 0·30) in assessing absolute intakes except micronutrients (web-FFQ had acceptable-good agreement), but showed acceptable-good ability to classify children into tertiles (κ ≥ 0·21; ≥ 40 % and ≤ 15 % correct or misclassification). Bland-Altman plots suggest good agreement between web-FFQ and 3DDR in assessing micronutrients and several food groups. The web-FFQ was well-received, and majority (81 %) preferred the web-FFQ over the paper-FFQ. The newly developed web-FFQ produced intake estimates comparable to the paper-FFQ, has acceptable-good agreement with 3DDR in assessing absolute micronutrients intakes and has acceptable-good ability to classify children according to categories of intakes. The positive acceptance of the web-FFQ makes it a feasible tool for future dietary data collection.

"Paper Scribbles" (PS) consisting of markers, vanguard sheets and 3M "Post-It" notes, is a pedagogical tool to harness collective intelligence of groups for collaborative learning in the classroom. Borrowing the key features of PS and yet avoiding some of their physical limitations, a computer-based tool called "Group Scribbles" (GS) was designed to enable high performance synchronous, face to face collaborative experiences in the classroom. In our exploratory study, we discuss and compare the different properties of PS and GS technologies in two elementary grade 5 classes. The findings reveal that there are not only physical and technical differences but more importantly, pedagogical differences between the two technologies that accounts for different collaborative learning mechanisms. (Contains 2 tables and 11 figures.)

Purpose. To provide a bibliographical-historical perspective and main interest in the field of myopia. Methods. In this bibliographic study, the Web of Science Database was searched from 1999 to 2018. Recorded parameters included journal name, impact factor, year and language, number of authors, type and origin, methodology, number of subjects, funding, and topics. Results. Epidemiological assessments were the leading type of article (28%), and half of the papers were prospective studies. The number of citations for multicenter studies was significantly higher (P = 0.034). The articles were published in 27 journals, with the majority in Investigative Ophthalmology, Vision Sciences (28%), and Ophthalmology (26%). Etiology, signs and symptoms, and treatment equally encompassed the topics. Papers addressing etiology, specifically genetic and environmental factors (P = 0.029), signs and symptoms (P = 0.001), and prevention, specifically public awareness (47%, P = 0.005), received significantly more citations. Treatment to decrease myopia progression was a much more common topic (68%) than refractive surgery (32%). Optical treatment was the most popular modality (39%). Half of the publications came from 3 countries: the United States (US), Australia, and Singapore. The highest ranked and cited papers came from the US (P = 0.028) and Singapore (P = 0.028). Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the top-cited articles on myopia. There is a predominance of epidemiological assessments and multicenter studies originating from the US, Australia, and Singapore, assessing etiology, signs and symptoms, and prevention. These are more frequently cited, emphasizing the great interest in mapping the increase in the incidence of myopia in different countries, public health awareness, and myopia control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital heritage portal interfaces are generally similar to digital library and search engine interfaces in displaying search results as a list of brief metadata records. The knowledge organization and search result display of these systems are item-centric, with little support for identifying relationships between items. This paper proposes a knowledge graph system and visualization interface as a promising solution for digital heritage systems to support users in browsing related items, understanding the relationships between items, and synthesizing a narrative on an issue. The paper discusses design issues for the knowledge graph, graph database, and graph visualization, and offers recommendations based on the authors' experience in developing three knowledge graph systems for archive and digital humanities resources: the Zubir Said personal archive collection at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore; Singapore Pioneers social network; and Polyglot Medicine knowledge graph of Asian traditional and herbal medicine. Lessons learned from a small user study are incorporated in the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common serious chronic neurological disorders, which can have a serious negative impact on individuals, families and society, and even death. With the increasing application of machine learning techniques in medicine in recent years, the integration of machine learning with epilepsy has received close attention, and machine learning has the potential to provide reliable and optimal performance for clinical diagnosis, prediction, and precision medicine in epilepsy through the use of various types of mathematical algorithms, and promises to make better parallel advances. However, no bibliometric assessment has been conducted to evaluate the scientific progress in this area. Therefore, this study aims to visually analyze the trend of the current state of research related to the application of machine learning in epilepsy through bibliometrics and visualization. Methods: Relevant articles and reviews were searched for 2004-2023 using Web of Science Core Collection database, and bibliometric analyses and visualizations were performed in VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix (R-Tool of R-Studio). Results: A total of 1,284 papers related to machine learning in epilepsy were retrieved from the Wo SCC database. The number of papers shows an increasing trend year by year. These papers were mainly from 1,957 organizations in 87 countries/regions, with the majority from the United States and China. The journal with the highest number of published papers is EPILEPSIA. Acharya, U. Rajendra (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore) is the authoritative author in the field and his paper "Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Automated Detection and Diagnosis of Epileptic Seizures Using EEG Signals" was the most cited. Literature and keyword analysis shows that seizure prediction, epilepsy management and epilepsy neuroimaging are current research hotspots and developments. Conclusions: This study is the first to use bibliometric methods to visualize and analyze research in areas related to the application of machine learning in epilepsy, revealing research trends and frontiers in the field. This information will provide a useful reference for epilepsy researchers focusing on machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the intriguing peculiarities of the surface paint layer found in the painting Village scene (1931) by renowned Singapore artist Liu Kang (1911–2004). The incorporation of non-invasive visible light (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) photography techniques, combined with high-power digital microscopy, revealed unusual features on the surface paint layer. Flattened impastos, clusters of incrusted foreign paint unrelated to the existing paint scheme, and fragments of paper with printed traditional Chinese characters were identified on the painting's surface. The results of the analyses cross-referenced with the archival photographs enabled the consideration of the specified features of the paint layer as unintentional damage caused by the artist due to inadequate storage and transportation conditions—paradoxically, in his attempt to protect the painting. As these damaged areas pose potential display and conservation problems, three conservation strategies were proposed based on ethical guidelines formulated by various governing bodies for the conservation profession. This study demonstrates that there is no universal conservation solution that can satisfy conflicting aesthetic and ethical opinions. The damage to the paint layer affects the visual properties of the artwork but also provides evidence of its complex history. In light of the above, there may be valid arguments both for returning the painting to its original state and for preserving its current condition. Therefore, good practice would require balanced judgments from conservators and curators, considering Village scene in the broader context of Liu Kang's early painting practice and the existing archival information about the artist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS) is held annually, sponsored by the Plasma Science and Applications Committee (PSAC) of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society (NPSS). The 47th IEEE NPSS ICOPS was organized ONLINE from December 06 to 10, 2020, by the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The ICOPS2020 was co-organized together with the 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Plasma and Terahertz Science (APCOPTS) which is envisioned as the future Asian version of the ICOPS series of conferences. The ICOPS2020 was initially planned as an onsite physical conference from May 24 to 28, 2020, at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was shifted to online virtual conference. The conference’s technical program included a wide range of plasma science and technology topics, which ranged from basic and fundamental research to traditional and emerging technology applications. Since the ICOPS2020 was co-organized with APCOPTS, it also had a very strong coverage of fields related to terahertz science and applications. A total of 627 presentations from scientists and participants from over 41 countries were made at ICOPS2020 with a record total registration of 754. All presentations were recorded and were available to the registered participants for 90 days after the conference was over. The program also included a women-in-engineering talk by Jackie Y. Ying from A* Star Singapore and a young professionals networking symposium on “Plasma Entrepreneurship” with the theme “Plasma entrepreneurship—Active translation of cutting-edge research to commercially viable product.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes stakeholder engagement in educational policymaking in Singapore and Finland, two countries renowned for successful education systems. While both countries achieve high academic standards, they employ distinct approaches to engage stakeholders in shaping educational policies. Singapore adopts a centralized model where policymaking is primarily directed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), with limited participation from external stakeholders. In contrast, Finland adopts a decentralized approach, empowering local authorities and schools with significant autonomy and actively involving stakeholders in policymaking. Key stakeholders, including teachers, parents, students and the private sector, play different roles in each country's education governance. In Singapore, stakeholders are consulted through formal channels but have limited influence on decision-making, whereas, in Finland, stakeholders actively steer fundamental policy directions through extensive participation and consensus-building. The paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and their impacts on education outcomes. Despite differences in governance models, both countries prioritize inclusive education, social cohesion, and holistic development. The analysis underscores the importance of meaningful stakeholder engagement in crafting effective education policies that align with national values and visions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informational domain related to COVID-19 reflects the degree of uncertainty and pace of evolution of the pandemic. This places a burden on peoples' searches for information to guide their choices, importantly including for COVID-19 vaccines. Thus, it is important for health communications that support vaccination campaigns to attenuate vaccine hesitancy to be accessible, including in terms of readability, and adapted to the evolving pandemic. This paper aims to understand internet searches on COVID-19 vaccination, specifically the mix of sources and readability of the sources over a two-year period (2021–2023) in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, for search results in English, as English is a main language for each of these locations. The sources accessed through online searches in June 2021 and May 2023 were categorized by type of source and whether they were from one of the focal locations or elsewhere. The readability of information from web-search results was assessed using a set of readability tests (Flesch–Kincaid Reading Ease, Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, Coleman–Liau Index, and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook Grade level). Over the two-year period there was an increase in government sources and reduction in mass media sources with distinct local patterns. Local government sources increased in Singapore whereas foreign government and multi-lateral organization sources increased in Hong Kong, with the Philippines being an intermediate pattern. In contrast to the changing mix of sources, the readability tests indicate a low proportion of URLs scoring within recommended readability thresholds across locations and types of sources over the two years. Information on COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment is an important part of health communications that includes internet search. The paper contributes to understanding health communications during a pandemic, including mix of local and non-local sources and contingency on local social and health context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free route airspace allows airspace users to freely plan a route in en-route airspaces within certain restrictions. It is anticipated to offer the benefit of fuel saving and operational flexibility. Regarding its efficient implementation into the ASEAN airspace, the key challenge would be reducing hotspots with clusters of potential conflicts. This paper designed a time-varying queuing network model, which contributed to untangle trajectory complexity in the most congested hotspot area. A series of fast-time simulation experiments were conducted to identify hotspots in en-route airspace in Singapore FIR. The application of departure time control using time-varying queuing networks successfully reduced up to 45% of potential conflicts. This was achieved within an average delay of 30 min by controlling time of less than 60% of candidate flights. The original contribution of this paper is to develop a novel modeling and simulation framework for composing ideal air traffic patterns. Lastly, we discussed the extension of this study toward a generalized application of the proposed approach in future air traffic management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 Asia-Pacific Conference on Plasma and Terahertz Science (APCOPTS), an international conference intended to be held every two years as the Asia-Pacific version of the International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS), provides an excellent platform for academic exchange in the fields. The first APCOPTS was held from August 15 to 18, 2018 and the second APCOPTS will be combined with ICOPS in Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the distribution of papers published by Asian authors in Operations Research and Management Science (OR/MS) journals from 1968 to 2006. The impact of OR/MS research in Asia is compared with that of the United States and the World, and research trends are highlighted through an analysis of keywords. From 1968 to 2006, 89,293 papers were published in 60 OR/MS journals. Of these, 41.4% came from USA and 16.6% came from seven Asian countries/regions. The contribution of different countries/regions is as follows: Japan 3.7%, Taiwan 3.2%, India 2.3%, Hong Kong 2.2%, South Korea 2.1%, People's Republic of China (PRC) 1.9%, and Singapore 1.2%. Among all the articles analyzed, 20% have a single author, and 9% have more than three authors; additionally, 22 papers have been cited more than 100 times and 29% have never been cited. Most articles originating in Japan, Taiwan, India, South Korea, PRC, and Singapore are produced in collaboration with local scholars, followed by authors from the United States. Hong Kong is a notable exception, 73% of articles from Hong Kong are produced in cooperation with the PRC, followed by local scholars. The five most productive institutions are as follows: The Indian Institute of Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the National University of Singapore, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the National Chiao-Tung University (Taiwan). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancement of latent fingermarks found at crime scenes can be crucial to criminal investigations. The performance of ninhydrin analogues 1,2-indanedione (IND/Zn) and 1,8-diazafluoren-9-one (DFO) used in laboratories for the enhancement of latent fingermarks on porous substrates were compared for operational use. The visualisation of enhanced latent fingermarks on seven substrates commonly encountered in local crimes - plain A4 paper, glossy magazine, paper magazine, brown envelopes, white envelopes, cardboard, and joss paper were assessed using fingermarks deposits from seven donors. Fingermarks were aged under both indoor and outdoor conditions as well as over different periods of time. Our results show that IND/Zn consistently produced fingermarks of superior quality and contrast to DFO across the different donors, substrates and time periods. IND/Zn also appears to be more sensitive compared to DFO., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigates the integration of quantum circuits with classical neural networks for enhancing credit scoring for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We introduce a hybrid quantum–classical model, focusing on the synergy between quantum and classical rather than comparing the performance of separate quantum and classical models. Our model incorporates a quantum layer into a traditional neural network, achieving notable reductions in training time. We apply this innovative framework to a binary classification task with a proprietary real-world classical credit default dataset for SMEs in Singapore. The results indicate that our hybrid model achieves efficient training, requiring significantly fewer epochs (350) compared to its classical counterpart (3500) for a similar predictive accuracy. However, we observed a decrease in performance when expanding the model beyond 12 qubits or when adding additional quantum classifier blocks. This paper also considers practical challenges faced when deploying such models on quantum simulators and actual quantum computers. Overall, our quantum–classical hybrid model for credit scoring reveals its potential in industry, despite encountering certain scalability limitations and practical challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, the concept of heritage has been significantly broadened, with an increasing number of scholars viewing it not as a set of static objects with fixed meanings but as a social process consciously endowed with commemorative functions through human creation. This research illustrates and empirically supports this perspective through a case study. Initially, the paper reviews the development of the heritage concept through the literature review and elaborates on the idea of "heritage as process". Subsequently, it examines Singapore's enriching exploration and successful implementation of heritage conservation, particularly since 2000, when the local government shifted from preserving historical buildings to a comprehensive conservation strategy that embraces a sense of place, identity, and memory and encourages a bottom-up participatory approach. Finally, this paper takes the transformation of the century-old townhouse at 141 Neil Road in Singapore as its focus. After being renovated into an urban architectural heritage conservation laboratory, the house has gradually become a place of heritage on Neil Road by training professionals' construction skills, transforming its function, introducing technological explorations, and enhancing public interaction. This process has developed the abilities of heritage conservation professionals in desktop research, reuse design, and practical construction skills while simultaneously promoting community participation and heightening awareness of heritage conservation among local residents. Through daily practices, this historical townhouse gradually became a place of heritage on Neil Road, exemplifying the research theme that "heritage is a comprehensive and dynamic practice encompassing social, cultural, and technological dimensions". From being preserved for renovation in 2020 to being approved as a "Heritage Show House" by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in 2023, the case of 141 Neil Road offers a new perspective in the heritage conservation field that "heritage is always in the process of becoming, rather than a constant given". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality (VR) has good potential to promote technology-enhanced learning. Students can benefit from immersive visualization and intuitive interaction in their learning of abstract concepts, complex structures, and dynamic processes. This paper is interested in evaluating the effects of VR learning games in a Virtual and Augmented Reality Technology-Enhanced Learning (VARTeL) environment within an engineering education setting. A VARTeL flipped classroom is established in the HIVE learning hub at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore for the immersive and interactive learning. Experiments are designed for the university students conducting the learning, with three interactive and immersive VR games related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), i.e., virtual cells, a virtual F1 racing car, and vector geometry. These VR games are a part of the VARTeL apps designed in-house at NTU for STEM education. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are performed. A total of 156 students from Mechanical Engineering participated in the experiment. There are 15 participants selected for an interview after the experiment. Pre-tests and post-tests are performed using two different models, the developed VARTeL and the modified Technology-Rich Outcome-Focused Learning Environment Inventory (TROFLEI), in order to measure the efficiency of the VARTeL environment in Higher Education. Significant improvements of about 24.8% are observed for the post-tests over the pre-tests, which illustrate the effectiveness of the VARTeL for Engineering education. Details of the VR simulation games, methods of data collection, data analyses, as well as the experiment results are discussed. It is observed from the results that all the underlying scales of the modified TROFLEI are above the threshold for the 'Good' category, indicating that a very reliable questionnaire is designed in this research. The mean 'Ideal' values are about 0.7–2.6% higher than the mean 'Actual' values. The limitations of the experiment and future works with recommendations are also presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total land used for land-based food farms is less than 1% in Singapore. As a result, more than 90% of Singapore's food needs are imported. To strengthen food security, Singapore has set a target to develop the capability and capacity of the agri-food industry to locally produce 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030. To achieve this goal, technology is the key to helping farms to "grow more with less". This review first discusses how aeroponic systems have been adapted for growing all kinds of leafy vegetables in the tropics through the manipulation of root-zone temperature and heat priming to save power energy. Growing vegetable crops indoors and in greenhouses not only allows the growers to achieve high productivity but also enables them to enhance nutritional values. The second part of this paper emphasizes how to achieve substantial yield through deficit irrigation with higher nutritional quality in a cost-effective manner. Growing crops vertically has become increasingly popular, as it increases land use. We establish a commercially viable LED-integrated aeroponic system to grow vegetables vertically. The last part of the paper discusses the impacts of LED spectral quality, quantity, and duration on vegetable production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing pressure to cut carbon emissions and develop sustainability plans, companies need carbon credits to offset emissions that cannot be eliminated from their operations, new global carbon exchange to launch in Singapore by 2021 end, the high-quality credit can bridge this gap and play an important role in the overall climate change mitigation strategy. The purpose of this research is to use the production data (including carbon emissions) of paper-making companies in Taiwan to establish a circular economy mathematical programming model and the concept based on the activity cost method (ABC) to explore the impact of different carbon emissions costs (such carbon tax, carbon cap-and-trade, etc.) on the company's production structure and profitability impact. The research results show that different carbon emission cost models have different effects on the company's optimal product-mix and profitability. The managerial implication is to combine the extensive application of the carbon emission credit mechanism, which can offset the carbon emissions in the production process and have a significant impact on the company's sustainable competitiveness. In addition, this study can also enable decision makers to understand the impact of different carbon emission cost models on the profitability of the company's product mix, which can be used as a reference for production planning decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]