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Despite the recent increase in second-person neuroscience research, it is still hard to understand which neurocognitive mechanisms underlie real-time social behaviours. Here, we propose that social signalling can help us understand social interactions both at the single- and two-brain level in terms of social signal exchanges between senders and receivers. First, we show how subtle manipulations of being watched provide an important tool to dissect meaningful social signals. We then focus on how social signalling can help us build testable hypotheses for second-person neuroscience with the example of imitation and gaze behaviour. Finally, we suggest that linking neural activity to specific social signals will be key to fully understand the neurocognitive systems engaged during face-to-face interactions.

This chapter presents synthesized insights from varied literature focusing on using an online discussion task to promote critical thinking skills from their participation in an asynchronous collaborative learning management site. This platform offers online discussion boards that are designed to foster social interaction virtually. Foo and Quek (2019) highlighted that online discussion tasks do support collaborative learning and higher-order thinking skills. Data were gathered from students through a survey, and a content analysis was carried out using Bloom's taxonomy model to determine the presence of critical thinking in the messages posted online. The findings affirm that students' written reflections promote critical thinking skills.

Humans frequently imitate each other's actions with high fidelity, and different reasons have been proposed for why they do so. Here we test the hypothesis that imitation can act as a social signal, with imitation occurring with greater fidelity when a participant is being watched. In a preregistered study, 30 pairs of naïve participants played an augmented-reality game involving moving blocks in space. We compared imitation fidelity between trials where the leader watched the followers' action, and trials where the leader did not watch. Followers imitated the trajectory height demonstrated by the leader, and critically, the strength of this correlation was greater in trials where the follower knew the leader was watching them. This suggests that followers spontaneously used imitation as a social signal in a nonverbal interaction task, supporting socio-communicative hypotheses of imitation.

Due to the acute scarcity of fossil fuel resources, utilization of solar and wind power in several organizations for minimizing utility billing costs has become more significant issue.

With the increasing number, micro generation grids are being emerged into the power system network, whereas the future of the power system network is highly promising. Hence, the increase of load demand and fluctuation of load effect the frequency of the system which is one of the major elements in power quality. Load Frequency Control (LFC) is a method to maintain the frequency in the power system when fluctuation of load occurs. Controller is used to perform Load Frequency Control in the system which collects the data (error) and generates a control signal to the system. This chapter focused on a research regarding the Load Frequency Control method in power system with the addition of a renewable unit such as a speed varying standalone wind turbine. The study included simulation of two-area power system in deregulated environment by using MATLAB/Simulink. The output of the power system such as settling time, overshooting and undershooting are studied.

Students may know the facts but are they able to clearly articulate it at the appropriate time given? This research-based paper looks at students’ perceptions of participating in a panel discussion in a tertiary setting. The students were given a month to prepare for their discussion by researching and practising with their peers in the same group before they presented in front of their peers. The research was conducted for a month and students were given ample time to complete the assigned project. Prior to the presentation, the students were given a lecture on conducting a panel discussion. Furthermore, the students were given time to practise with their peers in two separate sessions to enable them to get more accustomed to the format of forum discussion. The students were then asked to present, after a month of preparation in front of their peers that were also their audience and evaluators. The discussion was conducted with the audience also posing questions that were answered by the panel members during and after the presentation. This is a replacement to the typical assignments that get students to react to online postings where they have a lot of reaction time before giving a response. The findings of this study indicated that students were vocal and responsive and were more confident with their overall performance at the end of the presentation.

The kinematics of human actions are influenced by the social context in which they are performed. Motion-capture technology has allowed researchers to build up a detailed and complex picture of how action kinematics vary across different social contexts. Here we review three task domains-point-to-point imitation tasks, motor interference tasks and reach-to-grasp tasks-to critically evaluate how these tasks can inform our understanding of social interactions. First, we consider how actions within these task domains are performed in a non-social context, before highlighting how a plethora of social cues can perturb the baseline kinematics. We show that there is considerable overlap in the findings from these different tasks domains but also highlight the inconsistencies in the literature and the possible reasons for this. Specifically, we draw attention to the pitfalls of dealing with rich, kinematic data. As a way to avoid these pitfalls, we call for greater standardisation and clarity in the reporting of kinematic measures and suggest the field would benefit from a move towards more naturalistic tasks.

Peer coaching is emerging as a way to enhance the educational experience amongst learners. However, ESL learners tend to have some inhibition when speaking with peers that are of higher proficiency than themselves in face-to-face conversations. It is essential to know whether they exhibit the same characteristics when speaking to peers via synchronous-based online communication. Thus, this research explores ways learners assess their peers when they are communicating with peers of similar and higher competency in English via synchronous online speaking sessions. This study was conducted for six weeks and the participants had to complete two thirty-minute sessions twice a week with a partner of similar and higher language proficiency. The learners then assessed their partners through a questionnaire after each session. Furthermore, the participants also had to write a short reflection about their completed session. The results were analysed using SPSS. The overall findings indicate that students benefit from online synchronous communication.

Understanding what promotes happiness in students may help educators to create projects that increase it. This paper investigates the effects on happiness by engaging students in a social outreach project. The students are those enrolled into the Intensive English Programme (IEN) at Taylor’s University, a premier Malaysian private university. IEN is an immersion language course for students to improve their English language proficiency. With the emergence and increase in interest in positive psychology, a number of instruments are now available to measure subjective well-being (SWB) constructs. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) includes a new 6-part Likert scale and improved psychometrics that further allows the instrument to be used by a wider audience. Twelve questionnaire items in the OHQ have a reverse Likert scale scoring system to ensure accuracy. The OHQ was administered at the outset and end of the course to measure happiness levels among the participants. For this study, participants that were involved were Malaysians and international students coming from diverse cultural backgrounds and language proficiency levels. The study was conducted for a duration of 2 months, to compare the students’ responses before and after the project. The data gathered was tabulated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Additionally, interviews with their teachers were conducted to substantiate the quantitative data.

Invasive candidiasis is an infection of increasing prevalence which is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The rising incidence of invasive candidiasis is likely related to increasing numbers of immuno-compromised patients and lifesaving medical/surgical interventions that prolong life but break down both immunological and physical host defenses. The available tests include serologies focusing on the fungal cell wall components mannan, galactomannan, and (1,3)-s-d-glucan (BG) or antibodies against these antigens, as well as genetic material detection tests. This chapter focuses on these new markers and their use for advanced prevention and treatment strategies. Research has shown that BG levels are not affected by Candida colonization. Aside from BG, which is currently commercially available throughout the world, there is intense research for new biomarkers. This is driven by the fact that current diagnostic methods are less than optimal, by the interest of pharmaceutical companies in finding new surrogate markers for diagnosis and outcomes assessment for drug development trials, and by the recent interest of commercial diagnostic laboratories in these methods. Antifungal prophylaxis is an attractive strategy, as the best way to deal with a fungal infection is to prevent it from ever occurring.

Invasive fungal disease by Candida spp. is on the rise in the modern era of prolonged patient survival by virtue of improved critical care measures, novel chemotherapy regimens, and increasing immunosuppression following organ transplants. Invasive candidiasis (IC) in the setting of an intensive care unit results in prolonged hospital stay and increased morbidity. Clinical suspicion plays a major role in the diagnosis of IC, as current laboratory methods are not very sensitive. Various serum markers and molecular techniques are under development to improve diagnostic strategies. Treatment options involve an expanding spectrum of antifungals. Knowledge of local epidemiology and the risk factors that predispose patients to this disease are essential for effective patient care in an intensive care setting.

Two new flavonol glycosides: 4′-methylquercetagetin 7-O-(6″-E- caffeoyl-β- d -glucoside ) and quercetagetin 7-O-(6- acetyl-β- d -glucoside ) along with the 7- O -glucosides of 6-hydroxykaempferol, quercetin and quercetagetin have been isolated and characterized from the leaves of Eupatorium glandulosum .

Invasive candidiasis is on the rise by virtue of developments in modern medicine leading to profound immune suppression and lifesaving measures. Caspofungin, a parenteral echinocandin, is an attractive choice when treating invasive candidiasis. In a noninferiority trial against amphotericin B, the dose of caspofungin was 50mg per day following a 70-mg loading dose [1]. However, researchers and clinicians have hypothesized that enhanced efficacy may be seen at higher doses, which are well tolerated in humans.