International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies

Augmented reality as a tool for enhancing physical health, motivation, and health education in children with autism spectrum disorder: A case study

2026-01-05T05:00:13-06:00

The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of augmented reality (AR) as an innovative tool for enhancing physical health, motivation, and health education among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a population that frequently encounters difficulties in engaging in regular physical activity. A quasi-experimental case study design was employed, involving ten children aged 10 to 14 years who were formally diagnosed with ASD and randomly assigned to either an experimental group participating in AR-based physical activities or a control group following conventional exercise sessions. The intervention was implemented over a six-week period, with two supervised sessions per week, and data were collected before and after the program using objective measures of physical activity levels, motor coordination, and cardiorespiratory endurance, complemented by structured observations of motivation and engagement. The findings indicate that children exposed to AR-based activities achieved substantially greater improvements than those in the control group, including increased weekly physical activity, enhanced motor coordination, improved endurance, and higher levels of motivation and enjoyment during physical exercise. These results suggest that the immersive and interactive nature of AR can effectively reduce motivational barriers and support active participation among children with ASD. The study concludes that augmented reality represents a promising and effective approach for improving both physical health outcomes and motivational dimensions in this population. From a practical perspective, integrating AR into educational and therapeutic settings can assist educators, therapists, and healthcare professionals in designing engaging, inclusive, and motivating physical activity programs that promote healthy behaviors, autonomy, and overall quality of life for children with ASD.

Investigating the pedagogical role of mother tongue instruction in multi-ethnic early learning Centre classrooms: Exploring Setswana pedagogy in Gauteng Province, South Africa

2026-01-06T08:06:05-06:00

This research investigates the pedagogical role of mother tongue instruction in multi ethnic Early Learning Centre (ELC) classrooms in Gauteng Province, South Africa, with particular attention to Setswana as the language of teaching and learning. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the research combined an extensive literature review with empirical evidence gathered from classroom observations, individual interviews, and focus group discussions. Two practitioners from community based centres one rural and one township were purposively selected as participants. Data interpretation was guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (2020), which provided a framework for analyzing the role of language in learning. Findings underscore the necessity of robust language policies, structured professional development, and mentorship frameworks to strengthen implementation. Teachers were observed using approaches such as storytelling, songs, and code switching to support skill acquisition, although challenges such as limited Setswana resources, uneven teacher preparation, and mixed parental attitudes were identified. On a practical level, the study advances recommendations for teachers, curriculum developers, and policy makers to strengthen Setswana instruction through resource development, bilingual progression, and community engagement. By addressing a notable gap in research on Setswana pedagogy in multi ethnic ELCs, the study offers both theoretical contributions and practical strategies for promoting equity, inclusivity, and learner achievement within South Africa’s multilingual education system.

Reflections of the use of social networking sites as a social phenomenon on the self-efficacy of secondary school students from perspectives principals

2026-01-07T01:01:05-06:00

High school students are most affected by social media, as they live through a stage of maturation characterized by self-discovery, self-assertion, physical changes, and psychological shifts that influence them. Therefore, they turn to social media to fulfill their diverse needs. The study aimed to identify the reflections of using social media as a social phenomenon on the self-efficacy of secondary school students from the perspective of school administrators. A descriptive survey approach was used, applying a questionnaire to a sample of 173 school administrators in the Irbid district. Result: The results showed that the mean scores of the domains of reflections of using social media as a social phenomenon on the self-efficacy of students were all classified as low, and came in the following order: behavioral domain in the first place, social domain in the second place, cognitive domain in the third place, and self-confidence domain in the fourth place. The results also showed no statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the sample's estimates of the reflections of using social media as a social phenomenon on the self-efficacy of students due to the variable of years of administrative experience, and the existence of statistically significant differences due to the variables of gender and academic qualification, which came in favor of males and holders of a bachelor's degree and high diploma. Raising awareness among students about the risks of social media usage on self-efficacy. Educational and developmental programs should be implemented to enhance awareness of safe and effective social media usage, and to improve students' time management skills and focus on academic goals. Collaboration between educational institutions and parents to monitor students' use of social media and provide the necessary support for them.

Effect of butterfly pea flower (Clitoria ternatea L.) extract and sucrose concentrations on physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics of butterfly pea flower pastilles

2026-01-07T06:18:24-06:00

Pastilles are confectionery-based food product that contain active ingredients to relieve sore throats, coughs, and ease breathing. As public awareness of functional foods increases, the addition of butterfly pea flower extract to pastilles can enhance their functional value through its antioxidant content. The experiment was arranged in a 3×3 factorial arrangement under a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Factor E represents the concentration of butterfly pea flower extract, at three levels: e1 (2.5%), e2 (5.0%), and e3 (7.5%), while Factor S represents the concentration of sucrose, at three levels: s1 (30%), s2 (40%), and s3 (50%). The final products were evaluated for physicochemical and organoleptic characteristics, including hardness, melting point, color intensity, moisture content, ash content, volatile compounds, reducing sugar content, antioxidant activity, hygroscopicity, and hedonic acceptance. The results showed that the interaction between butterfly pea flower extract and sucrose concentrations significantly affected the hardness (1,847.808 to 2,357.130 gf), melting point (59.1 to 194.5 ºC), color intensity L* (9.81 to 36.31), a* (8.30 to 9.97), b* (-3.14 to -4.79), hygroscopicity (1.15 to 10.95%), moisture content (0.47 to 4.79%), ash content (1.14 to 2.19%), antioxidant activity (113.04 to 138.49 ppm), and volatile components (82.01 to 93.38%), but had no significant effect on reducing sugar content. Organoleptic responses for color and texture were significantly influenced by both extract and sucrose concentrations, whereas sucrose concentration showed no significant effect on taste, and no significant effects on aroma were observed for any factor.

Employee–organization relationships as drivers of organizational resilience: A micro-foundational perspective

2026-01-07T23:05:13-06:00

Resilience has become a defining capability for organizations operating in increasingly turbulent, resource-constrained, and high-stakes environments. While scholars widely acknowledge the central role of employees in shaping resilient responses, the relational conditions that enable individual resilience to translate into organizational resilience remain insufficiently theorized. Drawing on relational perspectives and the dynamic capabilities framework, this study investigates how the quality of employee–organization relationships, captured through trust, mutual control, relational satisfaction, and commitment, affects both employee resilience and organizational resilience. We further assess whether these relationships amplify the contribution of employee resilience to the organization’s overall adaptive capacity. Using data from 90 employees in public hospitals, a context characterized by structural complexity, continuous strain, and tightly coupled work systems, we test a conceptual model via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that employee resilience significantly enhances organizational resilience and that high-quality employee–organization relationships exert strong direct effects on both constructs. However, these relationships do not moderate the employee-to-organization resilience link. We interpret this finding in light of institutional constraints and professional logics prevalent in public healthcare settings, where relational dynamics operate independently of managerial discretion. The study advances the literature by elucidating the specific relational conditions that support resilience at multiple levels and by challenging assumptions about their moderating role in complex public organizations.

Transition to a smart service lifecycle management model with artificial intelligence and data analytics

2026-01-08T08:04:21-06:00

In service-based industries, sustainable competitive advantage is closely related to the continuity, quality, and adaptability to innovation of the services offered to customers. As service systems become increasingly complex due to the impact of digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and increasing competition, traditional Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) systems are insufficient to meet emerging operational and customer demands. Therefore, a different approach to SLM systems using current technologies has become a major necessity. This research aims to examine how SLM can be algorithmically improved through the systematic integration of data analytics (DA), machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) into service management stages, and to explore the intelligent management system provided by this transformation. Adopting a conceptual and analytical approach, this research proposes a different approach to the Intelligent Service Lifecycle Management (SSLM) model by integrating intelligent technologies into the fundamental stages of the classical SLM framework. The findings demonstrate that DA, ML, and AI-supported SLM transforms service management from a reactive and static structure into a proactive, predictive, and data-driven system. It also improves decision-making accuracy, risk mitigation, and resource optimization throughout the service lifecycle. Consequently, service-based organizations will be able to achieve higher operational efficiency, improved service quality, and increased organizational agility through SSLM.

Learning finger movement patterns for a transradial prosthesis using artificial neural networks

2026-01-10T00:26:14-06:00

This article presents an approach to achieving flexibility in a transradial prosthesis that allows the grasping of objects of different shapes through a hardware-implemented control architecture, enabling users to perform various activities of daily living. The proposed generalized hardware architecture utilizes an artificial neural network, facilitating the adjustment and interconnection between neurons, as well as providing adequate resolution to adapt the behavior to diverse finger movement patterns. To this end, distance sensors were incorporated into the prosthesis fingers to obtain information about the distance to objects. Servomotors were also used to manipulate the position of the fingers based on the data obtained from the sensors. A central composite design was used to train the network to identify finger movement patterns, generating appropriate combinations of independent variables (sensor data) and their association with their respective responses (motor movements). The main result of this proposal is that the assumption of the values assigned to the patterns is matched by the prosthesis through the gripping and holding of cylindrical, spherical and rectangular objects with an accuracy of 97.8%, a mean square error of 1.7042° and a response time of 0.5 seconds.

The influence of brand perception on brand perceived value: The mediating roles of emotional experience and social media marketing in the Thai café-style restaurants

2026-01-14T09:34:39-06:00

This study aimed to examine the influence of brand perception on brand perceived value in the Thai café-style restaurant industry, with emotional experience and social media marketing serving as mediating variables. The study sought to explain how experiential and digital mechanisms contribute to value formation in experience-driven service environments. A quantitative research design was employed. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 456 Thai consumers who had recently visited café-style restaurants. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships and mediating effects. The results showed that brand perception significantly influenced emotional experience and social media marketing. Both emotional experience and social media marketing exerted significant positive effects on brand perceived value. In addition, mediation analysis confirmed that emotional experience and social media marketing significantly mediated the relationship between brand perception and brand perceived value. The indirect effects were slightly stronger than the direct effect, indicating that value perceptions were shaped through both direct and indirect pathways. The findings extended the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework by demonstrating that emotional and social mechanisms played a central role in translating brand perception into perceived value within the Thai café-style restaurant context. The study suggested that café-style restaurant managers should strengthen brand identity, design emotionally engaging experiences, and implement effective social media strategies to enhance customers’ perceived value and long-term engagement.

Multi-model fusion and re-ranking for spatial image retrieval

2026-01-14T10:17:06-06:00

Image retrieval has become a central component of large-scale visual understanding systems, particularly as real-world datasets grow in volume, diversity, and semantic complexity, and numerous methods have been proposed to improve retrieval accuracy across diverse scenarios [1]. However, the performance of individual models often varies significantly depending on the characteristics of real-world datasets, making it challenging for a single technique to consistently achieve robust results. To address this limitation, we introduce a fusion-based retrieval framework that leverages the complementary strengths of three state-of-the-art models: SALAD [2] and CliqueMining [3] MegaLoc [4]. Each model independently generates an initial ranked list, capturing different visual cues and retrieval patterns. To further enhance reliability and reduce model-specific biases, we apply a re-ranking stage using the Distribution-based Score Fusion method [5] an aggregation technique designed to normalize heterogeneous score distributions and emphasize consistent cross-model evidence. Our proposed approach provides a unified and efficient strategy for improving retrieval accuracy without requiring additional training or architectural modifications. Experimental evaluations demonstrate that the combined system consistently outperforms individual models, offering improved robustness and more stable performance across varying image domains.

Autism spectrum disorder throughout history: Paleogenetic analysis

2026-01-16T00:40:14-06:00

This article provides a brief historical overview of the earliest publications on autism spectrum disorder and the subsequent scientific discussions. The main focus is on the analysis of data on genes that have been confirmed to be associated with this condition. The aim of the study is to demonstrate, by processing data from sequenced human genomes obtained from various databases. Methods used in the analysis: Data on missense SNPs for 1230 genes from SFARI GENE were extracted. Then a search was performed for matches in David Reich’s Lab (provides genotypes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The matches found were compiled into a table using a custom Perl script. In the article we show that analysis of gene mutations through the paleogenetic approach is a method that can also be employed for other disorders with unknown etiology.

Effect of leadership style on employee performance in banking industry

2026-01-17T05:27:23-06:00

This study investigates the impact of leadership styles on employee performance in Myanmar’s rapidly evolving banking sector. Through analysis of secondary sources including industry reports and academic literature the research evaluates how transformational, transactional, ethical, servant, adaptive, and digital leadership influence employee motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. Findings reveal that transformational leadership strongly enhances performance by inspiring innovation and commitment, whereas transactional leadership supports operational efficiency but may limit creativity. The effectiveness of these styles is shaped by Myanmar’s unique context: collectivist cultural norms that value respect and hierarchy, economic volatility, and accelerated digital transformation. The study concludes that integrative leadership approaches, combining inspirational, ethical, and adaptive practices, are essential for fostering employee performance amid sector-specific challenges. Practical recommendations are offered for developing leadership strategies that align with both cultural values and contemporary demands in Myanmar’s banking industry.

Financial capability and inclusion in Morocco: The interplay of literacy, resilience, and social access

2026-01-17T09:03:20-06:00

This study examines how financial literacy influences household participation in Moroccan capital markets by integrating behavioral, psychological, and structural factors. Using a multi-wave nationally representative dataset from 2017, 2021, and 2024, it develops and tests a moderated mediation model that links financial literacy to investment behavior through financial resilience and perceived financial capability, while considering the moderating role of socioeconomic status. The analysis employs count, binary, and ordinal logit models to estimate both direct and indirect effects across income, education, and geographic groups. Results reveal a significant decline in objective financial literacy over time, persistent inequalities across gender and income, and a strong mediating effect of financial resilience. Perceived financial knowledge—reflecting confidence and self-efficacy—emerges as a more powerful predictor of market participation than factual knowledge, particularly among higher-income and better-educated households. These findings suggest that financial education alone is insufficient to foster investment engagement. Effective inclusion requires complementary strategies that build financial resilience, strengthen confidence, and expand structural access to financial markets. For policymakers advancing Morocco’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (2023–2030), the results underscore the importance of coupling literacy initiatives with programs that enhance empowerment and provide inclusive, low-cost investment opportunities.