< PreviousWOW News 50Asia & Oceania Almaty Management University unites with Alliance of Women’s Forces of Kazakhstan to promote women’s rights Kazakhstan - Almaty Management University (AlmaU) - a leading entrepreneurial university in Kazakhstan has developed its third mission aimed at social orientation, service learning and contribution to the development of regions, cities, communities, the formation of civic activism and responsibility among students. The mission was a new addition to the previous two missions on entrepreneurship and social responsibility. The enhancement of women’s rights was one of the top priorities of the university’s contribution to societal development. In December 2019, AlmaU and the Alliance of Women’s Forces of Kazakhstan organized a round table, attended by members of the National Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Alliance of Women’s Forces of Kazakhstan ALE, the Commission for Women and Family and Demographic Policies of Almaty city Akim, representatives of the expert community, professors, staff and students of AlmaU. The round table addressed the results of a sociological study about women in Kazakhstan which witnessed the active participation of university staff and representatives from diverse financial, racial and social backgrounds. The study helped determine the status of women in areas of political activity, women’s representation at the decision-making level, employment and career growth, economic productivity, discrimination against women and children, and preservation of reproductive health and moral education of young people. Kaltaeva Lyazzat Moldabekovna, Chairman of NGO Association of Women with Disabilities Shyrak, member of ALE Alliance of Women’s Forces of Kazakhstan said, “While there are discussions about issues of women with disabilities, issues about the discriminations they are facing have yet to be addressed. Women with disabilities tend to experience greater violence and are subjected to minor daily psychological violence. Therefore, it is also worth to consider cases of girls with mental disorders and address the autonomy of women in decision-making in both social and economic aspects.” At the end of the meeting, experts and participants of the round table launched the development of practical recommendations for improving the quality of life for women, economic support and stimulation of their productive employment in Kazakhstan. A special public reception room for women is planned by the Almaty University Management, where lawyers, psychologists, human rights activists and other specialists will be rendering their advice. The university leadership said it supported such projects and is open to new collaborations. Australia - A team of archaeologists led by Griffith University has discovered humanity’s oldest cave painting in Indonesia, dating back at least 44,000 years old portraying a group of part-human, part-animal figures - therianthropes - hunting large mammals with spears or ropes, casting new light on the origin of modern human cognition. The figurative depiction of hunters as therianthropes may also be the oldest evidence of humans’ ability to imagine the existence of supernatural beings, a cornerstone of religious experience. The Australian team was led by Griffith archaeologists Professor Maxime Aubert from the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR) and the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), and Associate Professor Adam Brumm from ARCHE, along with Indonesian rock art expert and Griffith PhD student Adhi Agus Oktaviana. Sulawesian archaeologist and Griffith PhD student Basran Burhan was also involved in the research. The research was conducted in collaboration with Oktaviana’s home institution, Indonesia’s National Research Centre for Archaeology (ARKENAS), and scientists from Makassar’s culture heritage department (Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya [BPCB]). Discovered in 2017, the new rock art site, named Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4, is one of hundreds in the Maros-Pangkep limestone karst region of South Sulawesi. In 2014, the group of investigators announced a limestone cave in Maros- Pangkep harbors one of the world’s oldest rock art motifs, a sprayed red outline of a human hand (a ‘hand stencil’) created at least 40,000 years ago. Radioactive decay of uranium and other elements within mineral growths which formed on the cave painting at Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4 were measured, providing minimum ages ranging from 35,100 to 43,900 years ago for the underlying art. The dating work was carried out at The University of Queensland’s Radiogenic Isotope Facility as part of a joint geochronology enterprise with Griffith. The therianthropes were portrayed in the act of killing or capturing six fleeing mammals, two Sulawesi warty pigs and four dwarf buffaloes known as anoas. The latter are small but fierce bovids that still inhabit the island’s dwindling forests. This was the first time such a detailed visual narrative was identified at such an early period in the vast record of prehistoric cave art worldwide. Previously, humanity’s first rock art was assumed to have appeared in Europe and consisted of abstract symbols. The archaeology team suggested, together with their discovery of a figurative painting of a wild bovid dating to at least 40,000 years ago in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo published last year, Indonesia is one of the most important places on earth for understanding the beginnings of cave art and the evolution of modern human thinking. Oktaviana said his rock art surveys in Maros-Pangkep with Brumm and Aubert have uncovered many new cave sites with spectacular figurative paintings that still await dating, but he had also observed the alarming deterioration of this art at almost every location - including Leang Bulu’ Sipong 4. He added it was important to understand why this globally significant rock art was deteriorating now. Indonesian cave art overturns thinking on the roots of human spirituality Griffith Professors AMxime Aubert (left) and Adam Brumm (right) AlmaU faculty with Alliance of Women’s Forces of KazakhstanWOW News 51Asia & Oceania Indonesia - In recent years, Indonesia has been suffering from massive wildfires that have also affected the air condition of neighboring nations. Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo a fire forensics specialist and professor from the Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, IPB University who takes on firms responsible for the catastrophes was awarded the prestigious John Maddox Prize 2019 for standing up for science and society in the face of harsh discouragement and lawsuits. The Maddox Prize recognizes individuals for their valuable contribution promoting sciences and evidences, advancing public discussion around difficult topics despite challenges or hostility. The prize is a joint initiative of the Sense about Science website and top-tier scientific journal Nature, and funded by concerned organizations and public donations. The late Sir John Maddox, FRS, acted as editor of Nature for 22 years and was a founding trustee of Sense about Science, where now his daughter, Bronwen Maddox, has been positioned as patron of the prize. Professor Bambang has been gathering evidence for criminal trials against companies accused of utilizing illegal slash-and-burn methods to clear peatland for Indonesian cash crops such as oil palm, pulpwood and rubber trees. As an expert witness in such uneasy, lengthy ongoing national issues, Professor Bambang has received death threats and phone calls warning his family will come to harm if he continues the work. While fires may start naturally during the dry season, most cases are set intentionally by companies on peatland for cash crops land preparations since slash-and-burn is a significantly cheaper alternative. Once fires ignite peat layers beneath the forests, blazes can be impossible to put out until the rainy season or a monsoon arrives, whose period has become more unpredictable. The annual fires smother much of Indonesia and parts of Singapore and Malaysia in a smoke blanket and haze that cause widespread acute respiratory problems, forcing schools, airports and some workplaces to close. UNICEF recorded the damage puts health of 10 million children at risk. Overall, the economic cost to Indonesia can top not less than $10 billion (£7.8 billion) each year. Also, it can release more than one billion tons of carbon dioxide in a single season. Professor Bambang has testified in about 500 cases through scientific methods to trace where and when fires began, what paths they took and how much smoke and greenhouse gases was released. The information and data collected through such methods was then presented in court. In 2015, his testimony helped secure a guilty verdict against the palm oil company, JJP, where it continued into 2018 when the firm filed a $33.5m lawsuit against him. The company claimed that his testimony was faulty but later withdrew the action. Asked if the award would aid in his vision, Professor Bambang denoted so and would continue to be active in his work. IPB University’s Professor who testifies against firms causing Indonesian wildfires wins John Maddox Prize 2019 international conferences and forums, career fair involving China companies in Malaysia, cultural hands on activities and performances in collaboration with local and universities in China. Kong Zi Institute, which focuses on Mandarin language teaching to schools and universities in Malaysia, also cooperated with private and government agencies servicing and developed “Chinese+” courses with the involvement of banking sectors such as Maybank, oil and gas such as PETRONAS scholarship students for the preparation to attend China’s top universities, Malaysia Ministry of Home Affairs, Royal Malaysian Police, Immigration Department of Malaysia, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations under Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, lawyers from law firm and ZTE Education Management Ltd in China in TVET related program. The Kong Zi Institute University of Malaya hopes to continue contributing to the development of networking and collaboration among schools and universities in Malaysia through Mandarin language in support of Malaysia’s national agenda. Malaysia - Malaysia’s first Confucius Institute (CI), the Kong Zi Institute University of Malaya, was selected from a field of 550 peers to be named CI of the Year 2019. Established in July 2009, the Kong Zi Institute acts as a platform for Malaysia- China’s academic collaborations and exchanges through its main role in teaching Mandarin to non-native speakers and introducing China’s culture to the locals. During a ceremony on 10 December 2019, the award was presented by Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education, People’s Republic of China and He Baoxiang, Vice Governor of Hunan Province in Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Kongzi Institute was represented by Dr Yong Zulina Zubairi, Associate Vice-Chancellor (International) University of Malaya to receive the award. The recognizes Kong Zi Institute’s achievements in 2019. As well as the overwhelming number of students registered for the Mandarin course, it successfully organized and hosted more than 35 activities related to academics and culture, such as Kongzi Institute University of Malaya awarded Confucius Institute of the Year 2019 Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo has won the prestigious John Maddox prize in London for his take on companies causing major wildfires in IndonesiaWOW News 53Asia & Oceania India - Vicara, an immersive technology company pioneering intuitive interfaces for immersive computing platforms, has continued to receive funding and prize money to develop KAI, a gesture- based glove that can interact intuitively with multiple devices at the same time. Founded by Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) graduates Adarsh Warrier and Abhishek Satish, Vicara had its inception in 2015 at the Intel IoT Roadshow 2015 where the budding engineers were expected to develop an IoT based prototype in under 24 hours. Being technology fanatics, Adarsh and Abhishek were dissatisfied with the array of redundant interfaces that existed to control various devices at home and at work. They longed to unify them under one universal human interface device and inspired by Iron Man, they decided to build a solution: KAI. Their solution was well received at the hackathon. Therefore, they decided to further pursue the project. In April 2016, the idea picked up steam in VIT when the university introduced its first start- up competition ‘Start-up VIT’ by the VIT Technology Business Incubator (VIT-TBI) for university students. Adarsh and Abhishek finished second in the business plan competition and won Rs. 30,000 as prize money. Since then, the duo has been utilizing multiple opportunities that available at VIT including the Summer Research Grant, Start-up VIT Grant, NIDHI PRAYAS Grant and a 5 Lakh Entrepreneurship Grant. They had raised close to INR 22 Lakhs in Grant Money by their Final Year. In three consecutive years, Vicara has iterated 28 times with 500+ minor revisions, launched a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $105k, raised two rounds of investment from over 700 customers in more than 33 countries and is currently working with Fortune 500 companies to design the future of Natural User Interfaces. Today, Vicara builds the world’s most lightweight motion processing technology and hardware for Immersive Computing applications and is committed to building the future of extended reality. It is the only start-up of its kind in India to develop technology and solutions that augment the capability of humans to work with their real and digital surroundings. KAI – A futuristic gesture-based glove Hong Kong - According to the results of a recent consultancy study released by Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU), occupational stress has a negative social and economic impact with a total annual economic cost of as much as HK$14.9 billion (about US$1.9 billion) in Hong Kong. Hence, Professor Siu Oi-ling, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Chair Professor of Applied Psychology of LU, has recommended for management to pay special attention to this issue and provide adequate support to minimize employees’ job insecurity and the effects induced by organizational constraints. The study titled “Occupational Stress and its Social and Economic Implication in Hong Kong”, was conducted from August 2017 to March 2019 with the aim to identify the sources of stress in eight major industries in Hong Kong. Industries included were construction, education, human health and social work services, finance and insurance, public administration, accommodation and food services, transportation and import/export trade and wholesale/retail trade. The study also examined the social and economic impact of occupational stress and made recommendations to company owners and human resources managers on stress management through promotion, education, consultation, research and dissemination of information in the workplace. A total of 2,032 employees aged from 18 to 70 years old were interviewed. Results showed that work stress had a strong negative influence on employees’ physical and psychological symptoms, quality of life, and job satisfaction at the individual level. It also had a harmful effect on family satisfaction and work-life balance with huge economic costs due to absenteeism, presenteeism and medical expenses at the social level. Projecting this onto Hong Kong’s population of employees (3.9 million; Census and Statistics Department, 2019), the annual economic cost of absenteeism caused by occupational stress could reach HK$858 million. Meanwhile, the annual economic cost of presenteeism caused by occupational stress could range from HK$1.4 billion to HK$2.1 billion, and the cost of medical treatment associated with occupational stress could be HK$3.4 billion to HK$11.9 billion. Therefore, the total annual economic cost of stress could be as much as HK$14.9 billion. At an individual level, Professor Siu proposed three coping strategies to employees: relaxation, active positive coping, and social support to effectively buffer the negative impacts of occupational stress on physical and mental health. At the social level, Professor Siu suggested managers and human resources managers pay special attention to the stressors of job insecurity, work and home interface, quantitative workload, and organizational constraints. Measures should be taken to enhance work-life balance, update equipment and supplies, provide sufficient training and guidance, and adequate support to minimize employees’ job insecurity. Professor Siu said many organizations and employees underestimate occupational stress. They should pay more attention to job stressors and effective stress management that will help overcome organizational problems more effectively and eventually reduce economic costs. Lingnan University’s research reveals sick days cost HK$14b annual economic cost to Hong Kong Professor Siu Oi-ling Product - KAIWOW News 54Asia & Oceania KMU initiates first international clinical trial using MIT dental implant system with Chulalongkorn University Taiwan - The School of Dental Medicine at Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) had initiated an international clinical trial with the Faculty of Dentistry at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. This collaboration was possible through funding provided by the Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau Ministry of Science and Technology. This is the first time the dental team at KMUH is conducting an international collaborative clinic research project. This collaboration involved the use of the MIT Anker dental implant system which had been developed at the intellectual biomedical industry cluster program at the Kaohsiung Science Park. The clinical efficacy of this implant system had been attested through the previous clinical trials carried out by the dental team at KMUH. The signing ceremony of KMU, Chulalongkorn university and the MIT implant corporation was held at KMU in Taiwan; followed by a hands-on dental implant course conducted at the campus. The clinical team members of KMU kickstarted this exciting collaborative project by recruiting qualified subjects while abiding to the research protocol approved by the IRB of Faculty of Dentistry Chulalongkorn University. The dental team of KMU also visited Chulalongkorn University in Thailand to exchange experience with involved members to ensure the collaborative clinical trial can be progressed as planned. Tied in with the government’s New Southbound Policy to promote superior certified MIT biomedical products, KMU trusts through this international clinical research project the university will also further strengthen academic exchange and reciprocal relationship between the two universities. Domingo of UST discusses breast cancer prediction Philippines - University of Santo Tomas (UST) Institute of Information and Computing Sciences faculty member Assistant Professor Mylene J. Domingo presented a paper titled “Fuzzy Decision Tree for Breast Cancer Prediction” during the 2019 International Conference on Advanced Information Science and System and the 2019 International Conference on Algorithms, Machine Learning and Signal Processing, held from 15 to 17 November 2019 at the Nanyang Executive Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In her paper, Domingo discussed the use of data mining to predict the stage of cancer using a hybrid of fuzzy logic and decision tree. Her research aims to help experts make decisions, instead of replacing them. While the research provides recommendations, the final decision will remain with the expert, according to Domingo, who once served as Secretary of IICS. Data mining is defined as the process of discovering patterns in large data sets involving methods at the intersection of machine learning, statistics, and database systems. Decision tree is a classification algorithm that uses tree-like model of decisions. It handles both continuous and categorical attribute. Decision Tree algorithms use IF-THEN expressions where the conditions are logically connected. Domingo explained that fuzzy logic has the capability to deal with problems with uncertainty similar to reasoning of experts. It is a logic system that deals with values between 0 and 1, which should be measured as degrees of truth while the decision tree only deals with values as either 0 or 1. For this research, Domingo used feature selection to determine the best attribute in the dataset from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER). Although the data set consists of incidence from 1975 to 2016, the study limited its analysis from the year 2010 to 2016. Different cleaning and preprocessing of data were conducted. After thorough preprocessing of data, one target class and six attributes were selected. Performance comparison showed that the fuzzy decision tree achieved a higher accuracy of 99.96%, sensitivity of 99.26% and specificity of 99.98% than the decision tree classification technique. The simulation result showed a correctly classified instance of 165,124, which is equivalent to 99.97% and only 351 incorrect classified instances or 0.21%. Her research showed that a fuzzy decision tree is more robust than the traditional decision tree classifier for predicting the stage of breast cancer. A hands on dental implant course was provided at KMU for the clinical trial team members of Chulalongkorn University to familiarize them with MIT implant system to be used in the research project Domingo (left) receives her certificateWOW News 56Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia - The President of Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University (IAU), Dr Abdullah Al-Rubaish launched the digital dentistry curriculum as a prerequisite for the students of the College of Dentistry at the 14 th scientific symposium on dentistry. The event held under the theme of Modern Technologies in Digital Dentistry was attended by Dr Yousef Al-Jandan, the Former University President; the Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Dr Fahd Al-Harbi; the Dean of the College, Dr Jehan Al-Hamid; and a group of specialized dentists. The President of IAU stated that this scientific symposium - in its orientation, goals and content - comes in line with modern educational theories in education, training and orientations in the field of dentistry such as the need to benefit from modern technologies and its various applications. “The university and College of Dentistry have made a remarkable effort, represented in the launch of the digital curriculum which confirms the college’s orientation,” he added. The Dean of the College of Dentistry, Dr Jehan Al-Hamid, praised the launch of digital dentistry curriculum as a prerequisite for dentistry students. It is a proud moment for Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University (IAU). This unique achievement attained at the local-regional level is a feat based on the strategies that the administration of College of Dentistry has worked on for several years. Side view of the symposium participants (Courtesy: Alyaum Newspaper) IAU launches digital dentistry curriculum United Arab Emirates - People with Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) face many challenges in a world of overwhelming stimuli. A new smart garment developed by Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati, lecturers at the College of Architecture, Art, and Design, Ajman University (AU) - could finally allow comfort to be within reach. Called “Sensewear,” their line of designs interprets a wearer’s stress level and initiate functionalities that will help calm their reactions. The product is under continuous development in cooperation with autistic children, their families, and their therapists. “The technology in Sensewear is hidden in order to increase the level of acceptance and psychological comfort of the wearer,” explained Corti. “An app for smartphones and tablets will also help monitor the wearer’s condition in different situations; while recording data and progress of the relief achieved through the garments.” Sensewear won top prize in the “Designs for Good” at Dubai’s recent GITEX Future Stars 2019 Expo - billed as the biggest startup event in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. “It was not an easy win with all submissions extensively evaluated by a team of highly experienced investors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts,” explained Corti, adding Sensewear might appeal to an even wider range of wearers than they originally imagined. Some of autism’s symptoms - anxiety, stress and panic attack - affect a variety of people, in addition to those with sensory processing disorders, Corti said. “We realized that Sensewear can have a positive impact on a bigger audience.” AU Chancellor Karim Seghir said Corti and Parati greatly contributed to the institution’s culture of innovation and compassion. “We are proud of their incredible creation and the contributions Sensewear will make to society,” he said. “It’s gratifying to see them earn international distinction for their impactful concept.” Lecturers at Ajman University invent clothing that brings comfort to people with autism Sensewear line of garments comfort those with sensory processing disordersWOW News 58Middle East & AfricaDHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIAKFUPM.EDU.SA RANKED # 1 TOP 2% RANKED # 4 In Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents 2018 Nationwide High School Graduates Accepted In QS Arab Region University Rankings 2019Next >