Search results for: 1g physical model

Authors: Gilbert Makanda, Roelf Sypkens

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A mathematical model for knowledge acquisition in teaching and learning is proposed. In this study we adopt the mathematical model that is normally used for disease modelling into teaching and learning. We derive mathematical conditions which facilitate knowledge acquisition. This study compares the effects of dropping out of the course at early stages with later stages of learning. The study also investigates effect of individual interaction and learning from other sources to facilitate learning. The study fits actual data to a general mathematical model using Matlab ODE45 and lsqnonlin to obtain a unique mathematical model that can be used to predict knowledge acquisition. The data used in this study was obtained from the tutorial test results for mathematics 2 students from the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa in the department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The study confirms already known results that increasing dropout rates and forgetting taught concepts reduce the population of knowledgeable students. Increasing teaching contacts and access to other learning materials facilitate knowledge acquisition. The effect of increasing dropout rates is more enhanced in the later stages of learning than earlier stages. The study opens up a new direction in further investigations in teaching and learning using differential equations.

Keywords: differential equations, knowledge acquisition, least squares nonlinear, dynamical systems

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Authors: Basma Khelfa, Antoine Tordeux, Ibrahima Ba

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We present a descriptive analysis data of lane-changing events in multi-lane roads. The data are provided from The Highway Drone Dataset (HighD), which are microscopic trajectories in highway. This paper describes and analyses the role of the different parameters and their significance. Thanks to HighD data, we aim to find the most frequent reasons that motivate drivers to change lanes. We used the programming language R for the processing of these data. We analyze the involvement and relationship of different variables of each parameter of the ego vehicle and the four vehicles surrounding it, i.e., distance, speed difference, time gap, and acceleration. This was studied according to the class of the vehicle (car or truck), and according to the maneuver it undertook (overtaking or falling back).

Keywords: autonomous driving, physical traffic model, prediction model, statistical learning process

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Authors: Ceren Akyüz, Ingo Froboese

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Health literacy has gained importance with the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) worldwide and has been associated with health status in various chronic diseases. Many studies indicate that mental health can be improved by low- or moderate-intensity activity, and several studies have been proposed to explain the relationship between physical activity and mental health. The aim of the present study is to investigate the levels of physical activity, health literacy, and depression in first- and- second generation Turkish people in Germany. The research consists of 434 participants (255 females, 179 males; age 38.09 ± 13.73). 40.8 % of participants are married, and 59.2 % of participants are single. Education levels are mostly at university level (54.8 %), and graduate level is 18.9 %. While 24.9 % of the participants are second generation, 75.1 % of participants are first generation. All analyses were stratified on gender, marital status, education, generation and income status, and five age categories: 18–30, 31–40, 41–50, 51–60, and 61–79, which were defined to account for age-specific trends while maintaining sufficient cell size for statistical analysis. A correlation of depression with physical activity and health literacy levels between first- and- second generation Turks in Germany was evaluated in order to find out whether there are significant differences between the two populations and demographic variables (gender, marital status, education, generation, income status) with carrying out questionnaires which are European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47), International Physical Activity Questionnaire ( IPAQ) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).

Keywords: health literacy, turks in germany, migrants, depression, physical activity

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Authors: Reem I. Altamimi, Geoff D. Skinner

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Extended periods engaged in sedentary behavior increases the risk of becoming overweight and/or obese which is linked to other health problems. Adding technology to the term ‘active living’ permits its inclusion in promoting and facilitating habitual physical activity. Technology can either act as a barrier to, or facilitate this lifestyle, depending on the chosen technology. Physical Activity Monitoring Technologies (PAMTs) are a popular example of such technologies. Different contemporary PAMTs have been evaluated based on customer reviews; however, there is a lack of published experimental research into the efficacy of PAMTs. This research aims to investigate the reliability of four PAMTs: two wristbands (Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP), a waist-clip (Fitbit One), and a mobile application (iPhone Health Application) for recording a specific distance walked on a treadmill (1.5km) at constant speed. Physical activity tracking technologies are varied in their recordings, even while performing the same activity. This research demonstrates that Jawbone UP band recorded the most accurate distance compared to Fitbit One, Fitbit Flex, and iPhone Health Application.

Keywords: Fitbit, jawbone up, mobile tracking applications, physical activity tracking technologies

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Authors: Muleya Nqobile, Winston Garira

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We presented a compartmental deterministic multi-scale model which encompass internal plant defensive mechanism and pathogen interaction, then we consider nesting the model into the epidemiological model. The objective was to improve our understanding of the transmission dynamics of within host and between host of Guignardia citricapa Kiely. The inflow of infected class was scaled down to individual level while the outflow was scaled up to average population level. Conceptual model and mathematical model were constructed to display a theoretical framework which can be used for predicting or identify disease pattern.

Keywords: epidemiological model, mathematical modelling, multi-scale modelling, immunological model

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Authors: Hady Atef Labib

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Pediatric cardiac rehabilitation has the potential to benefit many children with congenital heart defects (CHD). Instead of excellent surgical results most of children usually present with a depression of physical condition so early rehabilitation program is recommended to avoid that decline in physical tolerance and prevent any post surgical complications. Unfortunately, the limited experience with and availability of these programs has caused the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation to be unavailable to most children with CHD. Therefore, it is recommended to study that field in more detail and apply it on wider scale.

Keywords: pediatric cardiac rehabilitation, congenital heart disease, quality of life, pediatric

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Authors: Mingming Guo, Xiaozan Wang

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Introduction: The purpose of this study is to examine the correlation between the physical fitness of Chinese college students and their daily running habits (RH). Methods: A total of 718 college students from East China Normal University participated in this study (385 boys and 333 girls). Each participant participated in the Chinese Students’ Physical Fitness Test during the 2018-2019 school year. In addition, each student is also required to use the app to record all their running results during each run during the 2018-2019 school year. Researchers can query and export all running records through the app's management platform. Results: (1) The total number of kilometers run by the students showed a significant negative correlation with their vital capacity (VC), sitting body flexion (SBF), and long jump (LJ) (rᵥ

Keywords: college students, physical fitness, running habits, data mining

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Authors: K. N. Seetharamu, Naveen Teggi, Kiranakumar Dhavalagi, Narayana Kamath

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A method of temperature calculations is developed to study the conditions leading to hot spot occurrence on multicore chips. A physical model which has salient features of multicore chips is incorporated for the analysis. The model consists of active and background cell laid out in a checkered pattern, and this pattern repeats itself in each fine grain active cells. The die has three layers i) body ii) buried oxide layer iii) wiring layer, stacked one above the other with heat source placed at the interface between wiring and buried oxide layer. With this model we propose analytical method to calculate the target hotspot temperature, heat flow to top and bottom layers of the die and thermal resistance components at each granularity level, assuming appropriate values of die dimensions and parameters. Finally we attempt to find an easier method for the calculation of the target hotspot temperature using graph.

Keywords: checkered pattern, granularity level, heat conduction, multicore chips, target hotspot temperature

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Authors: Karl Eddie T. Malabanan

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Due to the quick transmission and public health risk of coronavirus disease, schools and universities have shifted to distant learning. Teachers everywhere were forced to shift gears instantly in order to react to the needs of students and families using synchronous and asynchronous virtual teaching. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of physical education teachers who are currently experiencing remote learning in teaching during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the challenges that the physical education teachers encounter during remote learning and teaching. The participants include 12 physical education teachers who have taught in higher education institutions for at least five years. The researcher utilized qualitative research; specifically, the researcher used Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR). The results of this study showed that there are five categories for the Lived Experiences of Physical Education Teachers with thirty-one subcategories. This study revealed that physical education teachers experienced very challenging situations during the time of the pandemic. It also found that students had challenges in the abrupt transition from traditional to virtual learning classes, but it also showed that students are tenacious and willing to face any adversity. The researcher also finds that teachers are mentally drained during this time. Furthermore, one of the main focuses for the teachers should be on improving their well-being. And lastly, to cope with the challenges, teachers employ socializing to relieve tension and anxiety.

Keywords: lived experiences, consensual qualitative research, pandemic, education

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Authors: Machimontorn Promtong, Sherman C. P. Cheung, Guan H. Yeoh, Sara Vahaji, Jiyuan Tu

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The wide range of industrial applications involved with boiling flows promotes the necessity of establishing fundamental knowledge in boiling flow phenomena. For this purpose, a number of experimental and numerical researches have been performed to elucidate the underlying physics of this flow. In this paper, the improved wall boiling models, implemented on ANSYS CFX 14.5, were introduced to study subcooled boiling flow at elevated pressure. At the heated wall boundary, the Fractal model, Force balance approach and Mechanistic frequency model are given for predicting the nucleation site density, bubble departure diameter, and bubble departure frequency. The presented wall heat flux partitioning closures were modified to consider the influence of bubble sliding along the wall before the lift-off, which usually happens in the flow boiling. The simulation was performed based on the Two-fluid model, where the standard k-ω SST model was selected for turbulence modelling. Existing experimental data at around 5 bars were chosen to evaluate the accuracy of the presented mechanistic approach. The void fraction and Interfacial Area Concentration (IAC) are in good agreement with the experimental data. However, the predicted bubble velocity and Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) are over-predicted. This over-prediction may be caused by consideration of only dispersed and spherical bubbles in the simulations. In the future work, the important physical mechanisms of bubbles, such as merging and shrinking during sliding on the heated wall will be incorporated into this mechanistic model to enhance its capability for a wider range of flow prediction.

Keywords: subcooled boiling flow, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), mechanistic approach, two-fluid model

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Authors: Kartini Ilias, Nabilah Md Ahir, Nor Zafirah Ab Rahman, Safiah Md Yusof, Nuri Naqieyah Radzuan, Siti Sabariah Buhari

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This study aim to develop and assess the effectiveness of an intervention in improving eating habits and physical activity level of university students of UiTM Puncak Alam. The intervention consists of weekly dietary counselling by registered dietitian and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for three times per week for the duration of 8 weeks. A total of 25 students from the intervention group and 25 students from control group who had BMI equal to or greater than 25kg/m² participated in the study. The results showed a significant reduction in body weight (3.0 kg), body fat percentage (7.9 %), waist circumference (7.3 cm) and BMI (2.9 kg/m²) between pre and post intervention. Besides, there was a significant increase in the level of physical activity among subjects in intervention group. In conclusion, the intervention made an impact on eating habit, physical activity level and improves weight status of the students. It is expected that the intervention could be adopted and implemented by the government and private sector as well as policy-makers in formulating obesity intervention.

Keywords: obesity, diet, obesity intervention, physical activity

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Authors: O. Balamane-Zizi, L. M. Rouidi, A. Boukhrissa, N. Daas, H. Ait-amar

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The objective of this study was to test the possibility of a mixed treatment (physical-chemical and biological) of Ouled Fayet leachates which date of 10 years and has a large fraction of hard COD that can be reduced by coagulation-flocculation. Previous batch tests showed the possibility of applying the physical-chemical and biological treatments separately; the removal efficiencies obtained in this case were not interesting. We propose, therefore, to test the possibility of a combined treatment, in order to improve the quality of the leachates. Estimation of the treatment’s effectiveness was done by analysis of some pollution parameters such as COD, suspended solids, and heavy metals (particularly iron and nickel). The main results obtained after the combination of treatments, show reduction rate of about 63% for COD, 73% for suspended solids and 80% for iron and nickel. We also noted an improvement in the turbidity of treated leachates.

Keywords: landfill leachates, COD, physical-chemical treatment, biological treatment

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Authors: Jaouadi Imen, Ben Djemaa Raoudha, Ben Abdallah Hanene

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The access to relevant information that is adapted to users’ needs, preferences and environment is a challenge in many applications running. That causes an appearance of context-aware systems. To facilitate the development of this class of applications, it is necessary that these applications share a common context meta-model. In this article, we will present our context meta-model that is defined using the OMG Meta Object facility (MOF). This meta-model is based on the analysis and synthesis of context concepts proposed in literature.

Keywords: context, meta-model, MOF, awareness system

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Authors: Ferdinando Montemari, Antonio Vitale, Nicola Genito, Giovanni Cuciniello

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The introduction of tilt-rotor aircraft into the existing civilian air transportation system will provide beneficial effects due to tilt-rotor capability to combine the characteristics of a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft into one vehicle. The disposability of reliable tilt-rotor simulation models supports the development of such vehicle. Indeed, simulation models are required to design automatic control systems that increase safety, reduce pilot's workload and stress, and ensure the optimal aircraft configuration with respect to flight envelope limits, especially during the most critical flight phases such as conversion from helicopter to aircraft mode and vice versa. This article presents a process to build a simplified tilt-rotor simulation model, derived from the analysis of flight data. The model aims to reproduce the complex dynamics of tilt-rotor during the in-flight conversion phase. It uses a set of scheduled linear transfer functions to relate the autopilot reference inputs to the most relevant rigid body state variables. The model also computes information about the rotor flapping dynamics, which are useful to evaluate the aircraft control margin in terms of rotor collective and cyclic commands. The rotor flapping model is derived through a mixed theoretical-empirical approach, which includes physical analytical equations (applicable to helicopter configuration) and parametric corrective functions. The latter are introduced to best fit the actual rotor behavior and balance the differences existing between helicopter and tilt-rotor during flight. Time-domain system identification from flight data is exploited to optimize the model structure and to estimate the model parameters. The presented model-building process was applied to simulated flight data of the ERICA Tilt-Rotor, generated by using a high fidelity simulation model implemented in FlightLab environment. The validation of the obtained model was very satisfying, confirming the validity of the proposed approach.

Keywords: flapping dynamics, flight dynamics, system identification, tilt-rotor modeling and simulation

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Authors: T. Vikneshvaran, A. Aminudin, U. Alyaa Hashim, Waziralilah N. Fathiah, D. Shakirah Shukor

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This paper presents the experimental study conducted on a structure of three-floor height building model. Most vibrations are undesirable and can cause damages to the buildings, machines and people all around us. The vibration wave from earthquakes, construction and winds have high potential to bring damage to the buildings. Excessive vibrations can result in structural and machinery failures. This failure is related to the human life and environment around it. The effect of vibration which causes failure and damage to the high rise buildings can be controlled in real life by implementing tuned mass damper (TMD) into the structure of the buildings. This research aims to study the effect and performance improvement achieved by applying TMD into the building structure. A structure model of three degrees of freedom (3DOF) is designed to demonstrate the performance of TMD to the designed model. The model designed is the physical representation of actual building structure in real life. It is constructed at a reduced scale and will be used for the experiment. Thus, the result obtained will be more accurate to compared with the real life effect. Based on the result from experimental study, by applying TMD to the structure model, the forces of vibration and the displacement mode of the building reduced. Thus, the reduced in vibration of the building helps to maintain the good condition of the building.

Keywords: degrees-of-freedom, displacement mode, natural frequency, tuned mass damper

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Authors: Dimitri Bigot, Bruno Malet-Damour, Jérôme Vigneron

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Many studies have been made about using bio-based materials in buildings. The goal is to reduce its environmental footprint by analyzing its life cycle. This can lead to minimize the carbon emissions or energy consumption. A previous work proposed to numerically study the feasibility of using wood chips to regulate relative humidity inside a building. This has shown the capability of a wood chips bed to regulate humidity inside the building, to improve thermal comfort, and so potentially reduce building energy consumption. However, it also shown that some physical parameters of the wood chips must be identified to validate the proposed model and the associated results. This paper presents an experimental setup able to study such a wood chips bed with different solicitations. It consists of a simple duct filled with wood chips and crossed by an air flow with variable temperature and relative humidity. Its main objective is to study the thermal behavior of the wood chips bed by controlling temperature and relative humidity of the air that enters into it and by observing the same parameters at the output. First, the experimental set up is described according to previous results. A focus is made on the particular properties that have to be characterized. Then some case studies are presented in relation to the previous results in order to identify the key physical properties. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed technology is discussed, and some model validation paths are given.

Keywords: wood chips bed, experimental set-up, bio-based material, desiccant, relative humidity, water content, thermal behaviour, air treatment

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Authors: Meera Shanker

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Excellent education and financial need have encouraged Indian women to go out and work in well-paid and high-status occupations. In the era of cutthroat competition, women are expected to work hard to produce the desired result; hence, workload and expectations haveincreased. At home, they are anticipated to take care of family members, children, and household work. Women are stretching themselves mechanically to remain in the job competition and try to give their best at home. Consequentially, they are under tremendous pressure, stressed, and having issues related to physical-mental wellness. Mental healthcare is often ignored and not accepted due to a lack of awareness and cultural barriers. These further compounds the problem, resulting in decreased productivity in economic terms and an increase in stress-related physical-mental ailments. The main objective of the study was to find out the impact of stress on the physical-mental wellbeing of working women in India, along with their awareness and acceptability related to mental health. Six hundred and one woman working at various levels took part in this study, responding to the items related to stress and physical-mental illness. Finally, 21 items were retained under four meaningful factors measuring stress dimensions along with 17 items with three factors measuring physical-mental wellbeing. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), path analysis, in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), was used to get a relationship, validity of the instruments. The psychometric properties of items and Cronbach’s Alpha reliabilities calculated for the subscales were relatively acceptable. The subscale correlations, regression, and path analysis of stress dimensions with physical-mental illness were found to be positive, indicating the growing stress among working women in India, which is impacting their physical-mental health. Single item analysis revealed that 77 percent of women have never visited psychologists. However, 70 percent of working women were not ready to seek the help of a psychologist.

Keywords: working women, stress, physical-mental well-being, confirmatory factor analysis

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Authors: H. Ahmed, A. Schlenkhoff, R. Rousta, R. Abdelaziz

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Vertical slotted walls can be used as permeable breakwaters to provide economical and environmental protection from undesirable waves and currents inside the port. The permeable breakwaters are partially protection and have been suggested to overcome the environmental disadvantages of fully protection breakwaters. For regular waves a semi-analytical model is based on an eigenfunction expansion method and utilizes a boundary condition at the surface of each wall are developed to detect the energy dissipation through the slots. Extensive laboratory tests are carried out to validate the semi-analytic models. The structure of the physical model contains two walls and it consists of impermeable upper and lower part, where the draft is based a decimal multiple of the total depth. The middle part is permeable with a porosity of 50%. The second barrier is located at a distant of 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 times of the water depth from the first one. A comparison of the theoretical results with previous studies and experimental measurements of the present study show a good agreement and that, the semi-analytical model is able to adequately reproduce most the important features of the experiment.

Keywords: permeable breakwater, double vertical slotted walls, semi-analytical model, transmission coefficient, reflection coefficient, energy dissipation coefficient

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Authors: Muhammad Badar Habib, Muhammad Shakir, Asif Ali, Muhammad Zia ul Haq

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Purpose of the research is to examine the university teachers’ health and physical activities regarding their academic competencies. Major objectives of this piece research were (a) to identify health problems of teachers at university level that affects academic competencies of university teachers and (b) to evaluate educational betterment through physical balance. This research is descriptive in nature and questionnaire was used as source of collecting data. Population of the present research comprises teachers, professors and professionals teaching in the universities of Pakistan. 580 university teachers were selected as a population of the study. Random sampling technique was used to identify recipients. Data was feed and filter in Ms-Excel. In the light of the analysis of the study following findings were drawn out. This study found that the university teachers in Pakistan do not adopt proper physical exercise program. They were less interested to burn their extra calories and face diseases such as cramping, contraction of the muscles, diabetics and stomach diseases. This study recommends that seminars/workshops may be held by University establishment; to develop overall awareness among the teachers.

Keywords: evaluating effects of health and physical maintenance, academic competencies, university teachers, Pakistan

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Authors: Seyedeh Samaneh Hosseini Yousefi

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Space does not play role just in mentioning the place or locations. It also takes part in people attendance and social structures. Urban space is of substantial aspects of city which is a public sphere for free and unlimited appearance of citizens. Along with such appearances and regarding physical, environmental and functional conditions, different personal and social behaviors can be seen and analyzed toward people. The main principle of an urban space is including social relations and communications. In this survey, urban space has been referred to one in which physical, environmental and functional attractions cause pause and staying of people. Surveys have shown that urban designers have discussed about place more than architects or planners. With attention to mutual relations between urban space, society and civilization, proper policy making and planning are essential due to achieving an ideal urban space. The survey has been decided to analyze the effect of functional and physical structure of urban spaces on citizens' social behaviors. Hence, Valiasr crossroads, Tehran identified public space, has been selected in which analytic-descriptive method utilized. To test the accuracy of assumptions, statistical test has been accomplished by SPSS. Findings have shown that functional structure affects social behaviors, relations, integration and participation more than physical structure does.

Keywords: citizens' social behavior, functional structure, physical structure, urban space

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Authors: Amin Eslami, Jafar Bolouri Bazaz

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Excavation and retaining walls are of challenging issues in civil engineering. In this study, the behavior of one the important type of supporting systems called Contiguous Bored Pile (CBP) retaining wall is investigated using a physical model. Besides, a comparison is made between two modes of free end piles(soft bed) and fixed end piles (stiff bed). Also a back calculation of effective length (the real free length of pile) is done by measuring lateral deflection of piles in different stages of excavation in both a forementioned cases. Based on observed results, for the fixed end mode, the effective length to free length ratio (Leff/L0) is equal to unity in initial stages of excavation and less than 1 in its final stages in a decreasing manner. While this ratio for free end mode, remains constant during all stages of excavation and is always less than unity.

Keywords: contiguous bored pile wall, effective length, fixed end, free end, free length

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Authors: H. A. Mansour

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The objective of this research work is studying the water use prediction, prediction technology for water use by action agencies, and others involved in conservation, planning, and environmental assessment of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) simulation model. Models the important physical, processes governing erosion in Egypt (climate, infiltration, runoff, ET, detachment by raindrops, detachment by flowing water, deposition, etc.). Simulation of the non-uniform slope, soils, cropping/management., and Egyptian databases for climate, soils, and crops. The study included important parameters in Egyptian conditions as follows: Water Balance & Percolation, Soil Component (Tillage impacts), Plant Growth & Residue Decomposition, Overland Flow Hydraulics. It could be concluded that we can adapt the WEPP simulation model to determining the previous important parameters under Egyptian conditions.

Keywords: WEPP, adaptation, soil properties, tillage impacts, water balance, soil percolation

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Authors: K. Sekulová, M. Šimon

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This article focuses on upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders risk assessment model at workplace. In this model are used risk factors that are responsible for musculoskeletal system damage. Based on statistic calculations the model is able to define what risk of MSD threatens workers who are under risk factors. The model is also able to say how MSD risk would decrease if these risk factors are eliminated.

Keywords: ergonomics, musculoskeletal disorders, occupational diseases, risk factors

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Authors: Anthony Usoro

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In this paper, two classes of bilinear time series model are obtained under certain conditions from the general bilinear autoregressive moving average model. Bilinear Autoregressive (BAR) and Bilinear Moving Average (BMA) Models have been identified. From the general bilinear model, BAR and BMA models have been proved to exist for q = Q = 0, => j = 0, and p = P = 0, => i = 0 respectively. These models are found useful in modelling most of the economic and financial data.

Keywords: autoregressive model, bilinear autoregressive model, bilinear moving average model, moving average model

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Authors: Ahmad Tijani Surajudeen, Muhammad Zahiri Awang Mat, Aliy Abdulwahid Adebisi

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With arrival of Islam in the South-Western Nigeria in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, various masājid established in different parts of the area played vital roles towards the betterment and unity of the Muslims. However, despite the fact that the masājid in the South-Western part of Nigeria contributed immensely to the spiritual and educational enhancement of the Muslims, it has not fully captured the holistic educational roles as a unique model used by the Prophet (S.A.W). Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to investigate and broaden the roles of masjid towards its compartmentalized and holistic contributions among the Muslims in the south-western Nigeria. The findings from the paper have identified five holistic roles of masjid, namely, spiritual, intellectual, physical, social and emotional contributions which have been exemplified in the prophetic model of masjid. The paper has argued that the five factors must be unreservedly unified towards the betterment of the Muslims and enhancement of Islamic education and Arabic Language in the South-Western Nigeria. However, the challenges of masjid management in the South-Western Nigeria are the main hindrance in achieving the holistic roles of masjid. It is thereby suggested that, the management of masjid should take the identified prophetic model of masjid into account in order to positively improve the affairs of Muslims as well as promoting the teaching and learning of Islamic education and Arabic language among the Muslims in the South-Western Nigeria.

Keywords: worship, Islamic education, Arabic language, prophetic holistic model

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Authors: Hanieh Mohammadi, Sarah Fraser, Anil Nigam, Frederic Lesage, Louis Bherer

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A chronically higher cerebral pulsatility is thought to damage cerebral microcirculation, leading to cognitive decline in older adults. Although it is widely known that regular physical activity is linked to improvement in some cognitive domains, including executive functions, the mediating role of cerebral pulsatility on this link remains to be elucidated. This study assessed the impact of 6 months of regular physical activity upon changes in an optical index of cerebral pulsatility and the role of physical activity for the improvement of executive functions. 27 older adults (aged 57-79, 66.7% women) with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) were enrolled in the study. The participants completed the behavioral Stroop test, which was extracted from the Delis-Kaplan executive functions system battery at baseline (T0) and after 6 months (T6) of physical activity. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was applied for an innovative approach to indexing cerebral pulsatility in the brain microcirculation at T0 and T6. The participants were at standing rest while a NIRS device recorded hemodynamics data from frontal and motor cortex subregions at T0 and T6. The cerebral pulsatility index of interest was cerebral pulse amplitude, which was extracted from the pulsatile component of NIRS data. Our data indicated that 6 months of physical activity was associated with a reduction in the response time for the executive functions, including inhibition (T0: 56.33± 18.2 to T6: 53.33± 15.7,p= 0.038)and Switching(T0: 63.05± 5.68 to T6: 57.96 ±7.19,p< 0.001) conditions of the Stroop test. Also, physical activity was associated with a reduction in cerebral pulse amplitude (T0: 0.62± 0.05 to T6: 0.55± 0.08, p < 0.001). Notably, cerebral pulse amplitude was a significant mediator of the link between physical activity and response to the Stroop test for both inhibition (β=0.33 (0.61,0.23),p< 0.05)and switching (β=0.42 (0.69,0.11),p <0.01) conditions. This study suggests that regular physical activity may support cognitive functions through the improvement of cerebral pulsatility in older adults with CVRF.

Keywords: near-infrared spectroscopy, cerebral pulsatility, physical activity, cardiovascular risk factors, executive functions

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Authors: Syrus Zimaze, George Nsimbe, Valley Mugwanya, Matiya Lule, Edgar Watson, Patrick Gwayambadde

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Physical inactivity is a growing global epidemic, also recognised as a major public health challenge. Globally, there are alarming rates of children reported with cardiovascular disease and obesity with limited interventions. In Sub Saharan Africa, there is limited information about involvement in physical activity especially among children aged 6 to 18 years. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with involvement in physical activity among children in Uganda. Methods: We included all parents with children aged 6 to 18 years training with Excel Soccer Academy between January 2017 and June 2018. Physical activity definition was time spent participating in routine soccer training at the academy for more than 30 days. Each child's attendance was recorded, and parents provided demographic and social economic data. Data on predictors of physical activity involvement were collected using a standardized questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and frequency were used. Binary logistic regression was used at the multi variable level adjusting for education, residence, transport means and access to information technology. Results: Overall 356 parents were interviewed; Boys 318 (89.3%) engaged more in physical activity than girls. The median age for children was 13 years (IQR:6-18) and 42 years (IQR:37-49) among parents. The median time spent at the Excel soccer academy was 13.4 months (IQR: 4.6-35.7) Majority of the children attended formal education, p < 0.001). Factors associated with involvement in physical activity included: owning a permanent house compared to a rented house (odds ratio [OR] :2.84: 95% CI: 2.09-3.86, p < 0.0001), owning a car compared to using public transport (OR: 5.64 CI: 4.80-6.63, p < 0.0001), a parent having received formal education compared to non-formal education (OR: 2.93 CI: 2.47-3.46, p < 0.0001) and daily access to information technology (OR:0.40 CI:0.25-0.66, p < 0.001). Parent’s age and gender were not associated to involvement in physical activity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic factors were positively associated with involvement in physical activity with boys participating more than girls in soccer activities. More interventions are required geared towards increasing girl’s participation in physical activity and those targeting children from less privilege homes.

Keywords: physical activity, Sub-Saharan Africa, social economic factors, children

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Authors: Ali Fuad Ashour

Abstract:

Introduction: Contrary to the common belief that physical training for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients might exacerbate fatigue and provoke other symptoms of the illness, it is now widely accepted that exercise can be actually beneficial in terms of activities of daily living, reduced fatigue, and improved quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of MS patients toward exercise. Methodology: 112 MS patients who were recruited from the local community participated in this study. We utilised a self-developed questionnaire targeting attitudes and perceptions of MS patients towards physical exercise. The questionnaire was piloted and tested for validity and reliability. Results: Before being diagnosed with MS, 49.9% of our MS patients’ respondents used to engage in different types of physical activities and sports, namely aerobics/walking (35.3%), stretching exercise (18.7%), and strengthening exercise (11.4%). After being diagnosed with MS, 40.8% of our sample showed determination to remain physically active. The interest in sports activities was consistent after the diagnoses with MS and included aerobics/walking (33.8%), stretching exercise (22.6%), and strengthening exercise (19.7%). Discussion: The Kuwaiti respondents thought that lack of encouragement was the main reason for them not exercise. Aptly put, if they try to exercise, they will be discouraged by the loved ones lest the worse happens. On the other side, British patients are generally aware of the benefits of physical and mental health-promoting activities; they can seek help from a wide range of professionals and are more actively involved in the management of their condition. It is therefore important that the benefits of physical activity are promoted among MS patients, and that attitude towards MS and MS patients is changed through education.

Keywords: perception, multiple sclerosis, exercise, physical training

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Authors: Elizabeth Adebomi Akinlotan, Olukemi Odukoya

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Physical Activity is defined as activity that involves bodily movement which is done as a part of daily activity in the form of working, playing, active transportation such as walking and also as a form of recreational activity. Physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality and morbidity causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths globally and 5.5% of total deaths and it remains a pressing public health issue. There is a shift in the major causes of death from communicable to non-communicable diseases in many developed countries and this is fast becoming the case in developing countries. Physical activity is an important determinant of health and has been associated with lower mortality rates as it reduces the risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, cancer and osteoporosis. It improves musculoskeletal health, controls weight and reduces symptoms of depression. AIM: The aim is to study the knowledge, attitude and practices of physical activity among adults in Alimosho local government area. METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive cross sectional survey designed to study the knowledge, attitude and practice of physical activity among adults in Alimosho Local Government Area. The study population were 250 adults aged 18-65 who were residents of the area of more than 6 months duration and had no chronic disease condition or physical disability. A multistage sampling method was used to select the respondents and data was collected using interviewer administered questionnaires. The data was analyzed with the use of EPI-info 2007 statistical software. Chi Square was thereafter used to test the association between selected variables. The level of statistical significance was set at 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS: In general, majority (61.6%) of the respondents had a good knowledge of what physical activity entails, 34.0% had fair knowledge and 4.4% had poor knowledge. There was a favorable attitude towards physical activity among the respondents with 82.4% having an overall positive attitude. Below a third of the respondents (26.4%) reported having a high physical activity (METS > 3001) while 40.0% had moderate (601-3000 METS) levels of activity and 33.6% were inactive (<600METS). There is statistical significance between the gender of the respondent and the levels of physical activity (p=0.0007); 75.2% males reached the minimum recommendations while 24.8% were inactive and 55.0% females reached the minimum recommendations while 45.0% were inactive. Results also showed that of 95 respondents who were satisfied with their levels of physical activity, 33.7% were insufficiently active while 66.3% were either minimally active or highly active and of 110 who were unsatisfied with their levels of physical activity, 72.0% were above the minimum recommendations while 38.0% were insufficiently active. CONCLUSION: In contrast to the high level of knowledge and favorable attitude towards physical activity, there was a lower level of practice of high or moderate physical activities. It is recommended that more awareness should be created on the recommended levels of physical activity especially for the vigorous intensity and moderate intensity physical activity.

Keywords: METS, physical activity, physical inactivity, public health

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Authors: Shank Kulkarni, Alireza Tabarraei

Abstract:

The fantastic properties of polyurea such as flexibility, durability, and chemical resistance have brought it a wide range of application in various industries. Effective prediction of the response of polyurea under different loading and environmental conditions necessitates the development of an accurate constitutive model. Similar to most polymers, the behavior of polyurea depends on both strain and strain rate. Therefore, the constitutive model should be able to capture both these effects on the response of polyurea. To achieve this objective, in this paper, a nonlinear hyper-viscoelastic constitutive model is developed by the superposition of a hyperelastic and a viscoelastic model. The proposed constitutive model can capture the behavior of polyurea under compressive loading conditions at various strain rates. Four parameter Ogden model and Mooney Rivlin model are used to modeling the hyperelastic behavior of polyurea. The viscoelastic behavior is modeled using both a three-parameter standard linear solid (SLS) model and a K-BKZ model. Comparison of the modeling results with experiments shows that Odgen and SLS model can more accurately predict the behavior of polyurea. The material parameters of the model are found by curve fitting of the proposed model to the uniaxial compression test data. The proposed model can closely reproduce the stress-strain behavior of polyurea for strain rates up to 6500 /s.

Keywords: constitutive modelling, ogden model, polyurea, SLS model, uniaxial compression test

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