Search results for: artificial intelligence in semiconductor manufacturing

Authors: Asma Ameur, Dhafer Malouche

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Nowadays, user comments on the Internet have an important impact on hotel bookings. This confirms that the e-reputation issue can influence the likelihood of customer loyalty to a hotel. In this way, e-reputation has become a real differentiator between hotels. For this reason, we have a unique opportunity in the opinion mining field to analyze the comments. In fact, this field provides the possibility of extracting information related to the polarity of user reviews. This sentimental study (Opinion Mining) represents a new line of research for analyzing the unstructured textual data. Knowing the score of e-reputation helps the hotelier to better manage his marketing strategy. The score we then obtain is translated into the image of hotels to differentiate between them. Therefore, this present research highlights the importance of hotel satisfaction ‘scoring. To calculate the satisfaction score, the sentimental analysis can be manipulated by several techniques of machine learning. In fact, this study treats the extracted textual data by using the Artificial Neural Networks Approach (ANNs). In this context, we adopt the aforementioned technique to extract information from the comments available in the ‘Trip Advisor’ website. This actual paper details the description and the modeling of the ANNs approach for the scoring of online hotel reviews. In summary, the validation of this used method provides a significant model for hotel sentiment analysis. So, it provides the possibility to determine precisely the polarity of the hotel users reviews. The empirical results show that the ANNs are an accurate approach for sentiment analysis. The obtained results show also that this proposed approach serves to the dimensionality reduction for textual data’ clustering. Thus, this study provides researchers with a useful exploration of this technique. Finally, we outline guidelines for future research in the hotel e-reputation field as comparing the ANNs with other technique.

Keywords: clustering, consumer behavior, data mining, e-reputation, machine learning, neural network, online hotel ‘reviews, opinion mining, scoring

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Authors: Meha Singla, Shankhadeep Chaudhuri, Yadunandan Batchu

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Rental Housing is a more cost effective and flexible housing solution for the low income families than home-ownership. While India is undergoing a new industrial metamorphosis with multiple government initiatives that emphasise on the growth of manufacturing sector through policy frameworks and corridor development proposals, there is going to be a huge influx of low-income working population to the upcoming urban centres. As per stats, about 70 per cent of the housing demand at these centres fall into the affordable segment. And in the midst of this rapid urbanisation and huge immigration of young population, there is a lack of proper rental housing framework in the country. A large number of immigrants will be unable to support home-ownership thereby leading to proliferation of slums in urban centres. As a result, there is a dire need for immediate articulation of a comprehensive rental housing policy and affordable housing initiatives. In this paper, CommonFloor attempts to analyse successful rental housing case studies of the world followed by establishing a correlation between the gap in urban rental housing stock and the per capita income statistics to devise rental housing affordability specific to major Indian cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai). Further, with the corroboration of market price trends, it will try to locate feasible micro-markets for immediate rental housing action. Final research findings will provide key data points thereby helping to design the approach for efficient utilisation of unsold residential inventory in the country in order to compensate the rental housing deficiency. This data set is believed to express viable model(s) of the rental housing approach for the government and private participants.

Keywords: housing prices, migration of population, real estate, rental housing, rental markets, residential property market, urbanisation

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Authors: Enlin Lo, Ioannis Dogaris, George Philippidis

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Succinic acid is a compound used for manufacturing lacquers, resins, and other coating chemicals. It is also used in the food and beverage industry as a flavor additive. It is predominantly manufactured from petrochemicals, but it can also be produced by fermentation of sugars from renewable feedstocks, such as plant biomass. Bio-based succinic acid has great potential in becoming a platform chemical (building block) for commodity and high-value chemicals. In this study, the production of bio-based succinic acid from sweet sorghum was investigated. Sweet sorghum has high fermentable sugar content and can be cultivated in a variety of climates. In order to avoid competition with food feedstocks, its non-edible ‘bagasse’ (the fiber part after extracting the juice) was targeted. Initially, various conditions of pretreating sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB) were studied in an effort to remove most of the non-fermentable components and expose the cellulosic fiber containing the fermentable sugars (glucose). Concentrated (83%) phosphoric acid was utilized at temperatures 50-80 oC for 30-60 min at various SSB loadings (10-15%), coupled with enzymatic hydrolysis using commercial cellulase (Ctec2, Novozymes) enzyme, to identify the conditions that lead to the highest glucose yields for subsequent fermentation to succinic acid. As the pretreatment temperature and duration increased, the bagasse color changed from light brown to dark brown-black, indicating decomposition, which ranged from 15% to 72%, while the theoretical glucose yield is 91%. With Minitab software statistical analysis, a model was built to identify the optimal pretreatment condition for maximum glucose released. The projected theoretical bio-based succinic acid production is 23g per 100g of SSB, which will be confirmed with fermentation experiments using the bacterium Actinobacillus succinogenes.

Keywords: biomass, cellulose, enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, pretreatment, succinic acid

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Authors: Samaneh Pouyanfar, Michael Oliff

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The industry of home appliances may beone of theindustries which has the highest competition, and actually what can guarantee the survival of this industry is discovering the superior services. A trend to provide quality products and services plays an important role in this industry because discovering the services is counted as a vital affair for Manufacturing Organizations’ survival and profitability. Given the importance of the topic, this paper attempts to investigate the relative priority of the factors influencing the customer satisfaction in gaining the competitive advantage in Pars-Khazar Company. In sum, 96 executives of Pars-Khazar Company where investigated in a census. For this purpose, after reviewing the research literature and performing deep interviews between pundits and experts active in the industry, the research questionnaire was made based on variables affecting customer satisfaction and components determining business competitive advantage. Determining the content validity took place by judgement of the experts. The reliability of each structure was measured based on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Since the value of Cronbach's alpha was higher than 0.7 for each structure, internal consistency of statements was high and the reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable. The data analysis was also done with Kulmgrf-asmyrnf test and Friedman test using SPSS software. The results showed that in dimension of factors affecting customer satisfaction, the History of trade name (brand), Familiarity with the product brand, Brand reputation and Safety have the highest value of priority respectively, and the variable of firm growth has the highest value of priority among the components determining the performance of competitive advantage.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, brand history, safety, growth

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Authors: Eyob Messele Sefene, Atinkut Atinafu Yilma

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The highest strength-to-weight ratio criterion has fascinated increasing curiosity in virtually all areas where weight reduction is indispensable. One of the recent advances in manufacturing to achieve this intention endears friction stir welding (FSW). The process is widely used for joining similar and dissimilar non-ferrous materials. In FSW, the mechanical properties of the weld joints are impelled by property-selected process parameters. This paper presents verdicts of optimum process parameters in attempting to attain enhanced mechanical properties of the weld joint. The experiment was conducted on a 5 mm 6061 aluminum alloy sheet. A butt joint configuration was employed. Process parameters, rotational speed, traverse speed or feed rate, axial force, dwell time, tool material and tool profiles were utilized. Process parameters were also optimized, making use of a mixed L18 orthogonal array and the Grey relation analysis method with larger is better quality characteristics. The mechanical properties of the weld joint are examined through the tensile test, hardness test and liquid penetrant test at ambient temperature. ANOVA was conducted in order to investigate the significant process parameters. This research shows that dwell time, rotational speed, tool shape, and traverse speed have become significant, with a joint efficiency of about 82.58%. Nine confirmatory tests are conducted, and the results indicate that the average values of the grey relational grade fall within the 99% confidence interval. Hence the experiment is proven reliable.

Keywords: friction stir welding, optimization, 6061 AA, Taguchi

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Authors: Tahir Ahmad, Abubaker Khan, Muhammad Kamran, Muhammad Umer Manzoor, Muhammad Taqi Zahid Butt

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Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) is a class of weight efficient structural materials that are becoming popular in engineering applications especially in electronic, aerospace, aircraft, packaging and various other industries. This study focuses on the development of carbon fiber reinforced copper matrix composite. Keeping in view the vast applications of metal matrix composites,this specific material is produced for its unique mechanical and thermal properties i.e. high thermal conductivity and low coefficient of thermal expansion at elevated temperatures. The carbon fibers were not pretreated but coated with copper by electroless plating in order to increase the wettability of carbon fiber with the copper matrix. Casting is chosen as the manufacturing route for the C-Cu composite. Four different compositions of the composite were developed by varying the amount of carbon fibers by 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt. % of the copper. The effect of varying carbon fiber content and sizes on the mechanical properties of the C-Cu composite is studied in this work. The tensile test was performed on the tensile specimens. The yield strength decreases with increasing fiber content while the ultimate tensile strength increases with increasing fiber content. Rockwell hardness test was also performed and the result followed the increasing trend for increasing carbon fibers and the hardness numbers are 30.2, 37.2, 39.9 and 42.5 for sample 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The microstructures of the specimens were also examined under the optical microscope. Wear test and SEM also done for checking characteristic of C-Cu marix composite. Through casting may be a route for the production of the C-Cu matrix composite but still powder metallurgy is better to follow as the wettability of carbon fiber with matrix, in that case, would be better.

Keywords: copper based composites, mechanical properties, wear properties, microstructure

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Authors: Helena Bolini, Erick Esmerino, Adriano Cruz, Juliana Paixao

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The currently concern for health has increased demand for low-calorie ingredients and functional foods as probiotics. Understand the reasons that infer on food choice, besides a challenging task, it is important step for development and/or reformulation of existing food products. The use of appropriate multivariate statistical techniques, such as External Preference Map (PrefMap), associated with regression by Partial Least Squares (PLS) can help in determining those factors. Thus, this study aimed to determine, through PLS regression analysis, the sensory attributes considered drivers of liking in probiotic petit suisse cheeses, strawberry flavor, sweetened with different sweeteners. Five samples in same equivalent sweetness: PROB1 (Sucralose 0.0243%), PROB2 (Stevia 0.1520%), PROB3 (Aspartame 0.0877%), PROB4 (Neotame 0.0025%) and PROB5 (Sucrose 15.2%) determined by just-about-right and magnitude estimation methods, and three commercial samples COM1, COM2 and COM3, were studied. Analysis was done over data coming from QDA, performed by 12 expert (highly trained assessors) on 20 descriptor terms, correlated with data from assessment of overall liking in acceptance test, carried out by 125 consumers, on all samples. Sequentially, results were submitted to PLS regression using XLSTAT software from Byossistemes. As shown in results, it was possible determine, that three sensory descriptor terms might be considered drivers of liking of probiotic petit suisse cheese samples added with sweeteners (p<0.05). The milk flavor was noticed as a sensory characteristic with positive impact on acceptance, while descriptors bitter taste and sweet aftertaste were perceived as descriptor terms with negative impact on acceptance of petit suisse probiotic cheeses. It was possible conclude that PLS regression analysis is a practical and useful tool in determining drivers of liking of probiotic petit suisse cheeses sweetened with artificial and natural sweeteners, allowing food industry to understand and improve their formulations maximizing the acceptability of their products.

Keywords: acceptance, consumer, quantitative descriptive analysis, sweetener

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Authors: Roopa Singh, Anurag Singh, Ajay

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Agriculture contributes a major share in the national economy of India. A major portion of Indian economy (about 70%) depends upon agriculture as it forms the main source of income. About 43% of India’s geographical area is used for agricultural activity which involves 65-75% of total population of India. The given work deals with the Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries and their inventories which use agricultural produce as their raw material or input for their final product. Since the beginning of inventory practices, many developments took place which can be categorised into three phases, based on the review of various works. The first phase is related with development and utilization of Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model and methods for optimizing costs and profits. Second phase deals with inventory optimization method, with the purpose of balancing capital investment constraints and service level goals. The third and recent phase has merged inventory control with electrical control theory. Maintenance of inventory is considered negative, as a large amount of capital is blocked especially in mechanical and electrical industries. But the case is different in food processing and agro-based industries and their inventories due to cyclic variation in the cost of raw materials of such industries which is the reason for selection of these industries in the mentioned work. The application of electrical control theory in inventory control makes the decision-making highly instantaneous for FMCG industries without loss in their proposed profits, which happened earlier during first and second phases, mainly due to late implementation of decision. The work also replaces various inventories and work-in-progress (WIP) related errors with their monetary values, so that the decision-making is fully target-oriented.

Keywords: control theory, inventory control, manufacturing sector, EOQ, feedback, FMCG sector

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Authors: Mirzet SeHo, Alaa Alaabed, Mansur Masih

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In theory, risk-sharing-based financing (RSF) is considered a corner stone of Islamic finance. It is argued to render Islamic banks more resilient to shocks. In practice, however, this feature of Islamic financial products is almost negligible. Instead, debt-based instruments, with conventional like features, have overwhelmed the nascent industry. In addition, the framework of present-day economic, regulatory and financial reality inevitably exposes Islamic banks in dual banking systems to problems of conventional banks. This includes, but is not limited to, interest rate risk. Empirical evidence has, thus far, confirmed such exposures, despite Islamic banks’ interest-free operations. This study applies system GMM in modeling the determinants of RSF, and finds that RSF is insensitive to changes in interest rates. Hence, our results provide support to the “stability” view of risk-sharing-based financing. This suggests RSF as the way forward for risk management at Islamic banks, in the absence of widely acceptable Shariah compliant hedging instruments. Further support to the stability view is given by evidence of counter-cyclicality. Unlike debt-based lending that inflates artificial asset bubbles through credit expansion during the upswing of business cycles, RSF is negatively related to GDP growth. Our results also imply a significantly strong relationship between risk-sharing deposits and RSF. However, the pass-through of these deposits to RSF is economically low. Only about 40% of risk-sharing deposits are channeled to risk-sharing financing. This raises questions on the validity of the industry’s claim that depositors accustomed to conventional banking shun away from risk sharing and signals potential for better balance sheet management at Islamic banks. Overall, our findings suggest that, on the one hand, Islamic banks can gain ‘independence’ from conventional banks and interest rates through risk-sharing products, the potential for which is enormous. On the other hand, RSF could enable policy makers to improve systemic stability and restrain excessive credit expansion through its countercyclical features.

Keywords: Islamic banks, risk-sharing, financing, interest rate, dynamic system GMM

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Authors: Sarthak Mohapatra, Ajith Babu, Shyam Prasad Ghosh

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The community of gamers has been at the crux of stigmatization and marginalization by the larger society, resulting in dignity erosion. India presents a unique context where e-sports have recently seen large-scale investments, a massive userbase, and appreciable demand for gaming as a career option. Yet the apprehension towards gaming is salient among parents and non-gamers who engage in the de-dignification of gamers, by advocating the discourse of violence promotion via video games. Even the government is relentless in banning games due to data privacy issues. Thus, the current study explores the experiences of gamers and how they navigate these de-dignifying circumstances. The study follows an exploratory qualitative approach where in-depth interviews are used as data collection tools guided by a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 25 individuals were interviewed comprising casual gamers, professional gamers, and individuals who are indirectly impacted by gaming including parents, relatives, and friends of gamers. Thematic analysis via three-level coding is used to arrive at broad themes (categories) and their sub-themes. The results indicate that the de-dignification of gamers results from attaching stereotypes of introversion, aggression, low intelligence, and low aspirations to them. It is interesting to note that the intensity of de-dignification varies and is more salient in violent shooting games which are perceived to require low cognitive resources to master. The moral disengagement of gamers while playing violent video games becomes the basis for de-dignification. Findings reveal that circumventing de-dignification required gamers to engage in several tactics that included playing behind closed doors, consciously hiding the gamer identity, rationalizing behavior by idolizing professionals, bragging about achievements within the game, and so on. Theoretically, it contributes to dignity and social identity literature by focusing on stereotyping and stigmatization. From a policy perspective, improving legitimacy toward gaming is expected to improve the social standing of gamers and professionals. For practitioners, it is important that proper channels of promotion and communication are used to educate the non-gamers so that the stereotypes blur away.

Keywords: dignity, social identity, stereotyping, video games

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Authors: Jasna Prester, Ivana Rašić Bakarić, Božidar Matijević

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Various prominent scholars and substantial practitioner-oriented literature on innovation orientation have shown positive effects on firm performance. There is a myriad of factors that influence and enhance innovation but it has been found in the literature that new product innovations accounted for an average of 14 percent of sales revenues for all firms. If there is one thing that has changed in innovation management during the last decade, it is the growing reliance on external partners. As a consequence, a new task for purchasing arises, as firms need to understand which suppliers actually do have high potential contributing to the innovativeness of the firm and which do not. Purchasing function in an organization is extremely important as it deals on an average of 50% or more of a firm's expenditures. In the nineties the purchasing department was largely seen as a transaction-oriented, clerical function but today purchasing integration provides a formal interface mechanism between purchasing and other firm functions that services other functions within the company. Purchasing function has to be organized differently to enable firm innovation potential. However, innovations are inherently risky. There are behavioral risk (that some partner will take advantage of the other party), technological risk in terms of complexity of products and processes of manufacturing and incoming materials and finally market risks, which in fact judge the value of the innovation. These risks are investigated in this work since it has been found in the literature that the higher the technological risk, higher will be the centralization of the purchasing function as an interface with other supply chain members. Most researches on organization of purchasing function were done by case study analysis of innovative firms. This work actually tends to prove or discard results found in the literature based on case study method. A large data set of 1493 companies, from 25 countries collected in the GMRG 4 survey served as a basis for analysis.

Keywords: purchasing function organization, innovation, technological risk, GMRG 4 survey

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Authors: Farhood Rismanchian, Seong Hyeon Park, Young Hoon Lee

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This paper proposes a method to optimize the layout of an emergency department (ED) based on real executions of care processes by considering several planning objectives simultaneously. Recently, demand for healthcare services has been dramatically increased. As the demand for healthcare services increases, so do the need for new healthcare buildings as well as the need for redesign and renovating existing ones. The importance of implementation of a standard set of engineering facilities planning and design techniques has been already proved in both manufacturing and service industry with many significant functional efficiencies. However, high complexity of care processes remains a major challenge to apply these methods in healthcare environments. Process mining techniques applied in this study to tackle the problem of complexity and to enhance care process analysis. Process related information such as clinical pathways extracted from the information system of an ED. A 0-1 goal programming approach is then proposed to find a single layout that simultaneously satisfies several goals. The proposed model solved by optimization software CPLEX 12. The solution reached using the proposed method has 42.2% improvement in terms of walking distance of normal patients and 47.6% improvement in walking distance of critical patients at minimum cost of relocation. It has been observed that lots of patients must unnecessarily walk long distances during their visit to the emergency department because of an inefficient design. A carefully designed layout can significantly decrease patient walking distance and related complications.

Keywords: healthcare operation management, goal programming, facility layout problem, process mining, clinical processes

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Authors: Walid A. Attia, Taher M. Bazan, Fawzy Eltohamy, Mahmoud Fathy

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System performance evaluation is an essential stage in the design of high-resolution satellite telescopes prior to the development process. In this paper, a system performance evaluation of a very high-resolution satellite telescope is investigated. The evaluated system has a Korsch optical scheme design. This design has been discussed in another paper with respect to three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) scheme design and the former configuration showed better results. The investigated system is based on the Korsch optical design integrated with a time-delay and integration charge coupled device (TDI-CCD) sensor to achieve a ground sampling distance (GSD) of 25 cm. The key performance metrics considered are the spatial resolution, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the total modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system. In addition, the national image interpretability rating scale (NIIRS) metric is assessed to predict the image quality according to the modified general image quality equation (GIQE). Based on the orbital, optical and detector parameters, the estimated GSD is found to be 25 cm. The SNR has been analyzed at different illumination conditions of target albedos, sun and sensor angles. The system MTF has been computed including diffraction, aberration, optical manufacturing, smear and detector sampling as the main contributors for evaluation the MTF. Finally, the system performance evaluation results show that the computed MTF value is found to be around 0.08 at the Nyquist frequency, the SNR value was found to be 130 at albedo 0.2 with a nadir viewing angles and the predicted NIIRS is in the order of 6.5 which implies a very good system image quality.

Keywords: modulation transfer function, national image interpretability rating scale, signal to noise ratio, satellite telescope performance evaluation

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Authors: Mao Huasong, Tang Siqi, Cheng Yu

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The cognition and practice of Chinese landscapes have distinct uniqueness. The intergenerational inheritance of urban and rural landscapes is a common objective fact which has created a unique type of heritage in China - scenic heritage. The current generalization of the concept of scenic heritage has affected the lack of innovation in corresponding protection practices. Therefore, clarifying the concepts and connotations of scenery and scenic heritage, clarifying the protection objects of scenic heritage and the methods and approaches in intergenerational inheritance can provide theoretical support for the practice of Chinese scenic heritage and contribute Chinese wisdom to the transformation of world heritage sites. Taking ancient Shaoxing, which has a long time span and rich descriptions of scenic types and quantities, as the research object and using local chronicles as the basic research material, based on text analysis, word frequency analysis, case statistics, and historical, geographical spatial annotation methods, this study traces back to ancient scenic practices and conducts in-depth descriptions in both text and space. it have constructed a scenic heritage identification method based on the basic connotation characteristics and morphological representation characteristics of natural and cultural correlations, combined with the intergenerational and representative characteristics of scenic heritage; Summarized the bidirectional integration of "scenic spots" and "form scenic spots", "outstanding people" and "local spirits" in the formation process of scenic heritage; In inheritance, guided by Confucian values of education; In communication, the cultural interpretation constructed by scenery and the way of landscape life are used to strengthen the intergenerational inheritance of natural, artificial material elements, and intangible spirits. As a unique type of heritage in China, scenic heritage should improve its standards, values, and connotations in current protection practices and actively absorb historical experience.

Keywords: scenic heritage, heritage protection, cultural landscape, shaoxing, chinese landscape

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Authors: Girmaye Abebe, Brook Lemma

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Adsorption of phosphorus (P as PO43-) in filter cake was studied to assess the media's capability in removing phosphorous from wastewaters. The composition of the filter cake that was generated from alum manufacturing process as waste residue has high amount of silicate from the complete silicate analysis of the experiment. Series of batches adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate parameters that influence the adsorption capacity of PO43-. The factors studied include the effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, thermal pretreatment of the adsorbent, neutralization of the adsorbent, initial PO43- concentration, pH of the solution and effect of co-existing anions. Results showed that adsorption of PO43- is fairly rapid in first 5 min and after that it increases slowly to reach the equilibrium in about 1 h. The treatment efficiency of PO43- was increased with adsorbent extent. About 90% removal efficiency was increased within 1 h at an optimum adsorbent dose of 10 g/L for initial PO43- concentration of 10 mg/L. The amount of PO43- adsorbed increased with increasing initial PO43- concentration. Heat treatment and surface neutralization of the adsorbent did not improve the PO43- removal capacity and efficiency. The percentage of PO43- removal remains nearly constant within the pH range of 3-8. The adsorption data at ambient pH were well fitted to the Langmuir Isotherm and Dubinin–Radushkevick (D–R) isotherm model with a capacity of 25.84 and 157.55 mg/g of the adsorbent respectively. The adsorption kinetic was found to follow a pseudo-second-order rate equation with an average rate constant of 3.76 g.min−1.mg−1. The presence of bicarbonate or carbonate at higher concentrations (10–1000 mg/L) decreased the PO43- removal efficiency slightly while other anions (Cl-, SO42-, and NO3-) have no significant effect within the concentration range tested. The overall result shows that the filter cake is an efficient PO43- removing adsorbent against many parameters.

Keywords: wastewater, filter cake, adsorption capacity, phosphate (PO43-)

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Authors: Ramy Bakir

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Advancements in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology have had a sweeping effect on the manufacturing industry in the last two decades, and have specifically allowed for the enhancement of a multitude of applications in the field of building technology. Research carried out in the architectural field in the past decade highlights how those enhancements have improved the structural and environmental performance of buildings, and/or how they developed the aesthetic value of façade or interior treatments. In developing countries, such as Egypt, the actual use of those nano-enhanced applications and their benefits rarely manifest. Hence this paper investigates the socio-technical relationship between the architectural design process and nanotechnology in Cairo using participant observation within an ethnographic study. The study focused on the socio-cultural context of an environmental design process in a specific design firm, and the role of nano-enhanced applications in it, and provided a thick description of the design decisions made within the preliminary stages of the design process of a residential building in Cairo, Egypt. Using Grounded Theory, and through the analysis and coding of the qualitative data collected, this paper was able to identify specific socio-cultural issues influencing individual architect cognition, clarifying how the context of the design process of the studied project affected the design team members’ responses to nano-enhanced materials. This paper presents those findings within a framework of the three identified statuses of response to nanotechnology and classifies the socio-cultural reasons influencing them. In doing so, the paper aims to shed more light on the relation between nanotechnology and architects in their natural environment, and hence allow both to benefit more from a clearer understanding of how the socio-cultural context, along with the benefits of using nanotechnology, influences the design decisions made.

Keywords: nanotechnology, design process, socio-cultural context, nano-enhanced applications

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Authors: Gunjita Shami, Noopur Anand

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The pilot run of 50 days was undertaken to test employability potential of people with visual and hearing & speech impairment. Various roles in an apparel manufacturing set up like spreading of fabric for cutting, folding, sealing and labeling cartons, pasting size barcode stickers on packed garments, removing tickets from the garments in the finishing stage were studied. Their performance was quantified basis timesheets for all the days and improvement per day was quantified. Their final day output was compared to that of the able-bodied worker. For example in the carton making activity on day one visually impaired worker was making one box every three minutes which improved to four boxes per minute on day 28 displaying 91.6% improvement compared or an improvement of 3.6% per day which was comparable to the able-bodied seasoned workers, who were making 5 boxes per minute. The performance of persons with hearing and speech impairment in the finishing department was 10% higher than that of able-bodied seasoned workers in the same process. Overall in all the activities the differently abled showed day to day improvement of 65% while able bodied displayed improvement of 52%. On the first day performance of able-bodied worker was 75% better than that of differently abled while on the 50th day it was only 20% better. Therefore the performance of persons with disabilities was found comparable to the able bodied person. The results, though on a small scale, showed a big promise of employment of persons with disability in the apparel industry. Armed with the promising result a full-scale study has been undertaken to identify the roles suitable for certain kind of disability in apparel production, work-aids required to assist the differently abled to improve performance and measures to be undertaken to make production floor 'friendlier' for them. The results have been discussed in this paper which opens doors for integrating differently abled into the world projected and assumed for only able-bodied.

Keywords: apparel sector, differently abled, employability, performance, work-aid

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Authors: Alireza Vahid, Santu Rana, Sunil Gupta, Pratibha Vellanki, Svetha Venkatesh, Thomas Dorin

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Aluminum is the preferred material for lightweight applications and its alloys are constantly improving. The high strength 7xxx alloys have been extensively used for structural components in aerospace and automobile industries for the past 50 years. In the next decade, a great number of airplanes will be retired, providing an obvious source of valuable used metals and great demand for cost-effective methods to re-use these alloys. The design of proper aerospace alloys is primarily based on optimizing strength and ductility, both of which can be improved by controlling the additional alloying elements as well as heat treatment conditions. In this project, we explore the design of high-performance alloys with 7xxx as a base material. These designed alloys have to be optimized and improved to compare with modern 7xxx-series alloys and to remain competitive for aircraft manufacturing. Aerospace alloys are extremely complex with multiple alloying elements and numerous processing steps making optimization often intensive and costly. In the present study, we used Bayesian optimization algorithm, a well-known adaptive design strategy, to optimize this multi-variable system. An Al alloy was proposed and the relevant heat treatment schedules were optimized, using the tensile yield strength as the output to maximize. The designed alloy has a maximum yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of more than 730 and 760 MPa, respectively, and is thus comparable to the modern high strength 7xxx-series alloys. The microstructure of this alloy is characterized by electron microscopy, indicating that the increased strength of the alloy is due to the presence of a high number density of refined precipitates.

Keywords: aluminum alloys, Bayesian optimization, heat treatment, tensile properties

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Authors: V. P. Borker, K. S. Rane, A. J. Bhobe, R. S. Karmali

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Effluent of dye industries contains chemicals and organic dyes. Sometimes they are thrown in the water bodies without any treatment. This leads to environmental pollution and is detrimental to flora and fauna. Semiconducting oxide zinc oxide with wide bandgap 3.37 eV is used as a photocatalyst in degrading organic dyes using UV radiations. It generates electron-hole pair on exposure to UV light. If degradation is aimed at solar radiations, bandgap of zinc oxide is to be reduced so as to utilize visible radiation. Thus, in present study, zinc oxide, ZnO is synthesized from zinc oxalate, N doped zinc oxide, ZnO₁₋ₓNₓ from hydrazinated zinc oxalate, cadmium doped zinc oxide Zn₀.₉Cd₀.₁₀ and magnesium-doped zinc oxide Zn₀.₉Mg₀.₁₀ from mixed metal oxalate and hydrazinated mixed metal oxalate. The precursors were characterized by FTIR. They were decomposed to form oxides and XRD were recorded. The compounds were monophasic. Bandgap was calculated using Diffuse Reflectance Spectrum. The bandgap of ZnO was reduced to 3.24 because of precursor method of synthesis leading large surface area. The bandgap of Zn₀.₉Cd₀.₁₀ was 3.11 eV and that of Zn₀.₉Mg₀.₁₀ 3.41 eV. The lowest value was of ZnO₁₋ₓNₓ 3.09 eV. These oxides were used to degrade methylene blue, a model dye in sunlight. ZnO₁₋ₓNₓ was also used to degrade effluent of industry manufacturing colours, crayons and markers. It was observed that ZnO₁₋ₓNₓ acts as a good photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue. It can degrade the solution within 120 minutes. Similarly, diluted effluent was decolourised using this oxide. Some colours were degraded using ZnO. Thus, the use of these two oxides could mineralize effluent. Lesser bandgap leads to more electro hole pair thus helps in the formation of hydroxyl ion radicals. These radicals attack the dye molecule, fragmentation takes place and it is mineralised.

Keywords: cadmium doped zinc oxide, dye degradation, dye effluent degradation, N doped zinc oxide, zinc oxide

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Authors: Istvan Csarnovics, Attila Bonyar, Miklos Veres, Laszlo Himics, Attila Csik, Judit Kaman, Julia Burunkova, Geza Szanto, Laszlo Balazs, Sandor Kokenyesi

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In this work, the performance of gold nanoparticles were investigated for stimulation of photosensitive materials for photonic applications. It was widely used for surface plasmon resonance experiments, not in the last place because of the manifestation of optical resonances in the visible spectral region. The localized surface plasmon resonance is rather easily observed in nanometer-sized metallic structures and widely used for measurements, sensing, in semiconductor devices and even in optical data storage. Firstly, gold nanoparticles on silica glass substrate satisfy the conditions for surface plasmon resonance in the green-red spectral range, where the chalcogenide glasses have the highest sensitivity. The gold nanostructures influence and enhance the optical, structural and volume changes and promote the exciton generation in gold nanoparticles/chalcogenide layer structure. The experimental results support the importance of localized electric fields in the photo-induced transformation of chalcogenide glasses as well as suggest new approaches to improve the performance of these optical recording media. Results may be utilized for direct, micrometre- or submicron size geometrical and optical pattern formation and used also for further development of the explanations of these effects in chalcogenide glasses. Besides of that, gold nanoparticles could be added to the organic light-sensitive material. The acrylate-based materials are frequently used for optical, holographic recording of optoelectronic elements due to photo-stimulated structural transformations. The holographic recording process and photo-polymerization effect could be enhanced by the localized plasmon field of the created gold nanostructures. Finally, gold nanoparticles widely used for electrochemical and optical sensor applications. Although these NPs can be synthesized in several ways, perhaps one of the simplest methods is the thermal annealing of pre-deposited thin films on glass or silicon surfaces. With this method, the parameters of the annealing process (time, temperature) and the pre-deposited thin film thickness influence and define the resulting size and distribution of the NPs on the surface. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a very sensitive optical phenomenon and can be utilized for a large variety of sensing purposes (chemical sensors, gas sensors, biosensors, etc.). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical method which can significantly increase the yield of Raman scattering of target molecules adsorbed on the surface of metallic nanoparticles. The sensitivity of LSPR and SERS based devices is strongly depending on the used material and also on the size and geometry of the metallic nanoparticles. By controlling these parameters the plasmon absorption band can be tuned and the sensitivity can be optimized. The technological parameters of the generated gold nanoparticles were investigated and influence on the SERS and on the LSPR sensitivity was established. The LSPR sensitivity were simulated for gold nanocubes and nanospheres with MNPBEM Matlab toolbox. It was found that the enhancement factor (which characterize the increase in the peak shift for multi-particle arrangements compared to single-particle models) depends on the size of the nanoparticles and on the distance between the particles. This work was supported by GINOP- 2.3.2-15-2016-00041 project, which is co-financed by the European Union and European Social Fund. Istvan Csarnovics is grateful for the support through the New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities, supported by the ÚNKP-17-4 Attila Bonyár and Miklós Veres are grateful for the support of the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Keywords: light sensitive nanocomposites, metallic nanoparticles, photonic application, plasmonic nanostructures

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Authors: J. Novak, A. Kohoutkova, V. Kristek, J. Vodicka, M. Sramek

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While the use of cast-in-place concrete for an airfield and highway pavement overlay is very common, the application of precast concrete elements is very limited today. The main reasons consist of high production costs and complex structural behavior. Despite that, several precast concrete systems have been developed and tested with the aim to provide a system with rapid construction. The contribution deals with the reinforcement design of a hexagonal element developed for a proposed airfield pavement system. The sub-base course of the system is composed of compacted recycled concrete aggregates and fiber reinforced concrete with recycled aggregates place on top of it. The selected element belongs to a group of precast concrete elements which are being considered for the construction of a surface course. Both high costs of full-scale experiments and the need to investigate various elements force to simulate their behavior in a numerical analysis software by using finite element method instead of performing expensive experiments. The simulation of the selected element was conducted on a nonlinear model in order to obtain such results which could fully compensate results from experiments. The main objective was to design reinforcement of the precast concrete element subject to quasi-static loading from airplanes with respect to geometrical imperfections, manufacturing imperfections, tensile stress in reinforcement, compressive stress in concrete and crack width. The obtained findings demonstrate that the position and the presence of imperfection in a pavement highly affect the stress distribution in the precast concrete element. The precast concrete element should be heavily reinforced to fulfill all the demands. Using under-reinforced concrete elements would lead to the formation of wide cracks and cracks permanently open.

Keywords: imperfection, numerical simulation, pavement, precast concrete element, reinforcement design, stress analysis

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Authors: Apichaya Aneksampant, Xuefei Tu, Masami Fukushima, Mitsuo Yamamoto

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The restoration of seaweed beds recovery has been developed using a fertilization technique for supplying dissolved iron to barren coastal areas. The fertilizer is composed of iron oxides as a source of iron and compost as humic substance (HS) source, which can serve as chelator of iron to stabilize the dissolved species under oxic seawater condition. However, elution mechanisms of iron from iron oxide surfaces have not sufficiently elucidated. In particular, roles of microbial activities in the elution of iron from the fertilizer are not sufficiently understood. In the present study, a fertilizer (iron oxide/compost = 1/1, v/v) was incubated in a water tank at Mashike coast, Hokkaido Japan. Microorganisms in the 6-month fertilizer were isolated and identified as Exiguobacterium oxidotolerans sp. (T-2-2). The identified bacteria were inoculated to perform iron elution test in a postgate B medium, prepared in artificial seawater. Hematite was used as a model iron oxide and anthraquinone-2,7-disolfonate (AQDS) as a model for HSs. The elution test performed in presence and absence of bacteria inoculation. ICP-AES was used to analyze total iron and a colorimetric technique using ferrozine employed for the determination of ferrous ion. During the incubation period, sample contained hematite and T-2-2 in both presence and absence of AQDS continuously showed the iron elution and reached at the highest concentration after 9 days of incubation and then slightly decrease to stabilize within 20 days. Comparison to the sample without T-2-2, trace amount of iron was observed, suggesting that iron elution to seawater can be attributed to bacterial activities. The levels of total organic carbon (TOC) in the culture solution with hematite decreased. This may be to the adsorption of organic compound, AQDS, to hematite surfaces. The decrease in UV-vis absorption of AQDS in the culture solution also support the results of TOC that AQDS was adsorbed to hematite surfaces. AQDS can enhance the iron elution, while the adsorption of organic matter suppresses the iron elution from hematite.

Keywords: anthraquinone-2, 7-disolfonate, barren ground, E.oxidotolerans sp., hematite, humic substances, iron elution

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Authors: Suyeon Kwon, Ik Joong Kang, Wang Bingjie

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Chitosan is a polymer that is usually produced from N-deacetylation of chitin. It is emerging as a promising biocompatible polymer that is harmless to humans. For the reason that many merits such as good adsorptive, biodegradability, many researches are being done on the chitosan for drug delivery system. Drug delivery system (DDS) has been developed for the control of drug. It makes the drug can be delivered effectively and safely into the targeted human body. The drug used in this work is hydrocortisone that is used in Rheumatism, skin diseases, allergy treatment. In this work, hydrocortisone was used to make allergic rhinitis medicine. Our study focuses on drug delivery through the nasal mucosa by using hydrocortisone impregnated chitosan nanoshells. This study has performed an investigation in order to establish the optimal conditions, changing concentration, quantity of hydrocortisone. DLS, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, UV spectrum were used to analyze the manufactured chitosan-hydrocortisone silver nanoshell and silver nanoshell, whose function as drug carriers. This study has performed an investigation on new drug carriers and delivery routes for hydrocortisone. Various methods of manufacturing chitosan-hydrocortisone nanoshells were attempted in order to establish the optimal condition. As a result, the average size of chitosan-hydrocortisone silver nanoshell is about 80 nm. So, chitosan-hydrocortisone silver nanoshell is suitable as drug carriers because optimal size of drug carrier in human body is less than 120 nm. UV spectrum of Chitosan-hydrocortisone silver nanoshell shows the characteristic peak of silver nanoshell at 420 nm. Likewise, the average size of chitosan-hydrocortisone silver nanoshell is about 100nm. It is also suitable for drug carrier in human body. Also, multi-layered silver shell over chitosan nanoshells induced the red-shift of absorption peak and increased the intensity of absorption peak. The resultant chitosan–silver nanocomposites (or nanoshells) exhibited the absorption peak around 430nm attributed to silvershell formation. i.e. the absorption peak was red-shifted by ca. 40 nm in reference to 390 nm of silver nanoshells.

Keywords: chitosan, drug delivery, hydrocortisone, rhinitis, nanoshell

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Authors: Nicolas M. Beleski, Gustavo A. G. Lugo

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Robotic agents are taking more and increasingly important roles in society. In order to make these robots and agents more autonomous and efficient, their systems have grown to be considerably complex and convoluted. This growth in complexity has led recent researchers to investigate forms to explain the AI behavior behind these systems in search for more trustworthy interactions. A current problem in explainable AI is the inner workings with the logic inference process and how to conduct a sensibility analysis of the process of valuation and alteration of beliefs. In a social HRI (human-robot interaction) setup, theory of mind is crucial to ease the intentionality gap and to achieve that we should be able to infer over observed human behaviors, such as cases of cognitive dissonance. One specific case inspired in human cognition is the role emotions play on our belief system and the effects caused when observed behavior does not match the expected outcome. In such scenarios emotions can make a person wrongly assume the antecedent P for an observed consequent Q, and as a result, incorrectly assert that P is true. This form of cognitive dissonance where an unproven cause is taken as truth induces changes in the belief base which can directly affect future decisions and actions. If we aim to be inspired by human thoughts in order to apply levels of theory of mind to these artificial agents, we must find the conditions to replicate these observable cognitive mechanisms. To achieve this, a computational architecture is proposed to model the modulation effect emotions have on the belief system and how it affects logic inference process and consequently the decision making of an agent. To validate the model, an experiment based on the prisoner's dilemma is currently under development. The hypothesis to be tested involves two main points: how emotions, modeled as internal argument strength modulators, can alter inference outcomes, and how can explainable outcomes be produced under specific forms of cognitive dissonance.

Keywords: cognitive architecture, cognitive dissonance, explainable ai, sensitivity analysis, theory of mind

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Authors: Morteza Malek Yarand, Hadi Saebi Monfared

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This study aimed at designing and developing a mechanical force gauge for the square watermelon mold for the first time. It also tried to introduce the square watermelon characteristics and its production limitations. The mechanical force gauge performance and the product itself were also described. There are three main designable gauge models: a. hydraulic gauge, b. strain gauge, and c. mechanical gauge. The advantage of the hydraulic model is that it instantly displays the pressure and thus the force exerted by the melon. However, considering the inability to measure forces at all directions, complicated development, high cost, possible hydraulic fluid leak into the fruit chamber and the possible influence of increased ambient temperature on the fluid pressure, the development of this gauge was overruled. The second choice was to calculate pressure using the direct force a strain gauge. The main advantage of these strain gauges over spring types is their high precision in measurements; but with regard to the lack of conformity of strain gauge working range with water melon growth, calculations were faced with problems. Finally the mechanical pressure gauge has advantages, including the ability to measured forces and pressures on the mold surface during melon growth; the ability to display the peak forces; the ability to produce melon growth graph thanks to its continuous force measurements; the conformity of its manufacturing materials with the required physical conditions of melon growth; high air conditioning capability; the ability to permit sunlight reaches the melon rind (no yellowish skin and quality loss); fast and straightforward calibration; no damages to the product during assembling and disassembling; visual check capability of the product within the mold; applicable to all growth environments (field, greenhouses, etc.); simple process; low costs and so forth.

Keywords: mechanical force gauge, mold, reshaped fruit, square watermelon

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Authors: Andres Bautista, Alicia Porras, Juan P. Casas, Maribel Silva

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The Colombian aeronautical industry has stimulated research in the mechanical behavior of materials under different loading conditions aircrafts are generally exposed during its operation. The Calima T-90 is the first military aircraft built in the country, used for primary flight training of Colombian Air Force Pilots, therefore, it may be exposed to adverse operating situations such as hard landings which cause impact loads on the aircraft that might produce the impact fatigue phenomenon. The Calima T-90 structure is mainly manufactured by composites materials generating assemblies and subassemblies of different components of it. The main method of bonding these components is by using adhesive joints. Each type of adhesive bond must be studied on its own since its performance depends on the conditions of the manufacturing process and operating characteristics. This study aims to characterize the typical adhesive joints of the aircraft under usual loads. To this purpose, the evaluation of the effect of adhesive thickness on the mechanical performance of the joint under quasi-static loading conditions, constant amplitude fatigue and cyclic impact fatigue using single lap-joint specimens will be performed. Additionally, using a double cantilever beam specimen, the influence of the thickness of the adhesive on the crack growth rate for mode I delamination failure, as a function of the critical energy release rate will be determined. Finally, an analysis of the fracture surface of the test specimens considering the mechanical interaction between the substrate (composite) and the adhesive, provide insights into the magnitude of the damage, the type of failure mechanism that occurs and its correlation with the way crack propagates under the proposed loading conditions.

Keywords: adhesive, composites, crack propagation, fatigue

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Authors: R. M. S. Sachini Amararathne

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This research is striving to develop a thermo degradable starch plastic compound/ masterbatch for industrial packaging applications. A native corn starch-modified with an esterification reaction of lauric acid is melt blent with an unsaturated elastomer (styrene-butadiene-rubber/styrene-butadiene-styrene). A trace amount of metal salt is added into the internal mixer to study the effect of pro-oxidants in a thermo oxidative environment. Then the granulated polymer composite which is consisted with 80-86% of polyolefin (LLDP/LDPE/PP) as the pivotal agent; is extruded with processing aids, antioxidants and some other additives in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder. The pelletized composite is subjected to compression molding/ Injection molding or blown film extrusion processes to acquire the samples/specimen for tests. The degradation process is explicated by analyzing the results of fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements, thermo oxidative aging studies (placing the dumb-bell specimen in an air oven at 70 °C for four weeks of exposure.) governed by tensile and impact strength test reports. Furthermore, the samples were elicited into manifold outdoors to inspect the degradation process. This industrial process is implemented to reduce the volume of fossil-based garbage by achieving the biodegradability and compostability in the natural cycle. Hence the research leads to manufacturing a degradable plastic packaging compound which is now available in the Sri Lankan market.

Keywords: blown film extrusion, compression moulding, polyolefin, pro-oxidant, styrene-butadine-rubber, styrene-butadiene-styrene, thermo oxidative aging, unsaturated elastomer

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Authors: Sruthi Raveendran

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Developmental dyslexia, characterized by reading difficulties despite normal intelligence, presents a significant challenge for bilingual children navigating languages with varying degrees of orthographic transparency. This study bridges a critical gap in dyslexia interventions for bilingual populations in India by examining how consistency and predictability of letter-sound relationships in a writing system (orthographic transparency) influence the ability to understand and manipulate the building blocks of sound in language (phonological processing). The study employed a computerized visual rhyme-judgment task with concurrent EEG (electroencephalogram) recording. The task compared reaction times, accuracy of performance, and event-related potential (ERP) components (N170, N400, and LPC) for rhyming and non-rhyming stimuli in two orthographies: English (opaque orthography) and Kannada (transparent orthography). As hypothesized, the results revealed advantages in phonological processing tasks for transparent orthography (Kannada). Children with dyslexia were faster and more accurate when judging rhymes in Kannada compared to English. This suggests that a language with consistent letter-sound relationships (transparent orthography) facilitates processing, especially for tasks that involve manipulating sounds within words (rhyming). Furthermore, brain activity measured by event-related potentials (ERP) showed less effort required for processing words in Kannada, as reflected by smaller N170, N400, and LPC amplitudes. These findings highlight the crucial role of orthographic transparency in optimizing reading performance for bilingual children with dyslexia. These findings emphasize the need for language-specific intervention strategies that consider the unique linguistic characteristics of each language. While acknowledging the complexity of factors influencing dyslexia, this research contributes valuable insights into the impact of orthographic transparency on phonological awareness in bilingual children. This knowledge paves the way for developing tailored interventions that promote linguistic inclusivity and optimize literacy outcomes for children with dyslexia.

Keywords: developmental dyslexia, phonological awareness, rhyme judgment, orthographic transparency, Kannada, English, N170, N400, LPC

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Authors: Hozaifa Zaki, Ghada Soliman

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In this paper, we introduced an approach for Automated Dotted Arabic Expiration Date Extraction using Optimized Convolutional Autoencoder (ARABEX) with bidirectional LSTM. This approach is used for translating the Arabic dot-matrix expiration dates into their corresponding filled-in dates. A custom lightweight Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN) model is then employed to extract the expiration dates. Due to the lack of available dataset images for the Arabic dot-matrix expiration date, we generated synthetic images by creating an Arabic dot-matrix True Type Font (TTF) matrix to address this limitation. Our model was trained on a realistic synthetic dataset of 3287 images, covering the period from 2019 to 2027, represented in the format of yyyy/mm/dd. We then trained our custom CRNN model using the generated synthetic images to assess the performance of our model (ARABEX) by extracting expiration dates from the translated images. Our proposed approach achieved an accuracy of 99.4% on the test dataset of 658 images, while also achieving a Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) of 0.46 for image translation on our dataset. The ARABEX approach demonstrates its ability to be applied to various downstream learning tasks, including image translation and reconstruction. Moreover, this pipeline (ARABEX+CRNN) can be seamlessly integrated into automated sorting systems to extract expiry dates and sort products accordingly during the manufacturing stage. By eliminating the need for manual entry of expiration dates, which can be time-consuming and inefficient for merchants, our approach offers significant results in terms of efficiency and accuracy for Arabic dot-matrix expiration date recognition.

Keywords: computer vision, deep learning, image processing, character recognition

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Authors: Sylwia Sumińska, Łukasz Kapica, Grzegorz Szczepański

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Introduction: Cognitive skills are a crucial part of everyday functioning. Cognitive skills include perception, attention, language, memory, executive functions, and higher cognitive skills. With the aging of societies, there is an increasing percentage of people whose cognitive skills decline. Cognitive skills affect work performance. The appropriate diagnosis of a worker’s cognitive skills reduces the risk of errors and accidents at work which is also important for senior workers. The study aimed to prepare new cognitive tests for adults aged 20-60 and assess the psychometric properties of the tests. The project responds to the need for reliable and accurate methods of assessing cognitive performance. Computer tests were developed to assess psychomotor performance, attention, and working memory. Method: Two hundred eighty people aged 20-60 will participate in the study in 4 age groups. Inclusion criteria for the study were: no subjective cognitive impairment, no history of severe head injuries, chronic diseases, psychiatric and neurological diseases. The research will be conducted from February - to June 2022. Cognitive tests: 1) Measurement of psychomotor performance: Reaction time, Reaction time with selective attention component; 2) Measurement of sustained attention: Visual search (dots), Visual search (numbers); 3) Measurement of working memory: Remembering words, Remembering letters. To assess the validity and the reliability subjects will perform the Vienna Test System, i.e., “Reaction Test” (reaction time), “Signal Detection” (sustained attention), “Corsi Block-Tapping Test” (working memory), and Perception and Attention Test (TUS), Colour Trails Test (CTT), Digit Span – subtest from The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Eighty people will be invited to a session after three months aimed to assess the consistency over time. Results: Due to ongoing research, the detailed results from 280 people will be shown at the conference separately in each age group. The results of correlation analysis with the Vienna Test System will be demonstrated as well.

Keywords: aging, attention, cognitive skills, cognitive tests, psychomotor performance, working memory

Procedia PDF Downloads 105