Search results for: testing device

Authors: Evelyn Kropfreiter, Roland Bernhard

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There has been an increased interest in school-based whole-child development in the Austrian education system in the last few years. Although there is a consensus among academics that teachers' beliefs are an essential component of their professional competence, there are hardly any studies in the German-speaking world examining teachers' beliefs about school-based character education. To close this gap, we are conducting a mixed methods study combining qualitative interviews and a questionnaire in Austria (doctoral thesis at the University of Salzburg). In this paper, we present preliminary insights into the quantitative strand of the project. In contrast to German-speaking countries, the Anglo-Saxon world has a long tradition of explicit character education in schools. There has been a rising interest in approaches focusing on a neo-Aristotelian form of character education in England. The Jubilee Centre strongly influences the "renaissance" of papers on neo-Aristotelian character education for Character and Virtues, founded in 2012. The quantitative questionnaire study (n = 264) is an online survey of teachers and school principals conducted in four different federal states in spring 2023. Most respondents (n = 264) from lower secondary schools (AHS-Unterstufe and Mittelschule) believe that character education in schools for 10-14-year-olds is more important for society than good exam results. Many teachers state that they consider themselves prepared to promote their students' personal development and life skills through their education and to attend further training courses. However, there are many obstacles in the education system to ensure that a comprehensive education reaches the students. Many teachers state that they consider themselves prepared to promote their students' character strengths and life skills through their education and to attend further training courses. However, there are many obstacles in the education system to ensure that a comprehensive education reaches the students. Among the most cited difficulties, teachers mention the time factor associated with an overcrowded curriculum and a strong focus on performance, which often leaves them needing more time to keep an eye on nurturing the whole person. The fact that character education is not a separate subject, and its implementation needs to be monitored also makes it challenging to implement it in everyday school life. Austrian teachers prioritize moral virtues such as compassion and honesty as character strengths in everyday school life and resilience and commitment in the next place. Our results are like those reported in other studies on teacher's beliefs about character education. They indicate that Austrian teachers want to teach character in their schools but see systemic constraints such as the curriculum, in which personality roles play a subordinate role, and the focus on performance testing in the school system and the associated lack of time as obstacles to fostering more character development in students.

Keywords: character education, life skills, teachers' beliefs, virtues

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Authors: Mary Jane B. Suarez

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Public speaking anxiety (PSA), also known as speech anxiety, is innumerably persistent in any traditional communication classes, especially for students who learn English as a second language. The speech anxiety intensifies when communication skills assessments have taken their toll in an online or a remote mode of learning due to the perils of the COVID-19 virus. Both teachers and students have experienced vast ambiguity on how to realize a still effective way to teach and learn speaking skills amidst the pandemic. Communication skills assessments like public speaking, oral presentations, and student reporting have defined their new meaning using Google Meet, Zoom, and other online platforms. Though using such technologies has paved for more creative ways for students to acquire and develop communication skills, the effectiveness of using such assessment tools stands in question. This mixed method study aimed to determine the factors that affected the public speaking skills of students in a communication class, to probe on the assessment gaps in assessing speaking skills of students attending online classes vis-à-vis the implementation of remote and blended modalities of learning, and to recommend ways on how to address the public speaking anxieties of students in performing a speaking task online and to bridge the assessment gaps based on the outcome of the study in order to achieve a smooth segue from online to on-ground instructions maneuvering towards a much better post-pandemic academic milieu. Using a convergent parallel design, both quantitative and qualitative data were reconciled by probing on the public speaking anxiety of students and the potential assessment gaps encountered in an online English communication class under remote and blended learning. There were four phases in applying the convergent parallel design. The first phase was the data collection, where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using document reviews and focus group discussions. The second phase was data analysis, where quantitative data was treated using statistical testing, particularly frequency, percentage, and mean by using Microsoft Excel application and IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19, and qualitative data was examined using thematic analysis. The third phase was the merging of data analysis results to amalgamate varying comparisons between desired learning competencies versus the actual learning competencies of students. Finally, the fourth phase was the interpretation of merged data that led to the findings that there was a significantly high percentage of students' public speaking anxiety whenever students would deliver speaking tasks online. There were also assessment gaps identified by comparing the desired learning competencies of the formative and alternative assessments implemented and the actual speaking performances of students that showed evidence that public speaking anxiety of students was not properly identified and processed.

Keywords: blended learning, communication skills assessment, public speaking anxiety, speech anxiety

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Authors: Rama Munajat

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Discourse information levels may be viewed from either a background-foreground distinction or a multi-level perspective, and cross-linguistic studies on this area suggest that each information level is marked by a specific linguistic device. In this sense, Sundanese, spoken in Indonesia’s West Javanese Province, further differentiates the background and foreground information into ordinary and significant types. This paper will report an ongoing shift from particle-to-active voice marking in the way Sundanese signals foregrounding events. The shift relates to decades of contact with Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia’s official language) and linguistic compatibility between the two surface marking strategies. Representative data analyzed include three groups of short stories in both Sundanese and Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) published in three periods: before 1945, 1965-2006, and 2016-2019. In the first group of Sundanese data, forward-moving events dominantly appear in particle KA (Kecap Anteuran, word-accompanying) constructions, where the KA represents different particles that co-occur with a special group of verbs. The second group, however, shows that the foregrounded events are more frequently described in active-voice forms with a subject-predicate (SP) order. Subsequently, the third offers stronger evidence for the use of the SP structure. As for the Indonesian data, the foregrounding events in the first group occur in verb-initial and passive-voice constructions, while in the second and third, the events more frequently appear in active-voice structures (subject-predicate sequence). The marking shift above suggests a structural influence from Indonesian, stemmed from generational differences among authors of the Sundanese short stories, particularly related to their education and language backgrounds. The first group of short stories – published before 1945 or before Indonesia's independence from Dutch – were written by native speakers of Sundanese who spoke Indonesian as a foreign language and went through the Dutch education system. The second group of authors, on the other hand, represents a generation of Sundanese native speakers who spoke Indonesian as a second language. Finally, the third group consists of authors who are bilingual speakers of both Sundanese and Indonesian. The data suggest that the last two groups of authors completed the Indonesian education system. With these, the use of subject-predicate sequences to denote foregrounding events began to appear more frequently in the second group and then became more dominant in those of the third. The coded data also signify that cohesion, coherence, and pragmatic purposes in Particle KA constructions are intact in their respective active-voice structure counterparts. For instance, the foregrounding events in Particle KA constructions occur in Sentence-initial KA and Pre-verbal KA forms, whereas those in the active-voice are described in Subject-Predicate (SP) and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns. Cross-language data further demonstrate that the Sentence-initial KA and the SP active-voice structures each contain an overt noun phrase (NP) co-referential with one of the entities introduced in a preceding context. Similarly, the pre-verbal KA and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns have a deleted noun phrase unambiguously referable to the only one entity previously mentioned. The presence and absence of an NP inform a pragmatic strategy to place prominence on topic/given and comment/new information, respectively.

Keywords: discourse analysis, foregrounding marking, pragmatics, language contact

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Authors: M. Patterson, R. Bond, K. Cowan, M. Mulvenna, C. Reid, F. McMahon, P. McGowan, H. Cormican

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This paper outlines the design of a simulator to allow for the optimisation of clinical workflows through a pathology laboratory and to improve the laboratory’s efficiency in the processing, testing, and analysis of specimens. Often pathologists have difficulty in pinpointing and anticipating issues in the clinical workflow until tests are running late or in error. It can be difficult to pinpoint the cause and even more difficult to predict any issues which may arise. For example, they often have no indication of how many samples are going to be delivered to the laboratory that day or at a given hour. If we could model scenarios using past information and known variables, it would be possible for pathology laboratories to initiate resource preparations, e.g. the printing of specimen labels or to activate a sufficient number of technicians. This would expedite the clinical workload, clinical processes and improve the overall efficiency of the laboratory. The simulator design visualises the workflow of the laboratory, i.e. the clinical tests being ordered, the specimens arriving, current tests being performed, results being validated and reports being issued. The simulator depicts the movement of specimens through this process, as well as the number of specimens at each stage. This movement is visualised using an animated flow diagram that is updated in real time. A traffic light colour-coding system will be used to indicate the level of flow through each stage (green for normal flow, orange for slow flow, and red for critical flow). This would allow pathologists to clearly see where there are issues and bottlenecks in the process. Graphs would also be used to indicate the status of specimens at each stage of the process. For example, a graph could show the percentage of specimen tests that are on time, potentially late, running late and in error. Clicking on potentially late samples will display more detailed information about those samples, the tests that still need to be performed on them and their urgency level. This would allow any issues to be resolved quickly. In the case of potentially late samples, this could help to ensure that critically needed results are delivered on time. The simulator will be created as a single-page web application. Various web technologies will be used to create the flow diagram showing the workflow of the laboratory. JavaScript will be used to program the logic, animate the movement of samples through each of the stages and to generate the status graphs in real time. This live information will be extracted from an Oracle database. As well as being used in a real laboratory situation, the simulator could also be used for training purposes. ‘Bots’ would be used to control the flow of specimens through each step of the process. Like existing software agents technology, these bots would be configurable in order to simulate different situations, which may arise in a laboratory such as an emerging epidemic. The bots could then be turned on and off to allow trainees to complete the tasks required at that step of the process, for example validating test results.

Keywords: laboratory-process, optimization, pathology, computer simulation, workflow

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Authors: Era Dorihi Kale, Sabina Gero, Uly Agustine

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Asylum seekers are people who come to other countries to get asylum. In line with that, they also carry the culture and health behavior of their country, which is very different from the new country they currently live in. This situation raises problems, also in the health sector. The approach taken must also be a culturally sensitive approach, where the culture and habits of the refugee's home area are also valued so that the health services provided can be right on target. Some risk factors that already exist in this group are lack of activity, consumption of fast food, smoking, and stress levels that are quite high. Overall this condition will increase the risk of an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. This research is a descriptive and experimental study. The purpose of this study is to identify health status and develop a culturally sensitive health promotion model, especially related to the risk of cardiovascular disease for asylum seekers in detention homes in the city of Kupang. This research was carried out in 3 stages, stage 1 was conducting a survey of health problems and the risk of asylum seeker cardiovascular disease, Stage 2 developed a health promotion model, and stage 3 conducted a testing model of health promotion carried out. There were 81 respondents involved in this study. The variables measured were: health status, risk of cardiovascular disease and, health promotion models. Method of data collection: Instruments (questionnaires) were distributed to respondents answered for anamnese health status; then, cardiovascular risk measurements were taken. After that, the preparation of information needs and the compilation of booklets on the prevention of cardiovascular disease is carried out. The compiled booklet was then translated into Farsi. After that, the booklet was tested. Respondent characteristics: average lived in Indonesia for 4.38 years, the majority were male (90.1%), and most were aged 15-34 years (90.1%). There are several diseases that are often suffered by asylum seekers, namely: gastritis, headaches, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin allergies, sore throat, cough, and depression. The level of risk for asylum seekers experiencing cardiovascular problems is 4 high risk people, 6 moderate risk people, and 71 low risk people. This condition needs special attention because the number of people at risk is quite high when compared to the age group of refugees. This is very related to the level of stress experienced by the refugees. The health promotion model that can be used is the transactional stress and coping model, using Persian (oral) and English for written information. It is recommended for health practitioners who care for refugees to always pay attention to aspects of culture (especially language) as well as the psychological condition of asylum seekers to make it easier to conduct health care and promotion. As well for further research, it is recommended to conduct research, especially relating to the effect of psychological stress on the risk of cardiovascular disease in asylum seekers.

Keywords: asylum seekers, health status, cardiovascular disease, health promotion

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Authors: Chao Yang, Jinchuan Zhang, Yongqiang Xiong

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The Lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation shale (NFS) deposited in the marine deep-shelf environment in Southeast Upper Yangtze (SUY), possess excellent source rock basis for shale gas generation, however, it is currently challenged by being over-mature with strong tectonic deformations, leading to much uncertainty of gas-bearing potential. With emphasis on the shale gas enrichment of the NFS, analyses were made based on the regional gas-bearing differences obtained from field gas-desorption testing of 18 geological survey wells across the study area. Results show that the NFS bears low gas content of 0.2-2.5 m³/t, and the eastern region of SUY is higher than the western region in gas content. Moreover, the methane fraction also presents the similar regional differentiation with the western region less than 10 vol.% while the eastern region generally more than 70 vol.%. Through the analysis of geological theory, the following conclusions are drawn: Depositional environment determines the gas-enriching zones. In the western region, the Dengying Formation underlying the NFS in unconformity contact was mainly plateau facies dolomite with caves and thereby bears poor gas-sealing ability. Whereas the Laobao Formation underling the NFS in eastern region was a set of siliceous rocks of shelf-slope facies, which can effectively prevent the shale gas from escaping away from the NFS. The tectonic conditions control the gas-enriching bands in the SUY, which is located in the fold zones formed by the thrust of the Southern China plate towards to the Sichuan Basin. Compared with the western region located in the trough-like folds, the eastern region at the fold-thrust belts was uplifted early and deformed weakly, resulting in the relatively less mature level and relatively slight tectonic deformation of the NFS. Faults determine whether shale gas can be accumulated in large scale. Four deep and large normal faults in the study area cut through the Niutitang Formation to the Sinian strata, directly causing a large spillover of natural gas in the adjacent areas. For the secondary faults developed within the shale formation, the reverse faults generally have a positive influence on the shale accumulation while the normal faults perform the opposite influence. Overall, shale gas enrichment targets of the NFS, are the areas with certain thickness of siliceous rocks at the basement of the Niutitang Formation, and near the margin of the paleouplift with less developed faults. These findings provide direction for shale gas exploration in South China, and also provide references for the areas with similar geological conditions all over the world.

Keywords: over-mature marine shale, shale gas accumulation, structure-complicated area, Southeast Upper Yangtze

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Authors: Vesa Salminen, Esa Santakallio, Heikki Ruohomaa

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Introduction: The city of Riihimäki has decided robotics on well-being, service and industry as the main focus area on their ecosystem strategy. Robotics is going to be an important part of the everyday life of citizens and present in the working day of the average citizen and employee in the future. For that reason, also education system and education programs on all levels of education from diaper age to doctorate have been directed to fulfill this ecosystem strategy. Goal: The objective of this activity has been to develop education continuity from diaper age to doctorate. The main target of the development activity is to create a unique robotics study entity that enables ongoing robotics studies from preprimary education to university. The aim is also to attract students internationally and supply a skilled workforce to the private sector, capable of the challenges of the future. Methodology: Education instances (high school, second grade, Universities on all levels) in a large area of Tavastia Province have gradually directed their education programs to support this goal. On the other hand, applied research projects have been created to make proof of concept- phases on areal real environment field labs to test technology opportunities and digitalization to change business processes by applying robotic solutions. Customer-oriented applied research projects offer for students in robotics education learning environments to learn new knowledge and content. That is also a learning environment for education programs to adapt and co-evolution. New content and problem-based learning are used in future education modules. Major findings: Joint robotics education entity is being developed in cooperation with the city of Riihimäki (primary education), Syria Education (secondary education) and HAMK (bachelor and master education). The education modules have been developed to enable smooth transitioning from one institute to another. This article is introduced a case study of the change of education of wellbeing education because of digitalization and robotics. Riihimäki's Elderly citizen's service house, Riihikoti, has been working as a field lab for proof-of-concept phases on testing technology opportunities. According to successful case studies also education programs on various levels of education have been changing. Riihikoti has been developed as a physical learning environment for home care and robotics, investigating and developing a variety of digital devices and service opportunities and experimenting and learn the use of equipment. The environment enables the co-development of digital service capabilities in the authentic environment for all interested groups in transdisciplinary cooperation.

Keywords: ecosystem strategy, digitalization and robotics, education continuity, learning environment, transdisciplinary co-operation

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Authors: Erin Micali, Katerina Tolstikova, Cheryl Maykel, Elizabeth Harwood

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Female ASD is seldomly studied separately from males. Further, females with ASD are disproportionately underrepresented in the research at a rate of 3:1 (male to female). As such, much of the current understanding about female rigid repetitive behaviors (RRBs) stems from research’s understanding of male RRBs. This can be detrimental to understanding female ASD because this understanding of female RRBs largely discounts female camouflaging and the possibility that females present their autistic symptoms differently. Current literature suggests that females with ASD engage in fewer RRBs than males with ASD and when females do engage in RRBs, they are likely to engage in more subtle, less overt obsessions and repetitive behaviors than males. Method: The current study utilized a mixed methods research design to identify the type and frequency of RRBs that females with ASD engaged in by using a cross-sectional design. The researcher recruited only females to be part of the present study with the criteria they be at least age six and not have co-occurring cognitive impairment. Results: The researcher collected previous testing data (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Child or Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile-2, Autism/ Empathy Quotient, Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Checklist, Rigid Repetitive Behavior Checklist (evaluator created list), and demographic questionnaire) from 25 total participants. The participants ages ranged from six to 52. The participants were 96% Caucasion and 4% Latin American. Qualitative analysis found the current participant pool engaged in six RRB themes including repetitive behaviors, socially restrictive behaviors, repetitive speech, difficulty with transition, obsessive behaviors, and restricted interests. The current dataset engaged in socially restrictive behaviors and restrictive interests most frequently. Within the main themes 40 subthemes were isolated, defined, and analyzed. Further, preliminary quantitative analysis was run to determine if age impacted camouflaging behaviors and overall presentation of RRBs. Within this dataset this was not founded. Further qualitative data will be run to determine if this dataset engaged in more overt or subtle RRBs to confirm or rebuff previous research. The researcher intends to run SPSS analysis to determine if there was statistical difference between each RRB theme and overall presentation. Secondly, each participant will be analyzed for presentation of RRB, age, and previous diagnoses. Conclusion: The present study aimed to assist in diagnostic clarity. This was achieved by collecting data from a female only participant pool across the lifespan. Current data aided in clarity of the type of RRBs engage in. A limited sample size was a barrier in this study.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, camouflaging, rigid repetitive behaviors, gender disparity

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Authors: Mingqian Zhang

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Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a scanning probe technique for individual objects and structured surfaces investigation that provides a wealth of enhanced spectral information with nanoscale spatial resolution and high detection sensitivity. It has become a powerful and promising chemical and physical information detection method in the nanometer scale. The TERS technique uses a sharp metallic tip regulated in the near-field of a sample surface, which is illuminated with a certain incident beam meeting the excitation conditions of the wave-vector matching. The local electric field, and, consequently, the Raman scattering, from the sample in the vicinity of the tip apex are both greatly tip-enhanced owning to the excitation of localized surface plasmons and the lightning-rod effect. Typically, a TERS setup is composed of a scanning probe microscope, excitation and collection optical configurations, and a Raman spectroscope. In the illumination configuration, an objective lens or a parabolic mirror is always used as the most important component, in order to focus the incident beam on the tip apex for excitation. In this research, a novel TERS setup was built up by introducing a plasmonic lens to the excitation optics as a focusing device. A plasmonic lens with symmetry breaking semi-annular slits corrugated on gold film was designed for the purpose of generating concentrated sub-wavelength light spots with strong longitudinal electric field. Compared to conventional far-field optical components, the designed plasmonic lens not only focuses an incident beam to a sub-wavelength light spot, but also realizes a strong z-component that dominants the electric field illumination, which is ideal for the excitation of tip-enhancement. Therefore, using a PL in the illumination configuration of TERS contributes to improve the detection sensitivity by both reducing the far-field background and effectively exciting the localized electric field enhancement. The FDTD method was employed to investigate the optical near-field distribution resulting from the light-nanostructure interaction. And the optical field distribution was characterized using an scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope to demonstrate the focusing performance of the lens. The experimental result is in agreement with the theoretically calculated one. It verifies the focusing performance of the plasmonic lens. The optical field distribution shows a bright elliptic spot in the lens center and several arc-like side-lobes on both sides. After the focusing performance was experimentally verified, the designed plasmonic lens was used as a focusing component in the excitation configuration of TERS setup to concentrate incident energy and generate a longitudinal optical field. A collimated linearly polarized laser beam, with along x-axis polarization, was incident from the bottom glass side on the plasmonic lens. The incident light focused by the plasmonic lens interacted with the silver-coated tip apex and enhanced the Raman signal of the sample locally. The scattered Raman signal was gathered by a parabolic mirror and detected with a Raman spectroscopy. Then, the plasmonic lens based setup was employed to investigate carbon nanotubes and TERS experiment was performed. Experimental results indicate that the Raman signal is considerably enhanced which proves that the novel TERS configuration is feasible and promising.

Keywords: longitudinal electric field, plasmonics, raman spectroscopy, tip-enhancement

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Authors: Tahisa M. Pedroso, Hérida R. N. Salgado

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The microbiological turbidimetric assay allows the determination of potency of the drug, by measuring the turbidity (absorbance), caused by inhibition of microorganisms by ertapenem sodium. Ertapenem sodium (ERTM), a synthetic antimicrobial agent of the class of carbapenems, shows action against Gram-negative, Gram-positive, aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Turbidimetric assays are described in the literature for some antibiotics, but this method is not described for ertapenem. The objective of the present study was to develop and validate a simple, sensitive, precise and accurate microbiological assay by turbidimetry to quantify ertapenem sodium injectable as an alternative to the physicochemical methods described in the literature. Several preliminary tests were performed to choose the following parameters: Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, IAL 1851, 8 % of inoculum, BHI culture medium, and aqueous solution of ertapenem sodium. 10.0 mL of sterile BHI culture medium were distributed in 20 tubes. 0.2 mL of solutions (standard and test), were added in tube, respectively S1, S2 and S3, and T1, T2 and T3, 0.8 mL of culture medium inoculated were transferred to each tube, according parallel lines 3 x 3 test. The tubes were incubated in shaker Marconi MA 420 at a temperature of 35.0 °C ± 2.0 °C for 4 hours. After this period, the growth of microorganisms was inhibited by addition of 0.5 mL of 12% formaldehyde solution in each tube. The absorbance was determined in Quimis Q-798DRM spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 530 nm. An analytical curve was constructed to obtain the equation of the line by the least-squares method and the linearity and parallelism was detected by ANOVA. The specificity of the method was proven by comparing the response obtained for the standard and the finished product. The precision was checked by testing the determination of ertapenem sodium in three days. The accuracy was determined by recovery test. The robustness was determined by comparing the results obtained by varying wavelength, brand of culture medium and volume of culture medium in the tubes. Statistical analysis showed that there is no deviation from linearity in the analytical curves of standard and test samples. The correlation coefficients were 0.9996 and 0.9998 for the standard and test samples, respectively. The specificity was confirmed by comparing the absorbance of the reference substance and test samples. The values obtained for intraday, interday and between analyst precision were 1.25%; 0.26%, 0.15% respectively. The amount of ertapenem sodium present in the samples analyzed, 99.87%, is consistent. The accuracy was proven by the recovery test, with value of 98.20%. The parameters varied did not affect the analysis of ertapenem sodium, confirming the robustness of this method. The turbidimetric assay is more versatile, faster and easier to apply than agar diffusion assay. The method is simple, rapid and accurate and can be used in routine analysis of quality control of formulations containing ertapenem sodium.

Keywords: ertapenem sodium, turbidimetric assay, quality control, validation

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Authors: Mareike Dornhoefer, Madjid Fathi

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Water supply and water quality are key problems of mankind at the moment and - due to increasing population - in the future. Management disciplines like water, environment and quality management therefore need to closely interact, to establish a high level of water quality and to guarantee water supply in all parts of the world. Groundwater remediation is one aspect in this process. From a knowledge management perspective it is only possible to solve complex ecological or environmental problems if different factors, expert knowledge of various stakeholders and formal regulations regarding water, waste or chemical management are interconnected in form of a knowledge base. In general knowledge management focuses the processes of gathering and representing existing and new knowledge in a way, which allows for inference or deduction of knowledge for e.g. a situation where a problem solution or decision support are required. A knowledge base is no sole data repository, but a key element in a knowledge based system, thus providing or allowing for inference mechanisms to deduct further knowledge from existing facts. In consequence this knowledge provides decision support. The given paper introduces an environmental knowledge system in water management. The proposed environmental knowledge system is part of a research concept called Green Knowledge Management. It applies semantic technologies or concepts such as ontology or linked open data to interconnect different data and information sources about environmental aspects, in this case, water quality, as well as background material enriching an established knowledge base. Examples for the aforementioned ecological or environmental factors threatening water quality are among others industrial pollution (e.g. leakage of chemicals), environmental changes (e.g. rise in temperature) or floods, where all kinds of waste are merged and transferred into natural water environments. Water quality is usually determined with the help of measuring different indicators (e.g. chemical or biological), which are gathered with the help of laboratory testing, continuous monitoring equipment or other measuring processes. During all of these processes data are gathered and stored in different databases. Meanwhile the knowledge base needs to be established through interconnecting data of these different data sources and enriching its semantics. Experts may add their knowledge or experiences of previous incidents or influencing factors. In consequence querying or inference mechanisms are applied for the deduction of coherence between indicators, predictive developments or environmental threats. Relevant processes or steps of action may be modeled in form of a rule based approach. Overall the environmental knowledge system supports the interconnection of information and adding semantics to create environmental knowledge about water environment, supply chain as well as quality. The proposed concept itself is a holistic approach, which links to associated disciplines like environmental and quality management. Quality indicators and quality management steps need to be considered e.g. for the process and inference layers of the environmental knowledge system, thus integrating the aforementioned management disciplines in one water management application.

Keywords: water quality, environmental knowledge system, green knowledge management, semantic technologies, quality management

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Authors: Reena Aggarwal, Neha Kestwal

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The Himalayan Nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) has been used for centuries as fibre and food source by Himalayan communities. Himalayan Nettle is a natural cellulosic fibre that can be handled in the same way as other cellulosic fibres. The Uttarakhand Bamboo and Fibre Development Board based in Uttarakhand, India is working extensively with the nettle fibre to explore the potential of nettle for textile production in the region. The fiber is a potential resource for rural enterprise development for some high altitude pockets of the state and traditionally the plant fibre is used for making domestic products like ropes and sacks. Himalayan Nettle is an unconventional natural fiber with functional characteristics of shrink resistance, degree of pathogen and fire resistance and can blend nicely with other fibres. Most importantly, they generate mainly organic wastes and leave residues that are 100% biodegradable. The fabrics may potentially be reused or re-manufactured and can also be used as a source of cellulose feedstock for regenerated cellulosic products. Being naturally bio- degradable, the fibre can be composted if required. Though a lot of research activities and training are directed towards fibre extraction and processing techniques in different craft clusters villagers of different clusters of Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Bageshwar of Uttarakhand like retting and Degumming process, very little is been done to analyse the crucial properties of nettle fiber like shrinkage and wash fastness. These properties are very crucial to obtain desired quality of fibre for further processing of yarn making and weaving and in developing these fibers into fine saleable products. This research therefore is focused towards various on-field experiments which were focused on shrinkage properties conducted on cotton, nettle and cotton/nettle blended yarn samples. The objective of the study was to analyze the scope of the blended fiber for developing into wearable fabrics. For the study, after conducting the initial fiber length and fineness testing, cotton and nettle fibers were mixed in 60:40 ratio and five varieties of yarns were spun in open end spinning mill having yarn count of 3s, 5s, 6s, 7s and 8s. Samples of 100% Nettle 100% cotton fibers in 8s count were also developed for the study. All the six varieties of yarns were tested with shrinkage test and results were critically analyzed as per ASTM method D2259. It was observed that 100% Nettle has a least shrinkage of 3.36% while pure cotton has shrinkage approx. 13.6%. Yarns made of 100% Cotton exhibits four times more shrinkage than 100% Nettle. The results also show that cotton and Nettle blended yarn exhibit lower shrinkage than 100% cotton yarn. It was thus concluded that as the ratio of nettle increases in the samples, the shrinkage decreases in the samples. These results are very crucial for Uttarakhand people who want to commercially exploit the abundant nettle fiber for generating sustainable employment.

Keywords: Himalayan nettle, sustainable, shrinkage, blending

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Authors: Juan Pablo Bertuzzi, Mauro Chiarella

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Employing a communication studies perspective and a socio-technological approach, this paper introduces a theoretical framework for understanding the concept of hybrid world; the avatarization phenomena; and the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. This analysis intends to make a contribution to future design of virtual reality experimental applications. Ultimately, this paper presents an ongoing research project that proposes the study of human-avatar interactions in digital educational environments, as well as an innovative reflection on inner digital communication. The aforementioned project presents the analysis of human-avatar interactions, through the development of an interactive experience in virtual reality. The goal is to generate an innovative communicational dimension that could reinforce the hypotheses presented throughout this paper. Being thought for its initial application in educational environments, the analysis and results of this research are dependent and have been prepared in regard of a meticulous planning of: the conception of a 3D digital platform; the interactive game objects; the AI or computer avatars; the human representation as hybrid avatars; and lastly, the potential of immersion, ergonomics and control diversity that can provide the virtual reality system and the game engine that were chosen. The project is divided in two main axes: The first part is the structural one, as it is mandatory for the construction of an original prototype. The 3D model is inspired by the physical space that belongs to an academic institution. The incorporation of smart objects, avatars, game mechanics, game objects, and a dialogue system will be part of the prototype. These elements have all the objective of gamifying the educational environment. To generate a continuous participation and a large amount of interactions, the digital world will be navigable both, in a conventional device and in a virtual reality system. This decision is made, practically, to facilitate the communication between students and teachers; and strategically, because it will help to a faster population of the digital environment. The second part is concentrated to content production and further data analysis. The challenge is to offer a scenario’s diversity that compels users to interact and to question their digital embodiment. The multipath narrative content that is being applied is focused on the subjects covered in this paper. Furthermore, the experience with virtual reality devices proposes users to experiment in a mixture of a seemingly infinite digital world and a small physical area of movement. This combination will lead the narrative content and it will be crucial in order to restrict user’s interactions. The main point is to stimulate and to grow in the user the need of his hybrid avatar’s help. By building an inner communication between user’s physicality and user’s digital extension, the interactions will serve as a self-guide through the gameworld. This is the first attempt to make explicit the avatarization phenomena and to further analyze the communicational archetype of co-hybridization. The challenge of the upcoming years will be to take advantage from these forms of generalized avatarization, in order to create awareness and establish innovative forms of hybridization.

Keywords: avatar, hybrid worlds, socio-technology, virtual reality

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Authors: A. Venkatakrishnan, M. Juneja, S. Kapoor

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Background: Gastrointestinal dysfunction is an emerging co morbidity seen in autism and may further strengthen the association between autism and celiac disease. This is supported by increased rates (22-70%) of gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, abdominal discomfort/pain, and gastrointestinal inflammation in children with the etiology of autism is still elusive. In addition to genetic factors, environmental factors such as toxin exposure, intrauterine exposure to certain teratogenic drugs, are being proposed as possible contributing factors in the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in cognizance with reports of increased gut permeability and high rates of gastrointestinal symptoms noted in children with ASD, celiac disease has also been proposed as a possible etiological factor. Despite insufficient evidence regarding the benefit of restricted diets in Autism, GFD has been promoted as an alternative treatment for ASD. This study attempts to discern any correlation between ASD and celiac disease. Objective: This cross sectional study aims to determine the proportion of celiac disease in children with ASD. Methods: Study included 155 participants aged 2-12 yrs, diagnosed as ASD as per DSM-5 attending the child development center at a tertiary care hospital in Northern India. Those on gluten free diet or having other autoimmune conditions were excluded. A detailed Performa was filled which included sociodemographic details, history of gastrointestinal symptoms, anthropometry, systemic examination, and pertinent psychological testing was done using was assessed using Developmental Profile-3(DP-3) for Developmental Quotient, Childhood Autism Rating Scale-2 (CARS-2) for severity of ASD, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) for adaptive behavior, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for behavioral problems and BAMBI (Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Scales) for feeding problems. Screening for celiac was done by TTG-IgA levels, and total serum IgA levels were measured to exclude IgA deficiency. Those with positive screen were further planned for HLA typing and endoscopic biopsy. Results: A total of 155 cases were included, out of which 5 had low IgA levels and were hence excluded from the study. The rest 150 children had TTG levels below the ULN and normal total serum IgA level. History of Gastrointestinal symptoms was present in 51 (34%) cases abdominal pain was the most frequent complaint (16.6%), followed by constipation (12.6%). Diarrhea was seen in 8 %. Gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly more common in children with ASD above 5 yrs (p-value 0.006) and those who were verbal (p = 0.000). There was no significant association between socio-demographic factors, anthropometric data, or severity of autism with gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusion: None of the150 patients with ASD had raised TTG levels; hence no association was found between ASD and celiac disease. There is no justification for routine screening for celiac disease in children with ASD. Further studies are warranted to evaluate association of Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity with ASD and any role of gluten-free diet in such patients.

Keywords: autism, celiac, gastrointestinal, gluten

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Authors: Stephen Tullis, M. David DiDonato, Hong Sung Park

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Rowing boats (shells) are often steered by a small rudder operated by one of the backward-facing rowers; the attention required of that athlete then slightly decreases the power that that athlete can provide. Reducing the steering distraction would then increase the overall boat speed. Races are straight 2000 m courses with each boat in a 13.5 m wide lane marked by small (~15 cm) widely-spaced (~10 m) buoys, and the boat trajectory is affected by both cross-currents and winds. An optical buoy recognition and tracking system has been developed that provides the boat’s location and orientation with respect to the lane edges. This information is provided to the steering athlete as either: a simple overlay on a video display, or fed to a simplified autopilot system giving steering directions to the athlete or directly controlling the rudder. The system is then effectively a “lane-assist” device but with small, widely-spaced lane markers viewed from a very shallow angle due to constraints on camera height. The image is captured with a lightweight 1080p webcam, and most of the image analysis is done in OpenCV. The colour RGB-image is converted to a grayscale using the difference of the red and blue channels, which provides good contrast between the red/yellow buoys and the water, sky, land background and white reflections and noise. Buoy detection is done with thresholding within a tight mask applied to the image. Robust linear regression using Tukey’s biweight estimator of the previously detected buoy locations is used to develop the mask; this avoids the false detection of noise such as waves (reflections) and, in particular, buoys in other lanes. The robust regression also provides the current lane edges in the camera frame that are used to calculate the displacement of the boat from the lane centre (lane location), and its yaw angle. The interception of the detected lane edges provides a lane vanishing point, and yaw angle can be calculated simply based on the displacement of this vanishing point from the camera axis and the image plane distance. Lane location is simply based on the lateral displacement of the vanishing point from any horizontal cut through the lane edges. The boat lane position and yaw are currently fed what is essentially a stripped down marine auto-pilot system. Currently, only the lane location is used in a PID controller of a rudder actuator with integrator anti-windup to deal with saturation of the rudder angle. Low Kp and Kd values decrease unnecessarily fast return to lane centrelines and response to noise, and limiters can be used to avoid lane departure and disqualification. Yaw is not used as a control input, as cross-winds and currents can cause a straight course with considerable yaw or crab angle. Mapping of the controller with rudder angle “overall effectiveness” has not been finalized - very large rudder angles stall and have decreased turning moments, but at less extreme angles the increased rudder drag slows the boat and upsets boat balance. The full system has many features similar to automotive lane-assist systems, but with the added constraints of the lane markers, camera positioning, control response and noise increasing the challenge.

Keywords: auto-pilot, lane-assist, marine, optical, rowing

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Authors: Anitha Kandasamy, Thirumurugan Ramaiah

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Interestingly, organic materials exhibit large optical nonlinearity with quick responses and having the flexibility of molecular tailoring using computational modelling and favourable synthetic methodologies. Pyridine based organic compounds and carboxylic acid contained aromatic compounds play a crucial role in crystal engineering of NCS complexes that displays admirable optical nonlinearity with fast response and favourable physicochemical properties such as low dielectric constant, wide optical transparency and large laser damage threshold value requires for optoelectronics device applications. Based on these facts, it was projected to form an acentric molecule of π-conjugated system interaction with appropriately replaced electron donor and acceptor groups for achieving higher SHG activity in which quinoline-2-carboyxlic acid is chosen as an electron acceptor and capable of acting as an acid as well as a base molecule, while 2-amino-4-methylpyridine is used as an electron donor and previously employed in numerous proton transfer complexes for synthesis of NLO materials for optoelectronic applications. 2-amino-4-mehtylpyridinium quinoline-2-carboxylate molecular complex (2AQ) is having π-donor-acceptor groups in which 2-amino-4-methylpyridine donates one of its electron to quinoline -2-carboxylic acid thereby forming a protonated 2-amino-4-methyl pyridinium moiety and mono ionized quinoline-2-carboxylate moiety which are connected via N-H…O intermolecular interactions with non-centrosymmetric crystal packing arrangement at microscopic scale is accountable to the enhancement of macroscopic second order NLO activity. The 2AQ crystal was successfully grown by a slow evaporation solution growth technique and its structure was determined in orthorhombic crystal system with acentric, P212121, space group. Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals that O…H intermolecular interactions primarily contributed with 31.0 % to the structural stabilization of 2AQ. The molecular structure of title compound has been confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR spectral studies. The vibrational modes of functional groups present in 2AQ have been assigned by using FTIR and FT-Raman spectroscopy. The grown 2AQ crystal exhibits high optical transparency with lower cut-off wavelength (275 nm) within the region of 275-1500 nm. The laser study confirmed that 2AQ exhibits high SHG efficiency of 12.6 times greater than that of KDP. TGA-DTA analysis revealed that 2AQ crystal had a thermal stability of 223 °C. The low dielectric constant and low dielectric loss at higher frequencies confirmed good crystalline nature with fewer defects of grown 2AQ crystal. The grown crystal exhibits soft material and positive photoconduction behaviour. Mulliken atomic distribution and FMOs analysis suggested that the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding which lead to the enhancement of NLO activity. These properties suggest that 2AQ crystal is a suitable material for optoelectronic and laser frequency conversion applications.

Keywords: crystal growth, NLO activity, proton transfer complex, quantum chemical investigation

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Authors: Jaroslav Knapek, Kamila Vavrova, Tomas Kralik, Tereza Humesova

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The treatment and disposal of sewage sludge is one of the most important and critical problems of waste water treatment plants. Currently, 180 thousand tonnes of sludge dry matter are produced in the Czech Republic, which corresponds to approximately 17.8 kg of stabilized sludge dry matter / year per inhabitant of the Czech Republic. Due to the fact that sewage sludge contains a large amount of substances that are not beneficial for human health, the conditions for sludge management will be significantly tightened in the Czech Republic since 2023. One of the tested methods of sludge liquidation is the production of alternative fuel from sludge from sewage treatment plants and paper production. The paper presents an analysis of economic efficiency of alternative fuel production from sludge and its use for fluidized bed boiler with nominal consumption of 5 t of fuel per hour. The evaluation methodology includes the entire logistics chain from sludge extraction, through mechanical moisture reduction to about 40%, transport to the pelletizing line, moisture drying for pelleting and pelleting itself. For economic analysis of sludge pellet production, a time horizon of 10 years corresponding to the expected lifetime of the critical components of the pelletizing line is chosen. The economic analysis of pelleting projects is based on a detailed analysis of reference pelleting technologies suitable for sludge pelleting. The analysis of the economic efficiency of pellet is based on the simulation of cash flows associated with the implementation of the project over the life of the project. For the entered value of return on the invested capital, the price of the resulting product (in EUR / GJ or in EUR / t) is searched to ensure that the net present value of the project is zero over the project lifetime. The investor then realizes the return on the investment in the amount of the discount used to calculate the net present value. The calculations take place in a real business environment (taxes, tax depreciation, inflation, etc.) and the inputs work with market prices. At the same time, the opportunity cost principle is respected; waste disposal for alternative fuels includes the saved costs of waste disposal. The methodology also respects the emission allowances saved due to the displacement of coal by alternative (bio) fuel. Preliminary results of testing of pellet production from sludge show that after suitable modifications of the pelletizer it is possible to produce sufficiently high quality pellets from sludge. A mixture of sludge and paper waste has proved to be a more suitable material for pelleting. At the same time, preliminary results of the analysis of the economic efficiency of this sludge disposal method show that, despite the relatively low calorific value of the fuel produced (about 10-11 MJ / kg), this sludge disposal method is economically competitive. This work has been supported by the Czech Technology Agency within the project TN01000048 Biorefining as circulation technology.

Keywords: Alternative fuel, Economic analysis, Pelleting, Sewage sludge

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Monika Rani, Claudio Marchesi, Stefania Federici, Laura E. Depero

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Degradation of the aquatic environment by plastic litter, especially microplastics (MPs), i.e., any water-insoluble solid plastic particle with the longest dimension in the range 1µm and 1000 µm (=1 mm) size, is an unfortunate indication of the advancement of the Anthropocene age on Earth. Microplastics formed due to natural weathering processes are termed as secondary microplastics, while when these are synthesized in industries, they are called primary microplastics. Their presence from the highest peaks to the deepest points in oceans explored and their resistance to biological and chemical decay has adversely affected the environment, especially marine life. Even though the presence of MPs in the marine environment is well-reported, a legitimate and authentic analytical technique to sample, analyze, and quantify the MPs is still under progress and testing stages. Among the characterization techniques, vibrational spectroscopic techniques are largely adopted in the field of polymers. And the ongoing miniaturization of these methods is on the way to revolutionize the plastic recycling industry. In this scenario, the capability and the feasibility of a miniaturized near-infrared (MicroNIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics tools for qualitative and quantitative analysis of urban plastic waste collected from a recycling plant and microplastic mixture fragmented in the lab were investigated. Based on the Resin Identification Code, 250 plastic samples were used for macroplastic analysis and to set up a library of polymers. Subsequently, MicroNIR spectra were analysed through the application of multivariate modelling. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used as an unsupervised tool to find trends within the data. After the exploratory PCA analysis, a supervised classification tool was applied in order to distinguish the different plastic classes, and a database containing the NIR spectra of polymers was made. For the microplastic analysis, the three most abundant polymers in the plastic litter, PE, PP, PS, were mechanically fragmented in the laboratory to micron size. The distinctive arrangement of blends of these three microplastics was prepared in line with a designed ternary composition plot. After the PCA exploratory analysis, a quantitative model Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) allowed to predict the percentage of microplastics in the mixtures. With a complete dataset of 63 compositions, PLS was calibrated with 42 data-points. The model was used to predict the composition of 21 unknown mixtures of the test set. The advantage of the consolidated NIR Chemometric approach lies in the quick evaluation of whether the sample is macro or micro, contaminated, coloured or not, and with no sample pre-treatment. The technique can be utilized with bigger example volumes and even considers an on-site evaluation and in this manner satisfies the need for a high-throughput strategy.

Keywords: chemometrics, microNIR, microplastics, urban plastic waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: Stanislav Babaev, Vladimir Cuk, Sjef Cobben, Jan Desmet

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The procedures for performing harmonic studies for medium-voltage distribution feeders have become relatively mature topics since the early 1980s. The efforts of various electric power engineers and researchers were mainly focused on handling large harmonic non-linear loads connected scarcely at several buses of medium-voltage feeders. In order to assess the impact of these loads on the voltage quality of the distribution system, specific modeling and simulation strategies were proposed. These methodologies could deliver a reasonable estimation accuracy given the requirements of least computational efforts and reduced complexity. To uphold these requirements, certain analysis assumptions have been made, which became de facto standards for establishing guidelines for harmonic analysis. Among others, typical assumptions include balanced conditions of the study and the negligible impact of impedance frequency characteristics of various power system components. In latter, skin and proximity effects are usually omitted, and resistance and reactance values are modeled based on the theoretical equations. Further, the simplifications of the modelling routine have led to the commonly accepted practice of neglecting phase angle diversity effects. This is mainly associated with developed load models, which only in a handful of cases are representing the complete harmonic behavior of a certain device as well as accounting on the harmonic interaction between grid harmonic voltages and harmonic currents. While these modelling practices were proven to be reasonably effective for medium-voltage levels, similar approaches have been adopted for low-voltage distribution systems. Given modern conditions and massive increase in usage of residential electronic devices, recent and ongoing boom of electric vehicles, and large-scale installing of distributed solar power, the harmonics in current low-voltage grids are characterized by high degree of variability and demonstrate sufficient diversity leading to a certain level of cancellation effects. It is obvious, that new modelling algorithms overcoming previously made assumptions have to be accepted. In this work, a simulation approach aimed to deal with some of the typical assumptions is proposed. A practical low-voltage feeder is modeled in PowerFactory. In order to demonstrate the importance of diversity effect and harmonic interaction, previously developed measurement-based models of photovoltaic inverter and battery charger are used as loads. The Python-based script aiming to supply varying voltage background distortion profile and the associated current harmonic response of loads is used as the core of unbalanced simulation. Furthermore, the impact of uncertainty of feeder frequency-impedance characteristics on total harmonic distortion levels is shown along with scenarios involving linear resistive loads, which further alter the impedance of the system. The comparative analysis demonstrates sufficient differences with cases when all the assumptions are in place, and results indicate that new modelling and simulation procedures need to be adopted for low-voltage distribution systems with high penetration of non-linear loads and renewable generation.

Keywords: electric power system, harmonic distortion, power quality, public low-voltage network, harmonic modelling

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Shaleeza Sohail

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Self, and peer evaluations are some of the main components in almost all group assignments and projects in higher education institutes. These evaluations provide students an opportunity to better understand the learning outcomes of the assignment and/or project. A number of online systems have been developed for this purpose that provides automated assessment and feedback of students’ contribution in a group environment based on self and peer evaluations. All these systems lack a progressive aspect of these assessments and feedbacks which is the most crucial factor for ongoing improvement and life-long learning. In addition, a number of assignments and projects are designed in a manner that smaller or initial assessment components lead to a final assignment or project. In such cases, the evaluation and feedback may provide students an insight into their performance as a group member for a particular component after the submission. Ideally, it should also create an opportunity to improve for next assessment component as well. Self and Peer Progressive Assessment and Feedback System encourages students to perform better in the next assessment by providing a comparative analysis of the individual’s contribution score on an ongoing basis. Hence, the student sees the change in their own contribution scores during the complete project based on smaller assessment components. Self-Assessment Factor is calculated as an indicator of how close the self-perception of the student’s own contribution is to the perceived contribution of that student by other members of the group. Peer-Assessment Factor is calculated to compare the perception of one student’s contribution as compared to the average value of the group. Our system also provides a Group Coherence Factor which shows collectively how group members contribute to the final submission. This feedback is provided for students and teachers to visualize the consistency of members’ contribution perceived by its group members. Teachers can use these factors to judge the individual contributions of the group members in the combined tasks and allocate marks/grades accordingly. This factor is shown to students for all groups undertaking same assessment, so the group members can comparatively analyze the efficiency of their group as compared to other groups. Our System provides flexibility to the instructors for generating their own customized criteria for self and peer evaluations based on the requirements of the assignment. Students evaluate their own and other group members’ contributions on the scale from significantly higher to significantly lower. The preliminary testing of the prototype system is done with a set of predefined cases to explicitly show the relation of system feedback factors to the case studies. The results show that such progressive feedback to students can be used to motivate self-improvement and enhanced team skills. The comparative group coherence can promote a better understanding of the group dynamics in order to improve team unity and fair division of team tasks.

Keywords: effective group work, improvement of team skills, progressive feedback, self and peer assessment system

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Authors: Erik Vassøy Olsen, Hirpa G. Lemu

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Inspired by the Formula-1 competition, IMechE (Institute of Mechanical Engineers) and Formula SAE (Society of Mechanical Engineers) organize annual competitions for University and College students worldwide to compete with a single-seat race car they have designed and built. The design of the chassis or the frame is a key component of the competition because the weight and stiffness properties are directly related with the performance of the car and the safety of the driver. In addition, a reduced weight of the chassis has a direct influence on the design of other components in the car. Among others, it improves the power to weight ratio and the aerodynamic performance. As the power output of the engine or the battery installed in the car is limited to 80 kW, increasing the power to weight ratio demands reduction of the weight of the chassis, which represents the major part of the weight of the car. In order to reduce the weight of the car, ION Racing team from the University of Stavanger, Norway, opted for a monocoque design. To ensure fulfilment of the above-mentioned requirements of the chassis, the monocoque design should provide sufficient torsional stiffness and absorb the impact energy in case of a possible collision. The study reported in this article is based on the requirements for Formula Student competition. As part of this study, diverse mechanical tests were conducted to determine the mechanical properties and performances of the monocoque design. Upon a comprehensive theoretical study of the mechanical properties of sandwich composite materials and the requirements of monocoque design in the competition rules, diverse tests were conducted including 3-point bending test, perimeter shear test and test for absorbed energy. The test panels were homemade and prepared with an equivalent size of the side impact zone of the monocoque, i.e. 275 mm x 500 mm so that the obtained results from the tests can be representative. Different layups of the test panels with identical core material and the same number of layers of carbon fibre were tested and compared. Influence of the core material thickness was also studied. Furthermore, analytical calculations and numerical analysis were conducted to check compliance to the stated rules for Structural Equivalency with steel grade SAE/AISI 1010. The test results were also compared with calculated results with respect to bending and torsional stiffness, energy absorption, buckling, etc. The obtained results demonstrate that the material composition and strength of the composite material selected for the monocoque design has equivalent structural properties as a welded frame and thus comply with the competition requirements. The developed analytical calculation algorithms and relations will be useful for future monocoque designs with different lay-ups and compositions.

Keywords: composite material, Formula student, ION racing, monocoque design, structural equivalence

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Authors: Irina Mizeva, Elena Potapova, Viktor Dremin, Mikhail Mezentsev, Valeri Shupletsov

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The local tissue perfusion is regulated by the microvascular tone which is under the control of a number of physiological mechanisms. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) together with wavelet analyses is the most commonly used technique to study the regulatory mechanisms of cutaneous microcirculation. External factors such as temperature, local pressure of the probe on the skin, etc. influence on the blood flow characteristics and are used as physiological tests to evaluate microvascular regulatory mechanisms. Local probe pressure influences on the microcirculation parameters measured by optical methods: diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and LDF. Therefore, further study of probe pressure effects can be useful to improve the reliability of optical measurement. During pressure tests variation of the mean perfusion measured by means of LDF usually is estimated. An additional information concerning the physiological mechanisms of the vascular tone regulation system in response to local pressure can be obtained using spectral analyses of LDF samples. The aim of the present work was to develop protocol and algorithm of data processing appropriate for study physiological response to the local pressure test. Involving 6 subjects (20±2 years) and providing 5 measurements for every subject we estimated intersubject and-inter group variability of response of both averaged and oscillating parts of the LDF sample on external surface pressure. The final purpose of the work was to find special features which further can be used in wider clinic studies. The cutaneous perfusion measurements were carried out by LAKK-02 (SPE LAZMA Ltd., Russia), the skin loading was provided by the originally designed device which allows one to distribute the pressure around the LDF probe. The probe was installed on the dorsal part of the distal finger of the index figure. We collected measurements continuously for one hour and varied loading from 0 to 180mmHg stepwise with a step duration of 10 minutes. Further, we post-processed the samples using the wavelet transform and traced the energy of oscillations in five frequency bands over time. Weak loading leads to pressure-induced vasodilation, so one should take into account that the perfusion measured under pressure conditions will be overestimated. On the other hand, we revealed a decrease in endothelial associated fluctuations. Further loading (88 mmHg) induces amplification of pulsations in all frequency bands. We assume that such loading leads to a higher number of closed capillaries, higher input of arterioles in the LDF signal and as a consequence more vivid oscillations which mainly are formed in arterioles. External pressure higher than 144 mmHg leads to the decrease of oscillating components, after removing the loading very rapid restore of the tissue perfusion takes place. In this work, we have demonstrated that local skin loading influence on the microcirculation parameters measured by optic technique; this should be taken into account while developing portable electronic devices. The proposed protocol of local loading allows one to evaluate PIV as far as to trace dynamic of blood flow oscillations. This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation under project N 18-15-00201.

Keywords: blood microcirculation, laser Doppler flowmetry, pressure-induced vasodilation, wavelet analyses blood

Procedia PDF Downloads 133

Authors: Sushmita Roy Chowdhury, Steve Holding, Sujoy Khan

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The immunogenic responses of the lung towards the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus may range from invasive aspergillosis in the immunocompromised, fungal ball or infection within a cavity in the lung in those with structural lung lesions, or allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Patients with asthma or cystic fibrosis are particularly predisposed to ABPA. There are consensus guidelines that have established criteria for diagnosis of ABPA, but uncertainty remains on the serologic cut-off values that would increase the diagnostic specificity of ABPA. We retrospectively analyzed 80 patients with severe asthma and evidence of peripheral blood eosinophilia ( > 500) over the last 3 years who underwent all serologic tests to exclude ABPA. Total IgE, specific IgE and specific IgG levels against Aspergillus fumigatus were measured using ImmunoCAP Phadia-100 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sweden). The Modified ISHAM working group 2013 criteria (obligate criteria: asthma or cystic fibrosis, total IgE > 1000 IU/ml or > 417 kU/L and positive specific IgE Aspergillus fumigatus or skin test positivity; with ≥ 2 of peripheral eosinophilia, positive specific IgG Aspergillus fumigatus and consistent radiographic opacities) was used in the clinical workup for the final diagnosis of ABPA. Patients were divided into 3 groups - definite, possible, and no evidence of ABPA. Specific IgG Aspergillus fumigatus levels were not used to assign the patients into any of the groups. Of 80 patients (males 48, females 32; mean age 53.9 years ± SD 15.8) selected for the analysis, there were 30 patients who had positive specific IgE against Aspergillus fumigatus (37.5%). 13 patients fulfilled the Modified ISHAM working group 2013 criteria of ABPA (‘definite’), while 15 patients were ‘possible’ ABPA and 52 did not fulfill the criteria (not ABPA). As IgE levels were not normally distributed, median levels were used in the analysis. Median total IgE levels of patients with definite and possible ABPA were 2144 kU/L and 2597 kU/L respectively (non-significant), while median specific IgE Aspergillus fumigatus at 4.35 kUA/L and 1.47 kUA/L respectively were significantly different (comparison of standard deviations F-statistic 3.2267, significance level p=0.040). Mean levels of IgG anti-Aspergillus fumigatus in the three groups (definite, possible and no evidence of ABPA) were compared using ANOVA (Statgraphics Centurion Professional XV, Statpoint Inc). Mean levels of IgG anti-Aspergillus fumigatus (Gm3) in definite ABPA was 125.17 mgA/L ( ± SD 54.84, with 95%CI 92.03-158.32), while mean Gm3 levels in possible and no ABPA were 18.61 mgA/L and 30.05 mgA/L respectively. ANOVA showed a significant difference between the definite group and the other groups (p < 0.001). This was confirmed using multiple range tests (Fisher's least significant difference procedure). There was no significant difference between the possible ABPA and not ABPA groups (p > 0.05). The study showed that a sizeable proportion of patients with asthma are sensitized to Aspergillus fumigatus in this part of India. A higher cut-off value of Gm3 ≥ 80 mgA/L provides a higher serologic specificity towards definite ABPA. Long-term studies would provide us more information if those patients with 'possible' APBA and positive Gm3 later develop clear ABPA, and are different from the Gm3 negative group in this respect. Serologic testing with clear defined cut-offs are a valuable adjunct in the diagnosis of ABPA.

Keywords: allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, Aspergillus fumigatus, asthma, IgE level

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Authors: Rasha Elsawy

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Aside from the rapid growth of global information technology and the Internet, another key trend is the swift proliferation of wearable technologies. The future of wearable technologies is very bright as an emerging revolution in this technological world. Beyond this, individual continuance intention toward IT is an important area that drew academics' and practitioners' attention. The literature review exhibits that continuance usage is an important concern that needs to be addressed for any technology to be advantageous and for consumers to succeed. However, consumers noticeably abandon their wearable devices soon after purchase, losing all subsequent benefits that can only be achieved through continued usage. Purpose-This thesis aims to develop an integrated model designed to explain and predict consumers' behavioural intention(BI) and continued use (CU) of wearable fitness technology (WFT) to identify the determinants of the CU of technology. Because of this, the question arises as to whether there are differences between technology adoption and post-adoption (CU) factors. Design/methodology/approach- The study employs the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology2 (UTAUT2), which has the best explanatory power, as an underpinning framework—extending it with further factors, along with user-specific personal characteristics as moderators. All items will be adapted from previous literature and slightly modified according to the WFT/SW context. A longitudinal investigation will be carried out to examine the research model, wherein a survey will include these constructs involved in the conceptual model. A quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey will collect data from existing wearable technology users. Data will be analysed using the structural equation modelling (SEM) method based on IBM SPSS statistics and AMOS 28.0. Findings- The research findings will provide unique perspectives on user behaviour, intention, and actual continuance usage when accepting WFT. Originality/value- Unlike previous works, the current thesis comprehensively explores factors that affect consumers' decisions to continue using wearable technology. That is influenced by technological/utilitarian, affective, emotional, psychological, and social factors, along with the role of proposed moderators. That novel research framework is proposed by extending the UTAUT2 model with additional contextual variables classified into Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence (societal pressure regarding body image), Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation (to be split up into two concepts: perceived enjoyment and perceived device annoyance), Price value, and Habit-forming techniques; adding technology upgradability as determinants of consumers' behavioural intention and continuance usage of Information Technology (IT). Further, using personality traits theory and proposing relevant user-specific personal characteristics (openness to technological innovativeness, conscientiousness in health, extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness) to moderate the research model. Thus, the present thesis obtains a more convincing explanation expected to provide theoretical foundations for future emerging IT (such as wearable fitness devices) research from a behavioural perspective.

Keywords: wearable technology, wearable fitness devices/smartwatches, continuance use, behavioural intention, upgradability, longitudinal study

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Authors: Zuhal Kurt, Meral Kurt, Bilge T. Bal, Kemal Ozkan

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Shade matching and reproduction is the most important element of success in prosthetic dentistry. Until recently, shade matching procedure was implemented by dentists visual perception with the help of shade guides. Since many factors influence visual perception; tooth shade matching using visual devices (shade guides) is highly subjective and inconsistent. Subjective nature of this process has lead to the development of instrumental devices. Nowadays, colorimeters, spectrophotometers, spectroradiometers and digital image analysing systems are used for instrumental shade selection. Instrumental devices have advantages that readings are quantifiable, can obtain more rapidly and simply, objectively and precisely. However, these devices have noticeable drawbacks. For example, translucent structure and irregular surfaces of teeth lead to defects on measurement with these devices. Also between the results acquired by devices with different measurement principles may make inconsistencies. So, its obligatory to search for new methods for dental shade matching process. A computer-aided system device; digital camera has developed rapidly upon today. Currently, advances in image processing and computing have resulted in the extensive use of digital cameras for color imaging. This procedure has a much cheaper process than the use of traditional contact-type color measurement devices. Digital cameras can be taken by the place of contact-type instruments for shade selection and overcome their disadvantages. Images taken from teeth show morphology and color texture of teeth. In last decades, a new method was recommended to compare the color of shade tabs taken by a digital camera using color features. This method showed that visual and computer-aided shade matching systems should be used as concatenated. Recently using methods of feature extraction techniques are based on shape description and not used color information. However, color is mostly experienced as an essential property in depicting and extracting features from objects in the world around us. When local feature descriptors with color information are extended by concatenating color descriptor with the shape descriptor, that descriptor will be effective on visual object recognition and classification task. Therefore, the color descriptor is to be used in combination with a shape descriptor it does not need to contain any spatial information, which leads us to use local histograms. This local color histogram method is remain reliable under variation of photometric changes, geometrical changes and variation of image quality. So, coloring local feature extraction methods are used to extract features, and also the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) descriptor used to for shape description in the proposed method. After the combination of these descriptors, the state-of-art descriptor named by Color-SIFT will be used in this study. Finally, the image feature vectors obtained from quantization algorithm are fed to classifiers such as Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Naive Bayes or Support Vector Machines (SVM) to determine label(s) of the visual object category or matching. In this study, SVM are used as classifiers for color determination and shade matching. Finally, experimental results of this method will be compared with other recent studies. It is concluded from the study that the proposed method is remarkable development on computer aided tooth shade determination system.

Keywords: classifiers, color determination, computer-aided system, tooth shade matching, feature extraction

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Authors: Diane Ghanem, Oscar Covarrubias, Michael Raad, Dawn LaPorte, Babar Shafiq

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Introduction: Standardized exams have long been considered a cornerstone in measuring cognitive competency and academic achievement. Their fixed nature and predetermined scoring methods offer a consistent yardstick for gauging intellectual acumen across diverse demographics. Consequently, the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) in this context presents a rich, yet unexplored terrain for quantifying AI's understanding of complex cognitive tasks and simulating human-like problem-solving skills. Publicly available AI language models such as ChatGPT have demonstrated utility in text generation and even problem-solving when provided with clear instructions. Amidst this transformative shift, the aim of this study is to assess ChatGPT’s performance on the orthopaedic surgery in-training examination (OITE). Methods: All 213 OITE 2021 web-based questions were retrieved from the AAOS-ResStudy website. Two independent reviewers copied and pasted the questions and response options into ChatGPT Plus (version 4.0) and recorded the generated answers. All media-containing questions were flagged and carefully examined. Twelve OITE media-containing questions that relied purely on images (clinical pictures, radiographs, MRIs, CT scans) and could not be rationalized from the clinical presentation were excluded. Cohen’s Kappa coefficient was used to examine the agreement of ChatGPT-generated responses between reviewers. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the performance (% correct) of ChatGPT Plus. The 2021 norm table was used to compare ChatGPT Plus’ performance on the OITE to national orthopaedic surgery residents in that same year. Results: A total of 201 were evaluated by ChatGPT Plus. Excellent agreement was observed between raters for the 201 ChatGPT-generated responses, with a Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of 0.947. 45.8% (92/201) were media-containing questions. ChatGPT had an average overall score of 61.2% (123/201). Its score was 64.2% (70/109) on non-media questions. When compared to the performance of all national orthopaedic surgery residents in 2021, ChatGPT Plus performed at the level of an average PGY3. Discussion: ChatGPT Plus is able to pass the OITE with a satisfactory overall score of 61.2%, ranking at the level of third-year orthopaedic surgery residents. More importantly, it provided logical reasoning and justifications that may help residents grasp evidence-based information and improve their understanding of OITE cases and general orthopaedic principles. With further improvements, AI language models, such as ChatGPT, may become valuable interactive learning tools in resident education, although further studies are still needed to examine their efficacy and impact on long-term learning and OITE/ABOS performance.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, orthopaedic in-training examination, OITE, orthopedic surgery, standardized testing

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Authors: Nirjhar Dhang, S. Vinay Kumar

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Concrete is a non-homogeneous mix of coarse aggregates, sand, cement, air-voids and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around aggregates. Adoption of these complex structures and material properties in numerical simulation would lead us to better understanding and design of concrete. In this work, the mesoscale model of concrete has been prepared from X-ray computerized tomography (CT) image. These images are converted into computer model and numerically simulated using commercially available finite element software. The mesoscale models are simulated under the influence of compressive displacement. The effect of shape and distribution of aggregates, continuous and discrete ITZ thickness, voids, and variation of mortar strength has been investigated. The CT scan of concrete cube consists of series of two dimensional slices. Total 49 slices are obtained from a cube of 150mm and the interval of slices comes approximately 3mm. In CT scan images, the same cube can be CT scanned in a non-destructive manner and later the compression test can be carried out in a universal testing machine (UTM) for finding its strength. The image processing and extraction of mortar and aggregates from CT scan slices are performed by programming in Python. The digital colour image consists of red, green and blue (RGB) pixels. The conversion of RGB image to black and white image (BW) is carried out, and identification of mesoscale constituents is made by putting value between 0-255. The pixel matrix is created for modeling of mortar, aggregates, and ITZ. Pixels are normalized to 0-9 scale considering the relative strength. Here, zero is assigned to voids, 4-6 for mortar and 7-9 for aggregates. The value between 1-3 identifies boundary between aggregates and mortar. In the next step, triangular and quadrilateral elements for plane stress and plane strain models are generated depending on option given. Properties of materials, boundary conditions, and analysis scheme are specified in this module. The responses like displacement, stresses, and damages are evaluated by ABAQUS importing the input file. This simulation evaluates compressive strengths of 49 slices of the cube. The model is meshed with more than sixty thousand elements. The effect of shape and distribution of aggregates, inclusion of voids and variation of thickness of ITZ layer with relation to load carrying capacity, stress-strain response and strain localizations of concrete have been studied. The plane strain condition carried more load than plane stress condition due to confinement. The CT scan technique can be used to get slices from concrete cores taken from the actual structure, and the digital image processing can be used for finding the shape and contents of aggregates in concrete. This may be further compared with test results of concrete cores and can be used as an important tool for strength evaluation of concrete.

Keywords: concrete, image processing, plane strain, interfacial transition zone

Procedia PDF Downloads 226

Authors: Liudmila Shabalinskaya, Victor Golovanov, Liudmila Milinis, Sergey Loponos, Alexander Maslov, D. O. Frolov

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The work is devoted to the rapid laboratory diagnosis of the condition of aircraft friction units, based on the application of the nondestructive testing method by analyzing the parameters of wear particles, or tribodiagnostics. The most important task of tribodiagnostics is to develop recommendations for the selection of more advanced designs, materials and lubricants based on data on wear processes for increasing the life and ensuring the safety of the operation of machines and mechanisms. The object of tribodiagnostics in this work are the tooth gears of the central drive and the gearboxes of the gas turbine engine of the civil aviation PS-90A type, in which rolling friction and sliding friction with slip occur. The main criterion for evaluating the technical state of lubricated friction units of a gas turbine engine is the intensity and rate of wear of the friction surfaces of the friction unit parts. When the engine is running, oil samples are taken and the state of the friction surfaces is evaluated according to the parameters of the wear particles contained in the oil sample, which carry important and detailed information about the wear processes in the engine transmission units. The parameters carrying this information include the concentration of wear particles and metals in the oil, the dispersion composition, the shape, the size ratio and the number of particles, the state of their surfaces, the presence in the oil of various mechanical impurities of non-metallic origin. Such a morphological analysis of wear particles has been introduced into the order of monitoring the status and diagnostics of various aircraft engines, including a gas turbine engine, since the type of wear characteristic of the central drive and the drive box is surface fatigue wear and the beginning of its development, accompanied by the formation of microcracks, leads to the formation of spherical, up to 10 μm in size, and in the aftermath of flocculent particles measuring 20-200 μm in size. Tribodiagnostics using the morphological analysis of wear particles includes the following techniques: ferrography, filtering, and computer analysis of the classification and counting of wear particles. Based on the analysis of several series of oil samples taken from the drive box of the engine during their operating time, a study was carried out of the processes of wear kinetics. Based on the results of the study and comparing the series of criteria for tribodiagnostics, wear state ratings and statistics of the results of morphological analysis, norms for the normal operating regime were developed. The study allowed to develop levels of wear state for friction surfaces of gearing and a 10-point rating system for estimating the likelihood of the occurrence of an increased wear mode and, accordingly, prevention of engine failures in flight.

Keywords: aviation, box of drives, morphological analysis, tribodiagnostics, tribology, ferrography, filtering, wear particle

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: M. Tammaro, S. Manzo, J. Rimauro, A. Salluzzo, S. Schiavo

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The solar photovoltaic (PV) modules are considered to have a negligible environmental impact compared to the fossil energy. Therefore also the waste management and the corresponding potential environmental hazard needs to be considered. The case of the photovoltaic panel is unique because the time lag from the manufacturing to the decommissioning as waste usually takes 25-30 years. Then the environmental hazard associated with end life of PV panels has been largely related to their metal contents. The principal concern regards the presence of heavy metals as Cd in thin film (TF) modules or Pb and Cr in crystalline silicon (c-Si) panels. At the end of life of PV panels, these dangerous substances could be released in the environment, if special requirements for their disposal are not adopted. Nevertheless, in literature, only a few experimental study about metal emissions from silicon crystalline/thin film panels and the corresponding environmental effect are present. As part of a study funded by the Italian national consortium for the waste collection and recycling (COBAT), the present work was aimed to analyze experimentally the potential release into the environment of hazardous elements, particularly metals, from PV waste. In this paper, for the first time, eighteen releasable metals a large number of photovoltaic panels, by c-Si and TF, manufactured in the last 30 years, together with the environmental effects by a battery of ecotoxicological tests, were investigated. Leaching tests are conducted on the crushed samples of PV module. The test is conducted according to Italian and European Standard procedure for hazard assessment of the granular waste and of the sludge. The sample material is shaken for 24 hours in HDPE bottles with an overhead mixer Rotax 6.8 VELP at indoor temperature and using pure water (18 MΩ resistivity) as leaching solution. The liquid-to-solid ratio was 10 (L/S=10, i.e. 10 liters of water per kg of solid). The ecotoxicological tests were performed in the subsequent 24 hours. A battery of toxicity test with bacteria (Vibrio fisheri), algae (Pseudochirneriella subcapitata) and crustacea (Daphnia magna) was carried out on PV panel leachates obtained as previously described and immediately stored in dark and at 4°C until testing (in the next 24 hours). For understand the actual pollution load, a comparison with the current European and Italian benchmark limits was performed. The trend of leachable metal amount from panels in relation to manufacturing years was then highlighted in order to assess the environmental sustainability of PV technology over time. The experimental results were very heterogeneous and show that the photovoltaic panels could represent an environmental hazard. The experimental results showed that the amounts of some hazardous metals (Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni), for c-Si and TF, exceed the law limits and they are a clear indication of the potential environmental risk of photovoltaic panels "as a waste" without a proper management.

Keywords: photovoltaic panel, environment, ecotoxicity, metals emission

Procedia PDF Downloads 252

Authors: Brittany Richardson, Ying Wang

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For physical therapy, exercise prescription, athlete training, and regular fitness training, it is crucial to perform health assessments or fitness assessments periodically. An accurate assessment is propitious for tracking recovery progress, preventing potential injury and making long-range training plans. Assessments include necessary measurements, height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, body fat, etc. and advanced evaluation, muscle group strength, stability-mobility, and movement evaluation, etc. In the current standard assessment procedures, the accuracy of assessments, especially advanced evaluations, largely depends on the experience of physicians, coaches, and personal trainers. And it is challenging to track clients’ progress in the current assessment. Unlike the tradition assessment, in this paper, we present a deep learning based face recognition algorithm for accurate, comprehensive and trackable assessment. Based on the result from our assessment, physicians, coaches, and personal trainers are able to adjust the training targets and methods. The system categorizes the difficulty levels of the current activity for the client or user, furthermore make more comprehensive assessments based on tracking muscle group over time using a designed landmark detection method. The system also includes the function of grading and correcting the form of the clients during exercise. Experienced coaches and personal trainer can tell the clients' limit based on their facial expression and muscle group movements, even during the first several sessions. Similar to this, using a convolution neural network, the system is trained with people’s facial expression to differentiate challenge levels for clients. It uses landmark detection for subtle changes in muscle groups movements. It measures the proximal mobility of the hips and thoracic spine, the proximal stability of the scapulothoracic region and distal mobility of the glenohumeral joint, as well as distal mobility, and its effect on the kinetic chain. This system integrates data from other fitness assistant devices, including but not limited to Apple Watch, Fitbit, etc. for a improved training and testing performance. The system itself doesn’t require history data for an individual client, but the history data of a client can be used to create a more effective exercise plan. In order to validate the performance of the proposed work, an experimental design is presented. The results show that the proposed work contributes towards improving the quality of exercise plan, execution, progress tracking, and performance.

Keywords: exercise prescription, facial recognition, landmark detection, fitness assessments

Procedia PDF Downloads 116