Search results for: acetone test

Authors: Burcu Guvenek, Volkan Alptekin

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Turkey is a country in the process of development and its economy has undergone structural reforms in order to realize a sustainable development and energy has vital role as a basic input for this aim. Turkey has been in the process of economic growth and development and, because of this, has an increasing energy need. This paper investigates relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption using annual data for Turkey between 1970-2008 by using bounds test. As economic growth and energy consumption variables used in empirical analysis was different order of integration I(0) and I(1), we employed bounds test approach. We have not found co-integration relationship between the variables.

Keywords: bounds test, economic growth, energy consumption, Turkey

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Authors: Benjamin Sonnenreich

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Brittle fracture failure probability is best described using a stochastic approach which is based on the 'weakest link concept' and the connection between a microstructure and macroscopic fracture scale. A general theoretical and experimental framework is presented to predict the uniaxial strength distribution according to independent uniaxial test data. The framework takes as input the applied stresses, the geometry, the materials, the defect distributions and the relevant random variables from uniaxial test results and gives as output an overall failure probability that can be used to improve the reliability of practical designs. Additionally, the method facilitates comparisons of strength data from several sources, uniaxial tests, and sample geometries.

Keywords: brittle fracture, strength distribution, uniaxial, weakest link concept

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Authors: Kyong-Ku Yun, Kyeo-Re Lee, Kyong Namkung, Seung-Yeon Han, Pan-Gil Choi

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Sprayed concrete is a way to spray a concrete using a machinery with high air pressure. There are insufficient studies on the durability and early-age behavior of sprayed concrete using high quality expansion agent. A series of an experiment were executed with 5 varying expansion agent replacement rates, while all the other conditions were kept constant, including cement binder content and water-cement ratio. The tests includes early-age shrinkage test, rapid chloride permeability test, and image analysis of air void structure. The early-age expansion test with the variation of expansion agent show that the expansion strain increases as the ratio of expansion agent increases. The rapid chloride permeability test shows that it decrease as the expansion agent increase. Therefore, expansion agent affects into the rapid chloride permeability in a better way. As expansion agent content increased, spacing factor slightly decreased while specific surface kept relatively stable. As a results, the optimum ratio of expansion agent would be selected between 7 % and 11%.

Keywords: sprayed concrete, durability, early-age behavior, expansion admixture

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Authors: Nacer Eddine Chelbi, Ayet Bagane, Annie Saleh, Claude Sauvageau, Denis Gingras

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As recently stated by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), to demonstrate the expected performance of a highly automated vehicles system, test approaches should include a combination of simulation, test track, and on-road testing. In this paper, we propose a new validation method for autonomous vehicles involving on-road tests (Field Operational Tests), test track (Test Matrix) and simulation (Worst Case Scenarios). We concentrate our discussion on the simulation aspects, in particular, we extend recent work based on Importance Sampling by using a Metropolis-Hasting algorithm (MHS) to sample collected data from the Safety Pilot Model Deployment (SPMD) in lane-change scenarios. Our proposed MH sampling method will be compared to the Importance Sampling method, which does not perform well in high-dimensional problems. The importance of this study is to obtain a sampler that could be applied to high dimensional simulation problems in order to reduce and optimize the number of test scenarios that are necessary for validation and certification of autonomous vehicles.

Keywords: automated driving, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), autonomous vehicles, certification, evaluation, importance sampling, metropolis-hastings sampling, tests

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Authors: Mona Yacoub, Ahmed Amin Mousa

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The current work presents a program for children in Egypt. This program involved a collection of artistic activities that purposes to improve some language, artistic skills of kindergarten children. The researchers have prepared a questionnaire for the link between the target group and the content. The questionnaire has been presented to experts for adjudicating. The program was applied to a group of 30 children. Another questionnaire has been prepared by the researchers for measuring the activities’ effect on the children. The second questionnaire was considered as the pre-test and post-test. Finally, after applying the activities and the questionnaire, the researchers detected a significant difference in favor of the post-test results.

Keywords: Developing, concepts, kindergarten, children, graphic activities

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Authors: Abdeta Bayissa Mekessa

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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of plyometric exercises on agility, power, and speed and improvement of U-17 female sprinters in the case of the Burayu Athletics project. The true experimental research design was employed for conducting this study. The total populations of the study were 14 U-17 female sprinters from Burayu athletics project. The populations were small in numbers; therefore, the researcher took all as a sample by using comprehensive sampling techniques. These subjects were classified into the Experimental group (N=7) and the Control group (N=7) by using simple random sampling techniques. The Experimental group participated in plyometric training for 8 weeks, 3 days per week and 60 minutes duration per day in addition to their regular training. But, the control groups were following their only regular training program. The variables selected for the purpose of this study were agility, power and speed. The tests were the Illinois agility test, standing long jump test, and 30m sprint test, respectively. Both groups were tested before (pre-test) and after (post-test) 8 weeks of plyometric training. For data analysis, the researcher used SPSS version 26.0 software. The collected data was analyzed using a paired sample t-test to observe the difference between the pre-test and post-test results of the plyometric exercises of the study. The significant level of p<0.05 was considered. The result of the study shows that after 8 weeks of plyometric training, significant improvements were found in Agility (MD=0.45, p<0.05), power (MD=-1.157, P<0.05) and speed (MD=0.37, P<0.05) for experimental group subjects. On the other hand, there was no significant change (P>0.05) in those variables in the control groups. Finally, the findings of the study showed that eight (8) weeks of plyometric exercises had a positive effect on agility, power and speed improvement of female sprinters. Therefore, Athletics coaches and athletes are highly recommended to include plyometric exercise in their training program.

Keywords: ploymetric exercise, speed power, aglity, female sprinter

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Authors: Reza Ziaie Moayed, Hamidreza Rahmani

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Today, with developments in science and technology, there is an excessive potential for the use of nanomaterials in various fields of geotechnical project such as soil stabilization. This study investigates the effect of Nano-SiO₂ solution on the unconfined compression strength and Young's elastic modulus of Kaolinite. For this purpose, nano-SiO₂ was mixed with kaolinite in five different contents: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% by weight of the dry soil and a series of the unconfined compression test with curing time of one-day was selected as laboratory test. Analyses of the tests results show that stabilization of kaolinite with Nano-SiO₂ solution can improve effectively the unconfined compression strength of modified soil up to 1.43 times compared to  the pure soil.

Keywords: kaolinite, Nano-SiO2, stabilization, unconfined compression test, Young's modulus

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Authors: Ricardo Mendoza, Jason Briceño, Juan F. Santa, Gabriel Peluffo, Mauricio Márquez, Beatriz Cardozo, Carlos Gutiérrez

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The most common controlled method to obtain impact strength of composites materials is performing a Charpy Impact Test which consists of a pendulum with calibrated mass and length released from a known height. In fact, composites components experience impact events in normal operations such as when a tool drops or a foreign object strikes it. These events are categorized into low velocity impact (LVI) which typically occurs at velocities below 10m/s. In this study, the major aim was to calculate the absorbed energy during the impact. Tests were performed on three types of composite panels: fiberglass laminated panels, coir fiber reinforced polyester and coir fiber reinforced polyester subjected to water immersion for 48 hours. Coir fibers were obtained in local plantations of the Caribbean coast of Colombia. They were alkali treated in 5% aqueous NaOH solution for 2h periods. Three type of shape impactors were used on drop-weight impact test including hemispherical, ogive and pointed. Failure mechanisms and failure modes of specimens were examined using an optical microscope. Results demonstrate a reduction in absorbed energy correlated with the increment of water absorption of the panels. For each level of absorbed energy, it was possible to associate a different fracture state. This study compares results of energy absorbed obtained from two impact test methods.

Keywords: coir fiber, polyester composites, low velocity impact, Charpy impact test, drop-weight impact test

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Authors: Arezoo Fallahi, Fateme Aslibigi, Parvaneh Taymoori, Babak Nematshahrbabaki

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Background and Aims: Cancer of the cervix, one of cancer-related death, is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. It develops over time but it is one of the most preventable types of cancer and there is the available proper screening program for its preventing. Since Pap smear test is vital to prevent and control of disease but women do not accomplish it regularly. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore women's needs referring to health care centers for doing Pap smear test. Material and methods: In this study, an inductive qualitative method with content analysis approach was used. This survey was done in varamin city (is located capital of Iran) in year 2014. Through the purposive sampling 15 women's view of point referring to health care centers of for doing Pap smear test was surveyed. Inclusion criteria were: 20-50 years old married women, having experience Pap smear test and attendance to participate in the Study. Recorded semi- structured interviews were typed and analyzed through of content analysis method. To obtain trustworthiness and rigor of the data, the criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability was used. Results: During the data analysis, four main categories of “role of health care team”, “role of organizations”, “social support” and “policies and administration system” were developed. The participants emphasized on making motivational rules and coordination among organizations to do behaviors related to women health. Conclusion: The findings of study showed that doing Pap smear test are attributed to appropriate and intimate interactions with health professionals, family support, encouraging legislation and policies and coordination and notification of organizations. Therefore, designers and stockholders of policies and health system should more consider to growth and involve other organizations toward women's health.

Keywords: qualitative approach, pap smear test, women, health care centers

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Authors: Barun Chakrabarti, Evangelos Kalamaras, Vladimir Yufit, Xinhua Liu, Billy Wu, Nigel Brandon, C. T. John Low

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In this work, we perform electrophoretic deposition of activated carbon on a number of substrates to prepare symmetrical coin cells for supercapacitor applications. From several recipes that involve the evaluation of a few solvents such as isopropyl alcohol, N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), or acetone to binders such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and charging agents such as magnesium chloride, we display a working means for achieving supercapacitors that can achieve 100 F/g in a consistent manner. We then adapt this EPD method to deposit reduced graphene oxide on SGL 10AA carbon paper to achieve cathodic materials for testing in a hydrogen/vanadium flow battery. In addition, a self-supported hierarchical carbon nano-fibre is prepared by means of electrospray deposition of an iron phthalocyanine solution onto a temporary substrate followed by carbonisation to remove heteroatoms. This process also induces a degree of nitrogen doping on the carbon nano-fibres (CNFs), which allows its catalytic performance to improve significantly as detailed in other publications. The CNFs are then used as catalysts by attaching them to graphite felt electrodes facing the membrane inside an all-vanadium flow battery (Scribner cell using serpentine flow distribution channels) and efficiencies as high as 60% is noted at high current densities of 150 mA/cm². About 20 charge and discharge cycling show that the CNF catalysts consistently perform better than pristine graphite felt electrodes. Following this, we also test the CNF as an electro-catalyst in the hydrogen/vanadium flow battery (cathodic side as mentioned briefly in the first paragraph) facing the membrane, based upon past studies from our group. Once again, we note consistently good efficiencies of 85% and above for CNF modified graphite felt electrodes in comparison to 60% for pristine felts at low current density of 50 mA/cm² (this reports 20 charge and discharge cycles of the battery). From this preliminary investigation, we conclude that the CNFs may be used as catalysts for other systems such as vanadium/manganese, manganese/manganese and manganese/hydrogen flow batteries in the future. We are generating data for such systems at present, and further publications are expected.

Keywords: electrospinning, carbon nano-fibres, all-vanadium redox flow battery, hydrogen-vanadium fuel cell, electrocatalysis

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Authors: Monalisha Nayak, T. G. Sitharam

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Liquefaction is a major threat for sites consists of or on sandy soil. But this present study concentrates on the behavior of fine soil under cyclic loading. This paper presents the study of liquefaction susceptibility of marine silty clay to clayey silt for an offshore site near western Yemen. The submerged and loose sediment condition of marine soil of an offshore site can favour liquefaction during earthquakes. In this regard, the liquefaction susceptibility of the site was carried out based on both field test results and laboratory test results. From field test results of seismic cone penetration test (SCPT), liquefaction susceptibility was assessed considering normalized cone tip resistance, and normalized friction ratio and results give an idea regarding both cyclic mobility and flow liquefaction. Laboratory cyclic triaxial tests were also conducted on saturated undisturbed and remoulded sample to study the effect of cyclic loading on strength and strain characteristics. Liquefaction susceptibility of the marine soft soil was also carried out based on index properties like grain size distribution, natural moisture content and liquid limit of soil.

Keywords: index properties, liquefaction, marine soil, seismic cone penetration test (SCPT)

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Authors: Nagasamy Venkatesh Dhandapani, Amged Awad El-Gied

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Cefixime, a BCS class II drug, is insoluble in water but freely soluble in acetone and in alcohol. The aqueous solubility of cefixime in water is poor and exhibits exceptionally slow and intrinsic dissolution rate. In the present study, cefixime and β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD) solid dispersions were prepared with a view to study the effect and influence of β-CD on the solubility and dissolution rate of this poorly aqueous soluble drug. Phase solubility profile revealed that the solubility of cefixime was increased in the presence of β-CD and was classified as A_L-type. Effect of variable, such as drug:carrier ratio, was studied. Physical characterization of the solid dispersion was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). These studies revealed that a distinct loss of drug crystallinity in the solid molecular dispersions is ostensibly accounting for enhancement of dissolution rate in distilled water. The drug release from the prepared solid dispersion exhibited a first order kinetics. Solid dispersions of cefixime showed a 6.77 times fold increase in dissolution rate over the pure drug.

Keywords: β-cyclodextrin, cefixime, dissolution, Kneading method, solid dispersions, release kinetics

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Authors: Jay J. Vora, Vishvesh J. Badheka

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This work attempts to investigate the effect of oxide fluxes on 6mm thick Reduced Activation ferritic/martensitic steels (RAFM) during Activated TIG (A-TIG) welding. Six different fluxes Al₂O₃, Co₃O₄, CuO, HgO, MoO₃, and NiO were mixed with methanol for conversion into paste and bead-on-plate experiments were then carried out. This study, systematically investigates the influence of oxide-based flux powder and carrier solvent composition on the weld bead shape, geometric shape of weld bead and dominant depth enhancing mechanism in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel. It was inferred from the study that flux Co₃O₄ and MoO₃ imparted full and secure (more than 6mm) penetration with methanol owing to dual mechanism of reversed Marangoni and arc construction. The use of methanol imparted good spreadabilty and coverability and ultimately higher peak temperatures were observed with its use owing to stronger depth enhancing mechanisms than use of acetone with same oxide fluxes and welding conditions.

Keywords: A-TIG, flux, oxides, penetration, RAFM, temperature, welding

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Authors: R. S. Mehta, G. N. Mandal

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Hepatitis-B is the major infectious disease of mankind. In Nepal it is reported that more than 4.3% of Nepalese population at any time in their life has been infected with Hepatitis-B virus (HBV). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of planned educational programme regarding knowledge and practice of hepatitis-B among the nurses working at medical units of BPKIHS. Pre-experimental research design was used to conduct the study among the nurses working in medical units of BPKIHS. Total 40 nurses were included in the pre-test and 34 in the post-test. The education intervention was arranged on 24th May 2012 from 2:15 pm to 4:45 pm i.e. two and half hours. After two weeks of education intervention post-test was conducted. Most of the participants (60%) were of the age group of 18-22 years, Hindu (82.5%), and unmarried (65%). After education intervention there is significant differences in knowledge on the components of Hepatitis-B at 0.05 level of significance. There is no difference in the attitude components after post-test except the component patient contaminated with Hepatitis-B must be called as the last patient (p=0.035). It can conclude that hepatitis-B educational program improved knowledge and practice among the nurses.

Keywords: educational program, Hepatitis-B, pre-experimental design, medical units

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Authors: Ali Zain Ul Abadeen, Arshad Hussain

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Roads are considered as the national capital, and huge developmental budget is spent on its construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. Due to proliferating traffic volume, heavier loads and challenging environmental factors, the need for high-performance asphalt pavement is increased. In this research, the asphalt mixture was modified with carbon nanotubes ranging from 0.2% to 2% of binder to study the effect of CNT modification on rutting potential and fatigue life of asphalt mixtures. During this study, the conventional and modified asphalt mixture was subjected to a uni-axial dynamic creep test and dry Hamburg wheel tracking test to study rutting resistance. Fatigue behavior of asphalt mixture was studied using a four-point bending test apparatus. The plateau value of asphalt mixture was taken as a measure of fatigue performance according to the ratio of dissipated energy approach. Results of these experiments showed that CNT modified asphalt mixtures had reduced rut depth and increased rutting and fatigue resistance at higher percentages of carbon nanotubes.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes, fatigue, four point bending test, modified asphalt, rutting

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Authors: Kenji Gwee

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In Singapore, the death penalty remains in active use for murder and drug trafficking of controlled drugs such as heroin. As such, the psychological assessment of defendants can often be of high stakes. The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) is employed by government psychologists to determine the degree of effort invested by defendants, which in turn inform on the veracity of overall psychological findings that can invariably determine the life and death of defendants. The purpose of this study was to find out if defendants facing the death penalty were more likely to invest less effort during psychological assessment (to fake bad in hopes of escaping the death sentence) compared to defendants facing lesser penalties. An archival search of all forensic cases assessed in 2012-2013 by Singapore’s designated forensic psychiatric facility yielded 186 defendants’ TOMM scores. Offence severity, coded into 6 rank-ordered categories, was analyzed in a one-way ANOVA with TOMM score as the dependent variable. There was a statistically significant difference (F(5,87) = 2.473, p = 0.038). A Tukey post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction revealed that defendants facing lower charges (Theft, shoplifting, criminal breach of trust) invested less test-taking effort (TOMM = 37.4±12.3, p = 0.033) compared to those facing the death penalty (TOMM = 46.2±8.1). The surprising finding that those facing death penalties actually invested more test taking effort than those facing relatively minor charges could be due to higher levels of cooperation when faced with death. Alternatively, other legal avenues to escape the death sentence may have been preferred over the mitigatory chance of a psychiatric defence.

Keywords: capital sentencing, offence severity, Singapore, Test of Memory Malingering

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Authors: Gabrielle Peck, Ryan Hayes

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Polyurethane (PU) foam is typically sold as acoustic foam that is often used as sound insulation in settings such as night clubs and bars. As a construction product, PU is tested by being glued to the walls and ceiling of the ISO 9705 room corner test room. However, when heat is applied to PU foam, it melts and burns as a pool fire due to it being a thermoplastic. The current test layout is unable to accurately measure mass loss and doesn’t allow for the material to burn as a pool fire without seeping out of the test room floor. The lack of mass loss measurement means gas yields pertaining to smoke toxicity analysis can’t be calculated, which makes data comparisons from any other material or test method difficult. Additionally, the heat release measurements are not representative of the actual measurements taken as a lot of the material seeps through the floor (when a tray to catch the melted material is not used). This research aimed to modify the ISO 9705 test to provide the ability to measure mass loss to allow for better calculation of gas yields and understanding of decomposition. It also aimed to accurately measure smoke toxicity in both the doorway and duct and enable dilution factors to be calculated. Finally, the study aimed to examine if doubling the fuel loading would force under-ventilated flaming. The test layout was modified to be a combination of the SBI (single burning item) test set up inside oof the ISO 9705 test room. Polyurethane was tested in two different ways with the aim of altering the ventilation condition of the tests. Test one was conducted using 1 x SBI test rig aiming for well-ventilated flaming. Test two was conducted using 2 x SBI rigs (facing each other inside the test room) (doubling the fuel loading) aiming for under-ventilated flaming. The two different configurations used were successful in achieving both well-ventilated flaming and under-ventilated flaming, shown by the measured equivalence ratios (measured using a phi meter designed and created for these experiments). The findings show that doubling the fuel loading will successfully force under-ventilated flaming conditions to be achieved. This method can therefore be used when trying to replicate post-flashover conditions in future ISO 9705 room corner tests. The radiative heat generated by the two SBI rigs facing each other facilitated a much higher overall heat release resulting in a more severe fire. The method successfully allowed for accurate measurement of smoke toxicity produced from the PU foam in terms of simple gases such as oxygen depletion, CO and CO2. Overall, the proposed test modifications improve the ability to measure the smoke toxicity of materials in different fire conditions on a large-scale.

Keywords: flammability, ISO9705, large-scale testing, polyurethane, smoke toxicity

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Authors: Ibrahim Musa, Guy Raffin, Marie Hangouet, Nadia Zine, Nicole Jaffrezic-Renault, Abdelhamid Errachid

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Due to its application in different domains, such as fuel cell configuration and adulteration of alcoholic beverages, a miniaturized sensor for methanol detection is urgently required. A conductometric microsensor for measuring volatile organic compounds (VOC) was conceived, based on electrospun composite nanofibers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) doped with nickel phthalocyanine(NiPc) deposited on interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) used transducers. The nanofiber's shape, structure, percent atomic content and thermal properties were studied using analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The methanol sensor showed good sensitivity (505µS/cm(v/v) ⁻¹), low LOD (15 ppm), short response time (13 s), and short recovery time (15 s). The sensor was 4 times more sensitive to methanol than to ethanol and 19 times more sensitive to methanol than to acetone. Furthermore, the sensor response was unaffected by the interfering water vapor, making it more suitable for VOC sensing in the presence of humidity. The sensor was applied for conductometric detection of methanol in rubbing alcohol.

Keywords: composite, methanol, conductometric sensor, electrospun, nanofiber, nickel phthalocyanine, PVC

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Authors: Samiah Rehman, Kashmira J. Gohil

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Objective: Dracaena trifascaita extract (DTE) possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that play a vital role in the treatment of mental disorders like depression. The present study was designed to evaluate the antidepressant effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of DT on behavioral models of depression. Methodology: Animals were randomly divided into 6 groups of 5 each: Group 1 and 2 received distilled water and standard drug, imipramine: 25mg/kg, respectively. Groups 4, 5 and 6 received DTE treatment orally at doses of 200 ,400 and 600mg/ kg, respectively, for 14 days. Time of immobility was noted by force swimming test (FST)and tail suspension test (TST) on the 1st,7th and 14th days. Results: The time of immobility was reduced in the treatment group as compared to the control and standard. DTE600 mg/kg showed the highest and most significant antidepressant effects as compared to the standard drug imipramine. (25mg/kg). Conclusion: DTE has good potential as an alternative therapy for depression.

Keywords: Dracaena trifasciata, antidepressants, force swimming test, tail suspension test, herbal drug of depression

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Authors: Marina Charalambous, Phivos Phylactou, Thekla Elriz, Loukia Psychogios, Jean-Marie Annoni

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Background: Evidence-based practices for the evaluation and treatment of people with aphasia (PWA) in Greek are mainly impairment-based. Functional and multimodal communication is usually under assessed and neglected by clinicians. This study explores the adaptation and psychometric testing of the Greek (GR) version of The Scenario Test. The Scenario Test assesses the everyday functional communication of PWA in an interactive multimodal communication setting with the support of an active communication facilitator. Aims: To define the reliability and validity of The Scenario Test GR and discuss its clinical value. Methods & Procedures: The Scenario Test-GR was administered to 54 people with chronic stroke (6+ months post-stroke): 32 PWA and 22 people with stroke without aphasia. Participants were recruited from Greece and Cyprus. All measures were performed in an interview format. Standard psychometric criteria were applied to evaluate reliability (internal consistency, test-retest, and interrater reliability) and validity (construct and known – groups validity) of the Scenario Test GR. Video analysis was performed for the qualitative examination of the communication modes used. Outcomes & Results: The Scenario Test-GR shows high levels of reliability and validity. High scores of internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .95), test-retest reliability (ICC = .99), and interrater reliability (ICC = .99) were found. Interrater agreement in scores on individual items fell between good and excellent levels of agreement. Correlations with a tool measuring language function in aphasia (the Aphasia Severity Rating Scale of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination), a measure of functional communication (the Communicative Effectiveness Index), and two instruments examining the psychosocial impact of aphasia (the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life questionnaire and the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire) revealed good convergent validity (all ps< .05). Results showed good known – groups validity (Mann-Whitney U = 96.5, p < .001), with significantly higher scores for participants without aphasia compared to those with aphasia. Conclusions: The psychometric qualities of The Scenario Test-GR support the reliability and validity of the tool for the assessment of functional communication for Greek-speaking PWA. The Scenario Test-GR can be used to assess multimodal functional communication, orient aphasia rehabilitation goal setting towards the activity and participation level, and be used as an outcome measure of everyday communication. Future studies will focus on the measurement of sensitivity to change in PWA with severe non-fluent aphasia.

Keywords: the scenario test GR, functional communication assessment, people with aphasia (PWA), tool validation

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Authors: E. Knisel, H. Rupprich, A. Heissel

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Health Literacy is defined as the degree to which people have the capacity to obtain and understand information to make health decisions. Illustrated are three levels of health literacy: (1) Functional literacy refers to the transmission of information about e. g. physical activity and nutrition; (2) interactive literacy implies the development of personal and social skills to adopt health-related behaviour and (3) critical health literacy indicates advanced cognitive skills connected with personal empowerment to critically analyse health information, to define self-determined goals and taking action in various situations accordingly. The achievement of the third level refers to self-determination and autonomy which should be outcomes of exercise programs for overweight children as health-related behaviour change will occur and persist if it is autonomously motivated. Method: We adopted a quasi-experimental design with group (autonomy supportive coaching, control) and session (pre-test, intervention, post-test, and follow-up-test). Overweight and obese children and adolescents at the age of 8-14 years (N=40) received a 6-month (20 sessions) exercise program with autonomy supportive coaching implemented by the coaches and sandwiched between pre-test and post-test. All participants (N=92) completed the German version of the Basic Needs Satisfaction Scale Sport and Exercise. Additionally, we assessed the engagement in the exercise program by the MVPA (Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity) and by the adherence and drop-out-rate. Results: Participants in the intervention group perceived their autonomy as moderate in the post-test and the follow-up-test. However, the psychological intervention failed to develop a high autonomy, as both groups show moderate perceived autonomy from the pre-test to the post-test. Participants in the intervention group were higher engaged in MVPA in the exercise program and they attend the program more regularly. Discussion: Young overweight and obese children and adolescents can acquire autonomy using autonomy supporting coaching. However, research identifying the extent they achieve critical health literacy is required to implement an autonomy-supportive coaching style into exercise programs for this target group.

Keywords: autonomy support, coaching, health literacy, health promotion

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Authors: Sung-Won Yoo, Chul-Hyeon Kang, Kyoung-Tae Park, Hae-Sik Woo

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Numerous studies were dedicated on the High Volume Fly-Ash (HVFA) concrete using high volume fly ash. The material properties of HVFA concrete have been the primordial topics of early studies, and interest shifted gradually toward the structural behavior of HVFA concrete such as elasticity modulus, stress-strain relationship, and structural behavior. However, structural studies consider small-scale members limited to the scope of reinforced concrete only. Therefore, in this paper, on the basis of recent studies on the structural behavior, 2 full-scale test members were manufactured with 7.5 m span length, fly ash replacement ratio of 50 % and concrete compressive strength of 50 MPa in order to evaluate the practicability of HVFA to real structures. In addition, 2 steel composite test members were also manufactured with span length of 3 m and using the same HVFA concrete for the same purpose. The test results of full-scale RC members showed that the practical use of HVFA on such structures is not hard despite small differences between test results and existing research results on the stress-strain relationship. The flexural test revealed very little difference between 50% fly ash concrete and general concrete in view of the similarity exhibited by the displacement and strain patterns. The experimental concrete shear strength being very close to that of design code, the existing design code can be applied. From the flexural test results of steel girder composite members, the composite behavior can be secured as much as that using normal concrete under the condition of sufficient arrangement of reinforcing bar.

Keywords: composite, fly ash, full-scale, high volume

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Authors: Ian A. Grout

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In this paper, the design and development of a system to provide hand motion and gesture control of laboratory test equipment is considered and discussed. The Leap Motion controller is used to provide an input to control a laboratory power supply as part of an electronic circuit experiment. By suitable hand motions and gestures, control of the power supply is provided remotely and without the need to physically touch the equipment used. As such, it provides an alternative manner in which to control electronic equipment via a PC and is considered here within the field of human computer interaction (HCI).

Keywords: control, hand gesture, human computer interaction, test equipment

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Authors: Z. N. Haji, S. O. Oyadiji, H. Samami, O. Farrell

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The prediction of the vibration response of rubber products by analytical or numerical method depends mainly on the predefined intrinsic material properties such as Young’s modulus, damping factor and Poisson’s ratio. Such intrinsic properties are determined experimentally by subjecting a bonded rubber sample to compression tests. The compression tests on such a sample yield an apparent Young’s modulus which is greater in magnitude than the intrinsic Young’s modulus of the rubber. As a result, many analytical equations have been developed to determine Young’s modulus from an apparent Young’s modulus of bonded rubber materials. In this work, the applicability of some of these analytical equations is assessed via experimental testing. The assessment is based on testing of vulcanized nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR70) samples using tensile test and compression test methods. The analytical equations are used to determine the intrinsic Young’s modulus from the apparent modulus that is derived from the compression test data of the bonded rubber samples. Then, these Young’s moduli are compared with the actual Young’s modulus that is derived from the tensile test data. The results show significant discrepancy between the Young’s modulus derived using the analytical equations and the actual Young’s modulus.

Keywords: bonded rubber, quasi-static test, shape factor, apparent Young’s modulus

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Authors: Xiong Xie, Yuhang Chen

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Vulnerability discovery technology is a significant field of the current. In this paper, a fuzzy framework based on concolic execution has been proposed. Fuzzy test and symbolic execution are widely used in the field of vulnerability discovery technology. But each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. During the path generation stage, path traversal algorithm based on generation is used to get more accurate path. During the constraint solving stage, dynamic concolic execution is used to avoid the path explosion. If there is external call, the concolic based on function summary is used. Experiments show that the framework can effectively improve the ability of triggering vulnerabilities and code coverage.

Keywords: concolic execution, constraint solving, fuzzy test, vulnerability discovery

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Authors: Marzieh Talebzadeh Shoushtari

Abstract:

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Metaphor therapy on depression among female students. The sample included 60 female students with depression symptoms selected by simple sampling and randomly divided into two equal groups (experimental and control groups). Beck Depression Inventory was used to measure the variables. This was an experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design with control group. Eight metaphor therapy sessions were held for the experimental group. A post-test was administered to both groups. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Results showed that the Metaphor therapy decreased depression in the experimental group compared to the control group.

Keywords: metaphor therapy, depression, female, students

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Authors: Nicolas Spitz, Nicolas Coniglio, Mohamed El Mansori, Alex Montagne, Sabeur Mezghani

Abstract:

Nowadays buildings' construction is performed by pouring concrete into molds referred to as formworks that are usually prefabricated metallic modules. Defects such as stripping may possibly form during the removal of the formwork if the interfacial bonding between the concrete and the formwork is high. A new pull-off tensile test was developed in our laboratory to simulate small-scale formwork removals. The concrete-to-formwork adherence force was measured on bare and coated formworks with different surface signatures. The used concrete was a mixture largely used on building sites and contains CEM I Portland cement and calcareous filler. The concrete surface appearance and the type of failures at the concrete-formwork interface have been investigated. The originality of this near-to-surface test was to compare the laboratory-measured adherence forces to the on-site observations. Based upon the small-scale laboratory test results, functional formwork specifications with low adherence to concrete was proposed in terms of superficial signature characteristics.

Keywords: concrete-formwork adherence, interfacial bonding, skin formwork functionality, small-scale pull-off tensile test

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: Karishma Chester, Sarvesh K. Paliwal, Sayeed Ahmad

Abstract:

Inab-us-salab also known as Solanum nigrum L. (Family: Solanaceae), is an important Indian medicinal plant and have been used in various unani traditional formulations for hepato-protection. It has been reported to contain significant amount of steroidal glycosides such as solamargine and solasonine as well as their aglycone part solasodine. Being important pharmacologically active metabolites of several members of solanaceae, these markers have been attempted various times for their extraction and quantification but separately for glycoside and aglycone part because of their opposite polarity. Here, we propose for the first time its fractionation and fingerprinting of aglycone (solasodine) and glycosides (solamargine and solasonine) in leaves and berries of S. nigrum using solvent extraction and fractionation followed by HPTLC analysis. The fingerprinting was done using silica gel 60F254 HPTLC plates as stationary phase and chloroform: methanol: acetone: 0.5% ammonia (7: 2.5: 1: 0.4 v/v/v/v) as mobile phase at 400 nm, after derivatization with antimony tri chloride reagent for identification of steroidal glycoside. The statistical data obtained can further be validated and can be used routinely for quality control of various solanaceous drugs reported for these markers as well as traditional formulations containing those plants as an ingredient.

Keywords: solanum nigrum, solasodine, solamargine, solasonine, quantification

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Authors: Reira Kinoshita, Shin'ichi Ishimaru

Abstract:

Vapochromism is a type of chromism in which the color of a substance changes when it is exposed to the vapor of volatile materials, and has been investigated for the application of chemical sensors for volatile organic compounds causing sick building syndrome and health hazards in workspaces. We synthesized intercalation compounds of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), and tetrasilisicfluormica (TSFM) by the commonly used cation-exchange method with the cation ratio TMB²⁺/CEC of TSFM = 1.0, 2.0, 2.7 and 5.4 to investigate the vapochromism of these materials. The obtained samples were characterized by powder XRD, XRF, TG-DTA, N₂ adsorption, and SEM. Vapochromism was measured for each sample under a controlled atmosphere by a handy reflectance spectrometer directly from the outside of the glass sample tubes. The color was yellow for all specimens vacuum-dried at 50 °C, but it turned green under H₂O vapor exposure for the samples with TMB²⁺/CEC = 2.0, 2.7, and 5.4 and blue under acetonitrile vapor for all cation ratios. Especially the sample TMB²⁺/CEC = 2.0 showed clear chromism both for water and acetonitrile. On the other hand, no clear color change was observed for vapors of alcohols, acetone, and non-polar solvents. From these results, this material can be expected to apply for easy detection of humidity and acetonitrile vapor in the environment.

Keywords: chemical sensor, intercalation compound, tetramethylbenzidine, tetrasilisicfluormica, vapochromism, volatile organic compounds

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Authors: Pawamana Ramachandra, Jitesh Gupta, Saranga P. Pogula

Abstract:

In verification of high volume and complex packet processing IPs, finer control of flow management aspects (for example, rate, bits/sec etc.) per flow class (or a virtual channel or a software thread) is needed. When any Software/Universal Verification Methodology (UVM) thread arbitration is left to the simulator (e.g., Verilog Compiler Simulator (VCS) or Incisive Enterprise Simulator core simulation engine (NCSIM)), it is hard to predict its pattern of resulting distribution of bandwidth by the simulator thread arbitration. In many cases, the patterns desired in a test scenario may not be accomplished as the simulator might give a different distribution than what was required. This can lead to missing multiple traffic scenarios, specifically deadlock and starvation related. We invented a component (namely Flow Manager Verification IP) to be intervening between the application (test case) and the protocol VIP (with UVM sequencer) to control the bandwidth per thread/virtual channel/flow. The Flow Manager has knobs visible to the UVM sequence/test to configure the required distribution of rate per thread/virtual channel/flow. This works seamlessly and produces rate stimuli to further harness the Design Under Test (DUT) with asymmetric inputs compared to the programmed bandwidth/Quality of Service (QoS) distributions in the Design Under Test.

Keywords: flow manager, UVM sequencer, rated traffic generation, quality of service

Procedia PDF Downloads 101