Search results for: proportion variations

Authors: Rachel Wachtendonk, John Calambokidis, Kiirsten Flynn

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Large marine mammals can serve as an indicator of the overall state of the environment due to their long lifespan and apex position in marine food webs. Reductions in prey, driven by changes in environmental conditions can have resounding impacts on the trophic system as a whole; this can manifest in reduced fat stores that are visible on large whales. Poor health can lead to reduced survivorship and fitness, both of which can be detrimental to a recovering population. A non-invasive technique was used for monitoring blue whale health and for seeing if it changes with ocean conditions. Digital photographs of blue whales taken in the NE Pacific by Cascadia Research and collaborators from 2005-2018 (n=3,545) were scored for overall body condition based on visible vertebrae and body shape on a scale of 0-3 where a score of 0 indicated best body condition and a score of 3 indicated poorest. The data was analyzed to determine if there were patterns in the health of whales across years and whether overall poor health was related to oceanographic conditions and predictors of prey abundance on the California coast. The year was a highly significant factor in body condition (Chi-Square, p<0.001). The proportion of whales showing poor body condition (scores 2 & 3) overall was 33% but by year varied widely from a low of 18% (2008) to a high of 55% (2015). The only two years where >50% of animals had poor body condition were 2015 and 2017 (no other year was above 45%). The 2015 maximum proportion of whales in poor body condition coincide with the marine heat wave that affected the NE Pacific 2014-16 and impacted other whale populations. This indicates that the scoring method was an effective way to evaluate blue whale health and how they respond to a changing ocean.

Keywords: blue whale, body condition, environmental variability, photo-identification

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Authors: Ezzat Mohamed El-Amin

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Mapping the earthquake-size distribution in various tectonic regimes on a local to regional scale reveals statistically significant variations in the range of at least 0.4 to 2.0 for the b-value in the frequency-magnitude distribution. We map the earthquake frequency–magnitude distribution (b value) as a function of depth in the Reservoir Triggered Seismicity (RTS) region in Kalabsha region, in south Egypt. About 1680 well-located events recorded during 1981–2014 in the Kalabsha region are selected for the analysis. The earthquake data sets are separated in 5 km zones from 0 to 25 km depth. The result shows a systematic decrease in b value up to 12 km followed by an increase. The increase in b value is interpreted to be caused by the presence of fluids. We also investigate the spatial distribution of b value with depth. Significant variations in the b value are detected, with b ranging from b 0.7 to 1.19. Low b value areas at 5 km depth indicate localized high stresses which are favorable for future rupture.

Keywords: seismicity, frequency-magnitude, b-value, earthquake

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Authors: Bessaad Taieb, Benbouali Abderrahmen

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Fuzzy controllers are a powerful tool for controlling complex processes. However, its robustness capacity remains moderately limited because it loses its property for large ranges of parametric variations. In this paper, the proposed control method is designed, based on a fuzzy adaptive controller used as a remedy for this problem. For increase the robustness of the vector control and to maintain the performance of the five-phase asynchronous machine despite the presence of disturbances (variation of rotor resistance, rotor inertia variations, sudden variations in the load etc.), by applying the method of behaviour model control (BMC). The results of simulation show that the fuzzy adaptive control provides best performance and has a more robustness as the fuzzy (FLC) and as a conventional (PI) controller.

Keywords: fuzzy adaptive control, behaviour model control, vector control, five-phase asynchronous machine

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Authors: Simon Guerin-Marthe, Marie Violay

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Thermal Pressurization (TP) has been proposed as a key mechanism involved in the weakening of faults during dynamic ruptures. Theoretical and numerical studies clearly show how frictional heating can lead to an increase in pore fluid pressure due to the rapid slip along faults occurring during earthquakes. In addition, recent laboratory studies have evidenced local pore pressure or local temperature variation during rotary shear tests, which are consistent with TP theoretical and numerical models. The aim of this study is to complement previous ones by measuring both local pore pressure and local temperature variations in the vicinity of a water-saturated calcite gouge layer subjected to a controlled slip velocity in direct double shear configuration. Laboratory investigation of TP process is crucial in order to understand the conditions at which it is likely to become a dominant mechanism controlling dynamic friction. It is also important in order to understand the timing and magnitude of temperature and pore pressure variations, to help understanding when it is negligible, and how it competes with other rather strengthening-mechanisms such as dilatancy, which can occur during rock failure. Here we present unique direct measurements of temperature and pressure variations during high-speed friction experiments under various load point velocities and show the timing of these variations relatively to the slip event.

Keywords: thermal pressurization, double-shear test, high-speed friction, dilatancy

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Authors: Deepthinath Reghunathan, Satheesha Nayak, Sudarshan S., Prasad Alathady Maloor, Prakash Shetty

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Lumbar plexus is formed by the union of ventral rami of T12, L1, L2, L3 spinal nerves and the larger upper division of L4 lumbar spinal nerves. Variations in the normal anatomy of the lumbar and sacral plexus might be seen in some cases and are reported in the literature, but finding such an unusual case comprising of multiple variations which is normally not expected in a clinical setup, proves to be a vital piece of information for clinicians and medical practitioners. During the dissection of the abdomen and pelvis of an approximately 70 year old cadaver, we observed the following variations in the formation of the lumbar and sacral nerves. 1. The genitofemoral nerve bifurcated at a higher level; genital branch of genitofemoral nerve gave branches to the anterior abdominal wall muscles, 2. A communicating branch was given from the lateral cutaneous nerve of thigh to the medial cutaneous nerve of thigh, 3. A muscular branch was given from femoral nerve to psoas major, 4. There was absence of contribution of L4 spinal nerve in the formation of the lumbosacral trunk and 5. Lumbosacral trunk gave communicating branches to the femoral and obturator nerves. Most of the variations found were rare and finding all the above said variations in a single cadaver is even rare. Documentation of such rare cases with multiple variations in the formation of nerves from the lumbar plexus provides vital information on such occurrences. This information would in turn improve the knowledge of clinicians and surgeons dealing with this region. Emphasizing such knowledge of this region would prevent accidental damage to the structures with a variant anatomy.

Keywords: femoral nerve, genitofemoral nerve, lumbar plexus, lumbosacral trunk

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Authors: C. S. Seema, P. R. Prince

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The characterization of spatio-temporal inhomogeneities occurring in the ionospheric F₂ layer is remarkable since these variations are direct consequences of electrodynamical coupling between magnetosphere and solar events. The temporal and spatial variations of the F₂ layer, which occur with a period of several days or even years, mainly owe to geomagnetic and meteorological activities. The hourly F₂ layer critical frequency (foF2) over 23rd solar cycle (1996-2008) of three ionosonde stations (Wakkanai, Kokunbunji, and Okinawa) in northern hemisphere, which falls within same longitudinal span, is analyzed using continuous wavelet techniques. Morlet wavelet is used to transform continuous time series data of foF2 to a two dimensional time-frequency space, quantifying the time evolution of the oscillatory modes. The presence of significant time patterns (periodicities) at a particular time period and the time location of each periodicity are detected from the two-dimensional representation of the wavelet power, in the plane of scale and period of the time series. The mean strength of each periodicity over the entire period of analysis is studied using global wavelet spectrum. The quasi biennial, annual, semiannual, 27 day, diurnal and 12 hour variations of foF2 are clearly evident in the wavelet power spectra in all the three stations. Critical frequency oscillations with multi-day periods (2-3 days and 9 days in the low latitude station, 6-7 days in all stations and 15 days in mid-high latitude station) are also superimposed over large time scaled variations.

Keywords: continuous wavelet analysis, critical frequency, ionosphere, solar cycle

Procedia PDF Downloads 189

Authors: Kenny Raharjo, Ramon Lawrence

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Game designers have the challenging task of building games that engage players to spend their time and money on the game. There are an infinite number of game variations and design choices, and it is hard to systematically determine game design choices that will have positive experiences for players. In this work, we demonstrate how multi-arm bandits can be used to automatically explore game design variations to achieve improved player metrics. The advantage of multi-arm bandits is that they allow for continuous experimentation and variation, intrinsically converge to the best solution, and require no special infrastructure to use beyond allowing minor game variations to be deployed to users for evaluation. A user study confirms that applying multi-arm bandits was successful in determining the preferred game variation with highest play time metrics and can be a useful technique in a game designer's toolkit.

Keywords: game design, multi-arm bandit, design exploration and data mining, player metric optimization and analytics

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Authors: Chananart Meenanan

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The composition Isan Symphonic Variations for Chorus and Orchestra is a musical composition inspired by Isan Folk music tunes. The composer has created the well crafted melodic variations and cultural sound character of the piece based on the Klon Lum Tang Isan Keaw (Green Isan’s short poems). Meanwhile, the poetic lyric has been motivatedly recreated to bring the abundance of Northeastern Thailand region’s sentiment back to life. Moreover, the sound of xylophone (Ponglang), the instruments of the orchestra and the chorus were blended in order to present Isan folk music’s character via the Western musical idiom. The 3 movement of this composition is divided as following: In Movement I (Allegro), the introduction has been represented the uniqueness in Isan folk music’s liveliness by expressing it through the sound of chorus and orchestra. The composer also added the melodious sound flavor by utilizing the variety of the muting sound style on trumpets and horns. In Movement II (Moderato), the aspect of the heterophonic approach music has been implied to the main idea of the entire movement whereby its formatted transformation worked effectively through chorus and the orchestra. In Movement III (Allegretto) the harmonic chromaticism was modified and applied as the symbolic icon of the entire movement. The transparence of Isan cultural sound was perfectly designed to be the highlight of this spectacular episode.

Keywords: Isan, symphonic variations, chorus, orchestra

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Authors: Feny Acelia Silaban

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The development of Indonesia’s infrastructure in many islands is significantly increased through the years. Based on this condition, concrete materials which are extracted from natural resources are over exploited and slowly becoming rare, thus the demand for alternative materials becomes so urgently crucial. Oil Palm is one of the biggest commodities in Indonesia with the total amount of 31 million tons in the last 2014. The production of palm oil also generates lots of solid wastes in the form of Oil Palm Shell (OPS). Constructing more environmentally sustainable structures can be achieved by producing lightweight concrete using the Oil Palm Shell (OPS). This paper investigated the effects of OPS and combination of Superplasticizer and fly ash proportion of lightweight concrete mix design to the compressive strength, flexure strength, modulus of elasticity, shrinkage behavior, and water absorption. The Oil Palm Shell had undergone special treatment by washing it with hot water and soap to reduce the oil content. This experiment used four different proportions of Superplasticizer with fly ash and 30 % OPS proportion from the weight of total compositions mixture by the result of trial mix. The experiment result showed that using OPS coarse aggregates and Superplasticizer with fly ash, the average of 28-day compressive strength reached 30-35 MPa. The highest 28-day compressive strength comes from 1.2 % Superplasticizer with 5 % fly ash proportion samples with the strength by 33 MPa. The sample with proportion of 1 % Superplasticizer and 7.5 % fly ash has the highest shrinkage value compared to other proportions. The characteristic of OPS as coarse aggregates is in a standard range of natural coarse aggregates. In general, this lightweight concrete using OPS coarse aggregate and Superplasticizer has high potential to be green-structural lightweight concrete alternative in Indonesia.

Keywords: lightweight concrete, oil palm shell, waste materials, superplasticizer

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Authors: Jossitt Williams Vargas Cruz, Aura Jazmín Pérez Ríos

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The variations of solar dynamics have become a relevant topic of study due to the effects of climate changes generated on the earth. One of the most disconcerting aspects is the variability that the sun has on the climate is the role played by sunspots (extra-atmospheric variable) in the modulation of the Cosmic Rays CR (extra-atmospheric variable). CRs influence the earth's climate by affecting cloud formation (atmospheric variable), and solar cycle influence is associated with the presence of solar storms, and the magnetic activity is greater, resulting in less CR entering the earth's atmosphere. The different methods of climate prediction in Colombia do not take into account the extra-atmospheric variables. Therefore, correlations between atmospheric and extra-atmospheric variables were studied in order to implement a Python code based on neural networks to make the prediction of the extra-atmospheric variable with the highest correlation.

Keywords: correlations, cosmic rays, sun, sunspots and variations.

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Authors: Phayong Thepaksorn

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The objective of this study was to assess whether living in proximity to a roofing fiber cement factory in southern Thailand was associated with physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains measured in a self-reported health risk assessment (HRA) questionnaire. A cross-sectional study was conducted among community members divided into two groups: near population (living within 0-2 km of factory) and far population (living within 2-5 km of factory)(N=198). A greater proportion of those living far from the factory (65.34%) reported physical health problems than the near group (51.04 %)(p=0.032). This study has demonstrated that the near population group had higher proportion of participants with positive ratings on mental assessment (30.34%) and social health impacts (28.42%) than far population group (10.59% and 16.67 %, respectively) (p<0.001). The near population group (29.79%) had similar proportion of participants with positive ratings in spiritual health impacts compared with far population group (27.08%). Among females, but not males, this study demonstrated that a higher proportion of the near population had a positive summative score for the self-HRA, which included all four health domain, compared to the far population (p <0.001 for females; p=0.154 for males). In conclusion, this self-HRA of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health domains reflected the risk perceptions of populations living in the vicinity of the roofing fiber cement factory. This type of tool can bring attention to population concerns and complaints in the factory’s surrounding community. Our findings may contribute to future development of self-HRA for HIA development procedure in Thailand.

Keywords: cement dust, health impact assessment, risk assessment, walk-though survey

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Authors: Novriyanti Lubis, Riska Prasetiawati, Wulan Septiani

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The quantitative analysis of vitamin C content from variations beverage packaging containing red guava (Psidium Guajava Linn) fruit juice had been done. In this study, four samples were obtained from the shopping center in Garut and Bandung City. Samples were tested quantitatively by 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol titration method. The results showed different concentration of 4 samples consist of tetra pack packaging, tin, glass, and plastic bottles, such as; 17.99 mg/100 gr, 31.46 mg/100 gr, 13.00 mg/100 gr, and 12.01 mg/100 gr, respectively. These results indicated that the packaging variations affected the level of vitamin C content which was characterized by decreased levels of vitamin C. It means the levels of vitamin C from this research were not in accordance with nutritional value information on the packaging. Tetra pack packaging was the most stable compared to other packaging even though it had a shorter expired date than with other.

Keywords: vitamin C, variations beverage packaging, red guava, titration 2, 6- dichlorophenol indophenol

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Authors: Perumalla Naveen Kumar

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Global Positioning System (GPS) is used for civilian and military user positioning applications. The accuracy of GPS is degrading mainly because of ionospheric error. It is very important to analyze the effects of ionosphere on the performance of satellite systems especially in the low latitude regions. These variations depend on the Total Electron Content (TEC) in the ionosphere. To investigate the variations in the atmosphere, a mini satellite known as YOUTHSAT is launched by India. This is the outcome of the collaboration between India and USSR. One of the YOUTHSAT Indian payload is RaBIT (Radio Beacon for Ionospheric Tomography). In this paper, YOUTHSAT RaBIT payload data for the three typical days of 2011 are considered. The analysis is carried out for four Indian stations. The variations of Slant TEC, elevation angle and azimuth angles are analyzed with respect to local time. The obtained results are encouraging.

Keywords: Global Positioning System (GPS), Total Electron Content (TEC), YOUTHSAT, Radio Beacon for Ionospheric Tomography (RaBIT)

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Authors: Susy Thomas, Sajju Thomas, Varghese Vaidyan

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This paper considers SMCs using linear feedback with switched gains and proposes a method which can minimize the pole perturbation. The method is able to enhance the robustness property of the controller. A pre-assigned neighborhood of the ‘nominal’ positions is assigned and the system poles are not allowed to stray out of these bounds even when parameters variations/uncertainties act upon the system. A quasi SMM is maintained within the assigned boundaries of the sliding surface.

Keywords: parameter variations, pole perturbation, sliding mode control, switching surface, robust switching vector

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Authors: Vafa Delphi, Maryam Delphi, Talieh Zarifian, Enayatolah Bakhshi

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Background and Aim: Bilingualism is a common phenomenon in many countries of the world and May be consistent consonant errors in the speech of bilingual children. The aim of this study was to evaluate Phonological skills include occurrence proportion, frequency and type of phonological processes in Persian-Arabic speaking children in Ahvaz city, the center of Khuzestan. Method: This study is descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional. Twenty-eight children aged 36-48 months were divided into two groups Persian monolingual and Persian-Arabic bilingual: (14 participants in each group). Sampling was recruited randomly based on inclusion criteria from kindergartens of the Ahvaz city in Iran. The tool of this study was the Persian Phonological Test (PPT), a subtest of Persian Diagnostic Evaluation Articulation and Phonological test. In this test, Phonological processes were investigated in two groups: structure and substitution processes. Data was investigated using SPSS software and the U Mann-Whitney test. Results: The results showed that the proportion occurrence of substitution process was significantly different between two groups of monolingual and bilingual (P=0/001), But the type of phonological processes didn’t show a significant difference in both monolingual and bilingual children of the Persian-Arabic.The frequency of phonological processes is greater in bilingual children than monolingual children. Conclusion: The study showed that bilingualism has no effect on type of phonological processes, but this can be effective on the frequency of processes. Since the type of phonological processes in bilingual children is similar to monolingual children So we can conclude the Persian_arabic bilingual children's phonological system is similar to monolingual children.

Keywords: Persian-Arabic bilingual child, phonological processes, the proportion occurrence of syllable structure, the proportion occurrence of substitution

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Authors: Akella Amarendra Babu, Rama Devi Yellasiri, Natukula Sainath

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Where human beings can easily learn and adopt pronunciation variations, machines need training before put into use. Also humans keep minimum vocabulary and their pronunciation variations are stored in front-end of their memory for ready reference, while machines keep the entire pronunciation dictionary for ready reference. Supervised methods are used for preparation of pronunciation dictionaries which take large amounts of manual effort, cost, time and are not suitable for real time use. This paper presents an unsupervised adaptation model for building agile and dynamic pronunciation dictionaries online. These methods mimic human approach in learning the new pronunciations in real time. A new algorithm for measuring sound distances called Dynamic Phone Warping is presented and tested. Performance of the system is measured using an adaptation model and the precision metrics is found to be better than 86 percent.

Keywords: pronunciation variations, dynamic programming, machine learning, natural language processing

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Authors: Varun K, Pramod B. Balareddy

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Estimation of wind forces plays a significant role in the in the design of large antenna parabolic reflectors. Reflector surface accuracies are very sensitive to the gain of the antenna system at higher frequencies. Hence accurate estimation of wind forces becomes important, which is primary input for design and analysis of the reflector system. In the present work, numerical simulation of wind flow using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software is used to investigate the external pressure coefficients. An extensive comparative study has been made between the CFD results and the published wind tunnel data for different wind angle of attacks (α) acting over concave to convex surfaces respectively. Flow simulations using CFD are carried out to estimate the coefficients of Drag, Lift and Moment for the parabolic reflector. Coefficients of pressures (Cp) over the front and the rear face of the reflector are extracted over surface of the reflector to study the net pressure variations. These resultant pressure variations are compared with the published wind tunnel data for different angle of attacks. It was observed from the CFD simulations, both convex and concave face of reflector system experience a band of pressure variations for the positive and negative angle of attacks respectively. In the published wind tunnel data, Pressure variations over convex surfaces are assumed to be uniform and vice versa. Chordwise and spanwise pressure variations were calculated and compared with the published experimental data. In the present work, it was observed that the maximum pressure coefficients for α ranging from +30° to -90° and α=+90° was lower. For α ranging from +45° to +75°, maximum pressure coefficients were higher as compared to wind tunnel data. This variation is due to non-uniform pressure distribution observed over front and back faces of reflector. Variations in Cd, Cl and Cm over α=+90° to α=-90° was in close resemblance with the experimental data.

Keywords: angle of attack, drag coefficient, lift coefficient, pressure coefficient

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Authors: Lakshmidevi Sreeramareddy, Komalpreet Kaur, Nane Pothier

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For security purposes, it is important to detect passwords entered by unauthorized users. With traditional alphanumeric passwords, if the content of a password is acquired and correctly entered by an intruder, it is impossible to differentiate the password entered by the intruder from those entered by the authorized user because the password entries contain precisely the same character set. However, no two entries for the gesture-based passwords, even those entered by the person who created the password, will be identical. There are always variations between entries, such as the shape and length of each stroke, the location of each stroke, and the speed of drawing. It is possible that passwords entered by the unauthorized user contain higher levels of variations when compared with those entered by the authorized user (the creator). The difference in the levels of variations may provide cues to detect unauthorized entries. To test this hypothesis, we designed an empirical study, collected and analyzed the data with the help of machine-learning algorithms. The results of the study are significant.

Keywords: authentication, gesture-based passwords, shoulder-surfing attacks, usability

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Authors: Jie Liu, Jinqu Cheng, Qiyuan Peng, Yong Yin

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Urban rail transit (URT) plays a significant role in dealing with traffic congestion and environmental problems in cities. However, equipment failure and obstruction of links often lead to URT links’ capacities loss in daily operation. It affects the reliability and transport service quality of URT network seriously. In order to measure the influence of links’ capacities loss on reliability and transport service quality of URT network, passengers are divided into three categories in case of links’ capacities loss. Passengers in category 1 are less affected by the loss of links’ capacities. Their travel is reliable since their travel quality is not significantly reduced. Passengers in category 2 are affected by the loss of links’ capacities heavily. Their travel is not reliable since their travel quality is reduced seriously. However, passengers in category 2 still can travel on URT. Passengers in category 3 can not travel on URT because their travel paths’ passenger flow exceeds capacities. Their travel is not reliable. Thus, the proportion of passengers in category 1 whose travel is reliable is defined as reliability indicator of URT network. The transport service quality of URT network is related to passengers’ travel time, passengers’ transfer times and whether seats are available to passengers. The generalized travel cost is a comprehensive reflection of travel time, transfer times and travel comfort. Therefore, passengers’ average generalized travel cost is used as transport service quality indicator of URT network. The impact of links’ capacities loss on transport service quality of URT network is measured with passengers’ relative average generalized travel cost with and without links’ capacities loss. The proportion of the passengers affected by links and betweenness of links are used to determine the important links in URT network. The stochastic user equilibrium distribution model based on the improved logit model is used to determine passengers’ categories and calculate passengers’ generalized travel cost in case of links’ capacities loss, which is solved with method of successive weighted averages algorithm. The reliability and transport service quality indicators of URT network are calculated with the solution result. Taking Wuhan Metro as a case, the reliability and transport service quality of Wuhan metro network is measured with indicators and method proposed in this paper. The result shows that using the proportion of the passengers affected by links can identify important links effectively which have great influence on reliability and transport service quality of URT network; The important links are mostly connected to transfer stations and the passenger flow of important links is high; With the increase of number of failure links and the proportion of capacity loss, the reliability of the network keeps decreasing, the proportion of passengers in category 3 keeps increasing and the proportion of passengers in category 2 increases at first and then decreases; When the number of failure links and the proportion of capacity loss increased to a certain level, the decline of transport service quality is weakened.

Keywords: urban rail transit network, reliability, transport service quality, links’ capacities loss, important links

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Authors: Sa`ad M. Ismail, Hung-Hsun Yen, Christina M. Murray, Helen M. S. Davies

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The lumbosacral junction (where the 7th lumbar vertebra (L7) articulates with the sacrum) is a clinically important area in the dog. The 7th lumbar vertebra (L7) is normally shorter than other lumbar vertebrae, and it has been reported that variations in the L7 length may be associated with other abnormal anatomical findings. These variations included the reduction or absence of the portion of the median sacral crest. In this study, 53 greyhound cadavers were placed in right lateral recumbency, and two lateral radiographs were taken of the lumbosacral region for each greyhound. The length of the 6th lumbar (L6) vertebra and L7 were measured using radiographic measurement software and was defined to be the mean of three lines drawn from the caudal to the cranial edge of the L6 and L7 vertebrae (a dorsal, middle, and ventral line) between specific landmarks. Sacrocaudal fusion was found in 41.5% of the greyhounds. The mean values of the length of L6, L7, and the ratio of the L6/L7 length of the greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion were all greater than those with standard sacrums (three sacral vertebrae). There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the mean values of the length of L7 between the greyhounds without sacrocaudal fusion (mean = 29.64, SD ± 2.07) and those with sacrocaudal fusion (mean = 30.86, SD ± 1.80), but, there was no significant difference in the mean value of the length of the L6 measurement. Among different types of sacrocaudal fusion, the longest L7 was found in greyhounds with sacrum type D, intermediate length in those with sacrum type B, and the shortest was found in those with sacrums type C, and the mean values of the ratio of the L6/L7 were 1.11 (SD ± 0.043), 1.15, (SD ± 0.025), and 1.15 (SD ± 0.011) for the types B, C, and D respectively. No significant differences in the mean values of the length of L6 or L7 were found among the different types of sacrocaudal fusion. The occurrence of sacrocaudal fusion might affect direct anatomically connected structures such as the L7. The variation in the length of L7 between greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion and those without may reflect the possible sequences of the process of fusion. Variations in the length of the L7 vertebra in greyhounds may be associated with the occurrence of sacrocaudal fusion. The variation in the vertebral length may affect the alignment and biomechanical properties of the sacrum and may alter the loading. We concluded that any variations in the sacrum anatomical features might change the function of the sacrum or the surrounding anatomical structures.

Keywords: biomechanics, Greyhound, sacrocaudal fusion, locomotion, 6th Lumbar (L6) Vertebra, 7th Lumbar (L7) Vertebra, ratio of the L6/L7 length

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Authors: Ibe O. Stephen, Egwuonwu N. Gabriel

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Variations in seismic P-wave velocity and depth resolution resulting from variations in subsurface water saturation were investigated in this study in order to determine the season of the year that gives the most reliable P-wave velocity and depth resolution of the subsurface in Zaria Area, Nigeria. A 2D seismic refraction tomography technique involving an ABEM Terraloc MK6 Seismograph was used to collect data across a borehole of standard log with the centre of the spread situated at the borehole site. Using the same parameters this procedure was repeated along the same spread for at least once in a month for at least eight months in a year for four years. The choice for each survey time depended on when there was significant variation in rainfall data. The seismic data collected were tomographically inverted. The results suggested that the average P-wave velocity ranges of the subsurface in the area are generally higher when the ground was wet than when it was dry. The results also suggested that the overburden of about 9.0 m in thickness, the weathered basement of about 14.0 m in thickness and the fractured basement at a depth of about 23.0 m best fitted the borehole log. This best fit was consistently obtained in the months between March and May when the average total rainfall was about 44.8 mm in the area. The results had also shown that the velocity ranges in both dry and wet formations fall within the standard ranges as provided in literature. In terms of velocity, this study has not in any way clearly distinguished the quality of the results of the seismic data obtained when the subsurface was dry from the results of the data collected when the subsurface was wet. It was concluded that for more detailed and reliable seismic studies in Zaria Area and its environs with similar climatic condition, the surveys are best conducted between March and May. The most reliable seismic data for depth resolution are most likely obtainable in the area between March and May.

Keywords: best season, variations in depth resolution, variations in P-wave velocity, variations in subsurface water saturation, Zaria area

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Authors: Jiayue Yang

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Based on an analysis of China's database of certified disabled persons in 2021, this study reveals several key findings. Firstly, the proportion of certified mentally disabled persons among China's certified disabled population (Certification rate 1) shows a decreasing distribution from the East to the West and from the South to the North. Secondly, the spatial distribution of the number of mentally disabled persons per 1,000 people holding certificates (certification rate 2) shows a relatively scattered pattern, with significant variations observed between cities in the eastern region. However, on an overall scale, a south-north gradient can still be observed, with higher rates in the North and lower rates in the west, while the central region demonstrates higher rates compared to the western region. The variation in the rate of mentally handicapped certificates among regions is influenced not only by traditional culture and welfare level but also exhibits a certain correlation with the level of economic development.

Keywords: certified disabled persons, mentally disabled persons, spatial distribution, China

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Authors: Encarnación Álvarez, Rosa M. García-Fernández, Juan F. Muñoz, Francisco J. Blanco-Encomienda

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The problem of estimating a proportion has important applications in the field of economics, and in general, in many areas such as social sciences. A common application in economics is the estimation of the headcount index. In this paper, we define the general headcount index as a proportion. Furthermore, we introduce a new quantitative method for estimating the headcount index. In particular, we suggest to use the logistic regression estimator for the problem of estimating the headcount index. Assuming a real data set, results derived from Monte Carlo simulation studies indicate that the logistic regression estimator can be more accurate than the traditional estimator of the headcount index.

Keywords: poverty line, poor, risk of poverty, Monte Carlo simulations, sample

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Authors: Suddhasil Siddhanta, Debasish Nandy

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Child sex ratios pattern in the Asian Population is highly masculine mainly due to birth masculinity and gender bias in child mortality. The vast and the growing literature of female deficit in world population points out the diffusion of child sex ratio pattern in many Asian as well as neighboring European countries. However, little attention has been given to understand the common factors in different demographics in explaining child sex ratio pattern. Such a scholarship is extremely important as level of gender inequity is different in different country set up. Our paper tries to explain the major structural commonalities in the child masculinity pattern in two demographic billionaires - India and China. The analysis reveals that apart from geographical diffusion of sex selection technology, patrilocal social structure, as proxied by households with more than one generation in China and proportion of population aged 65 years and above in India, can explain significant variation of missing girl child in these two countries. Even after controlling for individual capacity building factors like educational attainment, or work force participation, the measure of social stratification is coming out to be the major determinant of child sex ratio variation. Other socio economic factors that perform much well are the agency building factors of the females, like changing pattern of marriage customs which is proxied by divorce and remarriage ratio for china and percentage of female marrying at or after the age of 20 years in India and the female workforce participation. Proportion of minorities in socio-religious composition of the population and gender bias in scholastic attainment in both these counties are also found to be significant in modeling child sex ratio variations. All these significant common factors associated with child sex ratio point toward the one single most important factor: the historical evolution of patriarchy and its contemporary perpetuation in both the countries. It seems that prohibition of sex selection might not be sufficient to combat the peculiar skewness of excessive maleness in child population in both these countries. Demand sided policies is therefore utmost important to root out the gender bias in child sex ratios.

Keywords: child sex ratios, gender bias, structural factors, prosperity, patrilocality

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Authors: A. Clementking, C. Jothi Venkateswaran

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Mathematical and computational functionalities such as descriptive mining, optimization, and predictions are espoused to resolve natural resource planning. The water quality prediction and its attributes influence determinations are adopted optimization techniques. The water properties are tainted while merging water resource one with another. This work aimed to predict influencing water resource distribution connectivity in accordance to water quality and sediment using an innovative proposed master-slave neural network back-propagation model. The experiment results are arrived through collecting water quality attributes, computation of water quality index, design and development of neural network model to determine water quality and sediment, master–slave back propagation neural network back-propagation model to determine variations on water quality and sediment attributes between the water resources and the recommendation for connectivity. The homogeneous and parallel biochemical reactions are influences water quality and sediment while distributing water from one location to another. Therefore, an innovative master-slave neural network model [M (9:9:2)::S(9:9:2)] designed and developed to predict the attribute variations. The result of training dataset given as an input to master model and its maximum weights are assigned as an input to the slave model to predict the water quality. The developed master-slave model is predicted physicochemical attributes weight variations for 85 % to 90% of water quality as a target values.The sediment level variations also predicated from 0.01 to 0.05% of each water quality percentage. The model produced the significant variations on physiochemical attribute weights. According to the predicated experimental weight variation on training data set, effective recommendations are made to connect different resources.

Keywords: master-slave back propagation neural network model(MSBPNNM), water quality analysis, multivariate analysis, environmental mining

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Authors: Jake Hindmarch, Edward Farley, Norman Eizenberg, Mark Midwinter

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There is a need to bring the anatomical knowledge of medical students up to the standards required by surgical specialties. Contention exists amongst anatomists, clinicians, and surgeons about the standard of anatomical knowledge medical students need. The aim of this study was to explore the standards which the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons are applying knowledge of anatomy. Furthermore, to align medical school teaching to what the surgical profession requires from graduates.: The 2018 volume of the ANZ Journal of Surgery was narrowed down to 254 articles by applying the search term “Anatomy”. The main topic was then extracted from each paper. The content of the paper was assessed for ‘novel description’ or ‘application’ of anatomical knowledge’ and classified accordingly. The majority of papers with an anatomical focus was from the general surgery specialty, which focused on surgical techniques, outcomes and management. Vascular surgery had the highest percentage of papers with a novel description and application of anatomy. Cardiothoracic and paediatric surgery had no papers with a novel description of anatomy. Finally, a novel application of anatomy was the main focus of each speciality. Firstly, a high proportion of novel applications and descriptions of anatomy are in general surgery. Secondly, vascular surgery had the largest proportion of novel application and description of anatomy, namely due to the rise of therapeutic imaging and endovascular techniques. Finally, all disciplines demonstrated a trend towards having a higher proportion of novel application of anatomical knowledge

Keywords: anatomical knowledge, anatomy, surgery, novel anatomy

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Authors: Hao Yang, Lei Chen, Ting Mei, Jianbang Zheng

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Currently, the uncooled PbSe photodetectors in the mid-infrared range (2-5μm) with sensitization technology extract more photoelectric response than traditional ones, and enable the room temperature (300K) photo-detection with high detectivity, which have attracted wide attentions in many fields. This technology generally contains the film fabrication with vapor phase deposition (VPD) and a sensitizing process with doping of oxygen and iodine. Many works presented in the recent years almost provide and high temperature activation method with oxygen/iodine vapor diffusion, which reveals that oxygen or iodine plays an important role in the sensitization of PbSe material. In this paper, we provide our latest experimental results and discussions in the stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine and its influence on the polycrystalline structure and photo-response. The experimental results revealed that crystal orientation was transformed from (200) to (420) by sensitization, and the responsivity of 5.42 A/W was gained by the optimal stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine with molecular density of I2 of ~1.51×1012 mm-3 and oxygen pressure of ~1Mpa. We verified that I2 plays a role in transporting oxygen into the lattice of crystal, which is actually not its major role. It is revealed that samples sensitized with iodine transform atomic proportion of Pb from 34.5% to 25.0% compared with samples without iodine from XPS data, which result in the proportion of about 1:1 between Pb and Se atoms by sublimation of PbI2 during sensitization process, and Pb/Se atomic proportion is controlled by I/O atomic proportion in the polycrystalline grains, which is very an important factor for improving responsivity of uncooled PbSe photodetector. Moreover, a novel sensitization and dopant activation method is proposed using oxygen ion implantation with low ion energy of < 500eV and beam current of ~120μA/cm2. These results may be helpful to understanding the sensitization mechanism of polycrystalline lead salt materials.

Keywords: polycrystalline PbSe, sensitization, transport, stoichiometry

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Authors: S. Surapa Raju

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In Andhra Pradesh, the symptoms of climate variations in coastal villages can be observed from various studies. The Andhra Pradesh coast is known its frequent tropical cyclones and associated floods and tidal surges causing loss of life and property in the region. In the last decade alone, the state experienced 18 devastating storms causing huge loss to coastal people. The year 2007 was the fourth warmest year on record since 1901 and 2009 witnessed the heat wave conditions prevailing over the coastal Andhra Pradesh. With regarding to sea level rise (SLR), 43 percent of the coastal areas considered to be at high risk. The main objectives of the study are: to know the perceptions of fisher people on climate variations and to find out the awareness of the fisher people on climate variations and its effects at village and on fishing households. Altogether 150 households were chosen purposively for this study and collected information from the households based on semi-structured schedule. The present field-based study observed that most of the fisher people are experienced about the changes in climate variations in their villages. The first generation fisher people expressed that the at least 1/2km of sea erosion taken place from the last 20 years and most of them displaced. With regard to fishing activities, first generation fisher people revealed that 20 years back they were fishing in near-shore areas, but now availability of near shore is decreased at a large extent. The present study observed the lot of variations in growth of species in marine districts of Andhra Pradesh from the year 2005-2010. Some species like Silver pomfret, Sole (flat fish), Chriocentrus, Thrisocies, Stakes, Rays etc. are in decaling. The results of the study indicate that huge variation observed in growth rates of fish species. Small and traditional fishers have drastically effected in El NiNo years than the normal years as they have not own suitable equipment such as crafts and nets. The study discovered that many changes taken place in the fishing activities and they are: go for long distance for fishing which increases the cost of fishing operations; decrease in fish catches. Need to take up in-depth studies in the marine villages and tackle the situation by creating more awareness about the negative effects of climate variations among fishing households. Suitable fish craft technology is to be supplied and create more employment opportunities for the fishers in other than fishery.

Keywords: climate, Andhra Pradesh, El nino years, India

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Authors: Abdulmagid A. Khattabi, Ahmed A. Hablous, Mofied M. Elnemry

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The carbon steel is of one of the most common mineral materials used in engineering and industrial applications in order to have access to the required mechanical properties, especially after the change of carbon ratio, but this may lead to stimulate corrosion. It has been used in models of solids with different carbon ratios such as 0.05% C, 0.2% C, 0.35% C, 0.5% C, and 0.65% C and have been studied using three testing durations which are 4 weeks, 6 weeks, and 8 weeks and among different corrosion environments such as atmosphere, fresh water, and salt water. This research is for the purpose of finding the effect of the carbon content on the corrosion resistance of steels in different corrosion medium by using the weight loss technique as a function of the corrosion resistance. The results that have been obtained through this research shows that a correlation can be made between corrosion rates and steel's carbon content, and the corrosion resistance decreases with the increase in carbon content.

Keywords: proportion of carbon in the steel, corrosion rate, erosion, corrosion resistance in carbon-steel

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Authors: Sa'ad M. Ismail, Hung-Hsun Yen, Christina M. Murray, Helen M. S. Davies

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In the dog, the median sacral crest is formed by the fusion of three sacral spinous processes. In greyhounds with standard sacrums, this fusion in the median sacral crest consists of the fusion of three sacral spinous processes while it consists of four in greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion. In the present study, variations in the angulation of the first sacral spinous process in association with different types of sacrocaudal fusion in the greyhound were investigated. Sacrums were collected from 207 greyhounds (102 sacrums; type A (unfused) and 105 with different types of sacrocaudal fusion; types: B, C and D). Sacrums were cleaned by boiling and dried and then were placed on their ventral surface on a flat surface and photographed from the left side using a digital camera at a fixed distance. The first sacral spinous process angle (1st SPA) was defined as the angle formed between the cranial border of the cranial ridge of the first sacral spinous process and the line extending across the most dorsal surface points of the spinous processes of the S1, S2, and S3. Image-Pro Express Version 5.0 imaging software was used to draw and measure the angles. Two photographs were taken for each sacrum and two repeat measurements were also taken of each angle. The mean value of the 1st SPA in greyhounds with sacrocaudal fusion was less (98.99°, SD ± 11, n = 105) than those in greyhounds with standard sacrums (99.77°, SD ± 9.18, n = 102) but was not significantly different (P < 0.05). Among greyhounds with different types of sacrocaudal fusion the mean value of the 1st SPA was as follows: type B; 97.73°, SD ± 10.94, n = 39, type C: 101.42°, SD ± 10.51, n = 52, and type D: 94.22°, SD ± 11.30, n = 12. For all types of fusion these angles were significantly different from each other (P < 0.05). Comparing the mean value of the1st SPA in standard sacrums (Type A) with that for each type of fusion separately showed that the only significantly different angulation (P < 0.05) was between standard sacrums and sacrums with sacrocaudal fusion sacrum type D (only body fusion between the S1 and Ca1). Different types of sacrocaudal fusion were associated with variations in the angle of the first sacral spinous process. These variations may affect the alignment and biomechanics of the sacral area and the pattern of movement and/or the force produced by both hind limbs to the cranial parts of the body and may alter the loading of other parts of the body. We concluded that any variations in the sacrum anatomical features might change the function of the sacrum or surrounding anatomical structures during movement.

Keywords: angulation of first sacral spinous process, biomechanics, greyhound, locomotion, sacrocaudal fusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 287