Search results for: real time control

Authors: Qiaowen Lin

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The 3D cadastre is an inevitable choice to meet the needs of real cadastral management. Nowadays, more attention is given to the technical aspects of 3D cadastre, resulting in the imbalance within this field. To fulfill this research gap, the stakeholder, which has been regarded as the determining factor in cadastral change has been studied. Delphi method, Michael rating, and stakeholder mapping are used to identify and classify the stakeholders in 3D cadastre. It is concluded that the project managers should pay more attention to the interesting appeal of the key stakeholders and different coping strategies should be adopted to facilitate the transition to 3D cadastre.

Keywords: stakeholders, three dimension, cadastre, transtion

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Authors: Merrylord Harb-Azar

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Traditionally, PTSD treatment has involved trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (TF CBT) to consolidate traumatic memories. A piloted integrated treatment of TF CBT and eye movement desensitisation reprocessing therapy (EMDR) of eight phases will fasten the rate memory is being consolidated and enhance cognitive functioning in patients with PTSD. Patients spend a considerable amount of time in treatment managing their traumas experienced firsthand, or from aversive details ranging from war, assaults, accidents, abuse, hostage related, riots, or natural disasters. The time spent in treatment or as inpatient affects overall quality of life, relationships, cognitive functioning, and overall sense of identity. EMDR is being offered twice a week in conjunction with the standard prolonged exposure as an inpatient in a private hospital. Prolonged exposure for up to 5 hours per day elicits the affect response required for EMDR sessions in the afternoon to unlock unprocessed memories and facilitate consolidation in the amygdala and hippocampus. Results are indicating faster consolidation of memories, reduction in symptoms in a shorter period of time, reduction in admission time, which is enhancing the quality of life and relationships, and improved cognition. The impact of events scale (IES) results demonstrate a significant reduction in symptoms, trauma symptoms inventory (TSI), and posttraumatic stressor disorder check list (PCL) that demonstrates large effect sizes to date. An integrated treatment approach for PTSD achieves a faster resolution of memories, improves cognition, and reduces the amount of time spent in therapy.

Keywords: EMDR enhances cognitive functioning, faster consolidation of trauma memory, integrated treatment of TF CBT and EMDR, reduction in inpatient admission time

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Authors: Hatem Ghith

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This research paper experimentally investigates the effect of burning by fire flame from one face on the behavior and load carrying capacity for reinforced columns. Residual ultimate load carrying capacity, axial deformation, crack pattern and maximum crack width for column specimens with and without burning were recorded and discussed. Tested six reinforced concrete columns were divided into control specimen and two groups. The first group was exposed to a fire with a different temperature (300, 500, 700 °C) for an hour with reinforcement ratio 0.89% and the second group was exposed to a fire with a temperature 500 °C for an hour with different reinforcement ratio (0.89%, 2.18%, and 3.57%), then all columns were tested under short-term axial loading. From the obtained results, it could be concluded that the fire parameters significantly influence the fire resistance of R.C columns. The fire parameters cause axial deformation and moment on the column due to the eccentricity that generated from the difference in temperature and consequently the compressive stresses of both faces of the columns but the increased reinforcement ratio enhanced the resistance of columns for axial deformation and moment on the column due to the eccentricity.

Keywords: columns, reinforcement ratio, strength, time exposure

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Authors: Mohammed Hassan Alshaikhi

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Vocabulary is essential factor of learning and mastering any languages, and it helps learners to communicate with others and to be understood. The aim of this study was to examine whether semantic mapping technique was helpful in terms of improving student's English vocabulary learning comparing to the traditional technique. The students’ age was between 11 and 13 years old. There were 60 students in total who participated in this study. 30 students were in the treatment group (target vocabulary items were taught with semantic mapping). The other 30 students were in the control group (the target vocabulary items were taught by a traditional technique). A t-test was used with the results of pre-test and post-test in order to examine the outcomes of using semantic mapping when teaching vocabulary. The results showed that the vocabulary mastery in the treatment group was increased more than the control group.

Keywords: English language, learning vocabulary, Saudi teachers, semantic mapping, teaching vocabulary strategies

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Authors: Kuei-Chun Liu, Yu-Yu Lai, Ching-Hong Wu, Hsiao-Han Huang

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The number of Android applications (Apps) has increased rapidly in recent years. In order to get better programmatic control over Apps, we designed a record-and-replay mechanism to record Android input events and accessibility service events then make shortcuts. The shortcut is useful for complicated routine works and to Android beginners. We also generated graphical user interface (GUI) API by these shortcuts. GUI API helps developers make integrated Apps which can control other third-party Apps even if the official API is not offered by their providers. We demonstrated the usage of GUI API with two integrated Apps: Universal Bank App and Universal Communication App. Universal Bank App integrates three accounts from different banks and Universal Communication App integrates Line with WhatsApp. Both of them show the advantage of extendable GUI API. Furthermore, using our mechanism, shortcuts could replay almost all of the Top-100 Apps on Google Play correctly. In sum, the approach we present can help both Android developers and general users.

Keywords: graphical user interface, GUI API, record-and-replay, third-party apps

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Authors: Yu-Ju Tsai, Ching-Chun Wang, Wen-Tzu Tang, Huei-Ming Chai

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A pronated foot is frequently associated with a hypermobile first ray, then developing further severe foot problems. Low-Dye taping with athletic tape has been widely used to restrict excessive first ray motion and re-build height of the medial longitudinal arch in general population with pronated foot. It is not the case, however, for sprinters since they feel too much restriction of foot motions. Currently, the kinesio tape, more elastic than the athletic tape, has been widely used to re-adjust joint positions. It was interesting whether modified low-Dye taping using kinesio tape was beneficial for altering first ray mobility and still giving enough arch support. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of modified low-Dye taping on first ray mobility test and 60-m sprint time for sprinters with pronated foot. The significance of this study provides new insight into a treatment alternative of modified low-Dye taping for sprinter with pronated foot. Ten young male sprinters, aged 20.8±1.6 years, with pronated foot were recruited for this study. The pronated foot was defined as the foot that the navicular drop test was greater than 1.0 cm. Three optic shutters were placed at the start, 30-m, and 60-m sites to record sprint time. All participants were asked to complete 3 trials of the 60-m dash with both taping and non-taping conditions in a random order. The low-Dye taping was applied using the method postulated by Ralph Dye in 1939 except the kinesio tape was used instead. All outcome variables were recorded for taping and non-taping conditions. Paired t-tests were used to analyze all outcome variables between 2 conditions. Although there were no statistically significant differences in dorsal and plantar mobility between taping and non-taping conditions, a statistical significance was found in a total range of motion (dorsiflexion plus plantarflexion angle) of the first ray when a modified low-Dye taping was applied (p < 0.05). Time to complete 60-m sprint was significantly increased with low-Dye taping (p < 0.05) while no significance was found for time to 30-m. it indicated that modified low-Dye taping changed maximum sprint speed of 60-m dash. Conclusively, modified low-Dye taping was capable of increasing first ray mobility and further altered maximum sprint speed.

Keywords: first ray mobility, kinesio taping, pronated foot, sprint time

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Authors: Petra Suchovska

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The spirit of post-modernity remains chaotic and obscure. Geopolitical rivalries raging at the more extreme levels and the ability of intellectual community to explain the entropy of global affairs has been diminishing. The Western-led idea of globalisation imposed upon the world does not seem to bring the bright future for human progress anymore, and its architects lose much of global control, as the strong non-western cultural entities develop new forms of post-modern establishments. The overall growing cultural misunderstanding and mistrust are expressions of political impotence to deal with the inner contradictions within the contemporary phenomenon (capitalism, economic globalisation) that embrace global society. The drivers and effects of global restructuring must be understood in the context of systems and principles reflecting on true complexity of society. The purpose of this paper is to set out some ideas about how cybernetics can contribute to understanding international system structure and analyse possible world futures. “IS Cybernetics” would apply to system thinking and cybernetic principles in IR in order to analyse and handle the complexity of social phenomena from global perspective. “IS cybernetics” would be, for now, the subfield of IR, concerned with applying theories and methodologies from cybernetics and system sciences by offering concepts and tools for addressing problems holistically. It would bring order to the complex relations between disciplines that IR touches upon. One of its tasks would be to map, measure, tackle and find the principles of dynamics and structure of social forces that influence human behaviour and consequently cause political, technological and economic structural reordering, forming and reforming the international system. “IS cyberneticists” task would be to understand the control mechanisms that govern the operation of international society (and the sub-systems in their interconnection) and only then suggest better ways operate these mechanisms on sublevels as cultural, political, technological, religious and other. “IS cybernetics” would also strive to capture the mechanism of social-structural changes in time, which would open space for syntheses between IR and historical sociology. With the cybernetic distinction between first order studies of observed systems and the second order study of observing systems, IS cybernetics would also provide a unifying epistemological and methodological, conceptual framework for multilateralism and multiple modernities theory.

Keywords: cybernetics, historical sociology, international system, systems theory

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Authors: Arjun Goutham, Chaitanya Sridhar, Sunita Maheshwari, Robin Uthappa, Prasanna Gopinath

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In alignment with the growth in the sporting industry, a number of people playing and competing in sports are growing exponentially across the globe. However, the number of sports psychology experts are not growing at a similar rate, especially in the Asian and more so, Indian context. Hence, the access to actionable mental training solutions specific to individual athletes is limited. Also, the time constraint an athlete faces due to their intense training schedule makes one-on-one sessions difficult. One of the means to bridge that gap is through technology. Technology makes individualization possible. It allows for easy access to specific-qualitative content/information and provides a medium to place individualized assessments, analysis, solutions directly into an athlete's hands. This enables mental training awareness, education, and real-time actionable solutions possible for athletes in-spite of the limitation of available sports psychology experts in their region. Furthermore, many athletes are hesitant to seek support due to the stigma of appearing weak. Such individuals would prefer a more discreet way. Athletes who have strong mental performance tend to produce better results. The mobile application helps to equip athletes with assessing and developing their mental strategies directed towards improving performance on an ongoing basis. When an athlete understands their strengths and limitations in their mental application, they can focus specifically on applying the strategies that work and improve on zones of limitation. With reports, coaches get to understand the unique inner workings of an athlete and can utilize the data & analysis to coach them with better precision and use coaching styles & communication that suits better. Systematically capturing data and supporting athletes(with individual-specific solutions) or teams with assessment, planning, instructional content, actionable tools & strategies, reviewing mental performance and the achievement of objectives & goals facilitate for a consistent mental skills development at all levels of sporting stages of an athlete's career. The mobile application will help athletes recognize and align with their stable attributes such as their personalities, learning & execution modalities, challenges & requirements of their sport, etc and help develop dynamic attributes like states, beliefs, motivation levels, focus etc. with practice and training. It will provide measurable analysis on a regular basis and help them stay aligned to their objectives & goals. The solutions are based on researched areas of influence on sporting performance individually or in teams.

Keywords: athletes, mental training, mobile application, performance, sports

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Authors: Raviraja Shetty G., K. G. Poojitha

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An experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Mudigere to study the effect of different growth regulators on seed germination and vegetative propagation by cuttings of Celastrus paniculata an endangered medicinal plant. The extracted seeds are subjected to 11 different pre-soaking treatments which include control, GA3 at 300, 350, 400ppm, KNO3 at 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, H2SO4 at 0.5%, 1.0% and HCl 0.5%,1.0% for 100 seeds per treatment. Among the different germination inducing treatments, seeds treated with gibberellins responded well with high seed germination and vigorous seedling growth. The seeds treated with GA3 400 ppm recorded maximum germination and growth parameters like rate of germination, shoot length, root length, plant vigour, fresh and dry weight of which was followed GA3 350 ppm. The commencement of germination and 50 per cent germination was also earlier in the same treatment. The cuttings of C. paniculata took more time for root initiation up to four months and sprouting percent was moderate as compared to other easy to root species. Among different treatments, IBA 2000 ppm was found to be the best, which recorded the maximum shoot and also root parameters. The results of present investigation will be helpful for conservation of this endangered medicinal plant through propagation

Keywords: conservation, germination, growth, germination, propagation

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Authors: Mohammad Najmol Haque, Takeshi Maki, Jun Sasaki

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Headed stud shear connections are widely used in the junction or embedded zone of hybrid girder to achieve whole composite action with continuity that can sustain steel-concrete interfacial tensile and shear forces. In Japan, Japan Road Association (JRA) specifications are used for hybrid girder design that utilizes very low level of stud capacity than those of American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) specifications, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) specifications and EURO code. As low design shear strength is considered in design of connections, the time dependent shear behavior due to sustained external loading is not considered, even not fully studied. In this study, a finite element approach was used to evaluate the time dependent shear behavior for headed studs used as connections at the junction. This study clarified, how the sustained loading distinctively impacted on changing the interfacial shear of connections with time which was sensitive to lodging history, positions of flanges, neighboring studs, position of prestress bar and reinforcing bar, concrete strength, etc. and also identified a shear influence area. Stud strength was also confirmed through pushout tests. The outcome obtained from the study may provide an important basis and reference data in designing connections of hybrid girders with enhanced stud capacity with due consideration of their long-term shear behavior.

Keywords: finite element, hybrid girder, shear connections, sustained loading, time dependent behavior

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Authors: Valentin Nicorescu, Nicoleta C. Predescu, Camelia Papuc, Iuliana Gajaila, Carmen D. Petcu

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The oxidation of the fresh muscle oxymyoglobin (bright red colour) to metmyoglobin (brown colour) leads to discoloration of red meats. After slaughter, enzymatic systems involved in metmyoglobin reduction are continually depleted as time post-mortem progresses, thus the meat colour is affected. Phenolic compounds are able to scavenge reactive species involved in oxymyoglobin oxidation and to reduce metmyoglobin to oxymyoglobin. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of polyphenols extracted from hawthorn fruits on the stability of oxymyoglobin and myofibrillar proteins in ground pork subject to refrigeration for 6 days. Hawthorn polyphenols (HP) were added in ground pork in 100, 200 and 300 ppm concentrations. Oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin were evaluated spectrophotometrically at every 2 days and electrophoretic pattern of myofibrillar proteins was investigated at days 0 and 6 by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). For all meat samples, oxymyoglobin concentration significantly decreased during the first 4 days of refrigeration. After 6 days, the significant decrease of oxymyoglobin concentration continued only in the negative control samples. In samples treated with HP and butylated hydroxylanisole (BHA - positive control), oxymyoglobin concentration increased after 6 days of refrigeration, the highest levels complying with the following order: 100 ppm HP > 200 ppm HP > 300 ppm HP > 100 ppm BHA. The increase in metmyoglobin was coincidental with the decrease in oxymyoglobin; metmyoglobin concentration progressively increased during the first 4 days of refrigeration in all meat samples. After 6 days, in meat samples treated with HP and BHA, lower metmyoglobin concentrations were found (compared to day 4), respecting the following order: 100 ppm HP < 200 ppm HP < 300 ppm HP < 100 ppm BHA. These results showed that hawthorn polyphenols and BHA reduced metmyoglobin (MbFe3+) to oxymyoglobin (MbFe2+), and the strongest reducing character was recorded for 100 ppm HP. After 6 days of refrigeration, electrophoretic pattern of myofibrillar proteins showed minor changes compared to day 0, indicating that HP prevent protein degradation as well as synthetic antioxidant BHA. Also, HP did not induce cross-links in the myofibrillar proteins, to form protein aggregates, and no risk of reducing their ability to retain water was identified. The pattern of oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin concentrations determined in this study showed that hawthorn polyphenols are able to reduce metmyoglobin to oxymyoglobin and to delay oxymyoglobin oxidation, especially when they are added to ground meat in concentration of 100 ppm. This work was carried out through Partnerships in priority areas Program – PN II, implemented with the support of MEN – UEFISCDI (Romania), project nr. 149/2014.

Keywords: Hawthorn polyphenols, metmyoglobin, oxymyoglobin, proteins stability

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Authors: G. Raviraja Shetty, K. G. Poojitha

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An experiment was conducted to study the effect of different growth regulators on seed germination and vegetative propagation by cuttings of an endangered medicinal plant species, Celastrus paniculatus Willd. at College of Horticulture, Mudigere during June- Sept 2014. Various growth parameters were recorded for seed germination and significantly higher results for Rate of germination (0.78), Plant vigour (2082.74), Plant height (22.10cm), number of leaves (7.83) fresh weight (136.58mg) and dry weight of plant (59.16mg) noticed in seeds treated with GA3 400 ppm when compared to control. In vegetative propagation the cuttings treated with IBA 2000 ppm recorded significantly highest sprouting percentage (98.00) when compared to control (71.00). The results of present investigation will be helpful for large scale multiplication of the species. It will also help for cultivation and conservation of this endangered species.

Keywords: Celastrus paniculatus Willd, seeds, germination, cuttings

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Authors: Mohammad Moridzadeh, Mohammad Djavid, Barry Doyle

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An assessment of the long-term stability of a cavern in Chagrin shale excavated by the sequential excavation method was performed during and after construction. During the excavation of the cavern, deformations of rock mass were measured at the surface of excavation and within the rock mass by surface and deep measurement instruments. Rock deformations were measured during construction which appeared to result from the as-built excavation sequence that had potentially disturbed the rock and its behavior. Also some additional time dependent rock deformations were observed during and post excavation. Several opinions have been expressed to explain this time dependent deformation including stress changes induced by excavation, strain softening (or creep) in the beddings with and without clay and creep of the shaley rock under compressive stresses. In order to analyze and replicate rock behavior observed during excavation, including current and post excavation elastic, plastic, and time dependent deformation, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed. The analysis was also intended to estimate long term deformation of the rock mass around the excavation. Rock mass behavior including time dependent deformation was measured by means of rock surface convergence points, MPBXs, extended creep testing on the long anchors, and load history data from load cells attached to several long anchors. Direct creep testing of Chagrin Shale was performed on core samples from the wall of the Pump Room. Results of these measurements were used to calibrate the FEA of the excavation. These analyses incorporate time dependent constitutive modeling for the rock to evaluate the potential long term movement in the roof, walls, and invert of the cavern. The modeling was performed due to the concerns regarding the unanticipated behavior of the rock mass as well as the forecast of long term deformation and stability of rock around the excavation.

Keywords: Cavern, Chagrin shale, creep, finite element.

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Authors: Min Kyu Kim, Eun Young Lee, Dong Woo Son, Yoon Seok Chang

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In this paper, we introduce a flexible box erecting machine (BEM) that swiftly and automatically transforms cardboard into a three dimensional box. Recently, the parcel service and home-shopping industries have grown rapidly, and there is an increasing need for various box types to ship various products. However, workers cannot fold thousands of boxes manually in a day. As such, automatic BEMs are garnering greater attention. This study takes equipment operation into consideration as well as mechanical improvements in order to design a BEM that is able to outperform its conventional counterparts. We analyzed six dispatching rules – First In First Out (FIFO), Shortest Processing Time (SPT), Earliest Due Date (EDD), Setup Avoidance, EDD + SPT, and EDD + Setup Avoidance – to determine which one was most suitable for BEM operation. Consequently, SPT and Setup Avoidance were found to be the most critical rules, followed by EDD + Setup Avoidance, EDD + SPT, EDD, and FIFO. This hierarchy was valid for both our conventional BEM and our new flexible BEM from the viewpoint of processing time. We believe that this research can contribute to flexible BEM management, which has the potential to increase productivity and convenience.

Keywords: automation, box erecting machine, dispatching rule, setup time

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Authors: Adekeye Joshua Temitope

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“Transgender” presents a complexion of ambiguity in the African context and it remains a contested topography in the discourse of sexual identity. The casts and stigmatisations towards transgender unveils vital facts and intricacies often ignored in the academic communities; the problems and oppressions of given sex/gender system, the constrain of monogamy and ignorance of fluidity of human sexuality thereby generating dual discords of “enforced heterosexual” and “unavoidable homosexual.” The African culture voids transgender movements and perceive same-sex sexual behavior as “taboo or bad habits” and this provide reasonable explanations for the failure of asserting for the sexual rights in GLBT movement in most discourse on sexuality in the African context. However, we could not deny the real existence of active flowing and fluidity of human sexuality even though its variants could be latent. The incessant consciousness of the existence of transgender practices in Africa either in form of bisexual desire or bisexual behavior with or without sexual identity, including people who identify themselves as bisexual opens up the vision for us to reconsider and reexamine what constitutes such ambiguity and controversy of transgender identity at present time. The notion of identity politics in gay, lesbian, and transgender community has its complexity and debates in its historical development. This paper analyses the representation of the historical trajectory of transgender practices by presenting the dynamic transition of how people cognize transgender practices under different historical conditions since the understanding of historical transition of bisexual practices would be very crucial and meaningful for gender/sexuality liberation movement at present time and in the future. The paper did a juxtaposition of the trajectories of bisexual practices between Anglo-American world and Africa, as it has certain similarities and differences within diverse historical complexities. The similar condition is the emergence of gay identity under the influence of capitalism but within different cultural context. Therefore, the political economy of each cultural context plays very important role in understanding the formation of sexual identities historically and its development and influence for the GLBT movement afterwards and in the future. By reexamining Kinsey’s categorization and applying Klein’s argument on individual’s sexual orientation this paper is poised to break the given and fixed connection among sexual behavior/sexual orientation/sexual identity, on the other hand to present the potential fluidity of human sexuality by reconsidering and reexamining the present given sex/gender system in our world. The paper concludes that it is obligatory for the essentialist and exclusionary trend at this historical moment since gay and lesbian communities in Africa need to clearly demonstrate and voice for themselves under the nuances of gender/sexuality liberation.

Keywords: heterosexual, homosexual, identity politics, queer politics, transgender

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Authors: Suneet Kathuria, Shikha Gupta, Kapil Dev, Sunil Katyal

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Chronic use of opioids in opium abusers can cause poor pain control and increased analgaesic requirement. We compared the duration of spinal anaesthesia in chronic opium abusers and non-abusers. This prospective randomised study included 60 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Grade I or II adults undergoing surgery under spinal anaesthesia with 10 mg bupivacaine, and 25 μg fentanyl in non-opium abusers (Group A); and chronic opium abusers (Group B), and 40 μg fentanyl in chronic opium abusers (Group C). Patients were assessed for onset and duration of sensory and motor blockade and duration of effective analgesia. Mean time to onset of adequate analgesia in opium abusers was significantly longer in chronic opium abusers than in opium-naive patients. The duration of sensory block and motor block was significantly less in chronic opium abusers than in non-opium abusers. Duration of effective analgesia in groups A, B and C was 255.55 ± 26.84, 217.85 ± 15.15, and 268.20 ± 18.25 minutes, respectively; this difference was statistically significant. In chronic opium abusers, the duration of spinal anaesthesia is significantly shorter than that in opium nonabusers. The duration of spinal anaesthesia with bupivacaine and fentanyl in chronic opium abusers can be improved by increasing the intrathecal fentanyl dose from 25 μg to 40 μg.

Keywords: bupivacaine, chronic opium abusers, fentanyl, intrathecal

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Authors: Panudet Saengseedam, Nanthachai Kantanantha

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This paper proposes a linear mixed model (LMM) with spatial effects to forecast rice and cassava yields in Thailand at the same time. A multivariate conditional autoregressive (MCAR) model is assumed to present the spatial effects. A Bayesian method is used for parameter estimation via Gibbs sampling Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The model is applied to the rice and cassava yields monthly data which have been extracted from the Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand. The results show that the proposed model has better performance in most provinces in both fitting part and validation part compared to the simple exponential smoothing and conditional auto regressive models (CAR) from our previous study.

Keywords: Bayesian method, linear mixed model, multivariate conditional autoregressive model, spatial time series

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Authors: Jesús Antonio Puente Fernández, Luis Javier Garcia Villalba

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New trends on streaming videos such as series or films require a high demand of network resources. This fact results in a huge problem within traditional IP networks due to the rigidity of its architecture. In this way, Software Defined Networks (SDN) is a new concept of network architecture that intends to be more flexible and it simplifies the management in networks with respect to the existing ones. These aspects are possible due to the separation of control plane (controller) and data plane (switches). Taking the advantage of this separated control, it is easy to deploy a monitoring tool independent of device vendors since the existing ones are dependent on the installation of specialized and expensive hardware. In this paper, we propose a framework that optimizes the traffic monitoring in SDN networks that decreases the number of monitoring queries to improve the network traffic and also reduces the overload. The performed experiments (with and without the optimization) using a video streaming delivery between two hosts demonstrate the feasibility of our monitoring proposal.

Keywords: optimization, monitoring, software defined networking, statistics, query

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Authors: Masoud Swalehe, Semra Günay

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Developed countries are losing many lives to non-communicable diseases as compared to their developing counterparts. The effects of these diseases are mostly sudden and manifest at a very short time prior to death or a dangerous attack and this has consolidated the significance of emergency medical system (EMS) as one of the vital areas of healthcare service delivery. The primary objective of this research is to reduce ambulance response times (RT) of Eskişehir province EMS since a number of studies have established a relationship between ambulance response times and survival chances of patients especially out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) victims. It has been found out that patients who receive out of hospital medical attention in few (4) minutes after cardiac arrest because of low ambulance response times stand higher chances of survival than their counterparts who take longer times (more than 12 minutes) to receive out of hospital medical care because of higher ambulance response times. The study will make use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to dynamically reallocate ambulance resources according to demand and time so as to reduce ambulance response times. Geospatial-time distribution of ambulance calls (demand) will be used as a basis for optimal ambulance deployment using system status management (SSM) strategy to achieve much demand coverage with the same number of ambulance resources to cause response time reduction. Drive-time polygons will be used to come up with time specific facility coverage areas and suggesting additional facility candidate sites where ambulance resources can be moved to serve higher demands making use of network analysis techniques. Emergency Ambulance calls’ data from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014 obtained from Eskişehir province health directorate will be used in this study. This study will focus on the reduction of ambulance response times which is a key Emergency Medical Services performance indicator.

Keywords: emergency medical services, system status management, ambulance response times, geographic information system, geospatial-time distribution, out of hospital cardiac arrest

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Chronologic age (CA) of individuals is closely related to obesity and generally affects the magnitude of obesity parameters. On the other hand, close association between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and metabolic age (MA) is also a matter of concern. It is suggested that MA higher than CA is the indicator of the need to improve the metabolic rate. In this study, the aim was to assess some commonly used obesity parameters, such as obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR, BMR-to-weight ratio, in several groups with varying differences between MA and CA values. The study comprises adults, whose ages vary between 18 and 79 years. Four groups were constituted. Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 were composed of 55, 33, 76 and 47 adults, respectively. The individuals exhibiting -1, 0 and +1 for their MA-CA values were involved in Group 1, which was considered as the control group. Those, whose MA-CA values varying between -5 and -10 participated in Group 2. Those, whose MAs above their real ages were divided into two groups [Group 3 (MA-CA; from +5 to + 10) and Group 4 (MA-CA; from +11 to + 12)]. Body mass index (BMI) values were calculated. TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology was used to obtain values for obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR and BMR-to-weight ratio. The compiled data were evaluated statistically using a statistical package program; SPSS. Mean ± SD values were determined. Correlation analyses were performed. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. The increase in BMR was positively correlated with obesity degree. MAs and CAs of the groups were 39.9 ± 16.8 vs 39.9 ± 16.7 years for Group 1, 45.0 ± 15.3 vs 51.4 ± 15.7 years for Group 2, 47.2 ± 12.7 vs 40.0 ± 12.7 years for Group 3, and 53.6 ± 14.8 vs 42 ± 14.8 years for Group 4. BMI values of the groups were 24.3 ± 3.6 kg/m², 23.2 ± 1.7 kg/m², 30.3 ± 3.8 kg/m², and 40.1 ± 5.1 kg/m² for Group 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Values obtained for BMR were 1599 ± 328 kcal in Group 1, 1463 ± 198 kcal in Group 2, 1652 ± 350 kcal in Group 3, and 1890 ± 360 kcal in Group 4. A correlation was observed between BMR and MA-CA values in Group 1. No correlation was detected in other groups. On the other hand, statistically significant correlations between MA-CA values and obesity degree, BMI as well as BMR/weight were found in Group 3 and in Group 4. It was concluded that upon consideration of these findings in terms of MA-CA values, BMR-to-weight ratio was found to be much more useful indicator of the severe increase in obesity development than BMR. Also, the lack of associations between MA and BMR as well as BMR-to-weight ratio emphasize the importance of consideration of MA-CA values rather than MA.

Keywords: basal metabolic rate, basal metabolic rate-to-weight-ratio, chronologic age, metabolic age, obesity degree

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Authors: Wilawan Kanhachon, Yodchai Boonprakob, Uraiwon Chatchawan, Junichiro Yamauchi

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Introduction: Paslop is a traditional dance from Laos, which is popular in Laos and northeastern of Thailand. This unique type of Paslop dancing is to control body movement with the song. While dancing to the beat, dancers should contract their abdomen and back muscle all the time. Paslop may be a good alternative to improve strengthening, balance and flexibility. Objective: To investigate the effects of Paslop dance exercise on core strength, balance, and flexibility. Methods: Seven healthy participants (age, 20.57±1.13 yrs; height, 162.29±6.16 cm; body mass, 58.14±7.03 kg; mean± S.D.) were volunteered to perform the 45-minute Paslop dance exercise in three times a week for 8 weeks. Before, during and after the exercise period, core strength, balance and flexibility were measured with the pressure biofeedback unit (PBU), one-leg stance test (OLST), and sit and reach test (SAR), respectively. Result: PBU score for core strength increased from 2.12 mmHg in baseline to 6.34 mmHg at the 4th week and 10.10 mmHg at the 8th week after the Paslop dance training, while OLST and SAR did not change. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that 8-week Paslop dancing exercise can improve the core strength.

Keywords: balance, core strength, flexibility, Paslop

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Authors: Simon B.A. Egli, Katja Rost

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Literature on redistributive preferences has proliferated in past decades. A core assumption behind it is that variation in redistributive preferences can explain different levels of redistribution. In contrast, this paper considers the reverse. What if it is redistribution that changes redistributive preferences? The core assumption behind the argument is that if self-interest - which we label concrete preferences - and ideology - which we label abstract preferences - come into conflict, the former will prevail and lead to an adjustment of the latter. To test the hypothesis, data from a survey conducted in Switzerland during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis is used. A significant portion of the workforce at the time unexpectedly received state money through the short-time working program. Short-time work was used as a proxy for self-interest and was tested (1) on the support given to hypothetical, ailing firms during the crisis and (2) on the prioritization of justice principles guiding state action. In a first step, several models using OLS-regressions on political orientation were estimated to test our hypothesis as well as to check for non-linear effects. We expected support for ailing firms to be the same regardless of ideology but only for people on short-time work. The results both confirm our hypothesis and suggest a non-linear effect. Far-right individuals on short-time work were disproportionally supportive compared to moderate ones. In a second step, ordered logit models were estimated to test the impact of short-time work and political orientation on the rankings of the distributive justice principles need, performance, entitlement, and equality. The results show that being on short-time work significantly alters the prioritization of justice principles. Right-wing individuals are much more likely to prioritize need and equality over performance and entitlement when they receive government assistance. No such effect is found among left-wing individuals. In conclusion, we provide moderate to strong evidence that unexpectedly finding oneself at the receiving end changes redistributive preferences if personal ideology is antithetical to redistribution. The implications of our findings on the study of populism, personal ideologies, and political change are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19, ideology, redistribution, redistributive preferences, self-interest

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Authors: Kamyar Moradi

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Background: There is mixed evidence regarding the association between recreational cannabinoid use and memory performance. One of the major reasons for the present controversy is different cannabinoid use-related covariates that influence the cognitive status of an individual. Adjustment of these confounding variables provides accurate insight into the real effects of cannabinoid use on memory status. In this study, we sought to investigate the association between recent recreational cannabinoid use and memory performance while correcting the model for other possible covariates such as demographic characteristics and duration, and amount of cannabinoid use. Methods: Cannabinoid users were assigned to two groups based on the results of THC urine drug screen test (THC+ group: n = 110, THC- group: n = 410). THC urine drug screen test has a high sensitivity and specificity in detecting cannabinoid use in the last 3-4 weeks. The memory domain of NIH Toolbox battery and brain MRI volumetric measures were compared between the groups while adjusting for confounding variables. Results: After Benjamini-Hochberg p-value correction, the performance in all of the measured memory outcomes, including vocabulary comprehension, episodic memory, executive function/cognitive flexibility, processing speed, reading skill, working memory, and fluid cognition, were significantly weaker in THC+ group (p values less than 0.05). Also, volume of gray matter, left supramarginal, right precuneus, right inferior/middle temporal, right hippocampus, left entorhinal, and right pars orbitalis regions were significantly smaller in THC+ group. Conclusions: this study provides evidence regarding the acute effect of recreational cannabis use on memory performance. Further studies are warranted to confirm the results.

Keywords: brain MRI, cannabis, memory, recreational use, THC urine test

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Authors: Iveta Bryjova

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Recording of viscoelastic strain-vs-time curves with the aid of the suction method and a follow-up analysis, resulting into evaluation of standard viscoelastic parameters, is a significant technique for non-invasive contact diagnostics of mechanical properties of skin and assessment of its conditions, particularly in acute burns, hypertrophic scarring (the most common complication of burn trauma) and reconstructive surgery. For elimination of the skin thickness contribution, usable viscoelastic parameters deduced from the strain-vs-time curves are restricted to the relative ones (i.e. those expressed as a ratio of two dimensional parameters), like grosselasticity, net-elasticity, biological elasticity or Qu’s area parameters, in literature and practice conventionally referred to as R2, R5, R6, R7, Q1, Q2, and Q3. With the exception of parameters R2 and Q1, the remaining ones substantially depend on the position of inflection point separating the elastic linear and viscoelastic segments of the strain-vs-time curve. The standard algorithm implemented in commercially available devices relies heavily on the experimental fact that the inflection time comes about 0.1 sec after the suction switch-on/off, which depreciates credibility of parameters thus obtained. Although the Qu’s US 7,556,605 patent suggests a method of improving the precision of the inflection determination, there is still room for nonnegligible improving. In this contribution, a novel method of inflection point determination utilizing the advantageous properties of the Savitzky–Golay filtering is presented. The method allows computation of derivatives of smoothed strain-vs-time curve, more exact location of inflection and consequently more reliable values of aforementioned viscoelastic parameters. An improved applicability of the five inflection-dependent relative viscoelastic parameters is demonstrated by recasting a former study under the new method, and by comparing its results with those provided by the methods that have been used so far.

Keywords: Savitzky–Golay filter, scarring, skin, viscoelasticity

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Authors: Anny Zambrano, German Gonzalez, Yair Quintero

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The continuum damage concept is used to study the interaction between hydraulic fractures and natural fractures, the objective is representing the path and relation among this two fractures types and predict its complex behavior without the need to pre-define their direction as occurs in other finite element applications, providing results more consistent with the physical behavior of the phenomenon. The approach uses finite element simulations through Abaqus software to model damage fracturing, the fracturing process by damage propagation in a rock. The modeling the phenomenon develops in two dimensional (2D) so that the fracture will be represented by a line and the crack front by a point. It considers nonlinear constitutive behavior, finite strain, time-dependent deformation, complex boundary conditions, strain hardening and softening, and strain based damage evolution in compression and tension. The complete governing equations are provided and the method is described in detail to permit readers to replicate all results. The model is compared to models that are published and available. Comparisons are focused in five interactions between natural fractures (NF) and hydraulic fractures: Fractured arrested at NF, crossing NF with or without offset, branching at intersecting NFs, branching at end of NF and NF dilation due to shear slippage. The most significant new finding is, that is not necessary to use pre-defined addresses propagation and stress condition can be evaluated as a dominant factor in the process. This is important because it can model in a more real way the generated complex hydraulic fractures, and be a valuable tool to predict potential problems and different geometries of the fracture network in the process of fracturing due to fluid injection.

Keywords: continuum damage, hydraulic fractures, natural fractures, complex fracture network, stiffness

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Authors: M. Cabral, A. Verdin, G. Garçon, A. Touré, C. Diop, M. Fall, S. Bouhsina, D. Dewaele, F.Cazier, A. Tall Dia, P. Shirali, A. Diouf

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This case-control study dealt with the health adverse effects within the population neighboring the Mbeubeuss waste dump, which is located near the district of Malika (Diamalaye II) in Dakar (Senegal). All the household and industrial waste arising from Dakar are stored in this open landfill without being covered and are therefore possible sources of Pb and Cd contaminated air emissions and lixiviates. The objective of this study is part of improving the health of the population neighboring Mbeubeuss by determining Pb and Cd concentrations both in environment and humans, and studying possible renal function alterations within the adults. Soil and air samples were collected in the control site (Darou Salam) and the waste dump neighboring site (Diamalaye II). Control and exposed adults were recruited as living in Darou Salam (n = 52) and in Diamalaye II (n = 77). Pb and Cd concentrations in soil, air and biological samples were determined. Moreover, we were interested in analyzing some impregnation (zinc protoporphyrin, d-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase) and oxidative stress biomarkers (malonedialdehyde, gluthatione status), in addition to several nephrotoxicity parameters (creatinuria, proteinuria, lactate dehydrogenase, CC16 protein, glutathione S-transferase-alpha and retinol binding protein) in blood and/or urine. The results showed the significant Pb and Cd contamination of the soil and air samples derived from the landfill, and therefore of the neighboring population of adults. This critical exposure to environmental Pb and Cd had some harmful consequences for their health, as shown by the reported oxidative stress and nephrotoxicity signs.

Keywords: Pb and Cd environmental exposure, impregnation markers, landfill, nephrotoxicity markers

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Authors: Jesika A. Walker, Mohammed Aswad, Guy Lacroix, Denis Cousineau

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There is a fundamental disconnect between the experience of time passing and the chronometric units by which time is quantified. Specifically, there appears to be no relationship between the passage of time judgments (PoTJs) and verbal duration estimates at short durations (e.g., < 2000 milliseconds). When a duration is longer than several minutes, however, evidence suggests that a slower feeling of time passing is predictive of overestimation. Might the length of a task moderate the relation between PoTJs and duration estimates? Similarly, the estimation paradigm (prospective vs. retrospective) and the mental effort demanded of a task (task demand) have both been found to influence duration estimates. However, only a handful of experiments have investigated these effects for tasks of long durations, and the results have been mixed. Thus, might the length of a task also moderate the effects of the estimation paradigm and task demand on duration estimates? To investigate these questions, 273 participants performed either an easy or difficult visual and memory search task for either eight or 58 minutes, under prospective or retrospective instructions. Afterward, participants provided a duration estimate in minutes, followed by a PoTJ on a Likert scale (1 = very slow, 7 = very fast). A 2 (prospective vs. retrospective) × 2 (eight minutes vs. 58 minutes) × 2 (high vs. low difficulty) between-subjects ANOVA revealed a two-way interaction between task demand and task duration on PoTJs, p = .02. Specifically, time felt faster in the more challenging task, but only in the eight-minute condition, p < .01. Duration estimates were transformed into RATIOs (estimate/actual duration) to standardize estimates across durations. An ANOVA revealed a two-way interaction between estimation paradigm and task duration, p = .03. Specifically, participants overestimated the task more if they were given prospective instructions, but only in the eight-minute task. Surprisingly, there was no effect of task difficulty on duration estimates. Thus, the demands of a task may influence ‘feeling of time’ and ‘estimation time’ differently, contributing to the existing theory that these two forms of time judgement rely on separate underlying cognitive mechanisms. Finally, a significant main effect of task duration was found for both PoTJs and duration estimates (ps < .001). Participants underestimated the 58-minute task (m = 42.5 minutes) and overestimated the eight-minute task (m = 10.7 minutes). Yet, they reported the 58-minute task as passing significantly slower on a Likert scale (m = 2.5) compared to the eight-minute task (m = 4.1). In fact, a significant correlation was found between PoTJ and duration estimation (r = .27, p <.001). This experiment thus provides evidence for a compensatory effect at longer durations, in which people underestimate a ‘slow feeling condition and overestimate a ‘fast feeling condition. The results are discussed in relation to heuristics that might alter the relationship between these two variables when conditions range from several minutes up to almost an hour.

Keywords: duration estimates, long durations, passage of time judgements, task demands

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Authors: Jiin-Yuh Jang, Yu-Feng Gan

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In order to improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of the steel, the cooling rate, and the temperature distribution must be controlled in the cooling process. A three-dimensional numerical model for the prediction of the heat transfer coefficient distribution of H-beam in the controlled cooling process was performed in order to obtain the uniform temperature distribution and minimize the maximum stress and the maximum deformation after the controlled cooling. An algorithm developed with a simplified conjugated-gradient method was used as an optimizer to optimize the heat transfer coefficient distribution. The numerical results showed that, for the case of air cooling 5 seconds followed by water cooling 6 seconds with uniform the heat transfer coefficient, the cooling rate is 15.5 (℃/s), the maximum temperature difference is 85℃, the maximum the stress is 125 MPa, and the maximum deformation is 1.280 mm. After optimize the heat transfer coefficient distribution in control cooling process with the same cooling time, the cooling rate is increased to 20.5 (℃/s), the maximum temperature difference is decreased to 52℃, the maximum stress is decreased to 82MPa and the maximum deformation is decreased to 1.167mm.

Keywords: controlled cooling, H-Beam, optimization, thermal stress

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Authors: Simeon Adebayo Oladipo

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Institutional administrators are currently facing pressure and challenges in their daily operations. Reasons for this may include the increasing multiplicity, uncertainty and tension that permeate institutional leadership. Authentic engagement for institutional leadership is premised on the ethical foundation that the leaders in the schools are engaged. The institutional effectiveness is dependent on the relationship that exists between the leaders and employees in the workplace. Leader’s self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control, strong moral code and accountability have a positive influence on authentic engagement which variably determines leadership effectiveness. This study therefore examined the role of authentic engagement in effective school leadership; explored the interrelationship of authentic engagement indices in school leadership. The study adopted the descriptive research of the survey type using a quantitative method to gather data through a questionnaire among school leaders in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. The population for the study consisted of all Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers in Lagos State Tertiary Institutions. A sample size of 255 Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers participated in the study. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The findings indicated that authentic engagement plays a crucial role in increasing leadership effectiveness amongst Heads of Departments, Deans and Principal Officers. The study recommended among others that there is a need for effective measures to enhance authentic engagement of institutional leadership practices through relevant educational support systems and effective quality control.

Keywords: authentic engagement, self-awareness, relational transparency, emotional control

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Authors: Jacky Bhagat, Baban S Ingole

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In this study, in vivo experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of a toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzo(k)fluoranthene (B[k]F), on marine gastropod, Morula granulata collected from Goa, west coast of India. Snails were exposed to different concentrations of B(k)F (1, 10, 25 and 50 µg/L) for 96 h. The genotoxic effects were evaluated by measuring DNA strand breaks using alkaline comet assay and oxidative stress were measured with the help of battery of biomarkers such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) catalase (CAT), glutathione-s-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Concentration-dependent increase in percentage tail DNA (TDNA) was observed in snails exposed to B(k)F. Exposure concentrations above 1 µg/L of B(k)F, showed significant increase in SOD activity and LPO value in snails. After 96 h, SOD activity were found to be doubled for 50 µg/L of B(k)F with reference to control. Significant increase in CAT and GST activity was observed at all exposure conditions at the end of the exposure time. Our study showed that B(k)F induces oxidative stress in snails which further lead to genotoxic damage.

Keywords: benzo(k)fluoranthene, comet assay, gastropod, oxidative stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 349