Search results for: time spectrum accelerometer

Authors: Ian Walmsley

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The aim of this paper is to explore the influence of time and temporality on the experience of coming off heroin in prison. The presentation draws on qualitative data collected during a small-scale pilot study of the role of self-care in the process of coming off drugs in prison. Time and temporality emerged as a key theme in the interview transcripts. Drug dependent prisoners experience of time in prison has not been recognized in the research literature. Instead, the literature on prison time typically views prisoners as a homogenous group or tends to focus on the influence of aging and gender on prison time. Furthermore, there is a tendency in the literature on prison drug treatment and recovery to conceptualize drug dependent prisoners as passive recipients of prison healthcare, rather than active agents. In building on these gaps, this paper argues that drug dependent prisoners experience multiple temporalities which involve an interaction between the body-times of the drug dependent prisoner and the economy of time in prison. One consequence of this interaction is the feeling that they are doing, at this point in their prison sentence, double prison time. The second part of the argument is that time and temporality were a means through which they governed their withdrawing bodies. In addition, this paper will comment on the challenges of prison research in England.

Keywords: heroin withdrawal, time and temporality, prison, body

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Authors: Reham Khalaf-Nazzal, Imad Dweikat, Paula Gimenez, Iker Oyenarte, Alfonso Martinez-Cruz, Domonik Muller

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Metal cation transport mediator (CNNM) gene family comprises 4 isoforms that are expressed in various human tissues. Structurally, CNNMs are complex proteins that contain an extracellular N-terminal domain preceding a DUF21 transmembrane domain, a ‘Bateman module’ and a C-terminal cNMP-binding domain. Mutations in CNNM2 cause familial dominant hypomagnesaemia. Growing evidence highlights the role of CNNM2 in neurodevelopment. Mutations in CNNM2 have been implicated in epilepsy, intellectual disability, schizophrenia, and others. In the present study, we aim to elucidate the function of CNNM2 in the developing brain. Thus, we present the genetic origin of symptoms in two family cohorts. In the first family, three siblings of a consanguineous Palestinian family in which parents are first cousins, and consanguinity ran over several generations, presented a varying degree of intellectual disability, cone-rod dystrophy, and autism spectrum disorder. Exome sequencing and segregation analysis revealed the presence of homozygous pathogenic mutation in the CNNM2 gene, the parents were heterozygous for that gene mutation. Magnesium blood levels were normal in the three children and their parents in several measurements. They had no symptoms of hypomagnesemia. The CNNM2 mutation in this family was found to locate in the CBS1 domain of the CNNM2 protein. The crystal structure of the mutated CNNM2 protein was not significantly different from the wild-type protein, and the binding of AMP or MgATP was not dramatically affected. This suggests that the CBS1 domain could be involved in pure neurodevelopmental functions independent of its magnesium-handling role, and this mutation could have affected a protein partner binding or other functions in this protein. In the second family, another autosomal dominant CNNM2 mutation was found to run in a large family with multiple individuals over three generations. All affected family members had hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesuria. Oral supplementation of magnesium did not increase the levels of magnesium in serum significantly. Some affected members of this family have defects in fine motor skills such as dyslexia and dyslalia. The detected mutation is located in the N-terminal part, which contains a signal peptide thought to be involved in the sorting and routing of the protein. In this project, we describe heterogenous clinical phenotypes related to CNNM2 mutations and protein functions. In the first family, and up to the authors’ knowledge, we report for the first time the involvement of CNNM2 in retinal photoreceptor development and function. In addition, we report the presence of a neurophenotype independent of magnesium status related to the CNNM2 protein mutation. Taking into account the different modes of inheritance and the different positions of the mutations within CNNM2 and its different structural and functional domains, it is likely that CNNM2 might be involved in a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric comorbidities with considerable varying phenotypes.

Keywords: magnesium transport, autosomal recessive, autism, neurodevelopment, CBS domain

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Authors: A. Hakimiyan, H. Namazi

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Human behavior is defined as a range of behaviors exhibited by humans who are influenced by different internal or external sources. Human behavior is the subject of much research in different areas of psychology and neuroscience. Despite some advances in studies related to forecasting of human behavior, there are not many researches which consider the effect of the time delay between the presence of stimulus and the related human response. Analysis of EEG signal as a fractal time series is one of the major tools for studying the human behavior. In the other words, the human brain activity is reflected in his EEG signal. Artificial Neural Network has been proved useful in forecasting of different systems’ behavior especially in engineering areas. In this research, a time delay neural network is trained and tested in order to forecast the human EEG signal and subsequently human behavior. This neural network, by introducing a time delay, takes care of the lagging time between the occurrence of the stimulus and the rise of the subsequent action potential. The results of this study are useful not only for the fundamental understanding of human behavior forecasting, but shall be very useful in different areas of brain research such as seizure prediction.

Keywords: human behavior, EEG signal, time delay neural network, prediction, lagging time

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Authors: Beaudoin Marie-Joelle, Poirier Nathalie

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Introduction: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to lack socio-emotional skills (e.g., emotional regulation and theory of mind). Eisenberg’s theoretical model on emotion-related socialization behaviors suggests that mothers of children with ASD could play a central role in fostering the acquisition of socio-emotional skills by engaging in frequent educational conversations about emotions. Although, mothers’ perceptions of their own emotional skills and their child’s personality traits and social deficits could mitigate the benefit of their educative role. Objective: Our study aims to explore the association between mother-child conversations about emotions and the socio-emotional skills of their children when accounting for the moderating role of the mothers’ perceptions. Forty-nine mothers completed five questionnaires about emotionally related conversations, self-openness to emotions, and perceptions of personality and socio-emotional skills of their children with ASD. Results: Regression analyses showed that frequent mother-child conversations about emotions predicted better emotional regulation and theory of mind skills in children with ASD (p < 0.01). The children’s theory of mind was moderated by mothers’ perceptions of their own emotional openness (p < 0.05) and their perceptions of their children’s openness to experience (p < 0.01) and conscientiousness (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Mothers likely play an important role in the socio-emotional education of children with ASD. Further, mothers may be most helpful when they perceive that their interventions improve their child’s behaviors. Our findings corroborate those of the Eisenberg model, which claims that mother-child conversations about emotions predict socio-emotional development skills in children with ASD. Our results also help clarify the moderating role of mothers’ perceptions, which could mitigate their willingness to engage in educational conversations about emotions with their children. Therefore, in special needs' children education, school professionals could collaborate with mothers to increase the frequency of emotion-related conversations in ASD's students with emotion dysregulation or theory of mind problems.

Keywords: autism, parental socialization of emotion, emotional regulation, theory of mind

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Authors: Z. Younsi, L. Koufi, H. Gidik, D. Lahem, W. Wim Thielemans

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This study investigated the efficiency of photocatalytic textile to remove the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in indoor air. Functionalization of the fabric was achieved by adding a photocatalyst material active in the visible spectrum of light. This is a modified titanium dioxide photocatalyst doped with non-metal ions synthesized via sol-gel process, which should allow the degradation of the pollutants – ideally into H₂O and CO₂ – using photocatalysis based on visible light and no additionnal external energy source. The visible light photocatalytic activity of textile sample was evaluated for toluene and benzene gaseous removal, under the visible irradiation, in a test chamber with the total volume of 1m³. The suggested approach involves experimental investigations of the global behavior of the photocatalytic textile. The experimental apparatus permits simultaneous measurements of the degradation of pollutants and presence of eventually formed by-products. It also allows imposing and measuring concentration variations with respect to selected time scales in the test chamber. The observed results showed that the amount of TiO₂ incorporation improved the photocatalytic efficiency of functionalized textile significantly under visible light. The results obtained with such textile are very promising.

Keywords: benzene, C₆H₆, efficiency, photocatalytic degradation, textile fabrics, titanium dioxide, TiO₂, toluene, C₇H₈, visible light

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Authors: Selma Sbit, Mohamed Bechir Dadi, Belgacem Chibani Rhaimi

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Incorporating Home eNodeB (HeNB) in cellular networks, e.g. Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), is beneficial for extending coverage and enhancing capacity at low price especially within the non-line-of sight (NLOS) environments such as homes. HeNB or femtocell is a small low powered base station which provides radio coverage to the mobile users in an indoor environment. This deployment results in a heterogeneous network where the available spectrum becomes shared between two layers. Therefore, a problem of Inter Cell Interference (ICI) appears. This issue is the main challenge in LTE-A. To deal with this challenge, various techniques based on frequency, time and power control are proposed. This paper deals with the impact of carrier aggregation and higher order MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) schemes on the LTE-Advanced performance. Simulation results show the advantages of these schemes on the system capacity (4.10⁹ b/s/Hz when bandwidth B=100 MHz and when applying MIMO 8x8 for SINR=30 dB), maximum theoretical peak data rate (more than 4 Gbps for B=100 MHz and when MIMO 8x8 is used) and spectral efficiency (15 b/s/Hz and 30b/s/Hz when MIMO 4x4 and MIMO 8x8 are applying respectively for SINR=30 dB).

Keywords: capacity, carrier aggregation, LTE-Advanced, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), peak data rate, spectral efficiency

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Authors: Letemariam Gebreslassie Gebrekidan

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Water pollution is one of the most feared problems in modern societies, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Nanoparticles with controlled size and composition are of fundamental and technological interest as they provide solutions to technological and environmental challenges in the areas of solar energy conversion, catalysis, medicine, and water treatment. The synthesis of metallic nanoparticles is an active area of academic and, more importantly, application research in nanotechnology. Adsorption is a process in which pollutants are absorbed on a solid surface. A molecule (pollutant) adhered to the solid surface is called an adsorbate, and the solid surface is an adsorbent. Adsorption is controlled by various parameters such as temperature, the nature of the adsorbate and adsorbent, and the presence of other pollutants along with the experimental conditions (pH, concentration of pollutants, contact time, particle size, and temperature). Depending on the main problem of water pollution, this research is available on the adsorption of wastewater using silver nanoparticles extracted from phytolacca Dodecandra leaf. AgNP was synthesized from a 1mM aqueous solution of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and Phytolacca Dodecandra leaf extract at room temperature. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using UV/visible Spectrometer, FTIR and XRD. In the UV-Vis spectrum, The Surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) peak was observed at 414 nm, which confirmed the synthesis of AgNPs. FTIR spectroscopy, recorded from 4000 cm-1 to 400 cm-1, indicated the presence of a capping agent with the nanoparticles. From the XRD results, the average crystalline size was estimated to be 20 nm Confirming the nanoparticle nature of the obtained sample. Thus, the present method leads to the formation of silver nanoparticles with well-defined dimensions. The effects of different parameters like solution pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial concentration of dye were studied. The concentration of MB is 0.01 mg/L and 0.002 mg/L before and after adsorption, respectively. The wastewater containing MB was well purified using AgNP adsorbent.

Keywords: wastewater, silver nanoparticle, Characterization, adsorption, parameter

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Authors: Howaida I. Abd-Alla, Omnia Kutkat, Yassmin Moatasim, Magda T. Ibrahim, Marwa A. Mostafa, Mohamed GabAllah, Mounir M. El-Safty

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Artemisia judaica (known shih-balady), Azadirachta indica and Sophora tomentosa (known yellow necklace pod) are members of available medicinal plants well-known for their traditional medical use in Egypt which suggests that they probably harbor broad-spectrum antiviral, immunostimulatory and anti-inflammatory functions. Their ethyl acetate-dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) extracts were evaluated for the potential anti-Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (anti-MERS-CoV) activity. Their cytotoxic activity was tested in Vero-E6 cells using 3-(4,-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method with minor modification. The plot of percentage cytotoxicity for each extract concentration has calculated the concentration which exhibited 50% cytotoxic concentration (TC50). A plaque reduction assay was employed using safe dose of extract to evaluate its effect on virus propagation. The highest inhibition percentage was recorded for the yellow necklace pod, followed by Shih-balady. The possible mode of action of virus inhibition was studied at three different levels viral replication, viral adsorption and virucidal activity. The necklace pod leaves have induced virucidal effects and direct effects on the replication of virus. Phytochemical investigation of the promising necklace pod led to the isolation and structure determination of nine compounds. The structure of each compound was determined by a variety of spectroscopic methods. Compounds 4-O-methyl sorbitol 1, 8-methoxy daidzin 6 and 6-methoxy apigenin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 8 were isolated for the first time from the Sophora genus and the other six compounds were the first time that they were isolated from this species according to available works of literature. Generally, the highest anti-CoV 2 activity of S. tomentosa was associated with the crude ethanolic extract, indicating the possibility of synergy among the antiviral phytochemical constituents (1-9).

Keywords: coronavirus, MERS-CoV, mode of action, necklace pod, shih-balady

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Authors: Kamelia Hamza

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Background: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the most prescribed drug classes for pediatric gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).Many patients are treated with these drugs for atypical manifestations attributed to gastroesophageal reflux (GER), even in the absence of proved causal relationship. There is an impression of increase use of PPI's treatment for reflux in "clalit health services," the largest health organization in Israel. In the recent years, the medicine is given without restriction, it's not limited to pediatric gastroenterologists only, but pediatricians and family doctors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that exposure to PPIs during the first year of life is associated with an increased risk of developing late adverse diseases: pneumonia, asthma, AGE, IBD, celiac disease, allergic disorders, obesity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: The study is a retrospective case-control cohort study based on a computerized database of Clalit Health Services (CHS). It includes 9844 children born between 2002-2018 and reported to complain of at least one of the symptoms (reflux/ spitting up, irritability, feeding difficulties, colics). The study population included the study group (n=4922) of children exposed to PPIs at any time prior to the first year of life and a control group (n=4922) child not exposed to PPIs who were matched to each case of the study group on age, race, socioeconomic status, and year of birth. The prevalence of late complications/diseases in the study group was compared with the prevalence of late complications/diseases diagnosis between 2002-2020 in the control group. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by using logistic regression models. Results: We found that compared to the control group, children exposed to PPIs in the first year of life had an increased risk of developing several late complications/ disorders: pneumonia, asthma, various allergies (urticaria, allergic rhinitis, or allergic conjunctivitis) OR, inhalant allergies, and food allergies. In addition, they showed an increased risk of being diagnosed with ADHD or ASD, but children exposed to PPIs in the first year of life had decrease the risk of obesity by 17% (OR 0.825, 95%CI 0.697-0.976). Conclusions: We found significant associations between the use of PPIs during the first year of life and subsequent development of late complications/diseases such as respiratory diseases, allergy diseases, ADHD, and ASD. More studies are needed to prove causality and determine the mechanism behind the effect of PPIs and the development of late complications.

Keywords: acid suppressing medications, proton pump inhibitors, histamine 2 blocker, late complications, gastroesophageal reflux, gastroesophageal reflux disease, acute gastroenteritis, community acquired pneumonia, asthma, allergic diseases, obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis, crohn disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, autism spectrum disorders

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Authors: Gulsah Olgun, Ozgur Bozdag, Yildirim Ertutar

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This paper mainly focuses on performance assessment of buildings by associating the damage level with the damage cost. For this purpose a methodology is explained and applied to the representative mid-rise concrete building residing in Izmir. In order to consider uncertainties in occurrence of earthquakes, the structural analyses are conducted for all possible earthquakes in the region through the hazard curve. By means of the analyses, probability of the structural response being in different limit states are obtained and used to calculate expected damage cost. The expected damage cost comprises diverse cost components related to earthquake such as cost of casualties, replacement or repair cost of building etc. In this study, inter-story drift is used as an effective response variable to associate expected damage cost with different damage levels. The structural analysis methods performed to obtain inter story drifts are response spectrum method as a linear one, accurate push-over and time history methods to demonstrate the nonlinear effects on loss estimation. Comparison of the results indicates that each method provides similar values of expected damage cost. To sum up, this paper explains an approach which enables to minimize the expected damage cost of buildings and relate performance level to damage cost.

Keywords: expected damage cost, limit states, loss estimation, performance based design

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Authors: Ognjen Vukovic

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Chern-Simons equation represents the cornerstone of quantum physics. The question that is often asked is if the aforementioned equation can be successfully applied to the interaction in international financial markets. By analysing the time series in financial theory, it is proved that Chern-Simons equation can be successfully applied to financial time-series. The aforementioned statement is based on one important premise and that is that the financial time series follow the fractional Brownian motion. All variants of Chern-Simons equation and theory are applied and analysed. Financial theory time series movement is, firstly, topologically analysed. The main idea is that exchange rate represents two-dimensional projections of three-dimensional Brownian motion movement. Main principles of knot theory and topology are applied to financial time series and setting is created so the Chern-Simons equation can be applied. As Chern-Simons equation is based on small particles, it is multiplied by the magnifying factor to mimic the real world movement. Afterwards, the following equation is optimised using Solver. The equation is applied to n financial time series in order to see if it can capture the interaction between financial time series and consequently explain it. The aforementioned equation represents a novel approach to financial time series analysis and hopefully it will direct further research.

Keywords: Brownian motion, Chern-Simons theory, financial time series, econophysics

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Authors: M. Khouil, N. Saber, M. Mestari

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In this paper, a different architecture of a collision detection neural network (DCNN) is developed. This network, which has been particularly reviewed, has enabled us to solve with a new approach the problem of collision detection between two convex polyhedra in a fixed time (O (1) time). We used two types of neurons, linear and threshold logic, which simplified the actual implementation of all the networks proposed. The study of the collision detection is divided into two sections, the collision between a point and a polyhedron and then the collision between two convex polyhedra. The aim of this research is to determine through the AMAXNET network a mini maximum point in a fixed time, which allows us to detect the presence of a potential collision.

Keywords: collision identification, fixed time, convex polyhedra, neural network, AMAXNET

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Authors: Salim Al Harthy, Alexandre A. Bachkirov

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This study delves into the complexities of competitive aggressiveness in the oil and gas industry, focusing on the characteristics of the identified competitive actions. The current quantitative research on competitive aggressiveness lacks agreement on the connection between antecedents and outcomes, prompting a qualitative investigation. To address this gap, the research utilizes qualitative interviews with CEOs from Oman's oil and gas service industry to explore the dynamics of competitive aggressiveness. Using Noklenain's typology, the study categorizes and analyzes identified actions, shedding light on the spectrum of competitive behaviors within the industry. Notably, actions predominantly fall under the "Bring about" and "Preserve" elements, with a notable absence in the "Forebear" and "Destroy" categories, possibly linked to the study's focus on service-oriented businesses. The study also explores the detectability of actions, revealing that "Bring about" actions are detectable, while those in "Preserve" and "Suppress" are not. This challenges conventional definitions of competitive aggressiveness, suggesting that not all actions are readily detectable despite being considered competitive. The presence of non-detectable actions introduces complexity to measurement methods reliant on visible empirical data. Moreover, the study contends that companies can adopt an aggressive competitive approach without directly challenging rivals. This challenges traditional views and emphasizes the innovative and entrepreneurial aspects of actions not explicitly aimed at competitors. By not revealing strategic intentions, such actions put rivals at a disadvantage, underscoring the need for a nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness. In summary, the lack of consensus in existing literature regarding the relationship between antecedents and outcomes in competitive aggressiveness is addressed. The study reveals a spectrum of detectable and undetectable actions, posing challenges in measurement and emphasizing the need for alternative methods to assess undetectable actions in competitive behavior. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of competitive aggressiveness, acknowledging the diverse actions shaping a company's strategic positioning in dynamic business environments.

Keywords: competitive aggressiveness, qualitative exploration, noklenain's typology, oil and gas industry

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Authors: S. Dias, A. Tadeu, J. Antonio, F. Pedro, C. Serra

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The goal of the present work is to experimentally evaluate the feasibility of using vibration isolators made of expanded cork agglomerate. Even though this material, also known as insulation cork board (ICB), has mainly been studied for thermal and acoustic insulation purposes, it has strong potential for use in vibration isolation. However, the adequate design of expanded cork blocks vibration isolators will depend on several factors, such as excitation frequency, static load conditions and intrinsic dynamic behavior of the material. In this study, transmissibility tests for different static and dynamic loading conditions were performed in order to characterize the material. Since the material’s physical properties can influence the vibro-isolation performance of the blocks (in terms of density and thickness), this study covered four mass density ranges and four block thicknesses. A total of 72 expanded cork agglomerate specimens were tested. The test apparatus comprises a vibration exciter connected to an excitation mass that holds the test specimen. The test specimens under characterization were loaded successively with steel plates in order to obtain results for different masses. An accelerometer was placed at the top of these masses and at the base of the excitation mass. The test was performed for a defined frequency range, and the amplitude registered by the accelerometers was recorded in time domain. For each of the signals (signal 1- vibration of the excitation mass, signal 2- vibration of the loading mass) a fast Fourier transform (FFT) was applied in order to obtain the frequency domain response. For each of the frequency domain signals, the maximum amplitude reached was registered. The ratio between the amplitude (acceleration) of signal 2 and the amplitude of signal 1, allows the calculation of the transmissibility for each frequency. Repeating this procedure allowed us to plot a transmissibility curve for a certain frequency range. A number of transmissibility experiments were performed to assess the influence of changing the mass density and thickness of the expanded cork blocks and the experimental conditions (static load and frequency of excitation). The experimental transmissibility tests performed in this study showed that expanded cork agglomerate blocks are a good option for mitigating vibrations. It was concluded that specimens with lower mass density and larger thickness lead to better performance, with higher vibration isolation and a larger range of isolated frequencies. In conclusion, the study of the performance of expanded cork agglomerate blocks presented herein will allow for a more efficient application of expanded cork vibration isolators. This is particularly relevant since this material is a more sustainable alternative to other commonly used non-environmentally friendly products, such as rubber.

Keywords: expanded cork agglomerate, insulation cork board, transmissibility tests, sustainable materials, vibration isolators

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Authors: U. Chattaraj, K. Dhusiya, M. Raviteja

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Perception reaction time of drivers is an outcome of human thought process, which is vague and approximate in nature and also varies from driver to driver. So, in this study a fuzzy logic based model for prediction of the same has been presented, which seems suitable. The control factors, like, age, experience, intensity of driving of the driver, speed of the vehicle and distance of stimulus have been considered as premise variables in the model, in which the perception reaction time is the consequence variable. Results show that the model is able to explain the impacts of the control factors on perception reaction time properly.

Keywords: driver, fuzzy logic, perception reaction time, premise variable

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Authors: T. Pedersen, A. Lindfeldt

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The minimum dwell time is an important part of railway timetable planning. Due to its stochastic behaviour, the minimum dwell time should be considered to create resilient timetables. While there has been significant focus on how to determine and estimate dwell times, to our knowledge, little research has been carried out regarding temporal and running direction variations of these. In this paper, we examine how the minimum dwell time varies depending on temporal factors such as the time of day, day of the week and time of the year. We also examine how it is affected by running direction and station type. The minimum dwell time is estimated by means of track occupation data. A method is proposed to ensure that only minimum dwell times and not planned dwell times are acquired from the track occupation data. The results show that on an aggregated level, the average minimum dwell times in both running directions at a station are similar. However, when temporal factors are considered, there are significant variations. The minimum dwell time varies throughout the day with peak hours having the longest dwell times. It is also found that the minimum dwell times are influenced by weekday, and in particular, weekends are found to have lower minimum dwell times than most other days. The findings show that there is a potential to significantly improve timetable planning by taking minimum dwell time variations into account.

Keywords: minimum dwell time, operations quality, timetable planning, track occupation data

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Authors: Chih-Chiang Hua, Yi-Hsiung Fang, Yuan-Jhen Siao

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A bridgeless boost (BLB) power factor correction (PFC) rectifier with hold-up time extension circuit is proposed in this paper. A full bridge rectifier is widely used in the front end of the ac/dc converter. Since the shortcomings of the full bridge rectifier, the bridgeless rectifier is developed. A BLB rectifier topology is utilized with the hold-up time extension circuit. Unlike the traditional hold-up time extension circuit, the proposed extension scheme uses fewer active switches to achieve a longer hold-up time. Simulation results are presented to verify the converter performance.

Keywords: bridgeless boost (BLB), boost converter, power factor correction (PFC), hold-up time

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Authors: Yunbin Deng

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Most existing applications of automatic speech recognition relies on cooperative subjects at a short distance to a microphone. Standoff speech recognition using microphone arrays can extend the subject to sensor distance somewhat, but it is still limited to only a few feet. As such, most deployed applications of standoff speech recognitions are limited to indoor use at short range. Moreover, these applications require air passway between the subject and the sensor to achieve reasonable signal to noise ratio. This study reports long range (50 feet) automatic speech recognition experiments using a Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) sensor. This study shows that the LDV sensor modality can extend the speech acquisition standoff distance far beyond microphone arrays to hundreds of feet. In addition, LDV enables 'listening' through the windows for uncooperative subjects. This enables new capabilities in automatic audio and speech intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) for law enforcement, homeland security and counter terrorism applications. The Polytec LDV model OFV-505 is used in this study. To investigate the impact of different vibrating materials, five parallel LDV speech corpora, each consisting of 630 speakers, are collected from the vibrations of a glass window, a metal plate, a plastic box, a wood slate, and a concrete wall. These are the common materials the application could encounter in a daily life. These data were compared with the microphone counterpart to manifest the impact of various materials on the spectrum of the LDV speech signal. State of the art deep neural network modeling approaches is used to conduct continuous speaker independent speech recognition on these LDV speech datasets. Preliminary phoneme recognition results using time-delay neural network, bi-directional long short term memory, and model fusion shows great promise of using LDV for long range speech recognition. To author’s best knowledge, this is the first time an LDV is reported for long distance speech recognition application.

Keywords: covert speech acquisition, distant speech recognition, DSR, laser Doppler vibrometer, LDV, speech intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, ISR

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Authors: Hu-Cheng Weng, Jhen-Ting Huang, Chia-Chia Chang, An-Ya Lo

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In this study, carbon mesoporous material, CMK-3, was adopted as supporting material for electroactive polymerspolyaniline (PANI), polyaniline, for supercapacitor application, where hydroquinone (HQ) was integrated to enhance the redox reaction of PANI. The results show that the addition of PANI improves the capacitance of electrode from 89 F/g (CMK-3) to 337 F/g (PANI/CMK-3), the addition of HQ furtherly improves the capacitance to 463 F/g (PANI/CMK-3/HQ). The PANI provides higher energy density and also acts as binder of the electrode; the CMK-3 provides higher electron double layer capacitance EDLC and stabilize the polyaniline by its highly porosity. With the addition of HQ, the capacitance of PANI/CMK-3 was further enhanced. In-situ analyses including cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronopotentiometry (CP), electron impedance spectrum (EIS) analyses were applied for electrode performance examination. For materials characterization, the crystal structure, morphology, microstructure, and porosity were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and 77K N2 adsorption/desorption analyses, respectively. The effects of electrolyte pH value, PANI polymerization time, HQ concentration, and PANI/CMK-3 ratio on capacitance were discussed. The durability was also studied by long-term operation test. The results show that PANI/CMK-3/HQ with great potential for supercapacitor application. Finally, the potential of all-solid PANI/CMK-3/HQ based supercapacitor was successfully demonstrated.

Keywords: CMK3, PANI, redox electrolyte, solid supercapacitor

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Authors: Eglal Y. Ali, Smita Rao, Anat Lubetzky, Wen Ling

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Background: Postural abnormalities, rigidity, clumsiness, and frequent falls are common among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The central nervous system’s ability to process all reliable sensory inputs (weighting) and disregard potentially perturbing sensory input (reweighting) is critical for successfully maintaining standing postural control. This study examined how sensory inputs (visual and somatosensory) are weighted and reweighted to maintain standing postural control in children with ASD compared with typically developing (TD) children. Subjects: Forty (20 (TD) and 20 ASD) children and adolescents participated in this study. The groups were matched for age, weight, and height. Participants had normal somatosensory (no somatosensory hypersensitivity), visual, and vestibular perception. Participants with ASD were categorized with severity level 1 according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) and Social Responsiveness Scale. Methods: Using one force platform, the center of pressure (COP) was measured during quiet standing for 30 seconds, 3 times first standing on stable surface with eyes open (Condition 1), followed by randomization of the following 3 conditions: Condition 2 standing on stable surface with eyes closed, (visual input perturbed); Condition 3 standing on compliant foam surface with eyes open, (somatosensory input perturbed); and Condition 4 standing on compliant foam surface with eyes closed, (both visual and somatosensory inputs perturbed). Standing postural control was measured by three outcome measures: COP sway area, COP anterior-posterior (AP), and mediolateral (ML) path length (PL). A repeated measure mixed model Analysis of Variance was conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean of the three outcome measures across the four conditions. Results: According to all three outcome measures, both groups showed a gradual increase in postural sway from condition 1 to condition 4. However, TD participants showed a larger postural sway than those with ASD. There was a significant main effect of condition on three outcome measures (p< 0.05). Only the COP AP PL showed a significant main effect of the group (p<0.05) and a significant group by condition interaction (p<0.05). In COP AP PL, TD participants showed a significant difference between condition 2 and the baseline (p<0.05), whereas the ASD group did not. This suggests that the ASD group did not weight visual input as much as the TD group. A significant difference between conditions for the ASD group was seen only when participants stood on foam regardless of the visual condition, suggesting that the ASD group relied more on the somatosensory inputs to maintain the standing postural control. Furthermore, the ASD group exhibited significantly smaller postural sway compared with TD participants during standing on the stable surface, whereas the postural sway of the ASD group was close to that of the TD group on foam. Conclusion: These results suggest that participants with high functioning ASD (level 1, no somatosensory hypersensitivity in ankles and feet) over-rely on somatosensory inputs and use a stiffening strategy for standing postural control. This deviation in the reweighting mechanism might explain the postural abnormalities mentioned above among children with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, postural sway, sensory weighting and reweighting, standing postural control

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Authors: Eglal Y. Ali, Smita Rao, Anat Lubetzky, Wen Ling

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Background: Postural abnormalities, rigidity, clumsiness, and frequent falls are common among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The central nervous system’s ability to process all reliable sensory inputs (weighting) and disregard potentially perturbing sensory input (reweighting) is critical for successfully maintaining standing postural control. This study examined how sensory inputs (visual and somatosensory) are weighted and reweighted to maintain standing postural control in children with ASD compared with typically developing (TD) children. Subjects: Forty (20 (TD) and 20 ASD) children and adolescents participated in this study. The groups were matched for age, weight, and height. Participants had normal somatosensory (no somatosensory hypersensitivity), visual, and vestibular perception. Participants with ASD were categorized with severity level 1 according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) and Social Responsiveness Scale. Methods: Using one force platform, the center of pressure (COP) was measured during quiet standing for 30 seconds, 3 times first standing on stable surface with eyes open (Condition 1), followed by randomization of the following 3 conditions: Condition 2 standing on stable surface with eyes closed, (visual input perturbed); Condition 3 standing on a compliant foam surface with eyes open, (somatosensory input perturbed); and Condition 4 standing on a compliant foam surface with eyes closed, (both visual and somatosensory inputs perturbed). Standing postural control was measured by three outcome measures: COP sway area, COP anterior-posterior (AP), and mediolateral (ML) path length (PL). A repeated measure mixed model analysis of variance was conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean of the three outcome measures across the four conditions. Results: According to all three outcome measures, both groups showed a gradual increase in postural sway from condition 1 to condition 4. However, TD participants showed a larger postural sway than those with ASD. There was a significant main effect of the condition on three outcome measures (p< 0.05). Only the COP AP PL showed a significant main effect of the group (p<0.05) and a significant group by condition interaction (p<0.05). In COP AP PL, TD participants showed a significant difference between condition 2 and the baseline (p<0.05), whereas the ASD group did not. This suggests that the ASD group did not weigh visual input as much as the TD group. A significant difference between conditions for the ASD group was seen only when participants stood on foam regardless of the visual condition, suggesting that the ASD group relied more on the somatosensory inputs to maintain the standing postural control. Furthermore, the ASD group exhibited significantly smaller postural sway compared with TD participants during standing on a stable surface, whereas the postural sway of the ASD group was close to that of the TD group on foam. Conclusion: These results suggest that participants with high-functioning ASD (level 1, no somatosensory hypersensitivity in ankles and feet) over-rely on somatosensory inputs and use a stiffening strategy for standing postural control. This deviation in the reweighting mechanism might explain the postural abnormalities mentioned above among children with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, postural sway, sensory weighting and reweighting, standing postural control

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Authors: Saeed Sayyad Hagh Shomar

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Modeling users’ decisions on departure time choice is the main motivation for this research. In particular, it examines the impact of social-demographic features, household, job characteristics and trip qualities on individuals’ departure time choice. Departure time alternatives are presented as adjacent discrete time periods. The choice between these alternatives is done using a discrete choice model. Since a great deal of early morning trips and traffic congestion at that time of the day comprise work trips, the focus of this study is on the work trip over the entire day. Therefore, this study by using the users’ stated preference in questionnaire models users’ departure time choice affected by congestion pricing schemes in high traffic suburban entrance roads of Tehran. The results demonstrate efficient social-demographic impact on work trips’ departure time. These findings have substantial outcomes for the analysis of transportation planning. Particularly, the analysis shows that ignoring the effects of these variables could result in erroneous information and consequently decisions in the field of transportation planning and air quality would fail and cause financial resources loss.

Keywords: congestion pricing, departure time, modeling, travel timing, time of the day, transportation planning

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Authors: Thomas Monahan, Nicolas Gorius, Thanh Nguyen

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Exoplanet atmospheric parameters retrieval is a complex, computationally intensive, inverse modeling problem in which an exoplanet’s atmospheric composition is extracted from an observed spectrum. Traditional Bayesian sampling methods require extensive time and computation, involving algorithms that compare large numbers of known atmospheric models to the input spectral data. Runtimes are directly proportional to the number of parameters under consideration. These increased power and runtime requirements are difficult to accommodate in space missions where model size, speed, and power consumption are of particular importance. The use of traditional Bayesian sampling methods, therefore, compromise model complexity or sampling accuracy. The Atmospheric Retrievals conditional Generative Adversarial Network (ARcGAN) is a deep convolutional generative adversarial network that improves on the previous model’s speed and accuracy. We demonstrate the efficacy of artificial intelligence to quickly and reliably predict atmospheric parameters and present it as a viable alternative to slow and computationally heavy Bayesian methods. In addition to its broad applicability across instruments and planetary types, ARcGAN has been designed to function on low power application-specific integrated circuits. The application of edge computing to atmospheric retrievals allows for real or near-real-time quantification of atmospheric constituents at the instrument level. Additionally, edge computing provides both high-performance and power-efficient computing for AI applications, both of which are critical for space missions. With the edge computing chip implementation, ArcGAN serves as a strong basis for the development of a similar machine-learning algorithm to reduce the downlinked data volume from the Compact Ultraviolet to Visible Imaging Spectrometer (CUVIS) onboard the DAVINCI mission to Venus.

Keywords: deep learning, generative adversarial network, edge computing, atmospheric parameters retrieval

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Authors: Kh. Alaa, Sh. Sarah, J. Khowlah, S. Liyakathunsia

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Education has become very important nowadays and with the rapidly increasing number of student, taking the attendance manually is getting very difficult and time wasting. In order to solve this problem, an automated solution is required. An effective automated system can be implemented to manage student attendance in different ways. This research will discuss a unique class attendance system which integrates both Face Recognition and RFID technique. This system focuses on reducing the time spent on submitting of the lecture and the wastage of time on submitting and getting approval for the absence excuse and sick leaves. As a result, the suggested solution will enhance not only the time, also it will also be helpful in eliminating fake attendance.

Keywords: attendance system, face recognition, RFID, process model, cost, time

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Authors: Swati Mishra

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In recent years, there has been an explosion in Gold NanoParticle (GNP) research, with a rapid increase in publications in diverse fields, including imaging, bioengineering, and molecular biology. GNPs exhibit unique physicochemical properties, including surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and bind amine and thiol groups, allowing surface modification and use in biomedical applications. Nanoparticle functionalization is the subject of intense research at present, with rapid progress being made towards developing biocompatible, multi-functional particles. In the present study, the photochemical method has been done to functionalize various-shaped GNPs like nanostars by the molecules like ninhydrin. Ninhydrin is bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antigen-antibody reactive, and used in fingerprint technology in forensics. The GNPs functionalized with ninhydrin efficiently will bind to the amino acids on the target protein, which is of eminent importance during the pandemic, especially where long-term treatments of COVID- 19 bring many side effects of the drugs. The photochemical method is adopted as it provides low thermal load, selective reactivity, selective activation, and controlled radiation in time, space, and energy. The GNPs exhibit their characteristic spectrum, but a distinctly blue or redshift in the peak will be observed after UV irradiation, ensuring efficient ninhydrin binding. Now, the bound ninhydrin in the GNP carrier, upon chemically reacting with any amino acid, will lead to the formation of Rhumann purple. A common method of GNP production includes citrate reduction of Au [III] derivatives such as aurochloric acid (HAuCl4) in water to Au [0] through a one-step synthesis of size-tunable GNPs. The following reagents are prepared to validate the approach. Reagent A solution 1 is0.0175 grams ninhydrin in 5 ml Millipore water Reagent B 30 µl of HAuCl₄.3H₂O in 3 ml of solution 1 Reagent C 1 µl of gold nanostars in 3 ml of solution 1 Reagent D 6 µl of cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) in 3 ml of solution1 ReagentE 1 µl of gold nanostars in 3 ml of ethanol ReagentF 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of ethanol ReagentG 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of solution 2 ReagentH solution 2 is0.0087 grams ninhydrin in 5 ml Millipore water ReagentI 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of water The reagents were irradiated at 254 nm for 15 minutes, followed by their UV Visible spectroscopy. The wavelength was selected based on the one reported for excitation of a similar molecule Pthalimide. It was observed that the solution B and G deviate around 600 nm, while C peaks distinctively at 567.25 nm and 983.9 nm. Though it is tough to say about the chemical reaction happening, butATR-FTIR of reagents will ensure that ninhydrin is not forming Rhumann purple in the absence of amino acids. Therefore, these experiments, we achieved the functionalization of gold nanostars with ninhydrin corroborated by the deviation in the spectrum obtained in a mixture of GNPs and ninhydrin irradiated with UV light. It prepares them as a carrier molecule totake up amino acids for targeted delivery or germicidal action.

Keywords: gold nanostars, ninhydrin, photochemical method, UV visible specgtroscopy

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Authors: Lata Kiran Dey, Rajendra Kumar, Biren Karmakar

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Web Real Time Communications is a collection of standards, protocols, which provides real-time communications capabilities between web browsers and devices. This paper outlines the design and further implementation of web real-time communications on secure web applications having audio and video call capabilities. This proposed application may put up a system that will be able to work over both desktops as well as the mobile browser. Though, WebRTC also gives a set of JavaScript standard RTC APIs, which primarily works over the real-time communication framework. This helps to build a suitable communication application, which enables the audio, video, and message transfer in between the today’s modern browsers having WebRTC support.

Keywords: WebRTC, SIP, RTC, JavaScript, SRTP, secure web sockets, browser

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Authors: Sania K. Rao, Feza T. Azmi

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The purpose of the present study is to explore the relationship between time management behaviour and job satisfaction of academicians of higher education institutes in India. The analyses of this study were carried out with AMOS (version 20.0); and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were conducted. The factor analysis and findings show that perceived control of time serves as the partial mediating factor to have a significant and positive influence on job satisfaction. Further, at the end, a number of suggestions to improve one’s time management behaviour were provided.

Keywords: time management behaviour, job satisfaction, higher education, India, mediation analysis

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Authors: Mohamed Hassan Abdullahi

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Decomposition is used as a synthesis tool in several physical systems. It can also be used for tearing and restructuring, which is large-scale system analysis. On the other hand, the commutativity of series-connected systems has fascinated the interest of researchers, and its advantages have been emphasized in the literature. The presentation looks into the necessary conditions for decomposing any third-order discrete-time linear time-varying system into a commutative pair of first- and second-order systems. Additional requirements are derived in the case of nonzero initial conditions. MATLAB simulations are used to verify the findings. The work is unique and is being published for the first time. It is critical from the standpoints of synthesis and/or design. Because many design techniques in engineering systems rely on tearing and reconstruction, this is the process of putting together simple components to create a finished product. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that regarding sensitivity to initial conditions, some combinations may be better than others. The results of this work can be extended for the decomposition of fourth-order discrete-time linear time-varying systems into lower-order commutative pairs, as two second-order commutative subsystems or one first-order and one third-order commutative subsystems.

Keywords: commutativity, decomposition, discrete time-varying systems, systems

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Authors: Jing Zhang, Jie Chen

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In this paper, we deal with the optimal I/O point location in an automated parking system. In this system, the S/R machine (storage and retrieve machine) travels independently in vertical and horizontal directions. Based on the characteristics of the parking system and the basic principle of AS/RS system (Automated Storage and Retrieval System), we obtain the continuous model in units of time. For the single command cycle using the randomized storage policy, we calculate the probability density function for the system travel time and thus we develop the travel time model. And we confirm that the travel time model shows a good performance by comparing with discrete case. Finally in this part, we establish the optimal model by minimizing the expected travel time model and it is shown that the optimal location of the I/O point is located at the middle of the left-hand above corner.

Keywords: parking system, optimal location, response time, S/R machine

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Authors: Thampi Rawther, Jack Cecire, Andrew Sutherland

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Introduction: CT facilitates the diagnosis of potentially life-threatening injuries and facilitates early management. There is evidence that reduced CT acquisition time reduces mortality and length of hospital stay. Currently, there are variable recommendations for ideal timing. Indeed, the NHS standard contract for a major trauma service and STAG both recommend immediate access to CT within a maximum time of 60min and appropriate reporting within 60min of the scan. At Coffs Harbour Health Campus (CHHC), a CT radiographer is on site between 8am-11pm. Aim: To investigate the average time to CT at CHHC and assess for any significant relationship between time to CT and injury severity score (ISS) or time of triage. Method: All major trauma calls between Jan 2021-Oct 2021 were audited (N=87). Patients were excluded if they went from ED to the theatre. Time to CT is defined as the time between triage to the timestamp on the first CT image. Median and interquartile range was used as a measure of central tendency as the data was not normally distributed, and Chi-square test was used to determine association. Results: The median time to CT is 51.5min (IQR 40-74). We found no relationship between time to CT and ISS (P=0.18) and time of triage to time to CT (P=0.35). We compared this to other centres such as John Hunter Hospital and Gold Coast Hospital. We found that the median CT acquisition times were 76min (IQR 52-115) and 43min, respectively. Conclusion: This shows an avenue for improvement given 35% of CT’s were >30min. Furthermore, being proactive and aware of time to CT as an important factor to trauma management can be another avenue for improvement. Based on this, we will re-audit in 12-24months to assess if any improvement has been made.

Keywords: imaging, rural surgery, trauma surgery, improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 104