Search results for: body project

Authors: Puti F. Marzuki, Adrianto Oktavianus, Almerinda Regina

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Interface problems among interacting parties in Indonesian construction projects have most often led to low productivity and completion delay. In the midst of this country’s needs to accelerate construction of public infrastructure providing connectivity among regions and supporting economic growth as well as better living quality, project delays have to be seriously addressed. This paper identifies potential causes factors of interface problems experienced by construction projects in Indonesia. Data are collected through a survey involving the main actors of six important public infrastructure construction projects including railway, LRT, sports stadiums, apartment, and education building construction projects. Five of these projects adopt the design-build project delivery method and one applies the design-bid-build scheme. Interface problems’ potential causes are categorized into contract, management, technical experience, coordination, financial, and environmental factors. Research results reveal that, especially in railway and LRT projects, potential causes of interface problems are mainly technical and managerial in nature. These relate to complex construction execution in highly congested areas. Meanwhile, coordination cause factors are mainly found in the education building construction project with loan from a foreign donor. All of the six projects have to resolve interface problems caused by incomplete or low-quality contract documents. This research also shows that the design-bid-build delivery method involving more parties in construction projects tends to induce more interface problem cause factors than the design-build scheme.

Keywords: cause factors, construction delays, project delivery method, contract documents

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Authors: Adewale I. Adeolu, Vivian U. Oleforuh-Okoleh, Sylvester N. Ibe

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Heritability and repeatability estimates are needed for the genetic evaluation of livestock populations and consequently for the purpose of upgrading or improvement. Pooled data on 604 progeny from three consecutive parities of purebred rabbit breeds (Chinchilla, Dutch and New Zealand white) raised in Derived Savanna Zone of Nigeria were used to estimate heritability and repeatability for pre-weaning body weights between 1st and 8th week of age. Traits studied include Individual kit weight at birth (IKWB), 2nd week (IK2W), 4th week (IK4W), 6th week (IK6W) and 8th week (IK8W). Nested random effects analysis of (Co)variances as described by Statistical Analysis System (SAS) were employed in the estimation. Respective heritability estimates from the sire component (h2s) and repeatability (R) as intra-class correlations of repeated measurements from the three parties for IKWB, IK2W, IK4W and IK8W are 0.59±0.24, 0.55±0.24, 0.93±0.31, 0.28±0.17, 0.64±0.26 and 0.12±0.14, 0.05±0.14, 0.58±0.02, 0.60±0.11, 0.20±0.14. Heritability and repeatability (except R for IKWB and IK2W) estimates are moderate to high. In conclusion, since pre-weaning body weights in the present study tended to be moderately to highly heritable and repeatable, improvement of rabbits raised in derived savanna zone can be realized through genetic selection criterions.

Keywords: heritability, nested design, parity, pooled data, repeatability

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Faris Elghaish, Sepehr Abrishami, Mark Gaterell, Richard Wise

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The collaboration and integration between all building information management (BIM) processes and tasks are necessary to ensure that all project objectives can be delivered. The literature review has been used to explore the state of the art BIM technologies to manage construction materials as well as the challenges which have faced the construction process using traditional methods. Thus, this paper aims to articulate a framework to integrate traditional material planning methods such as ABC analysis theory (Pareto principle) to analyse and categorise the project materials, as well as using independent material planning methods such as Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Fixed Order Point (FOP) into the BIM 4D, and 5D capabilities in order to articulate a dependent material planning cycle into BIM, which relies on the constructability method. Moreover, we build a model to connect between the material planning outputs and the BIM 4D and 5D data to ensure that all project information will be accurately presented throughout integrated and complementary BIM reporting formats. Furthermore, this paper will present a method to integrate between the risk management output and the material management process to ensure that all critical materials are monitored and managed under the all project stages. The paper includes browsers which are proposed to be embedded in any 4D BIM platform in order to predict the EOQ as well as FOP and alarm the user during the construction stage. This enables the planner to check the status of the materials on the site as well as to get alarm when the new order will be requested. Therefore, this will lead to manage all the project information in a single context and avoid missing any information at early design stage. Subsequently, the planner will be capable of building a more reliable 4D schedule by allocating the categorised material with the required EOQ to check the optimum locations for inventory and the temporary construction facilitates.

Keywords: building information management, BIM, economic order quantity, EOQ, fixed order point, FOP, BIM 4D, BIM 5D

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Authors: Katalin Szöllősi, László Szabó

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Introduction and purpose: Even though female sexual dysfunctions are common among women in the postpartum period, the profile of these disturbances has not been well investigated in Hungary yet. The aim of the study was to evaluate the postpartum female sexual functions in Hungary. This research sought to investigate the possible predictor factors which can influence postpartum female sexual functions. Method and sample: This was a cross-sectional study, including patients from two maternity clinics in Budapest. 113 women were recruited into our study 3 months after their childbirth. 53 had vaginal birth, 60 had a caesarian section. Data were collected from medical reports in addition by using self-developed questions and validated questionnaires in order to measure important predictors which may be responsible for postpartum sexual dysfunctions such as mode of delivery, parity, urinary incontinence and body image. Sexual functions were evaluated by the Hungarian version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). The Hungarian version of Body Image Questionnaire-Short Form14 (BSQ-SF14) was applied for assessing body image. Results: 82,3% of the participants began to have sexual intercourse within three months postpartum. 53,98% of the participants reported sexual dysfunctions (cut-off FSFI score 26,55). According to our results mode of delivery, parity, hemorrhoids, time of intercourse, resumption was not associated with female sexual dysfunctions. We found correlation at a tendential level between urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunctions (p=0,003, R=0,26). We found a negative correlation at a tendential level between the total score of BSQ-SF14 and FSFI (p=0,03, R=-0,269). Only 32,74% of women reported discussing sexual life with health care professionals. However, 67,25% of them would have had the need to be asked about their postpartum health issues. Conclusions and recommendations: The prevalence of female sexual dysfunctions were relatively high after childbirth. We found that incontinence and body image was associated with sexual dysfunctions; other risk factors remained unknown. Despite regular contact with health care professionals, women rarely get any information about postpartum sexual health issues. The high prevalence of dysfunctions indicates the need for further investigation to address other risk factors and proper counselling of women after childbirth.

Keywords: body image, postpartum, sexual dysfunction, urinary incontinence

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Authors: Sakda Loetpiparwanich, Preecha Vichitthamaros

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Nowadays, poor data quality is considered one of the majority costs for a data project. The data project with data quality awareness almost as much time to data quality processes while data project without data quality awareness negatively impacts financial resources, efficiency, productivity, and credibility. One of the processes that take a long time is defining the expectations and measurements of data quality because the expectation is different up to the purpose of each data project. Especially, big data project that maybe involves with many datasets and stakeholders, that take a long time to discuss and define quality expectations and measurements. Therefore, this study aimed at developing meaningful indicators to describe overall data quality for each dataset to quick comparison and priority. The objectives of this study were to: (1) Develop a practical data quality indicators and measurements, (2) Develop data quality dimensions based on statistical characteristics and (3) Develop Composite Indicator that can describe overall data quality for each dataset. The sample consisted of more than 500 datasets from public sources obtained by random sampling. After datasets were collected, there are five steps to develop the Dataset Quality Index (SDQI). First, we define standard data quality expectations. Second, we find any indicators that can measure directly to data within datasets. Thirdly, each indicator aggregates to dimension using factor analysis. Next, the indicators and dimensions were weighted by an effort for data preparing process and usability. Finally, the dimensions aggregate to Composite Indicator. The results of these analyses showed that: (1) The developed useful indicators and measurements contained ten indicators. (2) the developed data quality dimension based on statistical characteristics, we found that ten indicators can be reduced to 4 dimensions. (3) The developed Composite Indicator, we found that the SDQI can describe overall datasets quality of each dataset and can separate into 3 Level as Good Quality, Acceptable Quality, and Poor Quality. The conclusion, the SDQI provide an overall description of data quality within datasets and meaningful composition. We can use SQDI to assess for all data in the data project, effort estimation, and priority. The SDQI also work well with Agile Method by using SDQI to assessment in the first sprint. After passing the initial evaluation, we can add more specific data quality indicators into the next sprint.

Keywords: data quality, dataset quality, data quality management, composite indicator, factor analysis, principal component analysis

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Authors: John Cheferson R. De Belen, John Paul G. Elizares, Ronald John G. Raz, Janina Elyse A. Reyes, Charie G. Salengua, Aristotle L. Soriano

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Plastic is a type of synthetic or man-made polymer that can readily be molded into a variety of products. Its usage over the past century has enabled society to make huge technological advances. The workers of United Asia International Plastics Corporation (UAIPC), a plastic manufacturing company performs manual packaging which causes fatigue and stress on their arm, neck, and legs due to extended periods of standing and repetitive motions. With the use of the Fishbone Diagram, Five-Why Analysis, Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), and Anthropometry, the stressful tasks and activities were identified and analyzed. Given the anthropometric measurements obtained from the workers, improved dimensions for the tables and chairs should be used and provide a new packaging machine. The validation of this proposal shall follow after its implementation. By eliminating fatigue during working hours in the production, the workers will be at ease at performing their work properly; productivity will increase that will lead to more profit. Further areas for study include measurement and comparison of the worker’s anthropometric measurement with the industry standard.

Keywords: anthropometry, fishbone diagram, five-why analysis, rapid entire body assessment

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Authors: Dong Yinan, Zhou Zijie

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Urban fringe belt is an important part of urban morphology research. Different from the relatively fixed central district of city, the position of fringe belt is changing. In the process of urban expansion, the original fringe belt is likely to be merged by the new-built city, even become new city public center. During the change, we are facing the dialectic between restoring the organicity of old urban form and creating new urban image. There are lots of relevant research in urban scale, but when we focus on building scale, rare design method can be proposed, thus some new individual building cannot match the overall urban planning intent. The expansion project of the second middle school in Xuancheng is facing this situation. The existing campus is located in the south fringe belt of Xuancheng, Anhui province, China, adjacent to farmland and ponds. While based on the Xucheng urban planning, the farmland and ponds will be transformed into a big lake, around which new public center will be built; the expansion of the school becomes an important part of the boundary of the new public center. Therefore, the expansion project faces challenges from both urban and building scale. In urban scale, we analyze and summarize the fringe belt characters through the reading of existing and future urban organism, in order to determine the form of the expansion project. Meanwhile, in building scale, we study on different types of school buildings and select appropriate type which can satisfy to both urban form and school function. This research attempts to investigate design methods based on an under construction project in Xuancheng, a historic city in southeast China. It also aims to bridge the gap from urban design to individual building design through the typo-morphological research.

Keywords: design methods, urban fringe belt, typo-morphological research, middle school

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Authors: Allahyar Arabmomeni, Hojjatollah Alaei

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Background: The objectives of this study was to investigate effect of anthropometric variables and body composition on physical capabilities among male and female students. Materials and Methods: The study had a descriptive correlation method. The statistical population consisted of all students of Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr Branch, from 2011 to 2013, which was about 7000 students. The statistical sample included 300 male and 300 female students who were randomly selected from among university students in proportion to frequency of students in each faculty. Descriptive statistical methods, t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. Results: Results of this research showed that body size of male students in the studied variables was more than that of female students (p<0.05). Moreover, there was significant difference between all the variables based on significance level of the table. Also, the results taken from the Pearson correlation of this study's variables showed a positive relationship between height and leg and hand length and sit-up, full-ups bar and vertical jump tests (p<0/01). Besides, there was a positive correlation between hand length, sit-up, full-ups bar and vertical jump tests. As far as tests of length of legs and vertical jump were concerned, a highly positive correlation was observed between them. Additionally, results of this study indicated a significant correlation at alpha level of 0.05 between age and height of the students; but, there was a negative correlation between age, sit-up and 1600-m tests (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated a relationship between size of weight, height, length of hands and legs and some physical fitness tests. Therefore, it is required to consider anthropometric factors in addition to gender and age while preparing norms of physical fitness since variables of height and length of hands also affect physical fitness evaluation.

Keywords: anthropometric variables, physical fitness factors, students, body composition

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Authors: Muhammad Naweed, Usman Tariq Murtaza, Waseem Siddique

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A pallet body approach is a finite element-based computational approach used for the modeling and assessment of a three-dimensional surface crack. The approach is capable of inserting the crack in an engineering structure and generating high-quality hexahedral mesh in the cracked region of the structure. The approach is capable of computing the stress intensity factors along a semi-elliptical surface crack numerically. The objective of this work is to present that the stress intensity factors produced by the approach can be used with confidence for capturing the parameters during the fatigue crack growth.

Keywords: pallet body approach, semi-elliptical surface crack, stress intensity factors, fatigue crack growth

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Authors: Lamin B Ceesay, Cecilia Rossignoli

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Inter-organizational collaboration is a growing phenomenon in both research and practice. The partnership between organizations enables firms to leverage external resources, experiences, and technology that lie with other firms. This collaborative practice is a source of improved business model performance, technological advancement, and increased competitive advantage for firms. However, the competitive intents, and even diverse institutional logics of firms, make inter-firm innovation-based partnership even more complex, and its governance more challenging. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of research linking the inter-organizational relationship of firms with their innovation practice and specify the different project management issues and gaps addressed in previous research. To do this, we employed a systematic review of the literature on inter-organizational innovation using two complementary scholarly databases - ScienceDirect and Web of Science (WoS). Article scoping relies on the combination of keywords based on similar terms used in the literature:(1) inter-organizational relationship, (2) business network, (3) inter-firm project, and (4) innovation network. These searches were conducted in the title, abstract, and keywords of conceptual and empirical research papers done in English. Our search covers between 2010 to 2019. We applied several exclusion criteria including Papers published outside the years under the review, papers in a language other than English, papers neither listed in WoS nor ScienceDirect and papers that are not sharply related to the inter-organizational innovation-based partnership were removed. After all relevant search criteria were applied, a final list of 84 papers constitutes the data for this review. Our review revealed an increasing evolution of inter-organizational relationship research during the period under the review. The descriptive analysis of papers according to Journal outlets finds that International Journal of Project Management (IJPM), Journal of Industrial Marketing, Journal of Business Research (JBR), etc. are the leading journal outlets for research in the inter-organizational innovation project. The review also finds that Qualitative methods and quantitative approaches respectively are the leading research methods adopted by scholars in the field. However, literature review and conceptual papers constitute the least in the field. During the content analysis of the selected papers, we read the content of each paper and found that the selected papers try to address one of the three phenomena in inter-organizational innovation research: (1) project antecedents; (2) project management and (3) project performance outcomes. We found that these categories are not mutually exclusive, but rather interdependent. This categorization also helped us to organize the fragmented literature in the field. While a significant percentage of the literature discussed project management issues, we found fewer extant literature on project antecedents and performance. As a result of this, we organized the future research agenda addressed in several papers by linking them with the under-researched themes in the field, thus providing great potential to advance future research agenda especially, in the under-researched themes in the field. Finally, our paper reveals that research on inter-organizational innovation project is generally fragmented which hinders a better understanding of the field. Thus, this paper contributes to the understanding of the field by organizing and discussing the extant literature to advance the theory and application of inter-organizational relationship.

Keywords: inter-organizational relationship, inter-firm collaboration, innovation projects, project management, systematic review

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Authors: Daniel R. Zeh, Michelle R. Heupel, Mark Hamann, Rhondda Jones, Colin J. Limpus, Helene Marsh

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Marine mammals live in an environment with water temperatures nearly always lower than the mammalian core body temperature of 35 - 38°C. Marine mammals can lose heat at high rates and have evolved a range of adaptations to minimise heat loss. Our project tracked dugongs to examine if there was a discoverable relationship between the animals’ movements and the temperature of their environment that might suggest behavioural thermoregulation. Twenty-nine dugongs were fitted with acoustic and satellite/GPS transmitters in 2012, 2013 and 2014 in Moreton Bay Queensland at the high latitude limit of the species’ winter range in eastern Australia on 30 occasions (one animal was tagged twice). All 22 animals that stayed in the area and had functional transmitters made at least one (and up to 66) return trip(s) to the warmer oceanic waters outside the bay where seagrass is unavailable. Individual dugongs went in and out of the bay in synchrony with the tides and typically spent about 6 hours in the oceanic water. There was a diel pattern in the movements: 85% of outgoing trips occurred between midnight and noon. There were significant individual differences, but the likelihood of a dugong leaving the bay was independent of body length or sex. In Quarter 2 (April – June), the odds of a dugong making a trip increased by about 40% for each 1°C increase in the temperature difference between the bay and the warmer adjacent oceanic waters. In Quarter 3, the odds of making a trip were lower when the outside –inside bay temperature differences were small or negative but increased by a factor of up to 2.12 for each 1°C difference in outside – inside temperatures. In Quarter 4, the odds of making a trip were higher when it was cooler outside the bay and decreased by a factor of nearly 0.5 for each 1°C difference in outside – inside bay temperatures. The activity spaces of the dugongs generally declined as winter progressed suggesting a change in the cost-effectiveness of moving outside the bay. Our analysis suggests that dugongs can thermoregulate their core temperature through the behaviour of moving to water having more favourable temperature.

Keywords: acoustic, behavioral thermoregulation, dugongs, movements, satellite, telemetry, quick fix GPS

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Authors: Elham Dehghan, A. Shirzadi Javid, Mohsen Tadayon

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Labor productivity is very important and gained special concerns among professionals in the construction industry, worldwide. Productivity improvements on labors achieve higher cost savings with minimal investment. Due to the fact that profit margins are small on construction projects, cost savings associated with productivity are crucial to become a successful contractor. This research program studies and highlights the factors affecting labor productivity in Iranian construction industry. A questionnaire was used to gather the relevant data from respondents who involve in managing various types of projects in wide areas in Iran. It involved ranking 57 predefined factors divided into 5 categories: Human/Labor; Financial; Management; Equipments/Materials and Environmental. Total 62 feedbacks were analyzed through the Relative Importance Index (RII) technique. The top ten factors affecting construction labor productivity in Iran are: 1) Professional capability of contractor project manager, 2) skills of contractor’s project management team, 3) professional capability of owner project manager, 4) professional capability of Consulting Project manager, 5) discipline working, 6) delay payments by the owner, 7) material shortages, 8) delays in delivery of materials, 9) turnover power of the owner, 10) poor site management. Recommendations have been made in the study to address these factors. The research has direct benefits to key stakeholders in Iranian construction industry.

Keywords: Iranian construction projects, labor, productivity, relative importance index

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Authors: Maria Melania Muda, Retno Wibawanti, Retno Asti Werdhani

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Background: Flight attendant (FA) is a job that is often exposed to ergonomic stressors; thus, they are very susceptible to symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). One of the ways to overcome musculoskeletal complaints is by stretching. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of MSDs and the effect of a 2-week stretching exercise program using the Indonesian Ministry of Health's stretching video on changes in musculoskeletal pain intensity in FA on commercial aircraft in Indonesia. Methods: A pre-post study was conducted using Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) for MSDs’ identification and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) as pain intensity measurement. Data was collected and then analyzed using SPSS with Wilcoxon test. The change in pain intensity was considered significant if the p value was less than 0.05. Results: The results showed that 92% of the FA (n=75) had MSDs in at least 1 area of the body in the last 12 months. Thirty-four respondents participated as subjects. The complaint level score in 28 body areas before intervention was a median of 34 (29-84), with pain intensity of a median of 6 (2-9) became a median of 32 (28-67) and a median of 3 (0-9) after the intervention, respectively, with p-value <0.001. Conclusion: The stretching exercise program showed significant changes in the complaint level scores in 28 body areas (p < 0.001) and pain intensity before and after the stretching exercise intervention (p < 0.001).

Keywords: flight attendant, MSDs, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, stretching exercise program, visual analog scale

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Authors: Dojoon Jung, Kiwoong Moon, Joong Lee

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The height of criminals is one of the important clues that can determine the scope of the suspect's search or exclude the suspect from the search target. Although measuring the height of criminals by video alone is limited by various reasons, the 3D data of the scene and the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage are matched, the height of the criminal can be measured. However, it is still difficult to measure the height of CCTV footage in the non-contact type measurement method because of variables such as position, posture, and head shape of criminals. In this paper, we propose a method of matching the CCTV footage with the 3D data on the crime scene and measuring the height of the person using the 3D human body model in the matched data. In the proposed method, the height is measured by using 3D human model in various scenes of the person in the CCTV footage, and the measurement value of the target person is corrected by the measurement error of the replay CCTV footage of the reference person. We tested for 20 people's walking CCTV footage captured from an indoor and an outdoor and corrected the measurement values with 5 reference persons. Experimental results show that the measurement error (true value-measured value) average is 0.45 cm, and this method is effective for the measurement of the person's height in CCTV footage.

Keywords: human height, CCTV footage, 2D/3D matching, 3D human body model

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Authors: Fereshteh Zarei, Mahdi Kohandel

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The aim of this study was investigate and compare plyometric and vibration exercises on muscle explosive power in non-athlete female students. For this purpose, 45 female students from non-athletes selected target then divided in to the three groups, two experimental and one control groups. From all groups were getting pre-tested. Experimental A did whole-body vibration exercises involved standing on one of machine vibration with frequency 30 Hz, amplitude 10 mm and in 5 different postures. Training for each position was 40 seconds with 60 seconds rest between it, and each season 5 seconds was added to duration of each body condition, until time up to 2 minutes for each postures. Exercises were done three times a week for 2 month. Experimental group B did plyometric exercises that include jumping, such as horizontal, vertical, and skipping .They included 10 times repeat for 5 set in each season. Intensity with increasing repetitions and sets were added. At this time, asked from control group that keep a daily activity and avoided strength training, explosive power and. after do exercises by groups we measured factors again. One-way analysis of variance and paired t statistical methods were used to analyze the data. There was significant difference in the amount of explosive power between the control and vibration groups (p=0/048) there was significant difference between the control and plyometric groups (019/0 = p). But between vibration and plyometric groups didn't observe significant difference in the amount of explosive power.

Keywords: vibration, plyometric, exercises, explosive power, non-athlete

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Authors: Julian Iliev

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The recent release of The Matrix Resurrections persuaded many film scholars that The Matrix trilogy had lost its appeal and its concepts were largely outdated. This study examines the human pods and growing fields in the trilogy. Their functionality is compared to Michel Foucault’s concept of docile bodies: linking fictional and contemporary worlds. This paradigm is scrutinized through surveillance literature. The analogy brings to light common elements of hidden surveillance practices in technologies. The comparison illustrates the effects of body manipulation portrayed in the movies and their relevance with contemporary surveillance practices. Many scholars have utilized a close reading methodology in film studies (J.Bizzocchi, J.Tanenbaum, P.Larsen, S. Herbrechter, and Deacon et al.). The use of a particular lens through which media text is examined is an indispensable factor that needs to be incorporated into the methodology. The study spotlights both scenes from the trilogy depicting the human pods and growing fields. The functionality of the pods and the fields compare directly with Foucault’s concept of docile bodies. By utilizing Foucault’s study as a lens, the research will unearth hidden components and insights into the films. Foucault recognizes three disciplines that produce docile bodies: 1) manipulation and the interchangeability of individual bodies, 2) elimination of unnecessary movements and management of time, and 3) command system guaranteeing constant supervision and continuity protection. These disciplines can be found in the pods and growing fields. Each body occupies a single pod aiding easier manipulation and fast interchangeability. The movement of the bodies in the pods is reduced to the absolute minimum. Thus, the body is transformed into the ultimate object of control – minimum movement correlates to maximum energy generation. Supervision is exercised by wiring the body with numerous types of cables. This ultimate supervision of body activity reduces the body’s purpose to mere functioning. If a body does not function as an energy source, then it’s unplugged, ejected, and liquefied. The command system secures the constant supervision and continuity of the process. To Foucault, the disciplines are distinctly different from slavery because they stop short of a total takeover of the bodies. This is a clear difference from the slave system implemented in the films. Even though their system might lack sophistication, it makes up for it in the elevation of functionality. Further, surveillance literature illustrates the connection between the generation of body energy in The Matrix trilogy to the generation of individual data in contemporary society. This study found that the three disciplines producing docile bodies were present in the portrayal of the pods and fields in The Matrix trilogy. The above comparison combined with surveillance literature yields insights into analogous processes and contemporary surveillance practices. Thus, the constant generation of energy in The Matrix trilogy can be equated to the consistent data generation in contemporary society. This essay shows the relevance of the body manipulation concept in the Matrix films with contemporary surveillance practices.

Keywords: docile bodies, film trilogies, matrix movies, michel foucault, privacy loss, surveillance

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Authors: Qurratulain Faheem

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The human body often serves as a reference point to analyse the notions of self and society. Situating on Merleau-Ponty and Bourdieu theories of embodiments, this research explores the notions around the human body and its influence on the ethical considerations in regards to organ transplantation among the Muslim communities in Pakistan. The context of Pakistan makes an intriguing case study as cadaveric organ transplantation is not in practise. Whereas living organ transplantation is commonly is practised between family members only. These contradictory practices apparently rests on the ideologies around the human body and religious beliefs as well the personal judgements and authority of healthcare professionals. This research is a year-long ethnographic study carried out as part of doctoral studies. An anthropological approach towards organ transplantation in Pakistan brought forward various socio-cultural notions around the human body and selfhood that serve as a framework around biomedical ethical issues in various societies. Further, it surface the contradictions and issues associated with organ transplantation that makes it a dilemma situated in a nexus of various socio-cultural and political factors rather seeing it as an isolated health concern. This research is a novel study on the subject of organ transplantation in the context of Pakistan but also put forward ethnographic data that could serve as a reference in other religious societies. Further, the ethnographic data bring forward experiences and stories of organ receivers, organ donors, religious leaders, healthcare professionals, and the general public, which aspire to encourage biomedical ethicists and social-scientists to consider ethnography as a research methodology and rely upon people’s lived experiences while establishing policies and practices around biomedical ethical issues.

Keywords: Gender, organ transplantation, muslims, pakistan, organ donation, bioethics, culture and religion, gender

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Authors: H. Yazdani, K. Ghorbanian

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This paper deals with modeling and simulation of the plasma actuator with OpenFOAM. Plasma actuator is one of the newest devices in flow control techniques which can delay separation by inducing external momentum to the boundary layer of the flow. The effects of the plasma actuators on the external flow are incorporated into Navier-Stokes computations as a body force vector which is obtained as a product of the net charge density and the electric field. In order to compute this body force vector, the model solves two equations: One for the electric field due to the applied AC voltage at the electrodes and the other for the charge density representing the ionized air. The simulation result is compared to the experimental and typical values which confirms the validity of the modeling.

Keywords: active flow control, flow-field, OpenFOAM, plasma actuator

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Authors: Rosina U. Ndukwe, Diane Crone, Nick Cavill

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Active transport (i.e. walking to school, cycle to work schemes etc.) is an effective approach with multiple social and environmental benefits for transforming urban environments into active urban environments. Although walking and cycling often remain on the margins of urban planning and infrastructure, there are new approaches emerging, along with policy intervention relevant for the creation of sustainable urban active environments conductive to active travel, increasing physical activity levels of involved communities and supporting social inclusion through more active participation. SPAcE - Supporting Policy and Action for Active Environments is a 3 year Erasmus+ project that aims to integrate active transport programmes into public policy across the EU. SPAcE focuses on cities/towns with recorded low physical activity levels to support the development of active environments in 5 sites: Latvia [Tukums], Italy [Palermo], Romania [Brasov], Spain [Castilla-La Mancha] and Greece [Trikala]. The first part of the project involved a review of good practice including case studies from across the EU and project partner countries. This has resulted in the first output from the project, an evidence of good practice summary with case study examples. In the second part of the project, working groups across the 5 sites have carried out co-production to develop Urban Active Environments (UActivE) Action Plans aimed at influencing policy and practice for increasing physical activity primarily through the use of cycling and walking. Action plans are based on international evidence and guidance for healthy urban planning. Remaining project partners include Universities (Gloucestershire, Oxford, Zurich, Thessaly) and Fit for Life programme (National physical activity promotion program, Finland) who provide support and advice incorporating current evidence, healthy urban planning and mentoring. Cooperation and co-production with public health professionals, local government officers, education authorities and transport agencies has been a key approach of the project. The third stage of the project has involved training partners in the WHO HEAT tool to support the implementation of the Action Plans. Project results show how multi-agency, transnational collaboration can produce real-life Action Plans in five EU countries, based on published evidence, real-life experience, consultation and collaborative working with other organisations across the EU. Learning from the processes adopted within this project will demonstrate how public health, local government and transport agencies across the EU, can work together to create healthy environments that have the aim of facilitating active behaviour, even in times of constrained public budgets. The SPAcE project has captured both the challenges and solutions for increasing population physical activity levels, health and wellness in urban spaces and translating evidence into policy and practice ensuring innovation at policy level. Funding acknowledgment: SPAcE (www.activeenvironments.eu) is co-funded by the Sport action of the ERASMUS+ programme.

Keywords: action plans, active transport, SPAcE, UActivE urban active environments, walking and cycling

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Authors: E. A. Tkachenko, E. M. Rogova, V. V. Klimov

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One of the basic issues of development management is connected with performance measurement as a prerequisite for identifying the achievement of development objectives. The aim of our research is to develop an improved model of assessing a company’s development results. The model should take into account the cyclical nature of development and the high degree of uncertainty in dealing with numerous management tasks. Our hypotheses may be formulated as follows: Hypothesis 1. The cycle of a company’s development may be studied from the standpoint of a project cycle. To do that, methods and tools of project analysis are to be used. Hypothesis 2. The problem of the uncertainty when justifying managerial decisions within the framework of a company’s development cycle can be solved through the use of the mathematical apparatus of fuzzy logic. The reasoned justification of the validity of the hypotheses made is given in the suggested article. The fuzzy logic toolkit applies to the case of technology shift within an enterprise. It is proven that some restrictions in performance measurement that are incurred to conventional methods could be eliminated by implementation of the fuzzy logic apparatus in performance measurement models.

Keywords: logic, fuzzy sets, performance measurement, project analysis

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Authors: Tas Yong Koh, Steve Rowlinson, Yuzhong Shen

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In construction safety management, safety climate has long been linked to workers' safety behaviors and performance. For this reason, safety climate concept and tools have been used as heuristics to diagnose a range of safety-related issues by some progressive contractors in Hong Kong and elsewhere. However, as a diagnostic tool, safety climate tends to treat the different components of the climate construct in a linear fashion. Safety management in construction projects, in reality, is a multi-faceted and multilevel phenomenon that resembles a complex system. Hence, understanding safety management in construction projects requires not only the understanding of safety climate but also the organizational-systemic nature of the phenomenon. Our involvement, diagnoses, and interpretations of a range of safety climate-related issues which culminated in the project’s sub-optimum safety performance in an infrastructure construction project have brought about such revelation. In this study, a range of data types had been collected from various hierarchies of the project site organization. These include the frontline workers and supervisors from the main and sub-contractors, and the client supervisory personnel. Data collection was performed through the administration of safety climate questionnaire, interviews, observation, and document study. The findings collectively indicate that what had emerged in parallel of the seemingly linear climate-based exploration is the exposition of the organization-systemic nature of the phenomenon. The results indicate the negative impacts of climate perceptions mismatch, insufficient work planning, and risk management, mixed safety leadership, workforce negative attributes, lapsed safety enforcement and resources shortages collectively give rise to the project sub-optimum safety performance. From the dynamic causation and multilevel perspective, the analyses show that the individual, group, and organizational levels issues are interrelated and these interrelationships are linked to negative safety climate. Hence the adoption of both perspectives has enabled a fuller understanding of the phenomenon of safety management that point to the need for an organizational-systemic intervention strategy. The core message points to the fact that intervention at an individual level will only meet with limited success if the risks embedded in the higher levels in group and project organization are not addressed. The findings can be used to guide the effective development of safety infrastructure by linking different levels of systems in a construction project organization.

Keywords: construction safety management, dynamic causation, multilevel analysis, safety climate

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Authors: María-Dolores Afonso-Suárez, Nayra Pumar-Carreras, Juan Ruiz-Alzola

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This research addresses the use of an e-Learning creation methodology for learning objects. Throughout the process, indicators are being gathered, to determine if it responds to the main objectives of an engineering discipline. These parameters will also indicate if it is necessary to review the creation cycle and readjust any phase. Within the project developed for this study, apart from the use of structured methods, there has been a central objective: the establishment of a learning atmosphere. A place where all the professionals involved are able to collaborate, plan, solve problems and determine guides to follow in order to develop creative and innovative solutions. It has been outlined as a blended learning program with an assessment plan that proposes face to face lessons, coaching, collaboration, multimedia and web based learning objects as well as support resources. The project has been drawn as a long term task, the pilot teaching actions designed provide the preliminary results object of study. This methodology is been used in the creation of learning content for the African countries of Senegal, Mauritania and Cape Verde. It has been developed within the framework of the MACbioIDi, an Interreg European project for the International cooperation and development. The educational area of this project is focused in the training and advice of professionals of the medicine as well as engineers in the use of applications of medical imaging technology, specifically the 3DSlicer application and the Open Anatomy Browser.

Keywords: teaching contents engineering, e-learning, blended learning, international cooperation, 3dslicer, open anatomy browser

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Authors: Arun Kumar, Ravindra Pal Verma, Harsh Sharma, Shani Kumar

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For the present study samples was collected from 20 donors with unknown blood group and secretor status had been determined from saliva by using biological fluid. ABO typing on the concentrated samples was successfully performed after 1 month of storage. Urine stained clothing samples are often submitted to forensic science laboratories for ABH blood group antigen determination. The serogenetic markers of semen stains submitted can be used to determine the origin of any of these samples. ABH blood group substances have previously been identified from urine. ABH blood group substance is low in urine in comparison with other body fluids.

Keywords: ABH blood group, crime scene, serological markers, body fluids and urine

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Authors: Fatemeh Yazdandoust, Derrick Mirrindi

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The excessive use of non-renewable fossil fuels has led to a pressing energy crisis that demands urgent attention. While renewable sources like solar, wind, and water have gained significant attention as alternatives, we must explore additional avenues. This study takes an interdisciplinary approach, investigating the potential of waste streams from energy production and other untapped natural sources as sustainable energy solutions. Through a review of case studies, this study demonstrates how these alternative sources, including human power, animal body heat, and noise, can seamlessly integrate into architecture and urban planning. This article first discusses passive design strategies integrating alternative energy sources into vernacular architecture. Then, it reviews the waste stream (exergy) and potential energy sources, such as human power, animal body heat, and noise, in contemporary proposals and case studies. It demonstrates how an alternative energy design strategy may easily incorporate these many sources into our architecture and urban planning through passive and active design strategies to increase the energy efficiency of our built environment.

Keywords: alternative energy sources, energy exchange, human and animal power, potential energy sources, waste stream

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Authors: Hyeong-Jin Kim, Jong Kook Lee

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Zirconia has biological, mechanical and optical properties, so, it used as a dental implant material in human body. But, it is difficult to form directly bonding with living tissues after the procedure and induces the falling away from implanted parts of the body. To improve this phenomenon, it is essential to increase the surface roughness of zirconia implants and induce a forming-ability of strong bonds. In this study, we performed a room temperature spray coating on zirconia specimen to obtain a highly roughened zirconia surface. To get optimal surface roughness, we controlled the distance between the nozzle and the substrate, coating times and powder condition. Bonding microstructure, surface roughness, and chemical composition of the coating layer were observed by SEM, XRD and roughness tester.

Keywords: implant, aerosoldeposition, zirconia, dental

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Oghabian, Reza Reiazi, Esmaeel Parsai, Mehdi Aghili, Ramin Jaberi

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In this project a new procedure has been introduced for utilizing digitally reconstructed radiograph from MRI images in Brachytherapy treatment planning. This procedure enables us to localize the tumor volume and delineate the extent of critical structures in vicinity of tumor volume. The aim of this project was to improve the accuracy of dose delivered to targets of interest in 2D treatment planning system.

Keywords: brachytherapy, cervix, digitally reconstructed radiographs, lymph node

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Authors: Gongbing Shan, Shiming Li, Zhao Zhang, Bingjun Wan

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Badminton originated in ancient civilizations in Europe and Asia more than 2000 years ago. Presently, it is played almost everywhere with estimated 220 million people playing badminton regularly, ranging from professionals to recreational players; and it is the second most played sport in the world after soccer. In Asia, the popularity of badminton and involvement of people surpass soccer. Unfortunately, scientific researches on badminton skills are hardly proportional to badminton’s popularity. A search of literature has shown that the literature body of biomechanical investigations is relatively small. One of the dominant skills in badminton is the forehand overhead smash, which consists of 1/5 attacks during games. Empirical evidences show that one has to adjust the body position in relation to the coming shuttlecock to produce a powerful and accurate smash. Therefore, positioning is a fundamental aspect influencing smash quality. A search of literature has shown that there is a dearth/lack of study on this fundamental aspect. The goals of this study were to determine the influence of positioning and training experience on smash quality in order to discover information that could help learn/acquire the skill. Using a 10-camera, 3D motion capture system (VICON MX, 200 frames/s) and 15-segment, full-body biomechanical model, 14 skilled and 15 novice players were measured and analyzed. Results have revealed that the body positioning has direct influence on the quality of a smash, especially on shuttlecock release angle and clearance height (passing over the net) of offensive players. The results also suggest that, for training a proper positioning, one could conduct a self-selected comfort position towards a statically hanged shuttlecock and then step one foot back – a practical reference marker for learning. This perceptional marker could be applied in guiding the learning and training of beginners. As one gains experience through repetitive training, improved limbs’ coordination would increase smash quality further. The researchers hope that the findings will benefit practitioners for developing effective training programs for beginners.

Keywords: 3D motion analysis, biomechanical modeling, shuttlecock release speed, shuttlecock release angle, clearance height

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Authors: Soran Aminiaghdam, Christian Rode, Reinhard Blickhan, Astrid Zech

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Despite considerable studies on the impact of imposed trunk posture on human walking, less is known about such locomotion while negotiating changes in ground level. The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of the VBCOM in response to a two-fold expected perturbation, namely alterations in body posture and in ground level. To this end, the kinematic data and ground reaction forces of twelve able participants were collected. We analyzed the vertical position of the body center of mass (VBCOM) from the ground determined by the body segmental analysis method relative to the laboratory coordinate system at touchdown and toe-off instants during walking across uneven ground — characterized by perturbation contact (a 10-cm visible drop) and pre- and post-perturbation contacts — in comparison to unperturbed level contact while maintaining three postures (regular erect, ~30° and ~50° of trunk flexion from the vertical). The VBCOM was normalized to the distance between the greater trochanter marker and the lateral malleoli marker at the instant of TD. Moreover, we calculated the backward rotation during step-down as the difference of the maximum of the trunk angle in the pre-perturbation contact and the minimal trunk angle in the perturbation contact. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs revealed contact-specific effects of posture on the VBCOM at touchdown (F = 5.96, p = 0.00). As indicated by the analysis of simple main effects, during unperturbed level and pre-perturbation contacts, no between-posture differences for the VBCOM at touchdown were found. In the perturbation contact, trunk-flexed gaits showed a significant increase of VBCOM as compared to the pre-perturbation contact. In the post-perturbation contact, the VBCOM demonstrated a significant decrease in all gait postures relative to the preceding corresponding contacts with no between-posture differences. Main effects of posture revealed that the VBCOM at toe-off significantly decreased in trunk-flexed gaits relative to the regular erect gait. For the main effect of contact, the VBCOM at toe-off demonstrated changes across perturbation and post-perturbation contacts as compared to the unperturbed level contact. Furthermore, participants exhibited a backward trunk rotation during step-down possibly to control the angular momentum of their whole body. A more pronounced backward trunk rotation (2- to 3-fold compared with level contacts) in trunk-flexed walking contributed to the observed elevated VBCOM during the step-down which may have facilitated drop negotiation. These results may shed light on the interaction between posture and locomotion in able gait, and specifically on the behavior of the body center of mass during perturbed locomotion.

Keywords: center of mass, perturbation, posture, uneven ground, walking

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Authors: Mirza Ahsan Baig, Paul Evans

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Due to the high demand for automobiles, manufacturers have to run their production lines non-stop for long periods. At such a scale, unplanned downtime could cost up to $50 billion annually. Improper training of new hires could lead to safety issues causing unplanned downtimes. The project developed a virtual reality simulation that could train personnel for key operations on an automobile manufacturing floor, reducing the risk of unplanned downtime while eliminating any disruption (due to training) on the assembly line. An automation firm sponsored it to explore the possibilities the likes of Jaguar and BMW are yet to achieve! The project was inspired by Bentley, the only company that succeeded in simulation training scenarios within virtual space. The project aims to inspire other significant firms to do the same. It was increasing employee safety, eliminating downtimes, and improving efficiency. The developed prototype uncovered various limitations within existing simulation providers and was able to simulate state-of-the-art training scenarios. It also explored the possibility of a multiuser interface and resolved complex issues such as lack of movement space within the training area.

Keywords: virtual reality, scenario training, limited movement, multiuser

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Authors: Chiara Barone

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In Naples, the visible architecture is only what emerges from the underground. Caves and tunnels cross it in every direction, intertwining with each other. They are not natural caves but spaces built by removing what is superfluous in order to dig a form out of the material. Architects, as sculptors of space, do not determine the exterior, what surrounds the volume and in which the forms live, but an interior underground space, perceptive and sensitive, able to generate new emotions each time. It is an intracorporeal architecture linked to the body, not in its external relationships, but rather with what happens inside. The proposed aims to reflect on the design of underground spaces in the Neapolitan city. The idea is to intend the underground as a spectacular museum of the city, an opportunity to learn in situ the history of the place along an unpredictable itinerary that crosses the caves and, in certain points, emerges, escaping from the world of shadows. Starting form the analysis and the study of the many overlapping elements, the archaeological one, the geological layer and the contemporary city above, it is possible to develop realistic alternatives for underground itineraries. The objective is to define minor paths to ensure the continuity between the touristic flows and entire underground segments already investigated but now disconnected: open-air paths, which abyss in the earth, retracing historical and preserved fragments. The visitor, in this way, passes from real spaces to sensitive spaces, in which the imaginary replaces the real experience, running towards exciting and secret knowledge. To safeguard the complex framework of the historical-artistic values, it is essential to use a multidisciplinary methodology based on a global approach. Moreover, it is essential to refer to similar design projects for the archaeological underground, capable of guide action strategies, looking at similar conditions in other cities, where the project has led to an enhancement of the heritage in the city. The research limits the field of investigation, by choosing the historic center of Naples, applying bibliographic and theoretical research to a real place. First of all, it’s necessary to deepen the places’ knowledge understanding the potentialities of the project as a link between what is below and what is above. Starting from a scientific approach, in which theory and practice are constantly intertwined through the architectural project, the major contribution is to provide possible alternative configurations for the underground space and its relationship with the city above, understanding how the condition of transition, as passage between the below and the above becomes structuring in the design process. Starting from the consideration of the underground as both a real physical place and a sensitive place, which engages the memory, imagination, and sensitivity of a man, the research aims at identifying possible configurations and actions useful for future urban programs to make the underground a central part of the lived city, again.

Keywords: underground paths, invisible ruins, imaginary, sculpted forms, sensitive spaces, Naples

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