Search results for: the everyday architecture

Authors: Kishore Kumar R., Kaustav Sengupta, Shalini Sood Sehgal, Poornima Santhanam

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Fashion is a human expression that is constantly changing. One of the prime factors that consistently influences fashion is the change in colour preferences. The role of colour in our everyday lives is very significant. It subconsciously explains a lot about one’s mindset and mood. Analyzing the colours by extracting them from the outfit images is a critical study to examine the individual’s/consumer behaviour. Several research works have been carried out on extracting colours from images, but to the best of our knowledge, there were no studies that extract colours to specific apparel and identify colour patterns geographically. This paper proposes a framework for accurately extracting colours from T-shirt images and predicting dominant colours geographically. The proposed method consists of two stages: first, a U-Net deep learning model is adopted to segment the T-shirts from the images. Second, the colours are extracted only from the T-shirt segments. The proposed method employs the iMaterialist (Fashion) 2019 dataset for the semantic segmentation task. The proposed framework also includes a mechanism for gathering data and analyzing India’s general colour preferences. From this research, it was observed that black and grey are the dominant colour in different regions of India. The proposed method can be adapted to study fashion’s evolving colour preferences.

Keywords: colour analysis in t-shirts, convolutional neural network, encoder-decoder, k-means clustering, semantic segmentation, U-Net model

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Authors: T. Damak, S. Houidi, M. A. Ben Ayed, N. Masmoudi

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The Versatile Video Coding standard (VVC) is actually under development by the Joint Video Exploration Team (or JVET). An Adaptive Multiple Transforms (AMT) approach was announced. It is based on different transform modules that provided an efficient coding. However, the AMT solution raises several issues especially regarding the complexity of the selected set of transforms. This can be an important issue, particularly for a future industrial adoption. This paper proposed an efficient hardware implementation of the most used transform in AMT approach: the DCT II. The developed circuit is adapted to different block sizes and can reach a minimum frequency of 192 MHz allowing an optimized execution time.

Keywords: adaptive multiple transforms, AMT, DCT II, hardware, transform, versatile video coding, VVC

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Authors: Jonathan Gong

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Purpose AI-driven solutions are at the forefront of many pathology and medical imaging methods. Using algorithms designed to better the experience of medical professionals within their respective fields, the efficiency and accuracy of diagnosis can improve. In particular, X-rays are a fast and relatively inexpensive test that can diagnose diseases. In recent years, X-rays have not been widely used to detect and diagnose COVID-19. The under use of Xrays is mainly due to the low diagnostic accuracy and confounding with pneumonia, another respiratory disease. However, research in this field has expressed a possibility that artificial neural networks can successfully diagnose COVID-19 with high accuracy. Models and Data The dataset used is the COVID-19 Radiography Database. This dataset includes images and masks of chest X-rays under the labels of COVID-19, normal, and pneumonia. The classification model developed uses an autoencoder and a pre-trained convolutional neural network (DenseNet201) to provide transfer learning to the model. The model then uses a deep neural network to finalize the feature extraction and predict the diagnosis for the input image. This model was trained on 4035 images and validated on 807 separate images from the ones used for training. The images used to train the classification model include an important feature: the pictures are cropped beforehand to eliminate distractions when training the model. The image segmentation model uses an improved U-Net architecture. This model is used to extract the lung mask from the chest X-ray image. The model is trained on 8577 images and validated on a validation split of 20%. These models are calculated using the external dataset for validation. The models’ accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score, IOU, and loss are calculated. Results The classification model achieved an accuracy of 97.65% and a loss of 0.1234 when differentiating COVID19-infected, pneumonia-infected, and normal lung X-rays. The segmentation model achieved an accuracy of 97.31% and an IOU of 0.928. Conclusion The models proposed can detect COVID-19, pneumonia, and normal lungs with high accuracy and derive the lung mask from a chest X-ray with similarly high accuracy. The hope is for these models to elevate the experience of medical professionals and provide insight into the future of the methods used.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, convolutional neural networks, deep learning, image processing, machine learning

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Authors: Justin Lee, Siraj Shaikh, Alice Chu MD

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Children with cerebral palsy (CP) commonly present with upper extremity impairment, affecting one or both extremities, and are classified using the Manual Ability Classification Scale (MACS). The MACS defines bimanual hand abilities for children ages 4-18 years in everyday tasks and is a gradient scale, with I being nearly normal and V requiring total assistance. Children with more severe upper extremity impairment (MACS III-V) are often underrepresented, and relatively few effective therapies have been identified for these patients. Current orthoses are static and are only meant to prevent the progression of contractures in these patients. Other limitations include cost, comfort, accessibility, and longevity of the orthoses. Taking advantage of advances in 3D printing technology, we have created a highly customizable upper extremity orthotic that can be produced at a low cost. Iterations in our design have resulted in an orthotic that is custom fit to the patient based on scans of their arm, made of rigid polymer when needed to provide support, flexible material where appropriate to allow for comfort, and designed with a mechanical pulley system to allow for some functional use of the arm while in the orthotic. Preliminary data has shown that our orthotic can be built at a fraction of the cost of current orthoses and provide clinically significant improvement in assisting hand assessment (AHA) and pediatric quality of life scores (PedsQL).

Keywords: upper extremity orthosis, upper extremity, orthosis, 3-D printing, cerebral palsy, occupational therapy, spasticity, customizable

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Authors: York Neudel

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The phenomenon of tourism has been considered as tool to overcome cultural frontiers, to comprehend the other and to cope with mutual mistrust and suspicion. Well, that has been a myth, at least when it comes to mass-tourism. Other approaches, like community-based tourism, still are based on the idea of embracing the other in order to help or to understand the cultural difference. In 1997, two American NGOs incentivized a tourism-project in a community in the highlands of Ecuador, in order to protect the cloud forest from destructive exploitation of its own inhabitants. Nineteen years after that, I analyze in this investigation the interactions between the Ecuadorian hosts in the mestizo-community of Yunguilla and the foreign tourist in the quest for “authentic life” in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. As a sort of “contemporary pilgrim” the traveller tries to find authenticity in other times and places far away from their everyday life in Europe or North America. Therefore, tourists are guided by stereotypes and expectations that are produced by the touristic industry. The host, on the other hand, has to negotiate this pre-established imaginary. That generates a kind of theatre-play with front- and backstage in organic gardens, little fabrics and even private housing, since this alternative project offers to share the private space of the host with the tourist in the setting the community-based tourism. In order to protect their privacy, the community creates new hybrid spaces that oscillate between front- and backstages that culminates in a game of hide and seek – a phenomenon that promises interesting frictions for an anthropological case-study.

Keywords: Tourism, Authenticity, Community-based tourism, Ecuador, Yunguilla

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Authors: Giovanni Matheus Rech, Gilberto Zan, Filipe P. Aguiar

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The current pandemic scenario raises questions that many times would have previously gone unnoticed. One of these issues is the quality of the air we breathe in the most diverse environments in which we are inserted in an everyday. It is plausible to suppose that, at times like this, there is apprehension regarding the possibility of contamination by pathological agents such as viruses and bacterias through the airways. However, the renewal of indoor air, combined with a properly sanitized air conditioning system, are important tools for the prevention of viral diseases, as is the case with COVID-19. The bus is an example of an environment where renovation is applied to improve the quality of indoor air, helping to reduce the possibility of spreading pathological agents. Together with other care, such as an alcohol gel dispenser, curtains to separate the passengers, cleaning the environment more frequently, and mandatory use of masks, help to reduce the transmission of pathologies, such as COVID-19. Knowing the reality of a large part of the population regarding the need for public transport, there are standards and devices dedicated to promoting air quality, ensuring greater comfort and safety for users. This paper seeks to present such standards and recommendations to improve the quality of indoor air, as well as the equipment responsible for the renewal of the air in the body of a bus. Experimental measurement of the flow rates of the renewal devices present in the bus body allows quantifying the average volume of external air admitted in each type of body. This way, it was possible to compare, in terms of airflow per person, the values of a bus in relation to a series of other environments, using recommendations for air renewal are described through the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 16401.

Keywords: air quality, air renewal, buses, Covid-19

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Authors: Halim Djerroud, Arab Ali Cherif

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We assume that conscious functions are implemented automatically. In other words that consciousness as well as the non-consciousness aspect of human thought, planning, and perception, are produced by biologically adaptive algorithms. We propose that the mechanisms of consciousness can be produced using similar adaptive algorithms to those executed by the mechanism. In this paper, we propose a computational model of consciousness, the ”Global Abstraction Workspace” which is an internal environmental modelling perceived as a multi-agent system. This system is able to evolve and generate new data and processes as well as actions in the environment.

Keywords: artificial consciousness, cognitive architecture, global abstraction workspace, multi-agent system

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Authors: Mai Awad

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This paper aims to focus on the phenomenon of martyrdom—particularly its performative aspect—and how social and popular cultural representations address the multiple meanings of the loaded image of a Palestinian martyr. This focus will help us to explore the possible reasons that might push Palestinians to consider pursuing “martyrdom” or suicide operations. Tracing what happened in the past and what is currently happening (that is, haunting) will aid in theorizing how the act/practice of “martyrdom” is produced. It is believed that there are social and political forces, particularly in a colonial society like Palestine, that influence the subject and its experience. But what is unique about this paper is its attempt to disclose the invisible, hidden narratives and complexities of Palestinian life that we do not see. By giving “martyrs” a chance to speak and express their own narratives—since “martyrs” usually leave written letters for their families, which are published after their death—this study must broaden the whole picture and discuss what is missing. The analytic method to be used: For the methodology, the paper recruits discourse analysis as a method for tracing the emergence, circulation, and productivity of the martyrdom discourse across a range of social practices in Palestinians’ everyday life after the Nakba. The paper analyzes the letters that “martyrs” left to their families, relatives, and the Palestinian community after their death. By letting “martyrs” speak for themselves and hearing their unique discourses, the research would suggest that more explanation is needed to describe the “martyr” identity. Hence, it is not possible to study the “martyr” identity in Palestine without understanding the colonial context that governs it and shapes their subjective experience.

Keywords: martyrdom, palestine, haunting, nakba 1948

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Authors: Mohhamed Yassine Baroudi, Abdelkrim Benammar, Fethi Tarik Bendimerad

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This paper proposes software architecture for dynamical service adaptation. The services are constituted by reusable software components. The adaptation’s goal is to optimize the service function of their execution context. For a first step, the context will take into account just the user needs but other elements will be added. A particular feature in our proposition is the profiles that are used not only to describe the context’s elements but also the components itself. An adapter analyzes the compatibility between all these profiles and detects the points where the profiles are not compatibles. The same Adapter search and apply the possible adaptation solutions: component customization, insertion, extraction or replacement.

Keywords: adaptative service, software component, service, dynamic adaptation

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Authors: Mohammad Hadi Mahmoodi, Soroor Zekrati

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The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between hemispheric dominance and intonation learning of Iranian EFL students. In order to gain this goal, 52 female students from three levels of beginner, elementary and intermediate in Paradise Institute, and 18 male university students at Bu-Ali Sina University constituted the sample. In order to assist students learn the correct way of applying intonation to their everyday speech, the study proposed an interactive approach and provided students with visual aid through which they were able to see the intonation pattern on computer screen using 'Speech Analyzer' software. This software was also used to record subjects’ voice and compare them with the original intonation pattern. Edinburg Handedness Questionnaire (EHD), which ranges from –100 for strong left-handedness to +100 for strong right-handedness was used to indicate the hemispheric dominance of each student. The result of an independent sample t-test indicated that girls learned intonation pattern better than boys, and that right brained students significantly outperformed the left brained ones. Using one-way ANOVA, a significant difference between three proficiency levels was also found. The posthoc Scheffer test showed that the exact difference was between intermediate and elementary, and intermediate and beginner levels, but no significant difference was observed between elementary and beginner levels. The findings of the study might provide researchers with some helpful implications and useful directions for future investigation into the domain of the relationship between mind and second language learning.

Keywords: intonation, hemispheric dominance, visual aid, language learning, second language learning

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Authors: Komal Khan, Hafsa Zaneb, Saima Masood, Muhammad Younus, Sanan Raza

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Cigarette smoke induces many physiological and pathological changes in respiratory tract like goblet cell hyperplasia and regional distention of airspaces. It is also associated with elevation of inflammatory profiles in different airway compartments. As probiotics are generally known to promote mucosal tolerance, it was postulated that prophylactic use of probiotics can be helpful in reduction of respiratory damage induced by cigarette smoke exposure. Twenty-four adult mice were randomly divided into three groups (cigarette-smoke (CS) group, cigarette-smoke+ Lactobacillus (CS+ P) group, control (Cn) group), each having 8 mice. They were exposed to cigarette smoke for 28 days (6 cigarettes/ day for 6 days/week). Wright-Giemsa staining of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was performed in three mice per group. Tissue samples of trachea and lungs of 7 mice from each group were processed by paraffin embedding technique for haematoxylin & eosin (H & E) and alcian blue- periodic acid-Schiff (AB-PAS) staining. Then trachea (goblet cell number, ratio and loss of cilia) and lungs (airspace distention) were studied. The results showed that the number of goblet cells was increased in CS group as a result of defensive mechanism of the respiratory system against irritating substances. This study also revealed that the cells of CS group having acidic glycoprotein were found to be higher in quantity as compared to those containing neutral glycoprotein. However, CS + P group showed a decrease in goblet cell index due to enhanced immunity by prophylactically used probiotics. Moreover, H & E stained tracheas showed significant loss of cilia in CS group due to propelling of mucous but little loss in CS + P group because of having good protective tracheal epithelium. In lungs, protection of airspaces was also much more evident in CS+ P group as compared to CS group having distended airspaces, especially at 150um distance from terminal bronchiole. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of inflammatory cells population of BALF showed neutrophilia and eosinophilia was significantly reduced in CS+ P group. This study proved that probiotics are found to be useful for reduction of changes in micro-architecture of the respiratory system. Thus, dietary supplementation of probiotic as prophylactic measure can be useful in achieving immunomodulatory effects.

Keywords: cigarette smoke, probiotics, goblet cells, airspace enlargement, BALF

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Authors: Abdulqader Rasool Feqi Mohammed, Ergun Erçelebi̇

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A large number of hospitals from developed countries are adopting hospital information system to bring efficiency in hospital information system. The purpose of this project is to research on new network security techniques in order to enhance the current network security structure of save a hospital information system (HIS). This is very important because, it will avoid the system from suffering any attack. Security architecture was optimized but there are need to keep researching on best means to protect the network from future attacks. In this final project research, security techniques were uncovered to produce best network security results when implemented in an integrated framework.

Keywords: hospital information system, HIS, network security techniques, internet protocol, IP, network

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Authors: Abbas Khosravi

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This paper discusses the use of cooperation without communication in a multi-agent, unpredictable, dynamic real-time environment. The architecture of the Persian Gulf agent consists of three layers: fixed rule, low level, and high level layers, allowing for cooperation without direct communication. A scenario is presented to each agent in the form of a file, specifying each player's role and actions in the game. The scenario helps in cases of miscommunication, improving team performance. Cooperation without communication enhances reliability and coordination among agents, leading to better results in challenging situations.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, communication, Robocop, software engineering

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Authors: Mohamed Boubekri, Kristen Bub, Jaewook Lee, Kate Kurry

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In this study, we explored the impact of light, particularly daylight on sleep time and quality of elementary school children. Sleep actigraphy was used to measure objectively sleep time and sleep efficiency. Our data show a good correlation between light levels and sleep. In some cases, differences of up to 36 minutes were found between students in low light levels and those in high light level classrooms. We recommend, therefore, that classroom design need to pay attention to the daily daylight exposures elementary school children are receiving.

Keywords: light, daylight, actigraphy, sleep, circadian rhythm, sustainable architecture, elementary school, children

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Authors: Najmeh Mohsenifar, Narjes Mohsenifar, Abbas Kargar

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In this paper, has been presented a stable method for predicting the ECG signals through the RBF neural networks, by the PSO algorithm. In spite of quasi-periodic ECG signal from a healthy person, there are distortions in electro cardiographic data for a patient. Therefore, there is no precise mathematical model for prediction. Here, we have exploited neural networks that are capable of complicated nonlinear mapping. Although the architecture and spread of RBF networks are usually selected through trial and error, the PSO algorithm has been used for choosing the best neural network. In this way, 2 second of a recorded ECG signal is employed to predict duration of 20 second in advance. Our simulations show that PSO algorithm can find the RBF neural network with minimum MSE and the accuracy of the predicted ECG signal is 97 %.

Keywords: electrocardiogram, RBF artificial neural network, PSO algorithm, predict, accuracy

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Authors: Akhila Palat, B. Umashankar

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Back-to-back Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls are cost-effective soil-retaining structures that can tolerate large settlements compared to conventional gravity retaining walls. They are also an economical way to meet everyday earth retention needs for highway and bridge grade separations, railroads, commercial and residential developments. But, existing design guidelines (FHWA/BS/ IS codes) do not provide a mechanistic approach for the design of back-to-back reinforced retaining walls. The settlement analysis of such structures is limited in the literature. A better understanding of the deformations of this wall system requires an analytical tool that incorporates the properties of backfill material, foundation soil, and geosynthetic reinforcement, and account for the soil–structure interactions in a realistic manner. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of reinforced back-to-back MSE walls on wall settlements and facing deformations. Back-to-back reinforced retaining walls were modeled and compared using commercially available finite difference package FLAC 2D. Parametric studies were carried out for various angles of shearing resistance of backfill material and foundation soil, and the axial stiffness of the reinforcement. A 6m-high wall was modeled, and the facing panels were taken as full-length panels with nominal thickness. Reinforcement was modeled as cable elements (two-dimensional structural elements). Interfaces were considered between soil and wall, and soil and reinforcement.

Keywords: back-to-back walls, numerical modeling, reinforced wall, settlement

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Authors: Howard Prosser

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This paper examines how critical thinking is framed, especially for primary-school students, in the recently established Australian Curriculum: History. Critical thinking is one of the curriculum’s 'general capabilities.' History provides numerous opportunities for critical thinking’s application in everyday life. The so-called 'history wars' that took place just prior to the curriculum’s introduction in 2014 sought to bring to light the limits of a singular historical narrative and reveal that which had been repressed. Consequently, the Australian history curriculum reflects this shifting mindset. Teachers are presented with opportunities to treat history in the classroom as a repository of social possibility, especially related to democratic potential, beyond hackneyed and jingoistic tales of Australian nationhood. Yet such opportunities are not explicit within the document and are up against pre-existing pedagogic practices. Drawing on political thinker Cornelius Castoriadis’s rendering of the 'social-historical' and 'paidea,' as well as his mobilisation of psychoanalysis, the study outlines how the curriculum’s critical-thinking component opens up possibilities for students and teachers to revise assumptions about how history is understood. This ontological shift is ultimately creative: the teachers’ imaginations connect the students’ imaginations, and vice versa, to the analysis that is at the heart of historical thinking. The implications of this social imagination add to the current discussions about historical consciousness among scholars like Peter Seixas. But, importantly, it has practical application in the primary-school classroom where history becomes creative acts, like play, that is indeterminate and social rather than fixed and individual.

Keywords: Australia, Castoriadis, critical thinking, history, imagination

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Authors: M. Mirza Y. Harahap

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This paper explores the interiority of children’s territorialisation in domestic space context by looking at their affective relations with their surroundings. Examining its spatiality, the research focuses on the interactions that developed between the children and the things which exist in their house, specifically those which left traces, indicating the very arena of their territory. As early learners, the children whose mind and body are still in the development stage are hypothetically distinct in the way they territorialise the space. Rule, common sense and other form of common acceptances among the adults might not be relevant with their way on territorialising the space. Unpredictability-ness, inappropriateness, and unimaginableness hypothetically characterise their unique endeavour when territorialising the space. The purpose might even be insignificant, expressing their very development which unrestricted. This indicates how the interiority of children’s territorialisation in a domestic space context actually is. It would also implicate on a new way of seeing territory since territorialisation act has natural purpose: to aim the space and regard them as his/her own. Aiming to disclose the above territorialisation characteristics, this paper addresses a qualitative study which covers a comprehensive analysis as follow: 1) Collecting various territorial traces left from the children activities within their respective houses. Further within this stage, the data is categorised based on the territorial strategy and tactic. This stage would particularly result in the overall map of the children’s territorial interiority which expresses its focuses, range and ways; 2) Examining the interactions occurred between the children and the spatial elements within the house. Stressing on the affective relations, this stage revealed the immaterial aspect of the children’s territorialisation, thus disclosed the unseen spatial aspect of territorialisation; and 3) Synthesising the previous two stages. Correlating the results from the two stages would then help us to understand the children’s unpredictable, inappropriate and unimaginable territorial interiority. This would also help us to justify how the children learn the space through territorialisation act, its importance and its position in interiority conception. The discussed relation between the children and the houses that cover both its physical and imaginary entity as part of their overall dwelling space would also help us to have a better understanding towards specific spatial elements which are significant and undeniably important for children’s spatial learning process. Particularly for this last finding, it would also help us to determine what kind of spatial elements which are necessary to be existed in a house, thus help for design development purpose. Overall, the study in this paper would help us to broaden our mindset regarding the territory, dwelling, interiority and the overall interior architecture conception, promising a chance for further research within interior architecture field.

Keywords: children, interiority, relation, territory

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Authors: Jamal Ahmad

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The Sanctuary of the Kafirs is a sanctified place for the people of Kalash which contain the sacred remains of their culture. The existence of the cultural Sanctuary is not limited up to boundaries of culture but its canopy also contain the spiritual attachments in terms of religion, rituals, introspections, myths, customs and living standards. Culture is the manifestation of the human intellectual achievement in a qualitative phenomenon of a place. The ethnic people of Hindu Kush (Kalash) are an indigenous group that practices Animism. They believe in Animistic Symbology i-e the material universe has high spiritual power. The Animism in their living standard comes from the high spiritualized and sacred sacrifices of animals goats, sheep etc. in their festivals which is the symbol of purity. Similarly certain cultural and religious phenomena make its behavior, its living pattern, its fairy tales, its birth and even its death unique. The scattered and the vanishing fragments of the Kafiristan, demands the phenomenal solution which molds all these factors into preserving standards. It demands a place of belief where, their unique culture, religion, festivals and life style make a sincere base for future existence, and such phenomena of place will consciously or unconsciously molds these ideas into building fabric. The Sanctuary contains ancient vandalized cemetery, the qaliq* the mujnatikeen*, the jastaks*, dewadoor* an amphitheater for dancing and ritual performances, an herbal garden and a profile sanctuary of the blood line of Kalash. The Case-Analysis provokes a new architecture of place, as the Phenomenological Architecture, which requires a place and phenomenon to take place. The Animistic Symbology and Phenomenology both are the part of their life but needs to reveal its hidden meaning and existence i-e (The Balamain, the alpine meadows, the sacred river). The Architectural work is strengthened by the philosophies of Animism and Phenomenology which make it easy to understand. The Scope of work is to reincarnate the ethical boundaries between the neighboring tribes and the Kafirs, by a series of dwellings, cultural and religious communal buildings and spaces, gardens and streets layout under the umbrella of ethical beliefs of Kalash community. So we conclude to build the Sanctuary of the Kafirs, in Bamboret valley of Kalash.

Keywords: Qaliq, Mujnatikeen, Dewadoor, Jastaks

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Authors: Kholood Baron

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Radiologic interventional studies use fluoroscopy imaging guidance to perform both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. These could result in high radiation doses being delivered to the patients and also to the radiology team. This is due to the prolonged fluoroscopy time and the large number of images taken, even when dose-minimizing techniques and modern fluoroscopic tools are applied. Hence, these procedures are part of the everyday routine of interventional radiology doctors, assistant nurses, and radiographers. Thus, it is important to estimate the radiation exposure dose they received in order to give objective advice and reduce both patient and radiology team radiation exposure dose. The aim of this study was to find out the total radiation dose reaching the radiologist and the patient during an interventional procedure and to determine the impact of certain parameters on the patient dose. Method: The radiation dose was measured by TLD devices (thermoluminescent dosimeter; radiation dosimeter device). Physicians, patients, nurses, and radiographers wore TLDs during 12 interventional radiology procedures performed in two hospitals, Mubarak and Chest Hospital. This study highlights the need for interventional radiologists to be mindful of the radiation doses received by both patients and medical staff during interventional radiology procedures. The findings emphasize the impact of factors such as fluoroscopy duration and the number of images taken on the patient dose. By raising awareness and providing insights into optimizing techniques and protective measures, this research contributes to the overall goal of reducing radiation doses and ensuring the safety of patients and medical staff.

Keywords: dosimetry, radiation dose, interventional radiology procedures, patient radiation dose

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Authors: Nina Dziatzko, Christopher Stehr, Franziska Struve

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Intercultural competence as an explicit required skill nearly never appears in job advertisements in international or even global contexts. But especially those who have to deal with different nationalities and cultures in their everyday business need to have several intercultural competencies and further a global mind-set. This way the question arises how potential future global managers can be trained to learn these competencies. In this regard, it might be helpful to see if different types of intercultural trainings have different effects on those skills. This paper outlines lessons learned based on the evaluation of two different intercultural trainings for management students. The main differences between the observed intercultural trainings are the amount of theoretical input in relation to hands-on experiences, the number of trainers as well as the used methods to teach implicit cultural rules. Both groups contain management students with the willingness and perspective to work abroad or to work in international context. The research is carried out with a pre-training-survey and a post-training-survey which consists of questions referring the international context of the students and a self-estimation of 19 identified intercultural and global mind-set skills, such as: cosmopolitanism, empathy, differentiation and adaptability. Whereas there is no clear result which training gets overall a significant higher increase of skills, there is a clear difference between the focus of competencies trained by each of the intercultural trainings. This way this research provides a guideline for both academicals institutions as well as companies for the decision between different types of intercultural trainings, if the to be trained required skills are defined. Therefore the efficiency and the accuracy of fit of the education of future global managers get optimized.

Keywords: global mind-set, intercultural competencies, intercultural training, learning experiences

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Authors: Pelin Atav, Gözen Güner Aktaş, Nur Ayalp

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Today’s world has started to develop design process within an interdisciplinary working environment. There is an aim of creating the most permanent design for the future. While satisfying people’s needs, environment and people relationships should be considered. When this relationship was considered for the future, the sustainability term comes to mind. The term Sustainability has been adapted very well by designer and architects. It is also one of the main and significant parts of the design process. As the education process cultivates the future professionals, the awareness of those concepts in the education process has a vital importance. The question is stated as thus: Are the 3rd and 4th year design studio students, familiar and sensitive to the concept of sustainability in the TOBB ETU University Interior Design Studio. Design studios and the instructors should be taken into consideration while this sustainability term is taught. The term "Sustainability" can not be learned without making any application in the actual real world. While students make this study, They can have the chance to search the topic of sustainability step by step. Due to having various extent, sustainability term becomes quite a comprehensive issue. In order not to create negative consequences, designers and architects work by adapting this term. In terms of material, construction process, lighting, building service, furniture, systems that are used, energy consumption issues that are considered and creating positive drawbacks for the future are aimed. This research is aimed at how university education shapes designer’s works in terms of sustainability. By giving a project that is a main interest in the field of sustainability, students are expected to reach well-thought-of results and analysis. Project process were conducted with instructor and student studies together. According to critics from their instructors, students try to product well- designed results. TOBB University was choosen as a research area situated in Ankara in Turkey. Third and fourth class (interior designer/architect department) students who are from the Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture are the subject group selected for this study. Aim of this study is demonstrating sustainability as a term having application in design studio. Thus, awareness of sustainability terms will be evaluated and its development process in the university education will be observed. Consequently, results that are expected is how sustainability term is conducted in project and for the sustainability term awareness in design studios and their projects have been sufficient or not.

Keywords: design education, design process, interior design studios, sustainability

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Authors: Alex Vakaloudis, Juan Manuel Escano-Gonzalez

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Setting up a system to broadcast live lectures on the web is a procedure which on the surface does not require any serious technical skills mainly due to the facilities provided by popular learning management systems and their plugins. Nevertheless, producing a system of outstanding quality is a multidisciplinary and by no means a straightforward task. This complicatedness may be responsible for the delivery of an overall poor experience to the learners, and it calls for a formal rating framework that takes into account the diverse aspects of an architecture for synchronous video e-learning systems. We discuss the specifications of such a framework which at its final stage employs fuzzy logic technique to transform from qualitative to quantitative results.

Keywords: synchronous video, fuzzy logic, rating framework, e-learning

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Authors: Sawsan Domi

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Identifying urban patterns of traditional settlements perfumed in various ways. One of them through the three-dimensional ‘reading’ of the urban web: the density of structures, the construction materials and the colors used. Objectives of this study are to paraphrase and understand the relation between the formation of the traditional settlements and the shape and structure of their structural method. In the beginning, the study considered the components of the historical neighborhood, which reflected the social and economical effects in the urban planning pattern. Then, by analyzing the main components of the old neighborhood which included: analysis of urban patterns & streets systems, analysis of traditional architectural elements and the construction materials and their usage. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood in ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites in the Sultanate of Oman. The vivid features of this archaeological site are the living witness to the genius of the Omani person and his unique architecture. ‘’Hamasa’’ Neighborhood is also considered as the oldest human settlement at ‘’Al Buraimi’’ Governorate. It used to be the gathering area for Arab and Omani tribes who are coming from other governorates of Oman. In this old settlement, local characters were created to meet the climate problems and the social, religious requirements of the life. Traditional buildings were built of materials that were available in the surround environment and within hand reach. The Historical component was containing four main separate neighborhoods. The morphological structure of ‘’Hamasa’’ was characterized by a continuous and densely built-up pattern, featuring close interdependence between the spatial and functional pattern. The streets linked the plots, the marketplace and the open areas. Consequently, the traditional fabric had narrow streets with one- and two- storey houses. The material used in building facilities at ‘’Hamasa’' historical are from the traditionally used materials. These materials were cleverly used in building of local facilities. Most of these materials are locally made and formed, and used by the locals. ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood is an example of analyzing the urban patterns and geometrical features. The old ‘’ Hamasa’’ retains the patterns of its old settlements. Urban patterns were defined by both forms and structure. The traditional architecture of ‘’Hamasa’’ neighborhood has evolved as a direct result of its climatic conditions. The study figures out that the neighborhood characterized by the used construction materials, the scope of the residential structures and by the streets system. All formed the urban pattern of the settlement.

Keywords: urban pattern, construction materials, neighborhood, architectural elements, historical

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Authors: Abdiwahab Guled

Abstract:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that emanates from a broad range of conditions, which affect the communication skills, social skills. It causes restrictive and repetitive behaviors to individuals. The number of children with ASD is an increasing prevalence around the world. Virtual reality (VR) is an assistive technology, which puts the learner in an immersive learning environment. It allows the learner to interact with that environment in a seemingly real or physical way using special electronic equipment, such as headsets. This exploratory study examines the potential benefits that VR may provide to improving the communication skills of children with ASD. Educating a child with ASD is challenging because access to services, resources, and support for autistic children is inadequate. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the challenges of teaching children with ASD and how VR might help teachers to improve the communication skills of these children with ASD. Online research and literature review were used as a method to gather previously published studies to identify the research gap and provide the groundwork for future studies. Results show that VR offers potential benefits to improving the communication skills of children with ASD but there is a gap in our understanding of the functionalities of all the features of VR technology and how we can utilize it to improve the communication skills of children with ASD. Communication is a broad subject and it is impossible for one study to evidently define the speech challenges of autistic children and provide an irrefutable solution. Therefore, this study proposes further research to dissect how can VR be used to improve the different communication challenges that impede the everyday functioning of autistic children.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), autistic, Asperger, Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), virtual reality (VR).

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Authors: Chao Fang

Abstract:

Due to the Confucian emphasis on filial piety and an undeveloped social welfare system in mainland China, adult children are both socially and legally obliged to care for their parents, including financial assistance and physical care as well as emotional and social support. Thus a family-centred care pattern for elderly people has been firmly established in China. However, because of the nationwide ‘One Child Policy’, over one million parents are excluded from such care because of the death of their only child and, therefore, their primary caregiver. Without their child’s support, these parents must manage the day to day challenges of growing old alone, with little support from society. By overturning established expectations of a ‘good’ elderly life, the loss of an only child may be accompanied by social and self-stigmatization, pushing these bereaved parents to the margin of society and threatening their economic, physical, emotional and social well-being. More importantly, since the One Child Policy was implemented from the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first generation of bereaved or ‘Shidu’ parents has reached an age at which those parents need elderly care. However, their predicament has been largely ignored. This paper reports on a qualitative interview study that found elderly care to be the main concern for Shidu parents’ everyday life. The paper identifies and discusses the concerns these bereaved parents raised about the prospect of having nowhere to turn at a time of increased need for financial, physical, social and emotional support in old age. The paper also identifies how Shidu parents have been coming together in grief and negotiate to make their predicament known to the government and wider society and to re-define their elderly life by rebuilding a sense of ‘family’.

Keywords: culture, bereavement, China, elderly care

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Authors: F. Rarbi, D. Dzahini, W. Uhring

Abstract:

In this paper, a dynamic and power efficient 8-bit and 100-MSPS Successive Approximation Register (SAR) Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is presented. The circuit uses a non-differential capacitive Digital-to-Analog (DAC) architecture segmented by 2. The prototype is produced in a commercial 65-nm 1P7M CMOS technology with 1.2-V supply voltage. The size of the core ADC is 208.6 x 103.6 µm². The post-layout noise simulation results feature a SNR of 46.9 dB at Nyquist frequency, which means an effective number of bit (ENOB) of 7.5-b. The total power consumption of this SAR ADC is only 1.55 mW at 100-MSPS. It achieves then a figure of merit of 85.6 fJ/step.

Keywords: CMOS analog to digital converter, dynamic comparator, image sensor application, successive approximation register

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Authors: Norbert Szulc, Cezary Wieczorkowski, Igor Baranowski

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In this paper, a control system that bridges the gap in support for Unmanned Surface Vessels in the PX4 Opensource Autopilot was developed. The system is designed for an omnidirectional water craft with four motors. A modular autopilot architecture design centred around publish-subscribe interprocess communication was used. The paper presents the implementation and integration process of a generic surface vehicle controller capable of driving any configuration of motors through the recently introduced in control allocator in PX4 autopilot. The proposed approach was successfully tested in a case study through implementation on the ASV Perkoz.

Keywords: control system, PX4, drones, rovers, surface vessels, omnidirectional

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Authors: Morgan Dempsey, Sam Lewis, Maggie Pierce, Alex Goodman

Abstract:

This research investigates the impact of equine-assisted therapy programs on occupational engagement for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. There is a general lack of evidence for equine-based services for this population, so this research aims to decrease gaps in the current literature. To gain comprehensive insight, data will be collected from both the child and their caregiver. This study takes a qualitative approach utilizing online surveys and in-person guided interviews. The participants are individuals ages 4-17 with a diagnosed intellectual or developmental disability who are currently participating in a PATH int. certified equine-assisted therapy program. Also, caregivers of individuals who meet this criterion are included. This study decreases gaps in the literature by providing comprehensive data regarding the impacts of these services on occupational engagement. The addressed domains are physical, behavioral, emotional, and social functioning, as well as overall activity engagement and impacts in everyday life. With a better understanding of how equine-assisted therapy affects relevant outcomes for children with disabilities, an increased number of occupational therapists can implement these uniquely effective services while adhering to standards of evidence-based practice. Ultimately, this research strives to contribute to generalizable data in occupational therapy by supporting the implementation of equine-assisted services for children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their caregivers/families.

Keywords: occupational therapy, pediatric, rehabilitation, hippotherapy

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Authors: Sajjad Rezaei, Mahdieh Molanouri Shamsi, Azadeh Jamali

Abstract:

Background and purpose: Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a lung-specific protein that is detectable in human plasma. Effect of exercise training on SP-D levels as well as its relation to metabolic indices is not known. The present study then aimed to investigate the effects of 10 weeks of aerobic training on serum levels of SP-D and insulin resistance in women with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods: Twenty-two overweight women with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited through deliberate sampling and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups (11 in each group). The intervention group underwent a progressive aerobic training program for 10 weeks, 3 days per week, 30-55 min/day at 50-75% heart rate reserve (HRR). Control group continued with its everyday routine. Blood samples were obtained before and after training for biochemical analysis. Within-group and between-group differences were analyzed with paired and independent t-tests in spss software, respectively, and the relation between variables was analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient (all at P = 0.05). Results: Significant differences were observed between groups in leptin, glucose, waist circumference and VO2 max after training. SP-D was decreased and VO2 max was increased significantly in intervention group. However, no significant correlation was observed between SP-D and other variables. Conclusion: Since there was no corresponding decrease in insulin resistance with decreased levels of SP-D, it seems unlikely for SP-D to mediate the association between obesity and insulin resistance in type 2 diabetics.

Keywords: exercise training, SP-D, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes

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