Search results for: the statistical measure

Authors: Mohamud Ali Ibrahim, Ali Bayat, Ali Bolat

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Defoliant spraying is an important link in the mechanized cotton harvest because adequate and uniform spraying can improve defoliation quality and reduce cotton trash content. In defoliant application, application volume and spraying technology are extremely important. In this study, the effectiveness of defoliant application to cotton plant that has come to harvest with two different application volumes and three different types of nozzles with a standard field crop sprayer was determined. Experiments were carried in two phases as field area trials and laboratory analysis. Application rates were 250 l/ha and 400 L/ha, and spraying nozzles were (1) Standard flat fan nozzle (TP8006), (2) Air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS), and (3) Dual Pattern nozzle (AI307003VP). A tracer (BSF) and defoliant were applied to mature cotton with approximately 60% open bolls and samplings for BSF deposition and spray coverage on the cotton plant were done at two plant height (upper layer, lower layer) of plant. Before and after spraying, bolls open and leaves rate on cotton plants were calculated, and filter papers were used to detect BSF deposition, and water sensitive papers (WSP) were used to measure the coverage rate of spraying methods used. Spectrofluorophotometer was used to detect the amount of tracer deposition on targets, and an image process computer programme was used to measure coverage rate on WSP. In analysis, conclusions showed that air induction nozzle (AI 11002-VS) achieved better results than the dual pattern and standard flat fan nozzles in terms of higher depositions, coverages, and leaf defoliations, and boll opening rates. AI nozzles operating at 250 L/ha application rate provide the highest deposition and coverage rate on applications of the defoliant; in addition, BSF as an indicator of the defoliant used reached on leaf beneath in merely this spray nozzle. After defoliation boll opening rate was 85% on the 7th and 12th days after spraying and falling rate of leaves was 76% at application rate of 250 L/ha with air induction (AI1102) nozzle.

Keywords: cotton defoliant, air induction nozzle, dual pattern nozzle, standard flat fan nozzle, coverage rate, spray deposition, boll opening rate, leaves falling rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Nino Paresashvili, Nino Abesadze

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The modern world faces huge challenges. Globalization changed the socio-economic conditions of many countries. The current processes in the global environment have a different impact on countries with different cultures. However, an alleviation of poverty and improvement of living conditions is still the basic challenge for the majority of countries, because much of the population still lives under the official threshold of poverty. It is very important to stimulate youth employment. In order to prepare young people for the labour market, it is essential to provide them with the appropriate professional skills and knowledge. It is necessary to plan efficient activities for decreasing an unemployment rate and for developing the perfect mechanisms for regulation of a labour market. Such planning requires thorough study and analysis of existing reality, as well as development of corresponding mechanisms. Statistical analysis of unemployment is one of the main platforms for regulation of the labour market key mechanisms. The corresponding statistical methods should be used in the study process. Such methods are observation, gathering, grouping, and calculation of the generalized indicators. Unemployment is one of the most severe socioeconomic problems in Georgia. According to the past as well as the current statistics, unemployment rates always have been the most problematic issue to resolve for policy makers. Analytical works towards to the above-mentioned problem will be the basis for the next sustainable steps to solve the main problem. The results of the study showed that the choice of young people is not often due to their inclinations, their interests and the labour market demand. That is why the wrong professional orientation of young people in most cases leads to their unemployment. At the same time, it was shown that there are a number of professions in the labour market with a high demand because of the deficit the appropriate specialties. To achieve healthy competitiveness in youth employment, it is necessary to formulate regional employment programs with taking into account the regional infrastructure specifications.

Keywords: unemployment, analysis, methods, tendencies, regulation mechanisms

Procedia PDF Downloads 377

Authors: Wiem Ben Khalifa, Dalila Souilem, Mahmoud Neji

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The evolutions of Social Web and Semantic Web lead us to ask ourselves about the way of supporting the personalization of learning by means of intelligent filtering of educational resources published in the digital networks. We recommend personalized courses of learning articulated around a first educational course defined upstream. Resuming the context and the stakes in the personalization, we also suggest anchoring the personalization of learning in a community of interest within a group of learners enrolled in the same training. This reflection is supported by the display of an active and semantic system of learning dedicated to the constitution of personalized to measure courses and in the due time.

Keywords: Semantic Web, semantic system, ontology, evaluation, e-learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Abderrahim Siam, Ramdane Maamri, Zaidi Sahnoun

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The development of adaptive user interfaces (UI) presents for a long time an important research area in which researcher attempt to call upon the full resources and skills of several disciplines. The adaptive UI community holds a thorough knowledge regarding the adaptation of UIs with users and with contexts of use. Several solutions, models, formalisms, techniques, and mechanisms were proposed to develop adaptive UI. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the fuzzy set theory for modeling the concept of the appropriateness of different solutions of UI adaptation with different situations for which interactive systems have to adapt their UIs.

Keywords: adaptive user interfaces, adaptation solution’s appropriateness, fuzzy sets

Procedia PDF Downloads 486

Authors: Ozan Kahraman, Hao Feng

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Several models such as Weibull, Modified Gompertz, Biphasic linear, and Log-logistic models have been proposed in order to describe non-linear inactivation kinetics and used to fit non-linear inactivation data of several microorganisms for inactivation by heat, high pressure processing or pulsed electric field. First-order kinetic parameters (D-values and z-values) have often been used in order to identify microbial inactivation by non-thermal processing methods such as ultrasound. Most ultrasonic inactivation studies employed first-order kinetic parameters (D-values and z-values) in order to describe the reduction on microbial survival count. This study was conducted to analyze the E. coli O157:H7 inactivation data by using five microbial survival models (First-order, Weibull, Modified Gompertz, Biphasic linear and Log-logistic). First-order, Weibull, Modified Gompertz, Biphasic linear and Log-logistic kinetic models were used for fitting inactivation curves of Escherichia coli O157:H7. The residual sum of squares and the total sum of squares criteria were used to evaluate the models. The statistical indices of the kinetic models were used to fit inactivation data for E. coli O157:H7 by MTS at three temperatures (40, 50, and 60 0C) and three pressures (100, 200, and 300 kPa). Based on the statistical indices and visual observations, the Weibull and Biphasic models were best fitting of the data for MTS treatment as shown by high R2 values. The non-linear kinetic models, including the Modified Gompertz, First-order, and Log-logistic models did not provide any better fit to data from MTS compared the Weibull and Biphasic models. It was observed that the data found in this study did not follow the first-order kinetics. It is possibly because of the cells which are sensitive to ultrasound treatment were inactivated first, resulting in a fast inactivation period, while those resistant to ultrasound were killed slowly. The Weibull and biphasic models were found as more flexible in order to determine the survival curves of E. coli O157:H7 treated by MTS on apple-carrot juice.

Keywords: Weibull, Biphasic, MTS, kinetic models, E.coli O157:H7

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Ph. Fauquet-Alekhine

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Decision-making occurs several times an hour when working in high risk industry and an erroneous choice might have undesirable outcomes for people and the environment surrounding the industrial plant. Industrial decisions are very often made in a context of acute stress. Time pressure is a crucial stressor leading decision makers sometimes to boost up the decision-making process and if it is not possible then shift to the simplest strategy. We thus found it interesting to update the characterization of the stress factors impairing decision-making at Chinon Nuclear Power Plant (France) in order to optimize decision making contexts and/or associated processes. The investigation was based on the analysis of reports addressing safety events over the last 3 years. Among 93 reports, those explicitly addressing decision-making issues were identified. Characterization of each event was undertaken in terms of three criteria: stressors, biases impairing decision making and weaknesses of the decision-making process. The statistical analysis showed that biases were distributed over 10 possibilities among which the hypothesis confirmation bias was clearly salient. No significant correlation was found between criteria. The analysis indicated that the main stressor was time pressure and highlights an unexpected form of stressor: the trust asymmetry principle of the expert. The analysis led to the conclusion that this stressor impaired decision-making from a psychological angle rather than from a physiological angle: it induces defensive bias of self-esteem, self-protection associated with a bias of confirmation. This leads to the hypothesis that this stressor can intervene in some cases without being detected, and to the hypothesis that other stressors of the same kind might occur without being detected too. Further investigations addressing these hypotheses are considered. The analysis also led to the conclusion that dealing with these issues implied i) decision-making methods being well known to the workers and automated and ii) the decision-making tools being well known and strictly applied. Training was thus adjusted.

Keywords: bias, expert, high risk industry, stress.

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Mark McGuire, Eric Shannon, John Parmigiani

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Timber harvesting increasingly involves mechanized equipment. This has increased the efficiency of harvesting, but has also introduced worker-safety concerns. One such concern arises from the use of harvesters. During operation, harvesters subject saw chain to large dynamic mechanical stresses. These stresses can, under certain conditions, cause the saw chain to fracture. The high speed of harvester saw chain can cause the resulting open chain loop to fracture a second time due to the dynamic loads placed upon it as it travels through space. If a second fracture occurs, it can result in a projectile consisting of one-to-several chain links. This projectile is referred to as a chain shot. It has speeds similar to a bullet but typically has greater mass and is a significant safety concern. Numerous examples exist of chain shots penetrating bullet-proof barriers and causing severe injury and death. Improved harvester-cab barriers can help prevent injury however a comprehensive scientific understanding of chain shot is required to consistently reduce or prevent it. Obtaining this understanding requires a test machine with the capability to cause chain shot to occur under carefully controlled conditions and accurately measure the response. Worldwide few such test machine exist. Those that do focus on validating the ability of barriers to withstand a chain shot impact rather than obtaining a scientific understanding of the chain shot event itself. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, fabrication, and use of a test machine capable of a comprehensive scientific investigation of chain shot. The capabilities of this machine are to test all commercially-available saw chains and bars at chain tensions and speeds meeting and exceeding those typically encountered in harvester use and accurately measure the corresponding key technical parameters. The test machine was constructed inside of a standard shipping container. This provides space for both an operator station and a test chamber. In order to contain the chain shot under any possible test conditions, the test chamber was lined with a base layer of AR500 steel followed by an overlay of HDPE. To accommodate varying bar orientations and fracture-initiation sites, the entire saw chain drive unit and bar mounting system is modular and capable of being located anywhere in the test chamber. The drive unit consists of a high-speed electric motor with a flywheel. Standard Ponsse harvester head components are used to bar mounting and chain tensioning. Chain lubrication is provided by a separate peristaltic pump. Chain fracture is initiated through ISO standard 11837. Measure parameters include shaft speed, motor vibration, bearing temperatures, motor temperature, motor current draw, hydraulic fluid pressure, chain force at fracture, and high-speed camera images. Results show that the machine is capable of consistently causing chain shot. Measurement output shows fracture location and the force associated with fracture as a function of saw chain speed and tension. Use of this machine will result in a scientific understanding of chain shot and consequently improved products and greater harvester operator safety.

Keywords: chain shot, safety, testing, timber harvesters

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Jiexuan Lin, Huiyi Chen

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The development of L2 pronunciation competence remains understudied in the literature and it is not clear what may influence learners’ development of L2 pronunciation. The present study was an attempt to find out which of the two common factors in L2 acquisition, i.e., foreign language anxiety or self-perceived L2 proficiency, can better predict Chinese EFL learners’ pronunciation performance. 78 first-year English majors, who had received a three-month pronunciation training course, were asked to 1) fill out a questionnaire on foreign language classroom anxiety, 2) self-report their L2 proficiency in general, in speaking and in pronunciation, and 3) complete an oral and a written test on their L2 pronunciation (the score of the oral part indicates participants’ pronunciation proficiency in oral production, and the score of the written part indexes participants’ ability in applying pronunciation knowledge in comprehension.) Results showed that the pronunciation scores were negatively correlated with the anxiety scores, and were positively correlated with the self-perceived pronunciation proficiency. But only the written scores in the L2 pronunciation test, not the oral scores, were positively correlated with the L2 self-perceived general proficiency. Neither the oral nor the written scores in the L2 pronunciation test had a significant correlation with the self-perceived speaking proficiency. Given the fairly strong correlations, the anxiety scores and the self-perceived pronunciation proficiency were put in regression models to predict L2 pronunciation performance. The anxiety factor alone accounted for 13.9% of the variance and the self-perceived pronunciation proficiency alone explained 12.1% of the variance. But when both anxiety scores and self-perceived pronunciation proficiency were put in a stepwise regression model, only the anxiety scores had a significant and unique contribution to the L2 pronunciation performance (4.8%). Taken together, the results suggested that the learners’ anxiety level could better predict their L2 pronunciation performance, compared with the self-perceived proficiency levels. The obtained data have the following pedagogical implications. 1) Given the fairly strong correlation between anxiety and L2 pronunciation performance, the instructors who are interested in predicting learners’ L2 pronunciation proficiency may measure their anxiety level, instead of their proficiency, as the predicting variable. 2) The correlation of oral scores (in the pronunciation test) with pronunciation proficiency, rather than with speaking proficiency, indicates that a) learners after receiving some amounts of training are to some extent able to evaluate their own pronunciation ability, implying the feasibility of incorporating self-evaluation and peer comments in course instruction; b) the ‘proficiency’ measure used to predict pronunciation performance should be used with caution. The proficiency of specific skills seemingly highly related to pronunciation (i.e., speaking in this case) may not be taken for granted as an effective predictor for pronunciation performance. 3) The correlation between the written scores with general L2 proficiency is interesting.

Keywords: anxiety, Chinese EFL learners, L2 pronunciation, self-perceived L2 proficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: O. Iyare, A. H. Afolayan, O. T. Oluwadare, B. K. Alese

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Access to advanced medical services has been one of the medical challenges faced by our present society especially in distant geographical locations which may be inaccessible. Then the need for telemedicine arises through which live videos of a doctor can be streamed to a patient located anywhere in the world at any time. Patients’ medical records contain very sensitive information which should not be made accessible to unauthorized people in order to protect privacy, integrity and confidentiality. This research work focuses on a more robust security measure which is biometric (fingerprint) as a form of access control to data of patients by the medical specialist/practitioner.

Keywords: biometrics, telemedicine, privacy, patient information

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Muhamad Aris Burhanudin, Angga Firmansyas, Bagus Jaya Santosa

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Earthquakes are natural hazard that can trigger the most dangerous hazard, tsunami. 26 December 2004, a giant earthquake occurred in north-west Andalas Island. It made giant tsunami which crushed Sumatra, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. More than twenty thousand people dead. The occurrence of earthquake and tsunami can not be avoided. But this hazard can be mitigated by earthquake forecasting. Early preparation is the key factor to reduce its damages and consequences. We aim to investigate quantitatively on pattern of earthquake. Then, we can know the trend. We study about earthquake which has happened in Andalas island, Indonesia one last decade. Andalas is island which has high seismicity, more than a thousand event occur in a year. It is because Andalas island is in tectonic subduction zone of Hindia sea plate and Eurasia plate. A tsunami forecasting is needed to mitigation action. Thus, a Tsunami Forecasting Method is presented in this work. Neutral Network has used widely in many research to estimate earthquake and it is convinced that by using Backpropagation Method, earthquake can be predicted. At first, ANN is trained to predict Tsunami 26 December 2004 by using earthquake data before it. Then after we get trained ANN, we apply to predict the next earthquake. Not all earthquake will trigger Tsunami, there are some characteristics of earthquake that can cause Tsunami. Wrong decision can cause other problem in the society. Then, we need a method to reduce possibility of wrong decision. Fuzzy TOPSIS is a statistical method that is widely used to be decision seconder referring to given parameters. Fuzzy TOPSIS method can make the best decision whether it cause Tsunami or not. This work combines earthquake prediction using neural network method and using Fuzzy TOPSIS to determine the decision that the earthquake triggers Tsunami wave or not. Neural Network model is capable to capture non-linear relationship and Fuzzy TOPSIS is capable to determine the best decision better than other statistical method in tsunami prediction.

Keywords: earthquake, fuzzy TOPSIS, neural network, tsunami

Procedia PDF Downloads 489

Authors: Sibel Karacaoglu, Fatma Ç. Kayapinar

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The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of the core training program on physical fitness characteristics and body composition in male volleyball players. 26 male university volleyball team players aged between 19 to 24 years who had no health problems and injury participated in the study. Subjects were divided into training (TG) and control groups (CG) as randomly. Data from twenty-one players who completed all training sessions were used for statistical analysis (TG,n=11; CG,n=10). A core training program was applied to the training group three days a week for 10 weeks. On the other hand, the control group did not receive any training. Before and after the 10-week training program, pre- and post-testing comprised of body composition measurements (weight, BMI, bioelectrical impedance analysis) and physical fitness measurements including flexibility (sit and reach test), muscle strength (back, leg and grip strength by dynamometer), muscle endurance (sit-ups and push-ups tests), power (one-legged jump and vertical jump tests), speed (20m sprint, 30m sprint) and balance tests (one-legged standing test) were performed. Changes of pre- and post- test values of the groups were determined by using dependent t test. According to the statistical analysis of data, no significant difference was found in terms of body composition in the both groups for pre- and post- test values. In the training group, all physical fitness measurements improved significantly after core training program (p<0.05) except 30m speed and handgrip strength (p>0.05). On the hand, only 20m speed test values improved after post-test period (p<0.05), but the other physical fitness tests values did not differ (p>0.05) between pre- and post- test measurement in the control group. The results of the study suggest that the core training program has positive effect on physical fitness characteristics in male volleyball players.

Keywords: body composition, core training, physical fitness, volleyball

Procedia PDF Downloads 345

Authors: Hai L. Tran

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When covering events and issues, the news media often employ both personal accounts as well as facts and figures. However, the process of using numbers and narratives in the newsroom is mostly operated through trial and error. There is a demonstrated need for the news industry to better understand the specific effects of storytelling and data-driven reporting on the audience as well as explanatory factors driving such effects. In the academic world, anecdotal evidence and statistical evidence have been studied in a mutually exclusive manner. Existing research tends to treat pertinent effects as though the use of one form precludes the other and as if a tradeoff is required. Meanwhile, narratives and statistical facts are often combined in various communication contexts, especially in news presentations. There is value in reconceptualizing and theorizing about both relative and collective impacts of numbers and narratives as well as the mechanism underlying such effects. The current undertaking seeks to link theory to practice by providing a complete picture of how and why people are influenced by information conveyed through quantitative and qualitative accounts. Specifically, the cognitive-experiential theory is invoked to argue that humans employ two distinct systems to process information. The rational system requires the processing of logical evidence effortful analytical cognitions, which are affect-free. Meanwhile, the experiential system is intuitive, rapid, automatic, and holistic, thereby demanding minimum cognitive resources and relating to the experience of affect. In certain situations, one system might dominate the other, but rational and experiential modes of processing operations in parallel and at the same time. As such, anecdotes and quantified facts impact audience response differently and a combination of data and narratives is more effective than either form of evidence. In addition, the present study identifies several media variables and human factors driving the effects of statistics and anecdotes. An integrative model is proposed to explain how message characteristics (modality, vividness, salience, congruency, position) and individual differences (involvement, numeracy skills, cognitive resources, cultural orientation) impact selective exposure, which in turn activates pertinent modes of processing, and thereby induces corresponding responses. The present study represents a step toward bridging theoretical frameworks from various disciplines to better understand the specific effects and the conditions under which the use of anecdotal evidence and/or statistical evidence enhances or undermines information processing. In addition to theoretical contributions, this research helps inform news professionals about the benefits and pitfalls of incorporating quantitative and qualitative accounts in reporting. It proposes a typology of possible scenarios and appropriate strategies for journalists to use when presenting news with anecdotes and numbers.

Keywords: data, narrative, number, anecdote, storytelling, news

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Marcelo Hayashi, João Lima, Bruno Chieregatti, Ernani Volpe

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The adjoint method has been used as a successful tool to obtain sensitivity gradients in aerodynamic design and optimisation for many years. This work presents an alternative approach to the continuous adjoint formulation that enables one to compute gradients of a given measure of merit with respect to control parameters other than those pertaining to geometry. The procedure is then applied to the steady 2–D compressible Euler and incompressible Navier–Stokes flow equations. Finally, the results are compared with sensitivities obtained by finite differences and theoretical values for validation.

Keywords: adjoint method, aerodynamics, sensitivity theory, non-geometric sensitivities

Procedia PDF Downloads 546

Authors: Samuel John, S. Sharanya

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Automation has become an important part of our life. It has been used to control home entertainment systems, changing the ambience of rooms for different events etc. One of the main parameters to control in a smart home is the atmospheric comfort. Atmospheric comfort mainly includes temperature and relative humidity. In homes, the desired temperature of different rooms varies from 20 °C to 25 °C and relative humidity is around 50%. However, it varies widely. Hence, automated measurement of these parameters to ensure comfort assumes significance. To achieve this, a fuzzy logic controller using Arduino was developed using MATLAB. Arduino is an open source hardware consisting of a 24 pin ATMEGA chip (atmega328), 14 digital input /output pins and an inbuilt ADC. It runs on 5v and 3.3v power supported by a board voltage regulator. Some of the digital pins in Aruduino provide PWM (pulse width modulation) signals, which can be used in different applications. The Arduino platform provides an integrated development environment, which includes support for c, c++ and java programming languages. In the present work, soft sensor was introduced in this system that can indirectly measure temperature and humidity and can be used for processing several measurements these to ensure comfort. The Sugeno method (output variables are functions or singleton/constant, more suitable for implementing on microcontrollers) was used in the soft sensor in MATLAB and then interfaced to the Arduino, which is again interfaced to the temperature and humidity sensor DHT11. The temperature-humidity sensor DHT11 acts as the sensing element in this system. Further, a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor were also used to support the measurement of temperature and relative humidity of the surrounding to provide a digital signal on the data pin. The comfort sensor developed was able to measure temperature and relative humidity correctly. The comfort percentage was calculated and accordingly the temperature in the room was controlled. This system was placed in different rooms of the house to ensure that it modifies the comfort values depending on temperature and relative humidity of the environment. Compared to the existing comfort control sensors, this system was found to provide an accurate comfort percentage. Depending on the comfort percentage, the air conditioners and the coolers in the room were controlled. The main highlight of the project is its cost efficiency.

Keywords: arduino, DHT11, soft sensor, sugeno

Procedia PDF Downloads 310

Authors: Andrée-Anne Parent, Alain-Steve Comtois

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The Antarctica environment can be a great challenge for human exploration. Explorers need to be focused on the task and require the physical abilities to succeed and survive in complete autonomy in this hostile environment. The aim of this study was to observe cognitive performance and physiological stress with a biomarker (cortisol) and hand grip strength during an expedition in Antarctica. A total of 6 explorers were in complete autonomous exploration on the Forbidden Plateau in Antarctica to reach unknown summits during a 30 day period. The Stroop Test, a simple reaction time, and mood scale (PANAS) tests were performed every week during the expedition. Saliva samples were taken before sailing to Antarctica, the first day on the continent, after the mission on the continent and on the boat return trip. Furthermore, hair samples were taken before and after the expedition. The results were analyzed with SPSS using ANOVA repeated measures. The Stroop and mood scale results are presented in the following order: 1) before sailing to Antarctica, 2) the first day on the continent, 3) after the mission on the continent and 4) on the boat return trip. No significant difference was observed with the Stroop (759±166 ms, 850±114 ms, 772±179 ms and 833±105 ms, respectively) and the PANAS (39.5 ±5.7, 40.5±5, 41.8±6.9, 37.3±5.8 positive emotions, and 17.5±2.3, 18.2±5, 18.3±8.6, 15.8±5.4 negative emotions, respectively) (p>0.05). However, there appears to be an improvement at the end of the second week. Furthermore, the simple reaction time was significantly lower at the end of the second week, a moment where important decisions were taken about the mission, vs the week before (416±39 ms vs 459.8±39 ms respectively; p=0.030). Furthermore, the saliva cortisol was not significantly different (p>0.05) possibly due to important variations and seemed to reach a peak on the first day on the continent. However, the cortisol from the hair pre and post expedition increased significantly (2.4±0.5 pg/mg pre-expedition and 16.7±9.2 pg/mg post-expedition, p=0.013) showing important stress during the expedition. Moreover, no significant difference was observed on the grip strength except between after the mission on the continent and after the boat return trip (91.5±21 kg vs 85±19 kg, p=0.20). In conclusion, the cognitive performance does not seem to be affected during the expedition. Furthermore, it seems to increase for specific important events where the crew seemed to focus on the present task. The physiological stress does not seem to change significantly at specific moments, however, a global pre-post mission measure can be important and for this reason, for long-term missions, a pre-expedition baseline measure is important for crewmembers.

Keywords: Antarctica, cognitive performance, expedition, physiological adaptation, reaction time

Procedia PDF Downloads 241

Authors: Farhad Fakoursevom

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Heart disease is one of the diseases which is found in abundance today. Various types of surgeries, such as bypasses, angiography, angioplasty, etc., are used to treat patients. People may receive such surgeries, some of which are invasive and some non-invasive, throughout their lives. People might cope with pre-surgery anxiety and stress, which can disrupt their normal life and even reduce the effects of the surgery, so the desired result can not be achieved in surgery. Considering this issue, the present study aimed to do a comparative assessment of people who received sedatives before surgery and people who did not receive sedatives. In terms of the purpose, this is an applied research and descriptive survey in terms of method. The statistical population included patients who underwent surgeries in the specialist heart hospitals of Mashhad, Iran; 60 people were considered as a statistical population, 30 of them received sedatives before surgery, and 30 others had not received sedatives before surgery. Valid and up-to-date articles were systematically used to collect theoretical bases, and a researcher-made questionnaire was used to examine the level of stress and anxiety of people. The questionnaire content validity was assessed by a panel of experts in psychology and medicine. The construct validity was tested using the software. Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability were used for reliability, which shows the appropriate reliability of the questionnaire. SPSS software was used to compare the research results between two groups, and the research findings showed that there is no significant association between the people who received sedatives and those who did not receive sedatives in terms of the amount of stress and anxiety. The longer the time of taking the drugs before the surgery, the more the mental peace of the patients will be. According to the results, it can be said that if we don't need to have an emergency operation and need more time, we have to use sedative drugs with different doses compared to the severity of the surgery, and also in case of a medical emergency such as heart surgery due to a stroke, we have to take advantage of psychological services during and before the operation and sedative drugs so that the patients can control their stress and anxiety and achieve better outcomes.

Keywords: sedative drugs, stress, anxiety, surgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 97

Authors: Li Shihao, Dieter Trau

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Bilirubin is a yellow substance that is made when the body breaks down old red blood cells. High levels of bilirubin can cause jaundice, a condition that makes the newborn's skin and the white part of the eyes look yellow. Jaundice is a serial-killer in developing countries in Southeast Asia such as Myanmar and most parts of Africa where jaundice screening is largely unavailable. Worldwide, 60% of newborns experience infant jaundice. One in ten will require therapy to prevent serious complications and lifelong neurologic sequelae. Limitations of current solutions: - Blood test: Blood tests are painful may largely unavailable in poor areas of developing countries, and also can be costly and unsafe due to the insufficient investment and lack of access to health care systems. - Transcutaneous jaundice-meter: 1) can only provide reliable results to caucasian newborns, due to skin pigmentations since current technologies measure bilirubin by the color of the skin. Basically, the darker the skin is, the harder to measure, 2) current jaundice meters are not affordable for most underdeveloped areas in Africa like Kenya and Togo, 3) fat tissue under the skin also influences the accuracy, which will give overestimated results, 4) current jaundice meters are not reliable after treatment (phototherapy) because bilirubin levels underneath the skin will be reduced first, while overall levels may be quite high. Thus, there is an urgent need for a low-cost non-invasive device, which can be effective not only for caucasian babies but also Asian and African newborns, to save lives at the most vulnerable time and prevent any complications like brain damage. Instead of measuring bilirubin on skin, we proposed a new method to do the measurement on the sclera, which can avoid the difference of skin pigmentations and ethnicities, due to the necessity for the sclera to be white regardless of racial background. This is a novel approach for measuring bilirubin by an optical method of light reflection off the white part of the eye. Moreover, the device is connected to a smart device, which can provide a user-friendly interface and the ability to record the clinical data continuously A disposable eye cap will be provided avoiding contamination and fixing the distance to the eye.

Keywords: Jaundice, bilirubin, non-invasive, sclera

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Seungho Shin, Keunwoo Choi, Ali Akbar, Sukkee Um

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In this study, the nanoscale transport properties and catalyst utilization of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) catalyst layers are computationally predicted by the three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann simulation based on the quasi-random nanostructural model in pursuance of fuel cell catalyst performance improvement. A series of catalyst layers are randomly generated with statistical significance at the 95% confidence level to reflect the heterogeneity of the catalyst layer nanostructures. The nanoscale gas transport phenomena inside the catalyst layers are simulated by the D3Q19 (i.e., three-dimensional, 19 velocities) lattice Boltzmann method, and the corresponding mass transport characteristics are mathematically modeled in terms of structural properties. Considering the nanoscale reactant transport phenomena, a transport-based effective catalyst utilization factor is defined and statistically analyzed to determine the structure-transport influence on catalyst utilization. The tortuosity of the reactant mass transport path of VACNT catalyst layers is directly calculated from the streaklines. Subsequently, the corresponding effective mass diffusion coefficient is statistically predicted by applying the pre-estimated tortuosity factors to the Knudsen diffusion coefficient in the VACNT catalyst layers. The statistical estimation results clearly indicate that the morphological structures of VACNT catalyst layers reduce the tortuosity of reactant mass transport path when compared to conventional catalyst layer and significantly improve consequential effective mass diffusion coefficient of VACNT catalyst layer. Furthermore, catalyst utilization of the VACNT catalyst layer is substantially improved by enhanced mass diffusion and electric current paths despite the relatively poor interconnections of the ion transport paths.

Keywords: Lattice Boltzmann method, nano transport phenomena, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, vertically aligned carbon nanotube

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: K. Sekulová, M. Šimon

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The article demonstrates on a case study how it is possible to identify MSD risk. It is based on a dissertation risk identification model of occupational diseases formation in relation to the work activity that determines what risk can endanger workers who are exposed to the specific risk factors. It is evaluated based on statistical calculations. These risk factors are main cause of upper-extremities musculoskeletal disorders.

Keywords: case study, upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders, ergonomics, risk identification

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Olga Sukhoveeva

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main component of carbon biogeochemical cycle and one of the most important greenhouse gases (GHG). Agriculture, particularly arable soils, are one the largest sources of GHG emission for the atmosphere including CO2.Models may be used for estimation of GHG emission from agriculture if they can be adapted for different countries conditions. The only model used in officially at national level in United Kingdom and China for this purpose is DNDC (DeNitrification-DeComposition). In our research, the model DNDC is offered for estimation of GHG emission from arable soils in Russia. The aim of our research was to create the method of DNDC using for evaluation of CO2 emission in Russia based on official statistical information. The target territory was European part of Russia where many field experiments are located. At the first step of research the database on climate, soil and cropping characteristics for the target region from governmental, statistical, and literature sources were created. All-Russia Research Institute of Hydrometeorological Information – World Data Centre provides open daily data about average meteorological and climatic conditions. It must be calculated spatial average values of maximum and minimum air temperature and precipitation over the region. Spatial average values of soil characteristics (soil texture, bulk density, pH, soil organic carbon content) can be determined on the base of Union state register of soil recourses of Russia. Cropping technologies are published by agricultural research institutes and departments. We offer to define cropping system parameters (annual information about crop yields, amount and types of fertilizers and manure) on the base of the Federal State Statistics Service data. Content of carbon in plant biomass may be calculated via formulas developed and published by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation. At the second step CO2 emission from soil in this region were calculated by DNDC. Modelling data were compared with empirical and literature data and good results were obtained, modelled values were equivalent to the measured ones. It was revealed that the DNDC model may be used to evaluate and forecast the CO2 emission from arable soils in Russia based on the official statistical information. Also, it can be used for creation of the program for decreasing GHG emission from arable soils to the atmosphere. Financial Support: fundamental scientific researching theme 0148-2014-0005 No 01201352499 ‘Solution of fundamental problems of analysis and forecast of Earth climatic system condition’ for 2014-2020; fundamental research program of Presidium of RAS No 51 ‘Climate change: causes, risks, consequences, problems of adaptation and regulation’ for 2018-2020.

Keywords: arable soils, carbon dioxide emission, DNDC model, European Russia

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Authors: Ana Paula Soares, Alexandrina Lages, Helena Oliveira, Francisco-Javier Gutiérrez-Domínguez, Marisa Lousada

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From an early age, exposure to a spoken language allows us to implicitly capture the structure underlying the succession of the speech sounds in that language and to segment it into meaningful units (words). Statistical learning (SL), i.e., the ability to pick up patterns in the sensory environment even without intention or consciousness of doing it, is thus assumed to play a central role in the acquisition of the rule-governed aspects of language and possibly to lie behind the language difficulties exhibited by children with development language disorder (DLD). The research conducted so far has, however, led to inconsistent results, which might stem from the behavioral tasks used to test SL. In a classic SL experiment, participants are first exposed to a continuous stream (e.g., syllables) in which, unbeknownst to the participants, stimuli are grouped into triplets that always appear together in the stream (e.g., ‘tokibu’, ‘tipolu’), with no pauses between each other (e.g., ‘tokibutipolugopilatokibu’) and without any information regarding the task or the stimuli. Following exposure, SL is assessed by asking participants to discriminate between triplets previously presented (‘tokibu’) from new sequences never presented together during exposure (‘kipopi’), i.e., to perform a two-alternative-forced-choice (2-AFC) task. Despite the widespread use of the 2-AFC to test SL, it has come under increasing criticism as it is an offline post-learning task that only assesses the result of the learning that had occurred during the previous exposure phase and that might be affected by other factors beyond the computation of regularities embedded in the input, typically the likelihood two syllables occurring together, a statistic known as transitional probability (TP). One solution to overcome these limitations is to assess SL as exposure to the stream unfolds using online techniques such as event-related potentials (ERP) that is highly sensitive to the time-course of the learning in the brain. Here we collected ERPs to examine the neurofunctional correlates of SL in preschool children with DLD, and chronological-age typical language development (TLD) controls who were exposed to an auditory stream in which eight three-syllable nonsense words, four of which presenting high-TPs and the other four low-TPs, to further analyze whether the ability of DLD and TLD children to extract-word-like units from the steam was modulated by words’ predictability. Moreover, to ascertain if the previous knowledge of the to-be-learned-regularities affected the neural responses to high- and low-TP words, children performed the auditory SL task, firstly, under implicit, and, subsequently, under explicit conditions. Although behavioral evidence of SL was not obtained in either group, the neural responses elicited during the exposure phases of the SL tasks differentiated children with DLD from children with TLD. Specifically, the results indicated that only children from the TDL group showed neural evidence of SL, particularly in the SL task performed under explicit conditions, firstly, for the low-TP, and, subsequently, for the high-TP ‘words’. Taken together, these findings support the view that children with DLD showed deficits in the extraction of the regularities embedded in the auditory input which might underlie the language difficulties.

Keywords: development language disorder, statistical learning, transitional probabilities, word segmentation

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Authors: Ali M. Al-Shaery

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The purpose of this paper is to address the functions of sustainability dimensions in city information modelling and to present the required sustainability criteria that support establishing a sustainable planning framework for enhancing existing cities and developing future smart cities. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section is based on the examination of a wide and extensive array of cross-disciplinary literature in the last decade and a half to conceptualize the terms ‘sustainable’ and ‘smart city,' and map their associated criteria to city information modelling. The second section is based on analyzing two approaches relating to city information modelling, namely statistical and dynamic approaches, and their suitability in the development of cities’ action plans. The paper argues that the use of statistical approaches to embedding sustainability dimensions in city information modelling have limited value. Despite the popularity of such approaches in addressing other dimensions like utility and service management in development and action plans of the world cities, these approaches are unable to address the dynamics across various city sectors with regards to economic, environmental and social criteria. The paper suggests an integrative dynamic and cross-disciplinary planning approach to embedding sustainability dimensions in city information modelling frameworks. Such an approach will pave the way towards optimal planning and implementation of priority actions of projects and investments. The approach can be used to achieve three main goals: (1) better development and action plans for world cities (2) serve the development of an integrative dynamic and cross-disciplinary framework that incorporates economic, environmental and social sustainability criteria and (3) address areas that require further attention in the development of future sustainable and smart cities. The paper presents an innovative approach for city information modelling and a well-argued, balanced hierarchy of sustainability criteria that can contribute to an area of research which is still in its infancy in terms of development and management.

Keywords: information modelling, smart city, sustainable city, sustainability dimensions, sustainability criteria, city development planning

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Authors: Oluwafunmibi Omotayo Fasanya, Augustine Kena Adjei

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Effective management of hypertension remains a critical public health challenge, particularly among racially and ethnically diverse populations. This study employs sophisticated statistical models to rigorously investigate the predictors of poor blood pressure (BP) control, with a specific focus on demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical risk factors. Leveraging a large sample of 19,253 adults drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) across three distinct time periods (2013-2014, 2015-2016, and 2017-2020), we applied multivariable logistic regression and generalized estimating equations (GEE) to account for the clustered structure of the data and potential within-subject correlations. Our multivariable models identified significant associations between poor BP control and several key predictors, including race/ethnicity, age, gender, body mass index (BMI), prevalent diabetes, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Non-Hispanic Black individuals consistently exhibited higher odds of poor BP control across all periods (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.69, 2.36 for the overall sample; OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.79, 3.02 for 2017-2020). Younger age groups demonstrated substantially lower odds of poor BP control compared to individuals aged 75 and older (OR = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.20 for ages 18-44). Men also had a higher likelihood of poor BP control relative to women (OR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.31, 1.82), while BMI ≥35 kg/m² (OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.40, 2.20) and the presence of diabetes (OR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.80, 2.68) were associated with increased odds of poor BP management. Further analysis using GEE models, accounting for temporal correlations and repeated measures, confirmed the robustness of these findings. Notably, individuals with chronic kidney disease displayed markedly elevated odds of poor BP control (OR = 3.72; 95% CI: 3.09, 4.48), with significant differences across the survey periods. Additionally, higher education levels and better self-reported diet quality were associated with improved BP control. College graduates exhibited a reduced likelihood of poor BP control (OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.46, 0.89), particularly in the 2015-2016 period (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.84). Similarly, excellent dietary habits were associated with significantly lower odds of poor BP control (OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.94), underscoring the importance of lifestyle factors in hypertension management. In conclusion, our findings provide compelling evidence of the complex interplay between demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors in predicting poor BP control. The application of advanced statistical techniques such as GEE enhances the reliability of these results by addressing the correlated nature of repeated observations. This study highlights the need for targeted interventions that consider racial/ethnic disparities, clinical comorbidities, and lifestyle modifications in improving BP control outcomes.

Keywords: hypertension, blood pressure, NHANES, generalized estimating equations

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Authors: Iliya Dimitrov Stoev, Benjamin Seelbinder, Elena Erben, Nicola Maghelli, Moritz Kreysing

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Despite the revolutionizing impact of optical tweezers in materials science and cell biology up to the present date, trapping has so far extensively relied on specific material properties of the probe and local heating has limited applications related to investigating dynamic processes within living systems. To overcome these limitations while maintaining high sensitivity, here we present a new optofluidic approach that can be used to gently trap microscopic particles and measure femtoNewton forces in a contact-free manner and with thermally limited precision.

Keywords: optofluidics, force measurements, microrheology, FLUCS, thermoviscous flows

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Authors: Reza Lotfalian, Sudarshan Martins, Peter Radziszewski

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The effect of reliability on life-cycle cost, including initial and maintenance cost of a system is studied. The failure probability of a component is used to calculate the average maintenance cost during the operation cycle of the component. The standard deviation of the life-cycle cost is also calculated as an error measure for the average life-cycle cost. As a numerical example, the model is used to study the average life cycle cost of an electric motor.

Keywords: initial cost, life-cycle cost, maintenance cost, reliability

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Authors: Leo Carlo B. Rondina

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Self-image is an important factor to improve the self-esteem of the personnel. The purpose of the study is to determine the self-image of the police. The respondents were the 503 policemen assigned in different Police Station in Davao City, and they were chosen with the used of random sampling. With the used of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), latent construct variables of police image were identified as follows; professionalism, obedience, morality and justice and fairness. Further, ordinal regression indicates statistical characteristics on ages 21-40 which means the age of the respondent statistically improves self-image.

Keywords: police image, exploratory factor analysis, ordinal regression, Galatea effect

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Authors: Matthew McArthur, Margaret Friend

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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the stability of the home environment for families across the world. Potential disruptions include parent work modality (in-person vs. remote), levels of health anxiety, family routines, and caregiving. These disruptions may have interfered with the processes of early vocabulary acquisition, carrying lasting effects over the life course. Our justification for this research is as follows: First, early, stable, caregiver-child reciprocal interactions, which may have been disrupted during the pandemic, contribute to the development of the brain architecture that supports language, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Second, early vocabulary predicts several cognitive outcomes, such as numeracy, literacy, and executive function. Further, disruption in the home is associated with adverse cognitive, academic, socio-emotional, behavioral, and communication outcomes in young children. We are interested in how disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with vocabulary acquisition in children born during the first two waves of the pandemic. We are conducting a moderated online experiment to assess this question. Participants are 16 children (10F) ranging in age from 19 to 39 months (M=25.27) and their caregivers. All child participants were screened for language background, health history, and history of language disorders, and were typically developing. Parents completed a modified version of the COVID-19 Family Stressor Scale (CoFaSS), a published measure of COVID-19-related family stressors. Thirteen items from the original scale were replaced to better capture change in family organization and stability specifically related to disruptions in income, anxiety, family relations, and childcare. Following completion of the modified CoFaSS, children completed a Web-Based version of the Computerized Comprehension Task and the Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary if 24 months or older or the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory if younger than 24 months. We report our preliminary data as a partial correlation analysis controlling for age. Raw vocabulary scores on the CCT, ROWPVT-4, and MCDI were all negatively associated with pandemic-related disruptions related to anxiety (r12=-.321; r1=-.332; r9=-.509), family relations (r12=-.590*; r1=-.155; r9=-.468), and childcare (r12=-.294; r1=-.468; r9=-.177). Although the small sample size for these preliminary data limits our power to detect significance, this trend is in the predicted direction, suggesting that increased pandemic-related disruption across multiple domains is associated with lower vocabulary scores. We anticipate presenting data on a full sample of 50 monolingual English participants. A sample of 50 participants would provide sufficient statistical power to detect a moderate effect size, adhering to a nominal alpha of 0.05 and ensuring a power level of 0.80.

Keywords: COVID-19, early vocabulary, home environment, language acquisition, multiple measures

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Authors: Juan M. Rodriguez-Diaz

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The precision of parameter estimators in the Gaussian linear model is traditionally accounted by the variance-covariance matrix of the asymptotic distribution. However, this measure can underestimate the true variance, specially for small samples. Traditionally, optimal design theory pays attention to this variance through its relationship with the model's information matrix. For this reason it seems convenient, at least in some cases, adapt the optimality criteria in order to get the best designs for the actual variance structure, otherwise the loss in efficiency of the designs obtained with the traditional approach may be very important.

Keywords: correlated observations, information matrix, optimality criteria, variance-covariance matrix

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Authors: Henrique Alpalhão

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This paper attempts to model the widely studied relationship between a country's economic growth and its level of democracy, with an emphasis on possible non-linearities. We adopt the concept of 'political capital' as a measure of democracy, which is extremely uncommon in the literature and brings considerable advantages both in terms of dynamic considerations and plausibility. While the literature is not consensual on this matter, we obtain, via panel Arellano-Bond regression analysis on a database of more than 60 countries over 50 years, significant and robust results that indicate that the impact of democratization on economic growth varies according to the stage of democratic development each country is in.

Keywords: democracy, economic growth, political capital, political economy

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Authors: Pebri Nurhayati, Rozanah Ahlam Fadiyah

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In the development of the city often use rural areas that can not be separated from the change in land use that lead to the degradation of urban green space in the city fringe. In the long run, the degradation of green open space this can impact on the decline of ecological, psychological and public health. Therefore, this research aims to (1) determine the relationship between the parameters of the degradation rate of urban development with green space, (2) develop a spatial model of the impact of urban development on the degradation of green open space with remote sensing techniques and Geographical Information Systems in an integrated manner. This research is a descriptive research with data collection techniques of observation and secondary data . In the data analysis, to interpret the direction of urban development and degradation of green open space is required in 2005-2010 ASTER image with NDVI. Of interpretation will generate two maps, namely maps and map development built land degradation green open space. Secondary data related to the rate of population growth, the level of accessibility, and the main activities of each city map is processed into a population growth rate, the level of accessibility maps, and map the main activities of the town. Each map is used as a parameter to map the degradation of green space and analyzed by non-parametric statistical analysis using Crosstab thus obtained value of C (coefficient contingency). C values were then compared with the Cmaximum to determine the relationship. From this research will be obtained in the form of modeling spatial map of the City Development Impact Degradation Green Space in Urban Fringe eastern city of Yogyakarta 2005-2010. In addition, this research also generate statistical analysis of the test results of each parameter to the degradation of green open space in the Urban Fringe eastern city of Yogyakarta 2005-2010.

Keywords: spatial analysis, urban development, degradation of green space, urban fringe

Procedia PDF Downloads 312