Search results for: Thomas Dorin

Authors: Shazi Shah Jabeen, Ajay Jesse Thomas

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The study is aimed at understanding the learning trends of students who opt for online language courses and to assess the effectiveness of the same. Multiple factors including use of the latest available technology and the skills that are trained by these online methods have been assessed. An attempt has been made to answer how each of the various language skills is trained online and how effective the online methods are compared to the classroom methods when students interact with peers and instructor. A mixed method research design was followed for collecting information for the study where a survey by means of a questionnaire and in-depth interviews with a number of respondents were undertaken across the various institutes and study centers located in the United Arab Emirates. The questionnaire contained 19 questions which included 7 sub-questions. The study revealed that the students find learning with an instructor to be a lot more effective than learning alone in an online environment. They prefer classroom environment more than the online setting for language learning.

Keywords: effectiveness, language, online learning, skills

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Authors: Nattawat Thongpraphai, Anusorn Boonpoke

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This study aimed to determine the removal of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater using granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. The adsorption isotherm and kinetic behavior of colour and curcuminoids was invested using batch and fixed bed columns tests. The results indicated that the removal efficiency of colour and curcuminoids were 80.13 and 78.64%, respectively at 8 hr of equilibrium time. The adsorption isotherm of colour and curcuminoids were well fitted with the Freundlich adsorption model. The maximum adsorption capacity of colour and curcuminoids were 130 Pt-Co/g and 17 mg/g, respectively. The continuous experiment data showed that the exhaustion concentration of colour and curcuminoids occurred at 39 hr of operation time. The adsorption characteristic of colour and curcuminoids from turmeric wastewater by GAC can be described by the Thomas model. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from kinetic approach were 39954 Pt-Co/g and 0.0516 mg/kg for colour and curcuminoids, respectively. Moreover, the decrease of colour and curcuminoids concentration during the service time showed a similar trend.

Keywords: adsorption, turmeric, colour, curcuminoids, activated carbon

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Authors: Thomas Ousterhout

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The purpose of this study was to investigate if incorporating meaningful pictures of gestures and facial expressions in short sentences of text could supplement the text with enough semantic information to produce and N400 effect when probe words incongruent to the picture were subsequently presented. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from a 14-channel commercial grade EEG headset while subjects performed congruent/incongruent reaction time discrimination tasks. Since pictures of meaningful gestures have been shown to be semantically processed in the brain in a similar manner as words are, it is believed that pictures will add supplementary information to text just as the inclusion of their equivalent synonymous word would. The hypothesis is that when subjects read the text/picture mixed sentences, they will process the images and words just like in face-to-face communication and therefore probe words incongruent to the image will produce an N400.

Keywords: EEG, ERP, N400, semantics, congruency, facilitation, Emotiv

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Authors: Thomas E. Portegys

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An animal behavior problem is presented in the form of a nest-building task that involves two cooperating virtual birds, a male and female. The female builds a nest into which she lays an egg. The male's job is to forage in a forest for food for both himself and the female. In addition, the male must fetch stones from a nearby desert for the female to use as nesting material. The task is completed when the nest is built, and an egg is laid in it. A goal-seeking neural network and a recurrent neural network were trained and tested with little success. The goal-seeking network was then enhanced with “place cells”, allowing the birds to spatially navigate the world, building the nest while keeping themselves fed. Place cells are neurons in the hippocampus that map space.

Keywords: artificial animal intelligence, artificial life, goal-seeking neural network, nest-building, place cells, spatial navigation

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Authors: Quoc Khanh Dang, Thomas Bourdeaud’huy, Khaled Mesghouni, Armand Toguy´eni

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This paper studies a train routing and scheduling problem for busy railway stations. Our objective is to allow trains to be routed in dense areas that are reaching saturation. Unlike traditional methods that allocate all resources to setup a route for a train and until the route is freed, our work focuses on the use of resources as trains progress through the railway node. This technique allows a larger number of trains to be routed simultaneously in a railway node and thus reduces their current saturation. To deal with this problem, this study proposes an abstract model and a mixed-integer linear programming formulation to solve it. The applicability of our method is illustrated on a didactic example.

Keywords: busy railway stations, mixed-integer linear programming, offline railway station management, train platforming, train routing, train scheduling

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Authors: Betsy S. Thomas, Manjeet Marpara, K. M. Bhat

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Introduction: After the initial enthusiasm and interest in hydroxyapatite products subsided due to dissolution of the coating and failure at the coating interface, this was a unique attempt to create a next generation of dental implant. Materials and Methods: The adhesion property of AW and HA coatings at various temperature by pulsed laser deposition was assessed on titanium plates. Moreover, AW/HA coated implants implanted in the femur of the rabbits was evaluated at various intervals. Results: Decohesion load was more for AW in scratch test and more bone formation around AW coated implants on histological evaluation. Discussion: AW coating by pulsed laser deposition was more adherent to the titanium surface and led to faster bone formation than HA. Conclusion: This experiment opined that AW coated by pulsed laser deposition seems to be a promising method in achieving bioactive coatings on titanium implants.

Keywords: surface coating, dental implants, osseo integration, biotechnology

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Authors: Moomen Chaari, Wolfgang Ecker, Thomas Kruse, Bogdan-Andrei Tabacaru

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In our daily life, we frequently interact with complex systems which facilitate our mobility, enhance our access to information, and sometimes help us recover from illnesses or diseases. The reliance on these systems is motivated by the established evaluation and assessment procedures which are performed during the different phases of the design and manufacturing flow. Such procedures are aimed to qualify the system’s delivered services with respect to their availability, reliability, safety, and other properties generally referred to as dependability attributes. In this paper, we propose a metamodel based generic characterization of dependability concepts and describe an automation methodology to customize this characterization to different standards and contexts. When integrated in concrete design and verification environments, the proposed methodology promotes the reuse of already available dependability assessment tools and reduces the costs and the efforts required to create consistent and efficient artefacts for fault injection or error simulation.

Keywords: dependability analysis, model-driven development, metamodeling, code generation

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Authors: Alice Sanwald, Thomas Schober

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We analyze mortality and follow-up costs of heart attack patients using administrative data from Austria (2002-2011). As treatment intensity in a hospital largely depends on whether it has a catheterization laboratory, we focus on the effects of patients' initial admission to these specialized hospitals. To account for the nonrandom selection of patients into hospitals, we exploit individuals' place of residence as a source of exogenous variation in an instrumental variable framework. We find that the initial admission to specialized hospitals increases patients' survival chances substantially. The effect on 3-year mortality is -9.5 percentage points. A separation of the sample into subgroups shows the strongest effects in relative terms for patients below the age of 65. We do not find significant effects on longterm inpatient costs and find only marginal increases in outpatient costs.

Keywords: acute myocardial infarction, mortality, costs, instrumental variables, heart attack

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Authors: Li Long, Thomas Ortlepp

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The transport properties of carriers in polycrystalline silicon film affect the performance of polycrystalline silicon-based devices. They depend strongly on the grain structure, grain boundary trap properties and doping concentration, which in turn are determined by the film deposition and processing conditions. Based on the properties of charge carriers, phonons, grain boundaries and their interactions, the thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline silicon are analyzed with the relaxation time approximation of the Boltz- mann transport equation. With this approach, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient as a function of grain size, trap properties and doping concentration can be determined. Experiment on heavily doped polycrystalline silicon is carried out and measurement results are compared with the model.

Keywords: conductivity, polycrystalline silicon, relaxation time approximation, Seebeck coefficient, thermoelectric property

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Authors: Robert K. Hillyard, Jonathan Thomas, Brett A. Story

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Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) are masonry units that combine soil, sand, stabilizer, and water under pressure to form an earth block. These CSEB’s offer a cost-effective building solution for remote construction, using local resources and labor to minimize transportation and material costs. However, CSEB’s, and earthen construction generally have not been widely adopted as standardized construction materials. One shortcoming is the difficulty in standardizing strength values of CSEB units and systems due to the inherent variations in mix design, including production compression. This research presents findings on compressive strengths of full-scale CSEB’s from 60 different mix designs as a function of the amount of cement, sand, soil, and water added to the mixture. The full-scale results are compared with CSEB cylinder cores.

Keywords: CSEB, compressive strength, earth construction, mix design

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Authors: Thomas Ogilegwu Orohu

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This paper highlights the effect of education on farmers’ productivity in rural Nigeria which includes potential to obtain paid employment or generate income through self-help employment using skills learnt in school. The paper emphasizes that education help farmers’ in agro-processing units in production to reduce post harvest wastage. It highlights the benefits of schooling for farmers’ productivity, particularly in terms of efficiency gains and increased farm productivity. As technological innovation spread more widely within the country, the importance of formal education in farm production ought to become more apparent. Education help farmers to improve attitudes, beliefs and habits that may lead to greater willingness to accept risk, adopts innovation, save investment and generally to embrace productive practices. Finally factors affecting farmers’ education and appropriate recommendation were given with the hope that if resolutely implemented would bring the attainment of desired farm education to farmers to improve farm productivity outputs.

Keywords: benefit, education, effect, productivity

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Authors: Hyu Sang Jo, Gyo Woo Lee

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In this study, the evaluation of thermal stability of the micrometer-sized silica particle reinforced epoxy composite was carried out through the measurement of thermal expansion coefficient and Young’s modulus of the specimens. For all the specimens in this study from the baseline to those containing 50 wt% silica filler, the thermal expansion coefficients and the Young’s moduli were gradually decreased down to 20% and increased up to 41%, respectively. The experimental results were compared with filler-volume-based simple empirical relations. The experimental results of thermal expansion coefficients correspond with those of Thomas’s model which is modified from the rule of mixture. However, the measured result for Young’s modulus tends to be increased slightly. The differences in increments of the moduli between experimental and numerical model data are quite large.

Keywords: thermal stability, silica-reinforced, epoxy composite, coefficient of thermal expansion, empirical model

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Authors: Cherity A. Ysquierdo, Pia U. Olafson, Donald B. Thomas

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Musca domestica L. were collected from cattle diagnosed with bovine ringworm to evaluate the potential of the house fly to disseminate Trichophyton verrucosum E. Bodin, a fungal dermatophyte that is the causative agent for ringworm in cattle. Fungal isolates were cultured from 45 individual flies on supplemented Sabouraud dextrose agar, and isolates were identified using morphological and microscopic approaches. Each isolate was further identified by PCR amplification of the ribosomal DNA locus with fungal specific primers and subsequent amplicon sequencing. No T. verrucosum were identified using these approaches. However, 36 different fungal species representing 17 genera were cultured from these flies, including several allergenic and pathogenic species. Several species within the fungal orders Hypocreales, Microascales, Onygenales, Saccharomycetales, Xylaniales, and Agaricales were observed for the first time on house flies. The most frequent fungus recovered was Cladosporium cladosporoides, which is known to be a ubiquitous, airborne allergen.

Keywords: bovine ringworm, Cladosporium, dermatophyte, Musca domestica

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Authors: Thomas Yeboah, Gifty Akouko Sarpong

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Every learner has a specific learning style that helps him/her to study best. This means that any learning method (e-learning method or traditional face-to-face method) a learner chooses should address the learning style of the learner. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to investigate whether learners’ grade achievement in e-learning environment is improved for learners with a particular learning style. In this research, purposive sampling technique was employed for selecting the sample size of three hundred and twenty (320) students studying a course UGRC 140 Science and Technology in our Lives at Christian Service University College. Data were analyzed by using, percentages, T -test, and one-way ANOVA. A thorough analysis was done on the data collected and the results revealed that learners with the Assimilator learning style and the converger learning style obtained higher grade achievement than both diverger learning style and accommodative learning style. Again, the results also revealed that accommodative learning style was not good enough for e-learning method.

Keywords: e-learning, learning style, grade achievement, accomodative, divergent, convergent, assimilative

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Authors: Sachin Singh, Thomas Penzel, Dinesh Nandan

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Accurate identification of Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrom Diagnosis is difficult problem for human expert because of variability among persons and unwanted noise. This paper proposes the diagonosis of Sleep Apnea Hypopnea Syndrome (SAHS) using airflow, ECG, Pulse and SaO2 signals. The features of each type of these signals are extracted using statistical methods and ANN learning methods. These extracted features are used to approximate the patient's Apnea Hypopnea Index(AHI) using sample signals in model. Advance signal processing is also applied to snore sound signal to locate snore event and SaO2 signal is used to support whether determined snore event is true or noise. Finally, Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) event is calculated as per true snore event detected. Experiment results shows that the sensitivity can reach up to 96% and specificity to 96% as AHI greater than equal to 5.

Keywords: neural network, AHI, statistical methods, autoregressive models

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Authors: Aitor Barbero-López, Soumaya Chibily, Gerhard Scheepers, Thomas Grahn, Martti Venäläinen, Antti Haapala

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Wood decay is addressed continuously within the wood industry through use and development of wood preservatives. The increasing awareness on the negative effects of many chemicals towards the environment is causing political restrictions in their use and creating more urgent need for research on green alternatives. This paper discusses some of the possible natural extracts for wood preserving applications and compares the analytical methods available for testing their behavior and efficiency against decay fungi. The results indicate that natural extracts have interesting chemical constituents that delay fungal growth but vary in efficiency depending on the chemical concentration and substrate used. Results also suggest that presence and redistribution of preservatives in wood during exposure trials can be assessed by spectral imaging methods although standardized methods are not available. This study concludes that, in addition to the many standard methods available, there is a need to develop new faster methods for screening potential preservative formulation while maintaining the comparability and relevance of results.

Keywords: analytics, methods, preservatives, wood decay

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Authors: Wilhelm Hoeflinger, Thomas Laminger, Johannes Wolfslehner

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For vacuum cleaned dust filters, used e. g. in textile industry, there exist no calculation methods to determine design parameters (e. g. traverse speed of the nozzle, filter area...). In this work a method to calculate the optimum traverse speed of the nozzle of an industrial-size flat dust filter at a given mean pressure drop and filter face velocity was elaborated. Well-known equations for the design of a cleanable multi-chamber bag-house-filter were modified in order to take into account a continuously regeneration of a dust filter by a nozzle. Thereby, the specific filter medium resistance and the specific cake resistance values are needed which can be derived from filter tests under constant operation conditions. A lab-scale filter test rig was used to derive the specific filter media resistance value and the specific cake resistance value for vacuum cleaned filter operation. Three different filter media were tested and the determined parameters were compared to each other.

Keywords: design of dust filter, dust removing, filter regeneration, operation parameters

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Authors: Luong A. Nguyen, Elihu Deneke, Thomas L. Harman

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This paper describes a multibody dynamics algorithm formulated for parallel implementation on multiprocessor computing platforms using the divide-and-conquer approach. The system of interest is a general topology of rigid and elastic articulated bodies with or without loops. The algorithm is an extension of Featherstone’s divide and conquer approach to include the flexible-body dynamics formulation. The equations of motion, configured for the International Space Station (ISS) with its robotic manipulator arm as a system of articulated flexible bodies, are implemented in separate computer processors. The performance of this divide-and-conquer algorithm implementation in multiple processors is compared with an existing method implemented on a single processor.

Keywords: multibody dynamics, multiple processors, multithreading, divide-and-conquer algorithm, computational efficiency, flexible body dynamics

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Authors: Schulz Peter, Kee Kalya, Lwin May, Goh Wilson, Chia Kendrikck, Chueng Max, Lam Thomas, Sung Joseph

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As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is progressively making inroads into clinical practice, questions have arisen as to whether acceptance of AI is skewed toward certain medical practitioner segments, even within particular specializations. This study examines distinct AI acceptance among gastroenterologists with contrasting levels of seniority/experience when interacting with AI typologies. Data from 319 gastroenterologists show the presence of four distinct clusters of clinicians based on experience levels and perceived risk typologies. Analysis of cluster-based responses further revealed that acceptance of AI was not uniform. Our findings showed that clinician experience and risk perspective have an interactive role in influencing AI acceptance. Senior clinicians with low-risk perceptions were highly accepting of AI, but those with high-risk perceptions of AI were substantially less accepting. In contrast, junior clinicians were more inclined to embrace AI when they perceived high risk, yet they hesitated to adopt AI when the perceived risk was minimal.

Keywords: risk perception, acceptance, trust, medicine

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Authors: Merle Bischoff, Thomas Gries, Gunnar Seide

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Nanocomposites have become more and more important as the implementation of nanoparticles in polymer allows additional functions in common industrial parts. Especially in the fabrication of filaments or fibres nanomodification is important, as only very small fillers can be added to the very fine fibres (common diameter is 20 µm, fine filament are 1 µm). Discharging fibres, conductive fibres, and many other functional fibres raise in their importance nowadays. Especially the dispersion quality is essential for the final enhancement of the filament propertied. In this paper, the dispersion of carbon nanoparticles in polymer melt is enhanced by a newly developed sonication unit of ITA and BANDELIN electronic GmbH & Co. KG. The first development steps of the unit fabrication, as well as the first experimental results of the modification of the dispersion, are shown. Special focus will be laid on the sealing of the new sonication unit as well as the positioning and equipment size when being implemented in an existing melt spinning unit. Furthermore, the influence on the thereby manufactured nano-modified filaments will be shown.

Keywords: dispersion, sonication, carbon nanoparticles, filaments

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Authors: M. V. Manoj Kumar, Likewin Thomas, Annappa

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Process mining provides methods and techniques for analyzing event logs recorded in modern information systems that support real-world operations. While analyzing an event-log, state-of-the-art techniques available in process mining believe that the operational process as a static entity (stationary). This is not often the case due to the possibility of occurrence of a phenomenon called concept drift. During the period of execution, the process can experience concept drift and can evolve with respect to any of its associated perspectives exhibiting various patterns-of-change with a different pace. Work presented in this paper discusses the main aspects to consider while addressing concept drift phenomenon and proposes a method for detecting and localizing the sudden concept drifts in control-flow perspective of the process by using features extracted by processing the traces in the process log. Our experimental results are promising in the direction of efficiently detecting and localizing concept drift in the context of process mining research discipline.

Keywords: abrupt drift, concept drift, sudden drift, control-flow perspective, detection and localization, process mining

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Authors: Justin Reverdi, Sixin Zhang, Serge Gratton, Said Aoues, Thomas Pellegrini

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In Vapor Cycle Systems, the flow sensor plays a key role in different monitoring and control purposes. However, physical sensors can be expensive, inaccurate, heavy, cumbersome, or highly sensitive to vibrations, which is especially problematic when embedded into an aircraft. The conception of a virtual sensor based on other standard sensors is a good alternative. In this paper, a data-driven model using a Convolutional Neural Network is proposed to estimate the flow of the compressor. To fit the model to our dataset, we tested different loss functions. We show in our application that a Dynamic Time Warping based loss function called DILATE leads to better dynamical performance than the vanilla mean squared error (MSE) loss function. DILATE allows choosing a trade-off between static and dynamic performance.

Keywords: deep learning, dynamic time warping, vapor cycle system, virtual sensor

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Authors: Elaheh Hosseini, Otmar Bock, Monika Thomas

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The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of climbing therapy on the components of attention of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Forty children with ADHD were assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. The exercise group participated in a climbing therapy program for ten weeks, whereas no intervention was administered to the control group. All two groups were then assessed with the same battery of attention tests used in our earlier study. We found that compared to the ‘intervention’ group, performance was higher in the ‘control’ group on tests of sustained, divided and distributed attention, on all four tests. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in components of attention after ten weeks. From this we conclude that climbing therapy can improve the attention of children with ADHD and can be considered as a promising intervention and a standalone treatment for children with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD, climbing therapy, distributed attention, divided attention, selective attention, sustained attention

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Authors: Thomas L. McCullough, John D. Hague, Marylesa M. Howard, Matthew K. Kiser, Michael A. Mazur, Lance K. McLean, Johanna L. Turk

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Radiological search and mapping depends on the successful recognition of anomalies in large data sets which contain varied and dynamic backgrounds. We present a new algorithmic approach for real-time anomaly detection which is resistant to common detector imperfections, avoids the limitations of a source template library and provides immediate, and easily interpretable, user feedback. This algorithm is based on a continuous wavelet transform for variance reduction and evaluates the deviation between a foreground measurement and a local background expectation using methods from linear algebra. We also present a technique for recognizing and visualizing spectrally similar clusters of data. This technique uses Laplacian Eigenmap Manifold Learning to perform dimensional reduction which preserves the geometric "closeness" of the data while maintaining sensitivity to outlying data. We illustrate the utility of both techniques on real-world data sets.

Keywords: radiological search, radiological mapping, radioactivity, radiation protection

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Authors: Ani Thomas

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Every narrative is a temporal construct. Every narrative creates a qualitative experience of time for the viewer. The paper argues for the concept of a qualified time that emerges from the interaction between the narrative and the audience. The paper also challenges the conventional understanding of narrative time as either story time, real time or discourse time. Looking at narratives through the medium of Cinema, the study examines how narratives create and manipulate duration or durée, the qualitative experience of time as theorized by Henri Bergson. The paper further analyzes how Cinema and, by extension, narratives are nothing but Durée and the filmmaker, the artist of durée, who shape and manipulate the perception and emotions of the viewer through the manipulation and construction of durée. The paper draws on cinematic works to look at the techniques to demonstrate how filmmakers use, for example, editing, sound, compositional and production narratives etc., to create various modes of durée that challenge, amplify or unsettle the viewer’s sense of time. Bringing together the Viewer’s durée and exploring its interaction with the narrative construct, the paper explores the emergence of the new qualitative time, the narrative durée, that defines the audience experience.

Keywords: cinema, time, bergson, duree

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Authors: Michael Brave, Mark Kroll, Steven Karch, Charles Wetli, Michael Graham, Sebastian Kunz, Dorin Panescu

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Background: Conducted electrical weapons (CEW) are now used in 107 countries and are a common law enforcement less-lethal force practice in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others. Use of these devices is rarely temporally associated with the occurrence of sudden arrest-related deaths (ARD). Because such deaths are uncommon, few Medical Examiners (MEs) ever encounter one, and even fewer offices have established comprehensive investigative protocols. Without sufficient scientific data, the role, if any, played by a CEW in a given case is largely supplanted by conjecture often defaulting to a CEW-induced fatal cardiac arrhythmia. In addition to the difficulty in investigating individual deaths, the lack of information also detrimentally affects being able to define and evaluate the ARD cohort generally. More comprehensive, better information leads to better interpretation in individual cases and also to better research. The purpose of this presentation is to provide MEs with a comprehensive evidence-based checklist to assist in the assessment of CEW-ARD cases. Methods: PUBMED and Sociology/Criminology data bases were queried to find all medical, scientific, electrical, modeling, engineering, and sociology/criminology peer-reviewed literature for mentions of CEW or synonymous terms. Each paper was then individually reviewed to identify those that discussed possible bioelectrical mechanisms relating CEW to ARD. A Naranjo-type pharmacovigilance algorithm was also employed, when relevant, to identify and quantify possible direct CEW electrical myocardial stimulation. Additionally, CEW operational manuals and training materials were reviewed to allow incorporation of CEW-specific technical parameters. Results: Total relevant PUBMED citations of CEWs were less than 250, and reports of death extremely rare. Much relevant information was available from Sociology/Criminology data bases. Once the relevant published papers were identified, and reviewed, we compiled an annotated checklist of data that we consider critical to a thorough CEW-involved ARD investigation. Conclusion: We have developed an evidenced-based checklist that can be used by MEs and their staffs to assist them in identifying, collecting, documenting, maintaining, and objectively analyzing the role, if any, played by a CEW in any specific case of sudden death temporally associated with the use of a CEW. Even in cases where the collected information is deemed by the ME as insufficient for formulating an opinion or diagnosis to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, information collected as per the checklist will often be adequate for other stakeholders to use as a basis for informed decisions. Having reviewed the appropriate materials in a significant number of cases careful examination of the heart and brain is likely adequate. Channelopathy testing should be considered in some cases, however it may be considered cost prohibitive (aprox $3000). Law enforcement agencies may want to consider establishing a reserve fund to help manage such rare cases. The expense may stay the enormous costs associated with incident-precipitated litigation.

Keywords: ARD, CEW, police, TASER

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Authors: Michael Koblischka, Yassine Slimani, Thomas Karwoth, Anjela Koblischka-Veneva, Essia Hannachi

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On bulk FeSe superconductors containing different additions of Ag, a thorough investigation of the microstructures was performed using optical microscopy, SEM and TEM. The electrical resistivity was measured using four-point measurements in the temperature range 2 K ≤ T ≤ 150 K. The data obtained are analyzed in the framework of the excess conductivity approach using the Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) model. The investigated samples comprised of five distinct fluctuation regimes, namely short-wave (SWF), onedimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and critical (CR) fluctuation regimes. The coherence length along the c-axis at zero-temperature (ξc(0)), the lower and upper critical magnetic fields (Bc1 and Bc2), the critical current density (Jc) and numerous other superconducting parameters were estimated with respect to the Ag content in the samples. The data reveal a reduction of the resistivity and a strong decrease of ξc(0) when doping the 11-samples with silver. The optimum content of the Ag-addition is found at 4 wt.-% Ag, yielding the highest critical current density.

Keywords: iron-based superconductors, FeSe, Ag-addition, excess conductivity, microstructure

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Authors: Fiona Tan, Cheryl Tan, Thomas Wong, Remesh

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Background: An increasing number of working adults undergo knee arthroplasty in Singapore. There is limited data concerning Southeast Asian patients returning to work (RTW) following knee replacement surgery. Our aim was to identify and study factors influencing patients' RTW following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). Methods: Patients who underwent TKA or UKA between August 2017 to March 2020 in our center were included in this study. Outcomes include RTW and duration prior to RTW. Results: 441 patients underwent TKA (295 women, 146 men, mean age 67.3 years), and 69 underwent UKA (48 women, 21 men, mean age 61.1 years). Patients who underwent TKA returned to work earlier (mean 83.7 ± 27.1 days) compared to UKA (mean 94.4 ± 42.3 days). 90.0% of TKA patients RTW compared to 95.5% who underwent UKA. Of patients who RTW, 94.3% of the TKA group returned to employment of the same nature compared to 92.9% of UKA patients. Patients who RTW were of a younger age (p = 0.03), white-collared workers (p = 0.04), and had independent preoperative ambulatory status (p <0.01). Conclusion: Younger and independently ambulating patients may have a better capacity for rehabilitation and RTW post-arthroplasty surgery.

Keywords: return to work, total knee arthroplasty, unilateral knee arthroplasty, employment

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Authors: Thomas Ogilegwu Orohu

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This paper presents agricultural education as a vocational study, an impetus for youths, economic empowerment. The survival of Nigeria’s agriculture rests squarely on the youth who are the farmers and leaders of tomorrow. Hitherto, the teaching and learning of agriculture has proceeded in such a manner that graduates of such programs have failed to make the successful launch into the world of agricultural enterprises (entrepreneurship). Major constraints that predisposed this anomalous situation were identified to include poor policy framework, socio-economic pressures, undue parental and peer influences, improper value orientation and of course, the nature of curricula. In response to the situation, some programs and/or initiatives aimed at inculcating entrepreneurial skills were proposed by this paper with identified target beneficiaries. The initiatives bordered on curricular reorientation that integrate entrepreneurship/enterprise education, retraining of graduates, financial support system among others.

Keywords: Program initiatives. vocational agriculture, youths’ empowerment, introduction

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Authors: Christoph Linse, Thomas Martinetz

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Recent findings have shown that Neural Networks generalize also in over-parametrized regimes with zero training error. This is surprising, since it is completely against traditional machine learning wisdom. In our empirical study we fortify these findings in the domain of fine-grained image classification. We show that very large Convolutional Neural Networks with millions of weights do learn with only a handful of training samples and without image augmentation, explicit regularization or pretraining. We train the architectures ResNet018, ResNet101 and VGG19 on subsets of the difficult benchmark datasets Caltech101, CUB_200_2011, FGVCAircraft, Flowers102 and StanfordCars with 100 classes and more, perform a comprehensive comparative study and draw implications for the practical application of CNNs. Finally, we show that VGG19 with 140 million weights learns to distinguish airplanes and motorbikes with up to 95% accuracy using only 20 training samples per class.

Keywords: convolutional neural networks, fine-grained image classification, generalization, image recognition, over-parameterized, small data sets

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