Search results for: change point detection

Authors: L. Bruckert, A. Mansourzadeh

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The voice has a major influence on interpersonal communication in everyday life via the perception of pleasantness. The evolutionary perspective postulates that the mechanisms underlying the pleasantness judgments are universal adaptations that have evolved in the service of choosing a mate (through the process of sexual selection). From this point of view, the favorite voices would be those with more marked sexually dimorphic characteristics; for example, in men with lower voice pitch, pitch is the main criterion. On the other hand, one can postulate that the mechanisms involved are gradually established since childhood through exposure to the environment, and thus the prosodic elements could take precedence in everyday life communication as it conveys information about the speaker's attitude (willingness to communicate, interest toward the interlocutors). Our study focuses on voice pleasantness and its relationship with social impression formation, exploring both the spectral aspects (pitch, timbre) and the prosodic ones. In our study, we recorded the voices through two vocal corpus (five vowels and a reading text) of 25 French males speaking French and 25 Iranian males speaking Farsi. French listeners (40 male/40 female) listened to the French voices and made a judgment either on the voice's pleasantness or on the speaker (judgment about his intelligence, honesty, sociability). The regression analyses from our acoustic measures showed that the prosodic elements (for example, the intonation and the speech rate) are the most important criteria concerning pleasantness, whatever the corpus or the listener's gender. Moreover, the correlation analyses showed that the speakers with the voices judged as the most pleasant are considered the most intelligent, sociable, and honest. The voices in Farsi have been judged by 80 other French listeners (40 male/40 female), and we found the same effect of intonation concerning the judgment of pleasantness with the corpus «vowel» whereas with the corpus «text» the pitch is more important than the prosody. It may suggest that voice perception contains some elements invariant across culture/language, whereas others are influenced by the cultural/linguistic background of the listener. Shortly in the future, Iranian people will be asked to listen either to the French voices for half of them or to the Farsi voices for the other half and produce the same judgments as the French listeners. This experimental design could potentially make it possible to distinguish what is linked to culture and what is linked to language in the case of differences in voice perception.

Keywords: cross-cultural psychology, impression formation, pleasantness, voice perception

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Authors: Elizabeth Perry, Jylana Sheats

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Scholars posit that there is an overlap between the fields of Behavioral Economics (BE) and Behavior Science (BSci)—and that consideration of concepts from both may facilitate a greater understanding of health decision-making processes. For example, the ‘intention-action gap’ is one BE concept to explain sup-optimal decision-making. It is described as having knowledge that does not translate into behavior. Complementary best BSci practices may provide insights into behavioral determinants and relevant behavior change techniques (BCT). Within the context of BSci, this exploratory study aimed to apply a BE concept with demonstrated effectiveness in financial decision-making to a health behavior: influenza (flu) vaccine uptake. Adults aged >18 years were recruited on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a digital labor market where anonymous users perform simple tasks at low cost. Eligible participants were randomized into 2 groups, reviewed a scenario, and then completed a survey on the likelihood of receiving a flu shot. The ‘usual care’ group’s scenario included standard CDC guidance that supported the behavior. The ‘intervention’ group’s scenario included messaging about people who did not receive the flu shot. The framing was such that participants could learn from others’ (strangers) mistakes and the subsequent health consequences: ‘Last year, other people who didn’t get the vaccine were about twice as likely to get the flu, and a number of them were hospitalized or even died. Don’t risk it.’ Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses were performed on the sample. There were 648 participants (usual care, n=326; int., n=322). Among racial/ethnic minorities (n=169; 57% aged < 40), the intervention group was 22% more likely to report that they were ‘extremely’ or ‘moderately’ likely to get the flu vaccine (p = 0.11). While not statistically significant, findings suggest that framing messages from the perspective of learning from the mistakes of unknown others coupled with the BCT ‘knowledge about the health consequences’ may help influence flu vaccine uptake among the study population. With the widely documented disparities in vaccine uptake, exploration of the complementary application of these concepts and strategies may be critical.

Keywords: public health, decision-making, vaccination, behavioral science

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Authors: Silvia Grassi, Stefano Schiavon, Ernestina Casiraghi, Cristina Alamprese

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Dry-cured ham is an uncooked meat product particularly appreciated for its peculiar sensory traits among which lipid component plays a key role in defining quality and, consequently, consumers’ acceptability. Usually, fat content and distribution are chemically determined by expensive, time-consuming, and destructive analyses. Moreover, different sensory techniques are applied to assess product conformity to desired standards. In this context, visual systems are getting a foothold in the meat market envisioning more reliable and time-saving assessment of food quality traits. The present work aims at developing a simple but systematic and objective visual methodology to assess the fat amount of dry-cured ham slices, in terms of total, intermuscular and intramuscular fractions. To the aim, 160 slices from 80 PDO dry-cured hams were evaluated by digital image analysis and Soxhlet extraction. RGB images were captured by a flatbed scanner, converted in grey-scale images, and segmented based on intensity histograms as well as on a multi-stage algorithm aimed at edge enhancement. The latter was performed applying the Canny algorithm, which consists of image noise reduction, calculation of the intensity gradient for each image, spurious response removal, actual thresholding on corrected images, and confirmation of strong edge boundaries. The approach allowed for the automatic calculation of total, intermuscular and intramuscular fat fractions as percentages of the total slice area. Linear regression models were run to estimate the relationships between the image analysis results and the chemical data, thus allowing for the prediction of the total, intermuscular and intramuscular fat content by the dry-cured ham images. The goodness of fit of the obtained models was confirmed in terms of coefficient of determination (R²), hypothesis testing and pattern of residuals. Good regression models have been found being 0.73, 0.82, and 0.73 the R2 values for the total fat, the sum of intermuscular and intramuscular fat and the intermuscular fraction, respectively. In conclusion, the edge enhancement visual procedure brought to a good fat segmentation making the simple visual approach for the quantification of the different fat fractions in dry-cured ham slices sufficiently simple, accurate and precise. The presented image analysis approach steers towards the development of instruments that can overcome destructive, tedious and time-consuming chemical determinations. As future perspectives, the results of the proposed image analysis methodology will be compared with those of sensory tests in order to develop a fast grading method of dry-cured hams based on fat distribution. Therefore, the system will be able not only to predict the actual fat content but it will also reflect the visual appearance of samples as perceived by consumers.

Keywords: dry-cured ham, edge detection algorithm, fat content, image analysis

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Authors: Amatulraheem Al-Abassi, K. Khanafer, Ibrahim Deiab

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The coronary artery stent is a promising technology that can treat various coronary diseases. Materials used for manufacturing medical stents should have high biocompatible properties. Stent alloys, in particular, are remarkably promising good clinical outcomes, however, there is threaten of restenosis (reoccurring of artery narrowing due to fatty plaque), stent recoiling, or in long-term the occurrence of stent fracture. However, stents that are made of Nickel-titanium (Nitinol) can bare extensive plastic deformation and resist restenosis. This shape memory alloy has outstanding mechanical properties. Nitinol is a unique shape memory alloy as it has unique mechanical properties such as; biocompatibility, super-elasticity, and recovery to original shape under certain loads. Stent failure may cause complications in vascular diseases and possibly blockage of blood flow. Thus, studying the behaviors of the stent under different medical conditions will help the doctors and cardiologists to predict when it is necessary to change the stent in order to prevent any severe morbidity outcomes. To the best of our knowledge, there are limited published papers that analyze the stent behavior with regards to the contact surfaces of plaque layer and blood vessel. Thus, stent material properties will be discussed in this investigation to highlight the mechanical and clinical differences between various stents. This research analyzes the performance of Nitinol stent in well-known stent design to determine its bearing with stress and its dislocation in blood vessels, in comparison to stents made of different biocompatible materials. In addition, a study of its performance will be represented in the system. Finite Element Analysis is the core of this study. Thus, a physical representative model will be discussed to show the distribution of stress and strain along the interaction surface between the stent and the artery. The reaction of vascular tissue to the stent will be evaluated to predict the possibility of restenosis within the treated area.

Keywords: shape memory alloy, stent, coronary artery, finite element analysis

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Authors: Sarah Nasser, Anne Moreau, Alain Hedoux, Romain Jeantet, Guillaume Delaplace

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Background: Spray dryed powders containing some caseins are commonly produced in dairy industry. It is widely admitted that the structure of casein evolves during powder storage, inducing a loss of solubility. However few studies evaluate accurately the destabilization mechanisms at molecular and mesoscopic level, in particular for Native Phospho Casein powder (NPC). Consequently, at the state of the art, it is very difficult to assess which secondary structure change or crosslinks initiate insolubility during storage. To address this issue, controlled ageing conditions have been applied to a NPC powder (which was obtained by spray drying a concentrate containing a higher content of casein (90%), whey protein (8%) and lactose (few %)). Evolution of structure and loss of solubility, with the effects of temperature and time of storage were systematically reported. Methods: FTIR spectroscopy, Raman and Circular Dichroism were used to monitor changes of secondary structure in dry powder and in solution after rehydration. Besides, proteomic tools and electrophoresis have been performed after varying storage conditions for evaluating aggregation and post translational modifications, like lactosylation or phosphorylation. Finally, Tof Sims and MEB were used to follow in parallel evolution of structure in surface and skin formation due to storage. Results + conclusion: These results highlight the important role of storage temperature in the stability of NPC. It is shown that this is not lactosylation at the heart of formation of aggregates, as advanced in others publications This is almost the rise of multitude post translational modifications (chemical cross link), added to disulphide bridges (physical cross link) wich contribute to the destabilisation of structure and aggregation of casein. A relative quantification of each kind of cross link, source of aggregates, is proposed. In addition, it has been proved that migration of lipids and formation of skin in surface during the ageing also explains the evolution of structure casein and thus the alterations of functional properties of NPC powder.

Keywords: casein, cross link, powder, storage

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Authors: Mauricio Quintero Angel, Alexander Pereira, Selene Alarcón

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One of the elements of greatest importance in agricultural production is the harvesting; an activity associated to different occupational health risks such as harvesting in high altitudes, the transport of heavy materials and the application of excessive muscle strain that leads to muscular-bone disorders. Therefore, there is an urgent necessity to improve and validate interventions to reduce exposition and risk to harvesters. This article has the objective of describing the co-development under the ergonomic analysis framework of an assisted manual harvesting tool for peach palm oriented to reduce the risk of death and accidents as it avoid the harvest in heights. The peach palm is a palm tree that is cultivated in Colombia, Perú, Brasil, Costa Rica, among others and that reaches heights of over 20 m, with stipes covered with spines. The fruits are drupes of variable size. For the harvesting of peach palm, in Colombia farmers use the “Marota” or “Climber”, a tool in a closed X shape built in wood, that has two supports adjusted at the stipe, that elevate alternately until reaching a point high enough to grab the bunch that is brought down using a rope. An activity of high risk since it is done at a high altitude without any type of protection and safety measures. The Marota is alternated with a rod, which as variable height between 5 and 12 Meters with a harness system at one end to hold the bunch that is lowered with the whole system (bamboo bunch). The rod is used from the ground or from the Marota in height. As an alternative to traditional tools, the Bajachonta was co-developed with farmers, a tool that employs a traditional bamboo hook system with modifications, to be able to hold it with a rope that passes through a pulley. Once the bunch is hitched, the hook system is detached and this stays attached to the peduncle of the palm tree, afterwards through a pulling force being exerted towards the ground by tensioning the rope, the bunch comes loose to be taken down using a rope and the pulley system to the ground, reducing the risk and efforts in the operation. The bajachonta was evaluated in tree productive zones of Colombia, with innovative farmers, were the adoption is highly probable, with some modifications to improve its efficiency and effectiveness, keeping in mind that the farmers perceive in it an advantage in the reduction of death and accidents by not having to harvest in heights.

Keywords: assisted harvesting, ergonomics, harvesting in high altitudes, participative design, peach palm

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Authors: R. Fardid, R. Coppes

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Introduction: In mediastinal radiotherapy and to a lesser extend also in total-body irradiation (TBI) radiation exposure may lead to development of cardiac diseases. Radiation-induced heart disease is dose-dependent and it is characterized by a loss of cardiac function, associated with progressive heart cells degeneration. We aimed to determine the in-vivo radiation effects on fibronectin, ColaA1, ColaA2, galectin and TGFb1 gene expression levels in left ventricle heart tissues of rats after irradiation. Material and method: Four non-treatment adult Wistar rats as control group (group A) were selected. In group B, 4 adult Wistar rats irradiated to 20 Gy single dose of 150 Mev proton beam locally in heart only. In heart plus lung irradiate group (group C) 4 adult rats was irradiated by 50% of lung laterally plus heart radiation that mentioned in before group. At 8 weeks after radiation animals sacrificed and left ventricle heart dropped in liquid nitrogen for RNA extraction by Absolutely RNA® Miniprep Kit (Stratagen, Cat no. 400800). cDNA was synthesized using M-MLV reverse transcriptase (Life Technologies, Cat no. 28025-013). We used Bio-Rad machine (Bio Rad iQ5 Real Time PCR) for QPCR testing by relative standard curve method. Results: We found that gene expression of fibronectin in group C significantly increased compared to control group, but it was not showed significant change in group B compared to group A. The levels of gene expressions of Cola1 and Cola2 in mRNA did not show any significant changes between normal and radiation groups. Changes of expression of galectin target significantly increased only in group C compared to group A. TGFb1 expressions in group C more than group B showed significant enhancement compared to group A. Conclusion: In summary we can say that 20 Gy of proton exposure of heart tissue may lead to detectable damages in heart cells and may distribute function of them as a component of heart tissue structure in molecular level.

Keywords: gene expression, heart damage, proton irradiation, radiotherapy

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Authors: M. Sayyour, M. Abdulkareem, O. Osman, S. Salmeh

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Emphatic sounds in Arabic are /tˤ/, /sˤ/, /dˤ/, and /ðˤ/. They involve a secondary articulation in the pharynx area as opposed to their counterparts: /t/,/s/,/d/and /ð/. Although they are present in most Arabic dialects, some dialects have lost this class as a historical development, such as Maltese Arabic. It has been found that there is a difference in the pronunciation of these emphatic sounds between the two genders, arguing that males tend to produce more evident emphasis than females. This study builds on these studies by trying to investigate whether listeners perceive fully emphatic sounds as more masculine and less emphatic sounds as more feminine. Furthermore, the study aims to find out which is more important in this perception process: the emphatic consonant itself or the vowel following it. To test this, natural and manipulated tokens of two male and two female speakers were used. The natural tokens include words that have emphatic consonant and emphatic vowel and tokens that have plain consonant and plain vowel. The manipulated tokens include words that have emphatic consonant but central vowel and plain consonant followed by the same central vowel. These manipulated tokens allow us to see whether the consonant will still affect the perception even if the vowel is controlled. Another group of words that contained no emphatic sounds was used as a control group. The total number of tokens (natural, manipulated, and control) are 160 tokens. After that, 60 university students (30 males and 30 females) listened to these tokens and responded by choosing a specific character that they think is likely to produce each token. The characters’ descriptions are carefully written with two degrees of femininity and two degrees of masculinity. The preliminary results for the femininity level showed that the highest degree of femininity was for tokens that contain a plain consonant and a plain vowel. The lowest level of femininity was given for tokens that have fully emphatic consonant and vowel. For the manipulated tokens that contained plain consonant and central vowel, the femininity degree was high which indicates that the consonant is more important than the vowel, while for the manipulated tokens that contain emphatic consonant and a central vowel, the femininity level was higher than that for the tokens that have emphatic consonant and emphatic vowel, which indicates that the vowel is more important for the perception of emphatic consonants. These results are interpreted in light of feminist linguistic theories, linguistic expectations, performed gender and linguistic change theories.

Keywords: Emphatic sounds, gender studies, perception, sociophonetics

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Authors: Rishi Richa, N. C. Shahi, J. P. Pandey, S. S. Kautkar

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Citrus fruits rank third in area and production after banana and mango in India. Sweet oranges are the second largest citrus fruits cultivated in the country. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand are the main sweet orange-growing states. Citrus fruits occupy a leading position in the fruit trade of Uttarakhand, is casing about 14.38% of the total area under fruits and contributing nearly 17.75 % to the total fruit production. Malta is grown in most of the hill districts of the Uttarakhand. Malta common is having high acceptability due to its attractive colour, distinctive flavour, and taste. The excellent quality fruits are generally available for only one or two months. However due to its less shelf-life, Malta can not be stored for longer time under ambient conditions and cannot be transported to distant places. Continuous loss of water adversely affects the quality of Malta during storage and transportation. Method of picking, packaging, and cold storage has detrimental effects on moisture loss. The climatic condition such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind condition (aeration) and microbial attack greatly influences the rate of moisture loss and quality. Therefore, different agro-climatic zone will have different moisture loss pattern. The rate of moisture loss can be taken as one of the quality parameters in combination of one or more parameter such as RH, and aeration. The moisture contents of the fruits and vegetables determine their freshness. Hence, it is important to maintain initial moisture status of fruits and vegetable for prolonged period after the harvest. Keeping all points in views, effort was made to store Malta at ambient condition. In this study, the response surface method and experimental design were applied for optimization of independent variables to enhance the shelf life of four months stored malta. Box-Benkhen design, with, 12 factorial points and 5 replicates at the centre point were used to build a model for predicting and optimizing storage process parameters. The independent parameters, viz., scavenger (3, 4 and 5g), polythene thickness (75, 100 and 125 gauge) and fungicide concentration (100, 150 and 200ppm) were selected and analyzed. 5g scavenger, 125 gauge and 200ppm solution of fungicide are the optimized value for storage which may enhance life up to 4months.

Keywords: Malta fruit, scavenger, packaging, shelf life

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Authors: Cleto J. Sauer Jr., Rita C. Sauer, Chaider G. Andrade, Doris F. Rabelo

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Introduction: Endotracheal Intubation (ETI) is a procedure for clinical management of patients with severe clinical presentation of COVID-19 disease. Realistic simulation (RS) is an active learning methodology utilized for clinical skill's improvement. To improve ETI skills of public health network's physicians from Recôncavo da Bahia region in Brazil, during COVID-19 outbreak, RS training was planned and carried out. Training scenario included the Nasco Lifeform realistic simulator, and three actions were simulated: ETI procedure, sedative drugs management, and bougie guide utilization. Training intervention occurred between May and June 2020, as an interinstitutional cooperation between the Health's Department of Bahia State and the Federal University from Recôncavo da Bahia. Objective: The main objective is to report the effects on participants' self-confidence perception for ETI procedure after RS based training. Methods: This is a descriptive study, with secondary data extracted from questionnaires applied throughout RS training. Priority workplace, time from last intubation, and knowledge about bougie were reported on a preparticipation questionnaire. Additionally, participants completed pre- and post-training qualitative self-assessment (10-point Likert scale) regarding self-confidence perception in performing each of simulated actions. Distribution analysis for qualitative data was performed with Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, and self-confidence increase analysis in frequency contingency tables with Fisher's Exact Test. Results: 36 physicians participated of training, 25 (69%) from primary care setting, 25 (69%) performed ETI over a year ago, and only 4 (11%) had previous knowledge about the bougie guide utilization. There was an increase in self-confidence medians for all three simulated actions. Medians (variation) for self-confidence before and after training, for each simulated action were as follows: ETI [5 (1-9) vs. 8 (6-10) (p < 0.0001)]; Sedative drug management [5 (1-9) vs. 8 (4-10) (p < 0.0001)]; Bougie guide utilization [2.5 (1-7) vs. 8 (4-10) (p < 0.0001)]. Among those who performed ETI over a year ago (n = 25), an increase in self-confidence greater than 3 points for ETI was reported by 23 vs. 2 physicians (p = 0.0002), and by 21 vs. 4 (p = 0.03) for sedative drugs management. Conclusions: RS training contributed to self-confidence increase in performing ETI. Among participants who performed ETI over a year, there was a significant association between RS training and increase of more than 3 points in self-confidence, both for ETI and sedative drug management. Training with RS methodology is suitable for ETI confidence enhancement during COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: confidence, COVID-19, endotracheal intubation, realistic simulation

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Authors: Rafael Martins Manzano Silva, Jean-Francois Tremong

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Electrification of railway lines allows to increase speed, power, capacity and energetic efficiency of rolling stocks. However, this process of electrification is complex and costly. An electrification project is not just about design of catenary. It also includes installation of structures around electrification, as substation installation, electrical isolation, signalling, telecommunication and civil engineering structures. France has more than 30,000 km of railways, whose only 53% are electrified. The others 47% of railways use diesel locomotive and represent only 10% of the circulation (tons.km). For this reason, a new type of electrification, less expensive than the usual, is requested to enable the modernization of these railways. One solution could be the use of hybrids trains. This technology opens up new opportunities for less expensive infrastructure development such as the partial electrification of railway lines. In a partially electrified railway, the power supply of theses hybrid trains could be made either by the catenary or by the on-board energy storage system (ESS). Thus, the on-board ESS would feed the energetic needs of the train along the non-electrified zones while in electrified zones, the catenary would feed the train and recharge the on-board ESS. This paper’s objective deals with the technical and economic potential identification of partial electrification of railway lines. This study provides different scenarios of electrification by replacing the most expensive places to electrify using on-board ESS. The target is to reduce the cost of new electrification projects, i.e. reduce the cost of electrification infrastructures while not increasing the cost of rolling stocks. In this study, scenarios are constructed in function of the electrification’s cost of each structure. The electrification’s cost varies considerably because of the installation of catenary support in tunnels, bridges and viaducts is much more expensive than in others zones of the railway. These scenarios will be used to describe the power supply system and to choose between the catenary and the on-board energy storage depending on the position of the train on the railway. To identify the influence of each partial electrification scenario in the sizing of the on-board ESS, a model of the railway line and of the rolling stock is developed for a real case. This real case concerns a railway line located in the south of France. The energy consumption and the power demanded at each point of the line for each power supply (catenary or on-board ESS) are provided at the end of the simulation. Finally, the cost of a partial electrification is obtained by adding the civil engineering costs of the zones to be electrified plus the cost of the on-board ESS. The study of the technical and economic potential ends with the identification of the most economically interesting scenario of electrification.

Keywords: electrification, hybrid, railway, storage

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Authors: N. Hadhoum, B. Guerfi, T. M. Sider, Z. Yassa, T. Djerboua, M. Boursouti, M. Mamou, F. Z. Hadjadj Aoul, L. R. Mekacher

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Introduction and objectives: Chlorobutanol is a raw material, mainly used as an antiseptic and antimicrobial preservative in injectable and ophthalmic preparations. The main objective of our study was the synthesis and evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of chlorobutanol hemihydrates. Material and methods: Chlorobutanol was synthesized according to the nucleophilic addition reaction of chloroform to acetone, identified by an infrared absorption using Spectrum One FTIR spectrometer, melting point, Scanning electron microscopy and colorimetric reactions. The dosage of carvedilol active substance was carried out by assaying the degradation products of chlorobutanol in a basic solution. The chlorobutanol obtained was subjected to bacteriological tests in order to study its antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against strains such as Escherichia coli (ATCC 25 922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25 923) and Pseudomonas aeroginosa (ATCC = American type culture collection). The antifungal activity was evaluated against human pathogenic fungal strains, such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger provided by the parasitology laboratory of the Hospital of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria. Results and discussion: Chlorobutanol was obtained in an acceptable yield. The characterization tests of the product obtained showed a white and crystalline appearance (confirmed by scanning electron microscopy), solubilities (in water, ethanol and glycerol), and a melting temperature in accordance with the requirements of the European pharmacopoeia. The colorimetric reactions were directed towards the presence of a trihalogenated carbon and an alcohol function. The spectral identification (IR) showed the presence of characteristic chlorobutanol peaks and confirmed the structure of the latter. The microbiological study revealed an antimicrobial effect on all strains tested (Sataphylococcus aureus (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), E. coli (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Pseudomonas aeroginosa (MIC = 1250 µg/ml), Candida albicans (MIC =2500 µg/ml), Aspergillus niger (MIC =2500 µg/ml)) with MIC values close to literature data. Conclusion: Thus, on the whole, the synthesized chlorobutanol satisfied the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia, and possesses antibacterial and antifungal activity; nevertheless, it is necessary to insist on the purification step of the product in order to eliminate the maximum impurities.

Keywords: antimicrobial agent, bacterial and fungal strains, chlorobutanol, MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration

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Authors: Elham Koohi, Silvio Jose Gumiere, Hossein Bonakdari, Saeid Homayouni

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Water used in agricultural crops can be managed by irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture levels and plant water stress thresholds. Automated irrigation scheduling limits crop physiological damage and yield reduction. Knowledge of crop water stress monitoring approaches can be effective in optimizing the use of agricultural water. Understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop responding and adapting to water deficit ensures sustainable agricultural management and food supply. This aim could be achieved by analyzing and diagnosing crop characteristics and their interlinkage with the surrounding environment. Assessments of plant functional types (e.g., leaf area and structure, tree height, rate of evapotranspiration, rate of photosynthesis), controlling changes, and irrigated areas mapping. Calculating thresholds of soil water content parameters, crop water use efficiency, and Nitrogen status make irrigation scheduling decisions more accurate by preventing water limitations between irrigations. Combining Remote Sensing (RS), the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) can improve measurement accuracies and automate irrigation scheduling. This paper is a review structured by surveying about 100 recent research studies to analyze varied approaches in terms of providing high spatial and temporal resolution mapping, sensor-based Variable Rate Application (VRA) mapping, the relation between spectral and thermal reflectance and different features of crop and soil. The other objective is to assess RS indices formed by choosing specific reflectance bands and identifying the correct spectral band to optimize classification techniques and analyze Proximal Optical Sensors (POSs) to control changes. The innovation of this paper can be defined as categorizing evaluation methodologies of precision irrigation (applying the right practice, at the right place, at the right time, with the right quantity) controlled by soil moisture levels and sensitiveness of crops to water stress, into pre-processing, processing (retrieval algorithms), and post-processing parts. Then, the main idea of this research is to analyze the error reasons and/or values in employing different approaches in three proposed parts reported by recent studies. Additionally, as an overview conclusion tried to decompose different approaches to optimizing indices, calibration methods for the sensors, thresholding and prediction models prone to errors, and improvements in classification accuracy for mapping changes.

Keywords: agricultural crops, crop water stress detection, irrigation scheduling, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Reza Safdari, Goli Arji, Robab Abdolkhani Maryam zahmatkeshan

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Background and purpose: Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common diseases in all societies. The most important step in minimizing myocardial infarction and its complications is to minimize its risk factors. The amount of medical data is increasingly growing. Medical data mining has a great potential for transforming these data into information. Using data mining techniques to generate predictive models for identifying those at risk for reducing the effects of the disease is very helpful. The present study aimed to collect data related to risk factors of heart infarction from patients’ medical record and developed predicting models using data mining algorithm. Methods: The present work was an analytical study conducted on a database containing 350 records. Data were related to patients admitted to Shahid Rajaei specialized cardiovascular hospital, Iran, in 2011. Data were collected using a four-sectioned data collection form. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and Clementine version 12. Seven predictive algorithms and one algorithm-based model for predicting association rules were applied to the data. Accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values were determined and the final model was obtained. Results: five parameters, including hypertension, DLP, tobacco smoking, diabetes, and A+ blood group, were the most critical risk factors of myocardial infarction. Among the models, the neural network model was found to have the highest sensitivity, indicating its ability to successfully diagnose the disease. Conclusion: Risk prediction models have great potentials in facilitating the management of a patient with a specific disease. Therefore, health interventions or change in their life style can be conducted based on these models for improving the health conditions of the individuals at risk.

Keywords: decision trees, neural network, myocardial infarction, Data Mining

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Authors: Nusrat Zabeen Islam

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Partnership between local Non-Government organizations (NGO) and International development organizations has become an important feature in the development sector of Bangladesh. It is an important challenge for International development organizations to work with local NGOs with proper HR practice. Local NGOs have a lack of quality working environment and this affects the employee’s work experiences and overall performance at individual, partnership with International development organizations and organizational level. Many local development organizations due to the size of the organization and scope do not have a human resource (HR) unit. Inadequate Human Resource Policies, skills, leadership and lack of effective strategy is now a common scenario in Non-Government organization sector of Bangladesh. So corruption, nepotism, and fraud, risk of Political Contribution in office /work space, Sexual/ gender based abuse, insecurity take place in work place of development sector. The Complaint Management Mechanism (CMM) in human resource management could be one way to improve human resource competence in these organizations. The responsibility of Complaint Management Unit (CMU) of an International development organization is to make workplace maltreating, discriminating communities free. The information of impact of CMM was collected through case study of an International organization and some of its partner national organizations in Bangladesh who are engaged in different projects/programs. In this mechanism International development organizations collect complaints from beneficiaries/ staffs by complaint management unit and investigate by segregating the type and mood of the complaint and find out solution to improve the situation within a very short period. A complaint management committee is formed jointly with HR and management personnel. Concerned focal point collect complaints and share with CM unit. By conducting investigation, review of findings, reply back to CM unit and implementation of resolution through this mechanism, a successful bridge of communication and feedback can be established within beneficiaries, staffs and upper management. The overall result of Complaint management mechanism application indicates that by applying CMM accountability and transparency of workplace and workforce in development organization can be increased significantly. Evaluations based on outcomes, and measuring indicators such as productivity, satisfaction, retention, gender equity, proper judgment will guide organizations in building a healthy workforce, and will also clearly articulate the return on investment and justify any need for further funding.

Keywords: human resource management in NGOs, challenges in human resource, workplace environment, complaint management mechanism

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Authors: L. Agneni, F. Carta, C. Micheletta, V. Tersigni

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The development of a qualitative method to profile jobseekers is needed to improve the quality of the Public Employment Services (PES) in Italy. This is why the National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies (ANPAL) decided to introduce a Qualitative Profiling Service in the context of the activities carried out by local employment offices’ operators. The qualitative profiling service provides information and data regarding the jobseeker’s personal transition status, through a semi-structured questionnaire administered to PES clients during the guidance interview. The questionnaire responses allow PES staff to identify, for each client, proper activities and policy measures to support jobseekers in their reintegration into the labour market. Data and information gathered by the qualitative profiling tool are the following: frequency, modalities and motivations for clients to apply to local employment offices; clients’ expectations and skills; difficulties that they have faced during the previous working experiences; strategies, actions undertaken and activated channels for job search. These data are used to assess jobseekers’ personal and career characteristics and to measure their employability level (qualitative profiling index), in order to develop and deliver tailor-made action programmes for each client. This paper illustrates the use of the above-mentioned qualitative profiling service on the national territory and provides an overview of the main findings of the survey: concerning the difficulties that unemployed people face in finding a job and their perception of different aspects related to the transition in the labour market. The survey involved over 10.000 jobseekers registered with the PES. Most of them are beneficiaries of the “citizens' income”, a specific active labour policy and social inclusion measure. Furthermore, data analysis allows classifying jobseekers into a specific group of clients with similar features and behaviours, on the basis of socio-demographic variables, customers' expectations, needs and required skills for the profession for which they seek employment. Finally, the survey collects PES staff opinions and comments concerning clients’ difficulties in finding a new job and also their strengths. This is a starting point for PESs’ operators to define adequate strategies to facilitate jobseekers’ access or reintegration into the labour market.

Keywords: labour market transition, public employment services, qualitative profiling, vocational guidance

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Authors: Stéfani T. A. Dantas, Laura T. S. Takume, Bruna F. Rossi, Érika R. Bonsaglia, Ivana G. Castilho, José C. F. Pantoja, Ary Fernandes Júnior, Juliano L. Gonçalves, Marcos V. Santos, Rinaldo A. Mota, Vera L. M. Rall

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Staphylococcus aureus is one of the main pathogens causing contagious bovine mastitis, being more frequently isolated from subclinical form, although the clinical form also occurs. Clinical mastitis cause visual signs, such as swelling, fever, hardening of the mammary gland, or any change in the characteristics of the milk. Considering the subclinical type, there are no visible signs in the animal nor changes in the milk. S. aureus has many important virulence factors for the establishment of its pathogenicity in animals, such as enterotoxins, which are also responsible for foodborne poisoning. Our objective is to perform a comparative analysis between 103 isolates of S. aureus, obtained from the milk of cows with clinical mastitis and 103 more, from subclinical type, in relation to the presence of these enterotoxins and verify if their presence plays an important role in the signs of illness. We will investigate all enterotoxins described till now, such as sea-see, seg-sez, sel26, sel 27, se01, and se02 (This study was approved by the Sao Paulo State University Animal Use Ethics Committee, No. 0136/2017). For the PCR assay, we used Illustra Bacteria Mini Spin Kit for bacterial DNA. At this moment, we have already tested sea-see, seg-ser, sew, and sex, and the results have already been submitted to Fisher Exact Probability Test or Chi-square Test. Considering the isolates obtained from clinical mastitis, the most frequent enterotoxins were selw (99%), selx (78%) and selh (50.5%), and sec, see, sej, sell, selp,and ser were absent. Among the subclinics, selw (82.5%) selm (15.5%) and selx (14.6%) were the most frequent, and sea-see, seg, sei-sel, sem-ser were absent. We have already observed statistically significant differences for seb, seg, seh, sei, selo, selu, selw and selx. Other interesting results were the low number of genes in each isolate from subclinical mastitis [0 genes: 14 (13.6%); 1 gene: 55 (53.4%); 2 genes: 33 (32%) or 3: 1 (0.97%)] compared to clinical isolates [1 gene: 5 (4.9%); 2 genes: 29 (28.1%); 3 genes: 38 (36.9%); 4 genes: 14 (13.6%); 5 genes: 5 (4.9%); 6 genes: 4 (3.9%); 7 genes: 5 (4.9%); 8 genes: 2 (1.9%) and 9 genes: 1 (1%)]. Based on these results, we can conclude that enterotoxins indeed play an important role in clinical signs in cattle with mastitis.

Keywords: mastitis, S. aureus, PCR, staphylococcal enterotoxin

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Authors: Nafsi K. Ashraf, C. V. Vipin, V. Anantha Subramanian

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This paper reports the design of a waterjet propulsion system for an amphibious vehicle based on circulation distribution over the camber line for the sections of the impeller and stator. In contrast with the conventional waterjet design, the inlet duct is straight for water entry parallel and in line with the nozzle exit. The extended nozzle after the stator bowl makes the flow more axial further improving thrust delivery. Waterjet works on the principle of volume flow rate through the system and unlike the propeller, it is an internal flow system. The major difference between the propeller and the waterjet occurs at the flow passing the actuator. Though a ducted propeller could constitute the equivalent of waterjet propulsion, in a realistic situation, the nozzle area for the Waterjet would be proportionately larger to the inlet area and propeller disc area. Moreover, the flow rate through impeller disk is controlled by nozzle area. For these reasons the waterjet design is based on pump systems rather than propellers and therefore it is important to bring out the characteristics of the flow from this point of view. The analysis is carried out using computational fluid dynamics. Design of waterjet propulsion is carried out adapting the axial flow pump design and performance analysis was done with three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. With the varying environmental conditions as well as with the necessity of high discharge and low head along with the space confinement for the given amphibious vehicle, an axial pump design is suitable. The major problem of inlet velocity distribution is the large variation of velocity in the circumferential direction which gives rise to heavy blade loading that varies with time. The cavitation criteria have also been taken into account as per the hydrodynamic pump design. Generally, waterjet propulsion system can be parted into the inlet, the pump, the nozzle and the steering device. The pump further comprises an impeller and a stator. Analytical and numerical approaches such as RANSE solver has been undertaken to understand the performance of designed waterjet propulsion system. Unlike in case of propellers the analysis was based on head flow curve with efficiency and power curves. The modeling of the impeller is performed using rigid body motion approach. The realizable k-ϵ model has been used for turbulence modeling. The appropriate boundary conditions are applied for the domain, domain size and grid dependence studies are carried out.

Keywords: amphibious vehicle, CFD, impeller design, waterjet propulsion

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Authors: Orly Yona Drori, Shirley Ben Shlomo

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Objectives: The participants will be able to recognize the predictors of binge eating addiction among women who suffer from psychological abuse in their relationships and will recognize the role of woman's defense mechanisms in moderating the association between psychological abuse and binge eating addiction. Methods: A convenience sample of 380 Israeli women in relationships were located via the Internet, and after consenting to participate in the study, they completed a series of structured questionnaires (The Yale Food Addiction Scale; The Defense Style Questionnaire; psychological maltreatment of women by their male partners; level of differentiation of self; sociodemographic questionnaire). Results: The higher the level of differentiation and mature defense mechanisms, the less addictive a woman is. However, the level of addiction among women who experience psychological abuse within their intimate relations is higher than women who do not experience psychological abuse in their relationship. Among women who experienced psychological abuse in their relations, the defense mechanisms moderate the association between psychological abuse within intimate relations and the extent of the addiction to binge eating. Conclusions: The study contributes to the therapy of women with binge eating addictions, as it raises awareness of therapeutic-related content that could strengthen women and help them to cope with situations in their lives without the need to binge. One of the significant variables for therapeutic work is the level of differentiation of the self. In addition, identifying the types of defense mechanisms might help to match treatment to the woman's emotional needs. The current study found also that it is important to identify the environmental systems by which the addict is surrounded, such as whether woman is in an abusive relationship. Finally the study leads to the recognition that binge eating, which is usually treated with an emphasis on nutritional behavior change, is an addiction, and as such, it requires a combination of mental, nutritional and behavioral therapy. In view of this approach, it is recommended that treating a woman who is addicted to binge eating should involve a multi-disciplinary team comprised of physicians, clinical dietitians, and clinical psychotherapists.

Keywords: binge eating, defence mechanism, food addiction, psychological abuse

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Vaibhav Baliyan, Shweta Mehrotra, S. S. Parihar

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The agricultural productivity is challenged by climate change and depletion in natural resources, including water and land, which significantly affects the crop yield. Wheat is a thermo-sensitive crop and is prone to heat stress. High temperature decreases crop duration, yield attributes, and, subsequently, grain yield and biomass production. Terminal heat stress affects grain filling duration, grain yield, and yield attributes, thus causing a reduction in wheat yield. A field experiment was conducted at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for two consecutive rabi seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) on six varieties of wheat (early sown - HD 2967, HD 3086, HD 2894 and late sown - WR 544, HD 3059, HD 3117 ) with three moisture regimes (100%, 80%, and 60% ETc, and no irrigation) and six sowing dates in three replications to investigate the effect of different moisture regimes and sowing dates on growth, yield and water use efficiency of wheat for development of best management practices for mitigation of terminal heat stress. HD3086 and HD3059 gave higher grain yield than others under early sown and late sown conditions, respectively. Maximum soil moisture extraction was recorded from 0-30 cm soil depth across the sowing dates, irrigation regimes, and varieties. Delayed sowing resulted in reducing crop growth period and forced maturity, in turn, led to significant deterioration in all the yield attributing characters and, there by, reduction in yield, suggesting that terminal heat stress had greater impact on yield. Early sowing and irrigation at 80% ETc resulted in improved growth and yield attributes and water use efficiency in both the seasons and helped to some extent in reducing the risk of terminal heat stress of wheat grown on sandy loam soils of semi-arid regions of India.

Keywords: sowing, irrigation, yield, heat stress

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Authors: Jessica Achebe, Susan Tighe

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The recent Canadian infrastructure report card reveals the unhealthy state of municipal infrastructure intensified challenged faced by municipalities to maintain adequate infrastructure performance thresholds and meet user’s required service levels. For a road agency, huge funding gap issue is inflated by growing concerns of the environmental repercussion of road construction, operation and maintenance activities. As the reduction of material consumption and greenhouse gas emission when maintain and rehabilitating road networks can achieve added benefits including improved life cycle performance of pavements, reduced climate change impacts and human health effect due to less air pollution, improved productivity due to optimal allocation of resources and reduced road user cost. Incorporating environmental sustainability measure into pavement management is solution widely cited and studied. However measuring the environmental performance of road network is still a far-fetched practice in road network management, more so an ostensive agency-wide environmental sustainability or sustainable maintenance specifications is missing. To address this challenge, this present research focuses on the environmental sustainability performance of network-level pavement management. The ultimate goal is to develop a framework to incorporate environmental sustainability in pavement management systems for network-level maintenance programming. In order to achieve this goal, this study reviewed previous studies that employed environmental performance measures, as well as the suitability of environmental performance indicators for the evaluation of the sustainability of network-level pavement maintenance strategies. Through an industry practice survey, this paper provides a brief forward regarding the pavement manager motivations and barriers to making more sustainable decisions, and data needed to support the network-level environmental sustainability. The trends in network-level sustainable pavement management are also presented, existing gaps are highlighted, and ideas are proposed for sustainable network-level pavement management.

Keywords: pavement management, sustainability, network-level evaluation, environment measures

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Authors: Max Plotnikov, Arkadius Schier

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To counteract climate change, the European Commission adopted the European Green Deal (EDG) in 2019. Some of the main objectives of the EDG are climate neutrality by 2050, decarbonization, sustainable mobility, and the shift from a linear economy to a circular economy in the European Union. The mobility turnaround envisages, among other things, the switch from classic internal combustion vehicles to electromobility. The aforementioned goals are therefore accompanied by increased demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and the associated logistics. However, this inevitably gives rise to challenges that need to be addressed. Depending on whether the LIB is transported by road, rail, air, or sea, there are different regulatory frameworks in the European Union that relevant players in the value chain must adhere to. LIBs are classified as Dangerous Goods Class 9, and against this backdrop, there are various restrictions that need to be adhered to when transporting them for various actors. Currently, the exchange of information in the value chain between the various actors is almost entirely paper-based. Especially in the transport of dangerous goods, this often leads to a delay in the transport or to incorrect data. The exchange of information with the authorities is particularly essential in this context. A solution for the digital exchange of information is currently being developed. Electronic freight transport information (eFTI) enables fast and secure exchange of information between the players in the freight transport process. This concept is to be used within the supply chain from 2025. Another initiative that is expected to improve the monitoring of LIB in this context, among other things, is the battery pass. In July 2023, the latest battery regulation was adopted in the Official Journal of the European Union. This battery pass gives different actors static as well as dynamic information about the batteries depending on their access rights. This includes master data such as battery weight or battery category or information on the state of health or the number of negative events that the battery has experienced. The integration of the battery pass with the eFTI platform will be investigated for synergy effects in favor of the actors for battery transport.

Keywords: battery logistics, battery passport, data sharing, eFTI, sustainability

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Authors: Aisling De Paor

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Scientific and technological developments are driving genetics and genetic technologies into the public sphere. Scientists are making genetic discoveries as to the make up of the human body and the cause and effect of disease, diversity and disability amongst individuals. Technological innovation in the field of genetics is also advancing, with the development of genetic testing, and other emerging genetic technologies, including gene editing (which offers the potential for genetic modification). In addition to the benefits for medicine, health care and humanity, these genetic advances raise a range of ethical, legal and societal concerns. From an ethical perspective, such advances may, for example, change the concept of humans and what it means to be human. Science may take over in conceptualising human beings, which may push the boundaries of existing human rights. New genetic technologies, particularly gene editing techniques create the potential to stigmatise disability, by highlighting disability or genetic difference as something that should be eliminated or anticipated. From a disability perspective, use (and misuse) of genetic technologies raise concerns about discrimination and violations to the dignity and integrity of the individual. With an acknowledgement of the likely future orientation of genetic science, and in consideration of the intersection of genetics and disability, this paper highlights the main concerns raised as genetic science and technology advances (particularly with gene editing developments), and the consequences for disability and human rights. Through the use of traditional doctrinal legal methodologies, it investigates the use (and potential misuse) of gene editing as creating the potential for a unique form of discrimination and stigmatization to develop, as well as a potential gateway to a form of new, subtle eugenics. This article highlights the need to maintain caution as to the use, application and the consequences of genetic technologies. With a focus on the law and policy position in Europe, it examines the need to control and regulate these new technologies, particularly gene editing. In addition to considering the need for regulation, this paper highlights non-normative approaches to address this area, including awareness raising and education, public discussion and engagement with key stakeholders in the field and the development of a multifaceted genetics advisory network.

Keywords: disability, gene-editing, genetics, law, regulation

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Authors: Habib Muhammetoglu, I. Ethem Karadirek, Selami Kara, Ayse Muhammetoglu

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The problem of non-revenue water (NRW) from municipal water distribution networks is common in many countries such as Turkey, where the average yearly water losses are around 50% . Water losses can be divided into two major types namely: 1) Real or physical water losses, and 2) Apparent or commercial water losses. Total water losses in Antalya city, Turkey is around 45%. Methods: A research study was conducted to develop appropriate methodologies to reduce NRW. A pilot study area of about 60 thousands inhabitants was chosen to apply the study. The pilot study area has a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the monitoring and control of many water quantity and quality parameters at the groundwater drinking wells, pumping stations, distribution reservoirs, and along the water mains. The pilot study area was divided into 18 District Metered Areas (DMAs) with different number of service connections that ranged between a few connections to less than 3000 connections. The flow rate and water pressure to each DMA were on-line continuously measured by an accurate flow meter and water pressure meter that were connected to the SCADA system. Customer water meters were installed to all billed and unbilled water users. The monthly water consumption as given by the water meters were recorded regularly. Water balance was carried out for each DMA using the well-know standard IWA approach. There were considerable variations in the water losses percentages and the components of the water losses among the DMAs of the pilot study area. Old Class B customer water meters at one DMA were replaced by more accurate new Class C water meters. Hydraulic modelling using the US-EPA EPANET model was carried out in the pilot study area for the prediction of water pressure variations at each DMA. The data sets required to calibrate and verify the hydraulic model were supplied by the SCADA system. It was noticed that a number of the DMAs exhibited high water pressure values. Therefore, pressure reducing valves (PRV) with constant head were installed to reduce the pressure up to a suitable level that was determined by the hydraulic model. On the other hand, the hydraulic model revealed that the water pressure at the other DMAs cannot be reduced when complying with the minimum pressure requirement (3 bars) as stated by the related standards. Results: Physical water losses were reduced considerably as a result of just reducing water pressure. Further physical water losses reduction was achieved by applying acoustic methods. The results of the water balances helped in identifying the DMAs that have considerable physical losses. Many bursts were detected especially in the DMAs that have high physical water losses. The SCADA system was very useful to assess the efficiency level of this method and to check the quality of repairs. Regarding apparent water losses reduction, changing the customer water meters resulted in increasing water revenue by more than 20%. Conclusions: DMA, SCADA, modelling, pressure management, leakage detection and accurate customer water meters are efficient for NRW.

Keywords: NRW, water losses, pressure management, SCADA, apparent water losses, urban water distribution networks

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Authors: Theodore Panton

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As cities in the United States experience critical housing shortages, mass timber presents the opportunity to address this crisis in housing supply while taking advantage of the carbon-positive benefits of sustainably forested wood fiber. Mass timber, however, currently has a low level of adoption in residential multifamily structures due to the risk-averse nature of change within the construction financing, Architecture / Engineering / Contracting (AEC) communities, as well as various agency approval challenges. This study demonstrates how mass timber can be used within the cost and feasibility parameters of a typical multistory residential structure and ultimately address the need for dense urban housing. This study will utilize The Garden District, a mixed-use market-rate housing project in Woodinville, Washington, as a case study to illuminate the potential of mass timber in this application. The Garden District is currently in final stages of permit approval and will commence construction in 2023. It will be the tallest dowel-laminated timber (DLT) residential structure in the United States when completed. This case study includes economic, technical, and design reference points to demonstrate the relevance of the use of this system and its ability to deliver “triple bottom line” results. In terms of results, the study establishes scalable and repeatable approaches to project design and delivery of mass timber in multifamily residential uses and includes economic data, technical solutions, and a summary of end-user advantages. This study discusses the third party tested systems for satisfying acoustical requirements within dwelling units, a key to resolving the use of mass timber within multistory residential use. Lastly, the study will also compare the mass timber solution with a comparable cold formed steel (CFS) system with a similar program, which indicates a net carbon savings of over three million tons over the life cycle of the building.

Keywords: DLT, dowell laminated timber, mass timber, market rate multifamily

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Authors: Fengjuan Wang, Azilawati Jamaludin

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Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is defined as a particular learning difficulty with continuous challenges in learning requisite math skills that cannot be explained by intellectual disability or educational deprivation. Recent studies have increasingly recognized that DD is a heterogeneous, instead of monolithic, learning disorder with not only cognitive and behavioral deficits but so too neural dysfunction. In recent years, neuroimaging studies employed group comparison to explore the neural underpinnings of DD, which contradicted the heterogenous nature of DD and may obfuscate critical individual differences. This research aimed to investigate the neural heterogeneity of DD using case studies with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). A total of 54 aged 6-7 years old of children participated in this study, comprising two comprehensive cognitive assessments, an 8-minute resting state, and an 8-minute one-digit addition task. Nine children met the criteria of DD and scored at or below 85 (i.e., the 16th percentile) on the Mathematics or Math Fluency subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III) (both subtest scores were 90 and below). The remaining 45 children formed the typically developing (TD) group. Resting-state data and brain activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) were collected for comparison between each case and the TD group. Graph theory was used to analyze the brain network under the resting state. This theory represents the brain network as a set of nodes--brain regions—and edges—pairwise interactions across areas to reveal the architectural organizations of the nervous network. Next, a single-case methodology developed by Crawford et al. in 2010 was used to compare each case’s brain network indicators and brain activation against 45 TD children’s average data. Results showed that three out of the nine DD children displayed significant deviation from TD children’s brain indicators. Case 1 had inefficient nodal network properties. Case 2 showed inefficient brain network properties and weaker activation in the IFG and IPS areas. Case 3 displayed inefficient brain network properties with no differences in activation patterns. As a rise above, the present study was able to distill differences in architectural organizations and brain activation of DD vis-à-vis TD children using fNIRS and single-case methodology. Although DD is regarded as a heterogeneous learning difficulty, it is noted that all three cases showed lower nodal efficiency in the brain network, which may be one of the neural sources of DD. Importantly, although the current “brain norm” established for the 45 children is tentative, the results from this study provide insights not only for future work in “developmental brain norm” with reliable brain indicators but so too the viability of single-case methodology, which could be used to detect differential brain indicators of DD children for early detection and interventions.

Keywords: brain activation, brain network, case study, developmental dyscalculia, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, graph theory, neural heterogeneity

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Authors: Simon Espigolé, Igor Shalyminov, Helen Hastie

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Deep machine learning techniques including deep neural networks (DNN) have been used to model language and dialogue for conversational agents to perform tasks, such as giving technical support and also for general chit-chat. They have been shown to be capable of generating long, diverse and coherent sentences in end-to-end dialogue systems and natural language generation. However, these systems tend to imitate the training data and will only generate the concepts and language within the scope of what they have been trained on. This work explores how deep neural networks can be used in a task that would normally require human creativity, whereby the human would read the movie description and/or watch the movie and come up with a compelling, interesting movie title. This task differs from simple summarization in that the movie title may not necessarily be derivable from the content or semantics of the movie description. Here, we train a type of DNN called a sequence-to-sequence model (seq2seq) that takes as input a short textual movie description and some information on e.g. genre of the movie. It then learns to output a movie title. The idea is that the DNN will learn certain techniques and approaches that the human movie titler may deploy that may not be immediately obvious to the human-eye. To give an example of a generated movie title, for the movie synopsis: ‘A hitman concludes his legacy with one more job, only to discover he may be the one getting hit.’; the original, true title is ‘The Driver’ and the one generated by the model is ‘The Masquerade’. A human evaluation was conducted where the DNN output was compared to the true human-generated title, as well as a number of baselines, on three 5-point Likert scales: ‘creativity’, ‘naturalness’ and ‘suitability’. Subjects were also asked which of the two systems they preferred. The scores of the DNN model were comparable to the scores of the human-generated movie title, with means m=3.11, m=3.12, respectively. There is room for improvement in these models as they were rated significantly less ‘natural’ and ‘suitable’ when compared to the human title. In addition, the human-generated title was preferred overall 58% of the time when pitted against the DNN model. These results, however, are encouraging given the comparison with a highly-considered, well-crafted human-generated movie title. Movie titles go through a rigorous process of assessment by experts and focus groups, who have watched the movie. This process is in place due to the large amount of money at stake and the importance of creating an effective title that captures the audiences’ attention. Our work shows progress towards automating this process, which in turn may lead to a better understanding of creativity itself.

Keywords: creativity, deep machine learning, natural language generation, movies

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Authors: Radmila Maksimovic, Sonja Ketin, Rade Biocanin, Jelena Maksimovic

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The abnormal conditions of life and work genetic factors often play a major role in incidence of diabetes-diabetes, heart disease and vascular disease, jaundice, and post traumatic stress. Trauma and post traumatic stress are most common in the displaced persons,and the focus of this paper is to shed light on this issue in former Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia and now in our country. This is caused by increased beta-cell sensitivity to viruses, the development of autoimmune antibodies against its own pancreascells, degenerative changes in cells that r esult in change of structure and insulin. In this paper, we dealt with traumatic events and long-term psycho social consequences for internally displaced persons, several years after displacement, and found a high level of PTSD symptoms. This stress is present in almost 1/3 of internally displaced persons, and every sixth person is suffering from PTSD in the past. Respondents generally suffer from symptoms of intrusion, but there was a large number of symptoms, avoidance and increased arousal. We also found that gender, age andeducation related to the symptoms. Females, and older respondents and internally displaced persons with lower levels of education how a higher level of PTSD symptoms, especially symptoms of intrusion and increase darousal. It is a highly traumatized sample in which more than 1/2 of respondents experienced more than three traumatic events in life,although the number of traumas experienced before, during and after the conflict varies.We found that during the war, internally displaced persons haveexperienced more traumatic events compared with the periodbefore and after the conflict. Trauma are different in type. No significant correlation between the number of experienced trauma and PTSD, suggesting that it is necessary to further study the structure of past traumas and the intermediary effects of certain risk factors and protective factors.

Keywords: living environment, displaced persons, jaundice, diabetes, trauma, diabetic hypertension, post-traumatic stress (PTSD), treatment

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Authors: Xuechun Kan, Dongdong Li, Fan Li, Peidang Liu

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most malignant subtype of breast cancer with a poor prognosis, and radiotherapy is one of the main treatment methods. However, due to the obvious resistance of tumor cells to radiotherapy, high dose of ionizing radiation is required during radiotherapy, which causes serious damage to normal tissues near the tumor. Therefore, how to improve radiotherapy resistance and enhance the specific killing of tumor cells by radiation is a hot issue that needs to be solved in clinic. Recent studies have shown that silver-based nanoparticles have strong radiosensitization, and silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) also provide a broad prospect for tumor targeted radiosensitization therapy due to their ultra-small size, low toxicity or non-toxicity, self-fluorescence and strong photostability. Aptamer 5TR1 is a 25-base oligonucleotide aptamer that can specifically bind to mucin-1 highly expressed on the membrane surface of TNBC 4T1 cells, and can be used as a highly efficient tumor targeting molecule. In this study, AgNCs were synthesized by DNA template based on 5TR1 aptamer (NC-T5-5TR1), and its role as a targeted radiosensitizer in TNBC radiotherapy was investigated. The optimal DNA template was first screened by fluorescence emission spectroscopy, and NC-T5-5TR1 was prepared. NC-T5-5TR1 was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The inhibitory effect of NC-T5-5TR1 on cell activity was evaluated using the MTT method. Laser confocal microscopy was employed to observe NC-T5-5TR1 targeting 4T1 cells and verify its self-fluorescence characteristics. The uptake of NC-T5-5TR1 by 4T1 cells was observed by dark-field imaging, and the uptake peak was evaluated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The radiation sensitization effect of NC-T5-5TR1 was evaluated through cell cloning and in vivo anti-tumor experiments. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining flow cytometry was utilized to detect the impact of nanomaterials combined with radiotherapy on apoptosis. The results demonstrated that the particle size of NC-T5-5TR1 is about 2 nm, and the UV-visible absorption spectrum detection verifies the successful construction of NC-T5-5TR1, and it shows good dispersion. NC-T5-5TR1 significantly inhibited the activity of 4T1 cells and effectively targeted and fluoresced within 4T1 cells. The uptake of NC-T5-5TR1 reached its peak at 3 h in the tumor area. Compared with AgNCs without aptamer modification, NC-T5-5TR1 exhibited superior radiation sensitization, and combined radiotherapy significantly inhibited the activity of 4T1 cells and tumor growth in 4T1-bearing mice. The apoptosis level of NC-T5-5TR1 combined with radiation was significantly increased. These findings provide important theoretical and experimental support for NC-T5-5TR1 as a radiation sensitizer for TNBC.

Keywords: 5TR1 aptamer, silver nanoclusters, radio sensitization, triple-negative breast cancer

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Authors: Ni Putu Evi Wijayanti, Made Darmiati, Ni Ketut Wiwiek Agustina, Putu Gde Arie Yudhistira, Marcel Hardono

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This research study discusses the tourists’ perception to white water rafting service quality in Bali (Case Study: Ayung River). The aim is to determine the tourists’ perception to: firstly, the services quality of white water rafting trip in Bali, secondly, is to determine which dimensions of the service quality that need to take main handling priority in accordance with the level of important service of white water rafting company’s working performance toward the service quality of rafting in Bali especially on Ayung Riveri, lastly, is to know the efforts are needed to improve the service quality of white water rafting trip for tourist in Bali, specifically on Ayung River. This research uses the concept of the service quality with five principal dimensions, namely: Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy. Location of the research is tourist destination area of the Ayung River, that lies between the boundary of Badung Regency at Western part and Gianyar Regency eastern side. There are three rafting companies located on the Ayung River. This research took 100 respondents who were selected as a sample by using purposive sampling method. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to domestic tourists then tabulated using the weighting scale (Likert scale) and analyzed using analysis of the benefit performance (important performance analysis) in the form of Cartesian diagram. The results of the research are translated into three points. Firstly, there are 23 indicators assessed by the service aspect of domestic tourists where the highest value is the aspect of familiarity between the tourist and employees with points (0.29) and the lowest score is the aspect of the clarity of the Ayung River water discharge value (-0.35). This shows that the indicator has not been fully able to meet the expectations of service aspects of the rating. Secondly, the dimensions of service quality that requires serious attention is the dimension of tangibles. The third point is the efforts that needs to be done adapted to the results of the Cartesian diagram breaks down into four quadrants. Based on the results of the research suggested to the manager of the white water rafting tour in order to continuously improve the service quality to tourists, performing new innovations in terms of product variations, provide insight and training to its employees to increase their competence, especially in the field of excellent service so that the satisfaction rating can be achieved.

Keywords: perception, rafting, service quality, tourist satisfaction

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